Free Republic

If you think privacy settings on your Facebook and Twitter accounts guarantee future employers or schools can't see your private posts, guess again. Employers and colleges find the treasure-trove of personal information hiding behind password-protected accounts and privacy walls just too tempting, and increasingly, they are demanding full access from applicants and students. In Maryland, job seekers applying to the state's Department of Corrections have been asked during interviews to log into their accounts and let an interviewer watch while the potential employee clicks through wall posts, friends, photos and anything else that might be found behind the privacy wall.

Does increasing the minimum wage increase GDP? Bloggingstocks' Joseph Lazaro outlined the theory that it might back on 1 August 2009, shortly after the U.S. federal minimum wage reached its current level of $7.25 per hour (emphasis ours): ... the U.S. Federal Reserve will be monitoring prices and costs to see if the higher minimum wage is creating inflation havoc at a time when U.S. businesses least need another concern to deal with. Businesses have enough to worry about; and some are struggling just to maintain operations for another quarter or two -- the recession has been that damaging. But...

...A supply glut has pressured natural gas futures for most of 2011, as production from dense rock formations (shale) – through novel techniques of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – remain robust, thereby overwhelming demand. As a matter of fact, natural gas prices have dropped more than 25% from this year’s peak of about $5.00 per million Btu (MMBtu) in June to the current level of around $3.70 (referring to spot prices at the Henry Hub, the benchmark supply point in Louisiana). Of late, a mild autumn weather has driven a string of above-average inventory builds, indicating a grossly oversupplied...

Anthony Weiner tonight dramatically announced he is seeking professional help and has asked for temporary leave from his seat in Congress.The beleaguered congressman finally buckled just hours after the most senior figures in the Democrat party demanded he stand down.A spokesman for the New York Democrat said he has left for professional treatment and will focus on 'becoming a better husband and healthier person'. His decision is the culmination of days of intense pressure following his public admission

Memorial Day normally kicks off the summer vacation and heavy driving season, but with gas prices at the pump more than twice as expensive as they were two years ago, American families are being forced to stay close to home and pull back on normal family expenses.   The cost to fill up the tank is consuming 40% more of the family budget than it did last summer.  According to AAA, 17 cents of every consumer dollar is spent at the pump, up from 12 cents one year ago.  That has consequences, of course.  "Dining, shopping, museums, and gambling are taking...

For all Zero Hedge readers who have long waited for their chance to ask Mr. Scott Alvarez of "Have The Federal Reserve Or Prime Brokers Ever Tried To Manipulate The Stock Market?" fame a question about life, the universe or why the CME decides to hike ES margins in an environment of rising realized vol, here it is. Tomorrow, at 2PM, Ron Paul will lead a hearing by the Financial Services Committee, which will luckily be carried by C-SPAN meaning one will be actually able to hear the dialog (alas, the House continues to believe that investing in microphones for...

Energy prices have been coming down this spring as fears of a Middle East blowup fade. But persistent global demand, tepid supply growth and easy money mean it may not be long till the next damaging spike, Goldman Sachs economists say. Oil prices could surge again by the end of 2012, economists Jan Hatzius and Andrew Tilton wrote in a note to clients this past weekend. They say the snail-like pace of global oil supply expansion – which Goldman projects at 1% or so annually – can't keep a petroleum-addicted world economy rolling without prices rising, perhaps sharply. So don't...

JIM ROGERS ON COMMODITIES: The Bull Market Will Go Up, Consolidate, Go Up, Consolidate, Go Up And Consolidate For Years Gus Lubin May 7, 2011, 8:56 AM Jim Rogers didn't buy or sell anything during last week's commodity sell-off. He says he isn't good at market timing. What he does believe is that we're in the middle of a commodity bull market where everything will go up for years. Rogers tells the Economic Times: "5% correction in gold is meaningless. These things correct 10-15-20-30% every year. Nothing unusual about that. That is the way the markets work. I do not...

Inventories The Department of Energy reported that in the week ending December 24th, 2010, U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 1.3 million barrels, gasoline inventories decreased by 2.3 million barrels, distillate inventories increased by 0.2 million barrels, and total petroleum inventories decreased by 9.1 million barrels. After a brief pause last week, the total petroleum surplus resumed its downward trend. Stocks are now 56.2, or 5.5%, above the 5-year average, down from 6% last week. Back during the middle of September, the surplus was almost double what it is now at 111 million, or 10.7%. Crude oil inventories fell seasonally,...

Saturday night: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has convened his top mini-Cabinet of seven ministers for an emergency meeting in which they will vote on the United States demand that Israel re-freeze Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria for another three months. In exchange, the U.S. promises 20 jet fighters, as well as an automatic veto of any anti-Israel resolution or demand in the United Nations. The Palestinian Authority has repeatedly demanded that Israel freeze all construction for the 320,000 Jews of Judea and Samaria, as well as for the 300,000 Jews of northern and eastern Jerusalem. In fact, a year...

The rise in gun sales and food stamp demand are indicators of a fearful public struggling financially, Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist, ConvergEx Group, told CNBC Monday. “Oddly enough, buying a gun still holds very steady, but buying ammunition not so much,” said Colas, who analyzes trends in the economy and financial markets. In addition to firearms and food stamps, ConvergEX reviewed sales of gold and silver coins and used cars. “That tells us that there are more first-time [gun] buyers coming in to buy firearms and that speaks to your worries about security. They buy a few rounds

In another sign the economic recovery is stalling, Intel -- whose fortunes are a key barometer of the technology sector's health -- cut its forecast for third-quarter sales, citing "weaker than expected demand for consumer PCs in mature markets." The Santa Clara company -- the worlds' biggest chip maker -- said it now expects its revenue for the quarter to range between $10.8 billion and $11.2 billion, compared with its previous prediction of $11.2 billion to $12 billion.

Weak Sales Pose Threat to Recovery in Stocks Monday, August 9, 2010 08:26 AM Weak revenue growth, which corporate America managed to mask in the second quarter by holding costs at unsustainably low levels, stands as the biggest threat to a recovery in U.S. stocks. Many of the largest U.S. companies sailed past Wall Street's expectations, their profit boosted by last year's brutal cost-cutting campaigns. Companies laid off tens of thousands of workers, sent remaining staffers out on unpaid leave and halted contributions to employee retirement accounts. Their top-line performance, though, was less stellar. Shares of blue chip companies, including...

(CNSNews.com) -- Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) Tuesday called on the top Obama State Department official responsible for human rights issues to “retract and apologize” for telling officials of the Communist government of China that Arizona's new immigration-enforcement law is an example of a “troubling trend in our society” and for portraying Arizona as the moral equivalent of Communist China.

TORRINGTON -- Parents on Monday demanded action from school officials whom they said have long ignored deep-rooted racial tensions in the school system and community at the expense of Hispanic students. The issues were raised during a town hall-style event at Workman Memorial AME Zion Church attended by about 70 people, most of them Hispanic. The dialogue was at times impassioned as parents criticized the school system for being out of touch with an increasingly diverse community and for ignoring students' discrimination complaints. The meeting came in response to the revelation last week that undercurrents of gang activity had colored...

March 10, 2010 Chinese exports surge in reaction to bank policy Leo Lewis, Asia Business Correspondent Chinese trade surged last month following the country’s rise in bank lending, leading economists to predict a strong increase in exports over the course of 2010. Exports grew by 45.7 per cent in February compared to the same month in 2009 despite the lunar new year holiday, which shut down the country for several days last month. Although global fund managers have been encouraged by some brokers to think of Chinese consumption as an attractive investment, more bearish observers believe that it will be...

LONDON – The U.K.-based Bible Society has reported a growing demand for copies of the Bible in China where an estimated 500,000 people convert to Christianity every year. Although some four million Bibles were printed and distributed across China last year, the rapid growth of the church year on year means that demand for Bibles is now outstripping supply, according to the Bible Society. The official number of Christians in China stands at 28.6 million, but it is believed the true figure could be as high as 90 million if the estimated number of worshippers at unofficial house churches is...

Sebelius Says U.S. Will Donate Part of H1N1 Vaccine Supply to Foreign Nations Before Meeting This Nation’s DemandThursday, October 22, 2009 By Chris Neefus      ....... Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) asked Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebilius why the United States should get vaccinations ahead of people in other countries, including those in countries that are producing the vaccine for the United States. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)When Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) had his turn to question Sebelus, he raised the issue of whether the United States was "entitled" to the vaccine more than other nations. "Why should we be more entitled, the U.S. be more   entitled to...

U.S. farm income to plunge 38 percent in 2009: USDA By Christopher Doering Thu Aug 27, 1:16 pm ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. farm income this year was forecast to plunge 38 percent to $54 billion due to lower commodity prices for crops and livestock, the Agriculture Department said on Thursday. Grain and livestock prices falling from record highs set in 2008 means farmers will see earnings slump by $33.2 billion in 2009 from last year's near record net farm income of $87.2 billion. The 2009 forecast was $9 billion below the 10-year average of $63.2 billion in net farm...

Paris - The top pilots' union at Air France demanded on Wednesday that European airspeed monitors be replaced by US-made models across the airline's fleet after a new malfunction was reported this month. An Airbus 320 equipped with new speed probes made by European electronics giant Thales was flying from Rome to Paris on July 13 when the sensors, known as pitot tubes, broke down, Air France said late on Tuesday.

The social and economic costs of lost productivity and wasted fuel from traffic-choked streets are estimated to be $87 billion a year, according to the Texas Transportation Institute’s 2009 Urban Mobility Report. So far, federal, state and local efforts — focused mostly on expanding road capacity — have been largely unsuccessful at slowing the growing congestion on U.S. roads. Transportation experts now advocate a different approach, changing the emphasis from increasing supply to reducing demand. To reinforce smart growth policies, plug mounting transportation funding gaps and achieve immediate traffic relief, London, Stockholm, Singapore, Milan and three cities in Norway have...

GENEVA (AFP) – Ballooning US demand and the handgun's surge in popularity drove up the global trade in small arms by more than a quarter between 2000 and 2006, a UN-backed study showed Thursday. Those weapons in the hands of civilians, security forces or armed groups were behind the deaths of 450,000 people, said the authors of the Small Arms Survey 2009. Pistols, revolvers, rifles and heavy machine guns accounted for 60 percent of deaths through intentional violence of any kind, including the use of bombs, knives or bare hands, whether in conflicts or crime, the experts said. By 2006,...

Vice President Biden recently confessed that the administration "guessed wrong" on the stimulus bill. Even President Obama reluctantly admitted that unemployment is likely to reach ten percent this year, after promising in February that his stimulus package would keep it from exceeding eight. The US economy is so large and globally dominant that it probably will recover at some point -- perhaps just in time for the 2010 elections. And once it recovers, no doubt Mr. Obama will stop blaming his predecessor and take credit for it. But his actions only worsened the economic recession, just as President Roosevelt's did...

Caffeine addicts face higher prices for their daily fix as the wholesale cost of both coffee and sugar rise sharply because of poor crops and robust demand.

Central banks succumb again to bullion’s lure By Javier Blas in London and Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai. Published: May 6 2009 23:31 | Last updated: May 6 2009 23:31 Ten years ago on Wednesday the UK Treasury sent gold prices tumbling when it announced it would sell a chunk of its gold reserves. In a matter of weeks prices plunged to a 22-year low of $250 a troy ounce and, over the course of that year, central banks from Australia and Switzerland to the Netherlands announced plans to sell a large slice of their bullion. “There was a feeling that...

Gold demand has risen to 3,659 tons: WGC Commodity Online LONDON: The global economic meltdown has propelled a surge in demand for gold jewellery, bars and coins that the demand for the yellow metal has risen to touch 3,659 tons, says a new report from the World Gold Council (WGC). The Gold Demand Trends, compiled for WGC by GFMS Limited said that investment demand for gold, including gold exchange traded funds (ETFs), bars and coins, was 64% higher in 2008 than in 2007. ”This is equivalent to an additional inflow of $US15 billion. Demand for gold bars and gold coins...

Oil demand to fall at fastest rate since 1982 By Ed Crooks, Energy Editor Published: February 11 2009 09:47 | Last updated: February 11 2009 09:47 Demand for oil will fall this year at the fastest rate since 1982, the International Energy Agency has forecast. The rich countries’ energy think-tank has again cut sharply its prediction for world oil demand this year, and now expects it to average 84.7m barrels per day, down 1m b/d from last year, because of the steep downturn in the world economy. This year is expected to mark two successive years of falling demand for...

GAZA CITY — Hamas has demanded a guarantee from Israel that it would not attack the Islamic regime in the Gaza Strip. ShareThis Hamas sources said a five-member delegation that completed negotiations in Cairo has insisted that any Israeli ceasefire include a guarantee backed by the international community that Israel would not topple the Islamic regime. The sources said this has been the main obstacle to a ceasefire agreement, Middle East Newsline reported. "They [Egypt] have a duty to provide guarantees that bind the Zionist entity, and the Egyptians have to give us answers to our inquiries," Hamas spokesman Fawzi...

How will China deal with the US adjustment? January 9, 2009 by FT By Michael Pettis The post-1997 global balance is breaking down, and the world is lurching drunkenly to find a stable new balance. Until now, Chinese overproduction has balanced US overconsumption, leading to China’s massive trade surplus and capital account deficit. Inevitably, however, a reduction in US overconsumption, a necessary consequence of the financial crisis, must force a corresponding reduction in overproduction elsewhere, and China, like it or not, will have to bear the brunt of the adjustment. The US and Europe must design their fiscal and monetary...

ABC has Gotcha Gibson. NBC has Williams. CBS has Couric. Fox has............ Nothing. There is no national broadcast coming from Fox news. This needs to change.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil dropped more than 3 percent on Thursday, touching the lowest level since May 2005 as record U.S. job losses intensified concerns of a long and deep global recession and further crushed demand expectations. The U.S. government reported the number of workers making new claims for jobless benefits last week surged to the highest in 16 years, helping to push down global equity markets. U.S. crude fell $1.81 to $51.81 a barrel by 1251 p.m. EST after earlier touching $49.75, marking the lowest level since May 25, 2005, when prices hit $49.58. London Brent crude shed...

NEW YORK – Oil prices fell below $79 a barrel in choppy trading Tuesday as investors took profits from the previous day's rally and shifted their focus back to signs of dwindling world energy demand. A falling U.S. stock market, a day after a record-breaking advance, also weighed on crude prices as oil market traders continued to fixate on equities as a barometer for the overall confidence in the shaky world economy. At the pump, retail gas price kept dropping. A gallon of regular dropped 4.3 cents overnight to a new national average of $3.163, according to auto club AAA,...

CBOT Rice Review: Slips As Lack Of Demand Weighs 3 hours ago CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Chicago Board of Trade rice futures ended sharply lower Wednesday as a lack of demand continues to weigh on the market, an analyst said. November rice ended down 40 cents to $17.30 per hundredweight and January rice ended down 41 1/2 cents to $17.62. Prices have fallen sharply since hitting a high of $20.44 last month, when the market had rallied on concerns about the crop following hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Although the crop remains troubled, with lower yields expected, firstgrain.com analyst Ed Taylor said the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil dropped more than 6 percent to below $88 a barrel on Monday as a global market rout churned concerns that faltering fuel demand could slow further. U.S. stocks tumbled 6 percent to the lowest level in nearly five years as part of an international sell-off on fears the global economy was heading into recession. U.S. crude settled down $6.07 at $87.81 a barrel after hitting an eight-month low of $87.56. London Brent crude fell $6.57 to settle at $83.68 a barrel. Crude prices have plummeted from a peak over $147 a barrel set on July...

LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices fell below 105 dollars Friday on concerns over slowing energy demand and a strong US currency, while the market awaited next week's OPEC meeting on crude output levels, traders said. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October dropped 97 cents to 105.33 dollars a barrel in electronic deals after slipping under 105 dollars earlier in the day. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October, fell 96 cents to 106.93 dollars a barrel in pit trading. "Crude prices featured on the downside on persistent concerns over weakening oil demand and as the US...

$65 oil is coming (maybe) A top analyst expects crude prices to start plummeting. If you don't believe it, you're not the only one, and a few stocks look good if you're in the skeptics' camp. By Jon Markman If you're frustrated over the high cost of gasoline at the pump, don't trade in your Hummer for a Vespa just yet: A leading energy analyst is telling clients these days to prepare for crude oil to retreat back below $65 per barrel over the next three years. How could it happen? He says conservation, new drilling, efficient new vehicles, alternative...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Commodity markets slumped broadly Wednesday, dragged by crude oil prices that dropped below $125 a barrel after the government reported a big rise in gasoline stocks, suggesting high pump prices were hitting U.S. fuel usage. Gold prices sank almost 3 percent while industrial metals such as aluminum and copper tumbled to five-week lows. Soybeans and wheat fell, giving back most of Tuesday's rebound. Corn slumped too as investors fretted about demand for biofuel products that had until June enjoyed a boom competing with the rally in oil. The broad sell-off pushed the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index ,...

World oil production fell by 0.2 percent in 2007, the first decline since 2002, while consumption rose by 1.1 percent, BP (British Petroleum) said on Wednesday, highlighting a tight supply/demand balance that has helped push oil prices to record levels. Production fell by 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year to 81.53 million bpd and reserves were essentially flat at 1.24 trillion barrels, London-based BP said in its 2008 Statistical Review of World Energy. The figures compiled by BP underline the world's challenge of boosting production to meet growing demand, particularly from developing economies such as China and India.

North Korea is refusing to proceed further with its nuclear disarmament unless other countries at arms talks guarantee promised energy aid, a South Korean official said Thursday. Seeking to break the latest stalemate at the nuclear negotiations, the five other countries in the arms talks - the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and South Korea - met with the North on Wednesday in the truce village of Panmunjom in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Koreas. "The North has taken the position that if that (energy aid) is not fully guaranteed, it cannot cooperate in making further steps" at...

China's Oil Needs Keep Rising For Trucks, Industry, Stockpiles Reinhardt Krause 1 hour, 37 minutes ago Beijing's Summer Olympics, Sichuan's 7.2-magnitude earthquake in May and a buildup in strategic petroleum reserves put China's always difficult-to-discern oil demand even more in the dark. China has become the world's second-largest oil consumer after the U.S. as its people drive more cars and its factories produce steel and other energy-intensive goods. Despite China's growing role in global consumption, its actual demand for oil remains a mystery. In May, the U.S. urged China to join the International Energy Agency to help calm oil markets....

Obese people are contributing to the world food crisis and climate change, experts say. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine calculated the obese consume 18% more calories than average. They are also responsible for using more fuel, which has an environmental impact and drives up food prices as transport and agriculture both use oil. The result is that the poor struggle to afford food and greenhouse gas emissions rise, the Lancet reported. It comes as the World Health Organization predicts the obese population will double by 2015 to 700m. In the UK, nearly a quarter of adults are...

Many investors have become contrarians and are now apparently experts in being able to spot bubbles. Hence, they all are fully aware that a bubble exists in agricultural commodities at this juncture. Really, you can listen to just about any financial source and hear some commentator warning about the epic bubble that is evident in agricultural commodity prices. However, some of these same folks were completely blindsided by the collapse of the tech bubble in 2000. And they also were shocked that real estate prices could ever decline in value. Of course, this new class of maverick investor is also...

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's High Court rejected an opposition demand Monday for the immediate release of long-delayed election results, prolonging a political crisis that has paralyzed this southern African nation for more than two weeks. An opposition spokesman said the party would stage a nationwide "stay-away" from work on Tuesday. The main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, says he won the March 29 election outright, and has accused President Robert Mugabe of holding back the results so he can orchestrate a runoff and ensure his 28-year grip on power. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change had hoped that the court — though...

China's oil reserve build-up adds to global demand It plans a stockpile equivalent to 30 days' worth of imports by 2010 By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch Last update: 6:40 p.m. EDT March 11, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- China's plans to build its strategic petroleum reserves to at least 100 million barrels by 2010 could add more pressure to crude prices which have already been at record highs. The world's second-largest oil consumer already has built two underground storage reserves in east China and will put into use two more storage bases soon, a senior Chinese official said over the weekend,...

A Global Need for Grain That Farms Can’t Fill By DAVID STREITFELD LAWTON, N.D. — Whatever Dennis Miller decides to plant this year on his 2,760-acre farm, the world needs. Wheat prices have doubled in the last six months. Corn is on a tear. Barley, sunflower seeds, canola and soybeans are all up sharply. “For once, there’s great reason to be optimistic,” Mr. Miller said. But the prices that have renewed Mr. Miller’s faith in farming are causing pain far and wide. A tailor in Lagos, Nigeria, named Abel Ojuku said recently that he had been forced to cut back...

WASHINGTON: Forget the import of jet fighters and uranium for the moment. It’s India’s purchase of wheat in the international market that is attracting world attention — besides domestic controversy. A massive purchase of nearly 800,000 tonnes of wheat by India at record prices earlier this week has added to what agricultural experts are calling the great wheat panic of 2007. Wheat prices had already reached record levels ahead of the Indian move, thanks to falling or stagnating production in many countries — blamed on poor weather and crop diversion — and growing population. Now, prices are going through the...

With gasoline prices rising, political rhetoric is rising even faster. Liberals in Congress and in the media have launched a war of words, whose net result may well be a demand for some form of price control. Price controls are not a new idea. There have been price controls in countries around the world. There were price controls during ancient times in Babylon and in the Roman Empire. Whatever the hopes that may have inspired price controls, economists have studied their actual consequences, which have been remarkably similar from one place to another and from one time to another --...

A speed limit of 20mph could be introduced across much of London within three years. The measure, which would affect central London and residential areas where the limit is usually 30mph, is being demanded by the London Assembly Green Party, backed by road safety experts. Jenny Jones, the Mayor's Green road safety adviser, said she had discussed the plan with Ken Livingstone and that he backs more 20mph zones, but needed a little "arm-twisting" to accept their introduction across London.

Higher demand, lower subsidies driving costs Milk prices worldwide are rising at the fastest rate ever and won't be falling anytime soon because of growing demand in China and Latin America and dwindling government supplies. Dairy farmers have failed to keep pace with a 3 percent increase in annual milk consumption, according to Rabobank Groep in the Netherlands, the world's biggest agricultural lender. Reduced subsidies eliminated milk surpluses in Europe and slowed production growth in the U.S., government data show. The rally started last year after Australia reduced exports because of its worst drought in a century. "Over the next...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gasoline prices hit a new record at the pump on Monday, but gas futures prices fell on concerns that $3 gas will crimp demand. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose on reports of refinery problems in the U.S. and abroad.