Red Skelton Explains "The Pledge of Allegiance"

Red Skelton Explains "The Pledge of Allegiance"

Engineers say well could leak for years if not stopped

"It's huge. It's a big oil field," said Roger Anderson, an oil geophysicist at the Earth Institute of Columbia University. "If 20,000 barrels a day are escaping, it could stay there for years, then drop off. It could flow at a small rate for a very, very long time."

Helen Thomas: Jews get out of Israel. Go back to Poland!

Sovereign Credit-Default Swaps Surge on Hungarian Debt Crisis... "a very grave situation"

Credit-default swaps on sovereign bonds surged to a record on speculation Europe’s debt crisis is worsening after Hungary said it’s in a “very grave situation” because a previous government lied about the economy.

The euro dropped below $1.21 for the first time since April 2006, stocks tumbled and the cost of insuring against corporate default rose on speculation Hungary will weaken the EU’s willingness to rescue the region’s indebted nations

Turkey says may cut ties with Israel to minimum

Turkey said on Friday it could cut ties with Israel to a minimum after a sea raid on a Turkish ship bound for Gaza plunged relations to their lowest since the two countries forged a strategic relationship in the 1990s.

U.S. 'secret war' expands globally as Special Operations forces take larger role

Special Operations forces have grown both in number and budget, and are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last year. In addition to units that have spent years in the Philippines and Colombia, teams are operating in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

Myanmar's Secret Nuclear Program Revealed

A defector from Myanmar -- an army major and deputy commander of a top-secret nuclear facility -- escaped the country with thousands of files detailing a secret nuclear and missile program.

Netanyahu tells Blair he will 'loosen' Gaza blockade

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told former British prime minister Tony Blair Thursday that he is willing to loosen the blockade of Gaza in order to allow humanitarian aid to enter the strip.  Netanyahu expressed his willingness to allow ships carrying humanitarian goods to enter Gaza port after having been checked for weapons by international inspectors.  The prime minister's comments came as world pressure on Israel to end the blockade increases in the wake of the Gaza Flotilla Affair in which nine activists were killed

Israel set to become gas exporter

Consortium finds enough gas to secure energy needs for 50 - 70 years.

Rabbis: Flotilla Clash Heralds Gog and Magog Prophecy

The Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria issued an unusual statement Thursday in which it said that the results of the incident in which Israel intercepted a flotilla trying to break the naval blockade of Gaza "place us at the beginning of the Gog and Magog process where the world is against us, but which ends with the third and final redemption."

Anti-Israel sharks sniff Obama's weakness

Weakness always begets aggression, and, like clockwork, Obama's repeated signals that he is weakening America's commitment to Israel are emboldening the Jewish state's enemies. From Syria to Iran to Lebanon, from Hezbollah to Hamas and the PLO, the wolves smell blood and are trying to gauge whether they can get close enough for the kill.

And whether the United States will stop them. That they even dare hope we won't reflects the danger of Obama's demented decisions.

Stocks, Oil Drop, Treasuries Rise as Middle-East Tension Grows

Stocks and oil dropped, while the dollar and Treasuries rose, as a report that Lebanon fired on Israeli warplanes spurred concern tensions in the Middle East are escalating. Energy companies led declines in equities after BP Plc failed to halt the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

Groups want FCC to police hate speech on talk radio, cable news networks

"As traditional media have become less diverse and less competitive, they have also grown less responsible and less responsive to the communities that they are supposed to serve," the organizations wrote to the FCC. "In this same atmosphere hate speech thrives, as hate has developed as a profit-model for syndicated radio and cable television program masquerading as 'news.'"

Syria conducted nuclear experiments...

Syria has told the UN atomic watchdog about past nuclear experiments, but is still refusing to cooperate over allegations that it was building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korea's help, a new report revealed Monday.

North Korea 'is exporting nuclear technology'

International efforts to avert a full-blown crisis on the Korean peninsula were given greater urgency today after a leaked UN report claimed that North Korea is defying UN sanctions and using front companies to export nuclear and missile technology to Iran, Syria and Burma.

IAEA: Iran has over 2 tons enriched uranium -2 bombs' worth

On enrichment, the report said Iran had now enriched 2,427 kilograms to just over three percent level. That means shipping out 1,200 kilograms (as proposed by the IAEA late in 2009) now would still leave Iran with more than enough material to make a nuclear weapon. That makes the deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil unattractive to the U.S and its allies.

Israel Concerned Turkey Navy with Next Flotilla

"This initiative is not going to stop," she said from the group's base in Cyprus. "We think eventually Israel will get some kind of common sense. They're going to have to stop the blockade of Gaza, and one of the ways to do this is for us to continue to send the boats."

Navy sources said that the coming ships would be intercepted the same way the flotilla was stopped on Monday morning although it had yet to be decided if the operation would be carried out by Sayetet 13, the Navy’s commando unit.

“We are tracking the ships and are under orders to stop them,” a top Navy officer said.

According to the sources, the Navy, in a future operation will use more force to prevent ships from reaching the Gaza Strip. "We boarded the ship and were attacked as if it was a war," one officer said. "That will mean that we will have to come prepared in the future as if it was a war."

Lebanon fires on Israeli warplanes: security official

Lebanon's military fired anti-aircraft artillery at Israeli warplanes that were flying over Lebanon, a senior Israeli security official said on Tuesday.

Desert storm: Huge cloud of sand descends on Chinese village

China warns debt woes threaten global recovery

Governments around the world ran up record debts during the $5 trillion effort to pull the economy out of its deepest slump since the Great Depression and now face a tough balancing act: how to reduce debt without choking off growth.

Israel recoils as USA backs UN move...

Washington's unprecedented backing for a UN resolution for a nuclear-free Middle East that singles out Israel has both angered and deeply worried the Jewish state although officials are cagey about openly criticising their biggest ally.

The resolution adopted by the United Nations on Friday calls on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and urges it to open its facilities to inspection.

No End in Sight... And oh, Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins Tuesday

BOOTHVILLE, La. – There is still a hole in the Earth, crude oil is still spewing from it and there is still, excruciatingly, no end in sight. After trying and trying again, one of the world's largest corporations, backed and pushed by the world's most powerful government, can't stop the runaway gusher.

As desperation grows and ecological misery spreads, the operative word on the ground now is, incredibly, August — the earliest moment that a real resolution could be at hand. And even then, there's no guarantee of success. For the United States and the people of its beleaguered Gulf Coast, a dispiriting summer of oil and anger lies dead ahead.

Oh ... and the Atlantic hurricane season begins Tuesday.

US Plans for Worst in Gulf... 'Oil coming up 'til August'

The Obama administration scrambled to respond on Sunday after the failure of the latest effort to kill the gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. But administration officials acknowledged the possibility that tens of thousands of gallons of oil might continue pouring out until August, when two relief wells are scheduled to be completed.

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“This is obviously a difficult situation,” Ms. Browner said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, “but it’s important for people to understand that from the beginning, the government has been in charge.

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”The final plugging of the well will have to wait until August, when the two relief wells are scheduled be completed. Those wells are being drilled diagonally to intersect with the runaway well and inject it with heavy liquids and cement. Work could be slowed by storms in what is expected to be an active summer hurricane season.

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Donald Van Nieuwenhuise, director of petroleum geoscience programs at the University of Houston, said that he thought BP’s next plan had a good chance of succeeding, but that there was also a risk of increasing the flow of escaping oil by 10 percent.

“Then it just makes the situation worse for longer,” he said, unless the containment cap succeeds in collecting a substantial amount of oil.

Americans Fleeing Border Invasion...Protect Yourself... The 9mm Won't Save You!

Will the National Guard be stationed right on the line, with bullets in their guns and the authority to defend themselves? Almost certainly not. The border is a "combat zone," says T.J. Bonner, head of the Border patrol agents' union, too dangerous even for Border Patrol. You read that correctly. Without armored vehicles to protect them, Bonner opposes putting Border Patrol agents on the border itself.

Communist Revolutionaries in Atlanta - Be AWARE!

US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus

The M3 money supply in the United States is contracting at an accelerating rate that now matches the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal blitz in history.

Chavez Confiscates Food

The operation was part of President Hugo Chavez's efforts "to protect the Venezuelan family" and avoid the phenomenon of empty shelves at grocery stores, the general said.

Gov. Christie: We're Not Raising Taxes

New Jersey Governor Says He Has Residents Covered Through Fiscal Year 2011 Despite $800 Million Hole.   How Did He Do This? Remember The Budget Freeze? Looks Like It Worked

'Plug the damn hole'

Obama has told aides in recent days to "plug the damn hole" and he will head to the Louisiana Gulf coast on Friday for the second time since the April 20 rig blast that killed 11 and unleashed the oil.

North Korea bracing...severs all ties with South Korea

Tensions have risen since last week, when a team of international investigators concluded that a torpedo from a North Korean submarine tore apart the Cheonan warship off the west coast on March 26.

US Prepares for Largest Battle in Afghanistan...

"Our intent is to take away from [the Taliban] access to the population where they are traditionally strongest. And that will take away from them some of their credibility as well as recruiting, funding, access to narcotics," McChrystal told ABC News in a March interview. "It won't be decisive. But it's a pretty severe blow to them if they lose what we would consider their most important area."  Many have been more blunt. The campaign is the most significant test of the new American counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, and if it fails in any way, risks further alienating a skeptical population that is desperate for security.  "We've got a few months," says one senior military official who has helped plan the campaign, "to make a giant difference."

Moody’s Reiterates U.S. Spending Risks Credit Rating

The government’s finances have been “substantially worsened by the credit crisis, recession, and government spending to address these shocks,” Moody’s analysts lead by Steven A. Hess wrote

Obama to skip Memorial Day at Arlington...will be vacationing in Chicago

Gold Rising; Speculators buying faster than producers can mine...

Speculators are buying gold faster than the world’s biggest producers can mine it as analysts forecast a 27 percent rally that may extend the longest run of annual gains since at least 1920.

Congress preparing to QUADRUPLE tax on oil

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the tax increase was hastily put together, without adequate study, to help pay for an unrelated bill. The tax increase was unveiled Thursday, without any congressional hearings to study its impact. Even with the tax increases, the bill is projected to add $134 billion to the federal budget deficit. "I have seen no analysis on how this would impact energy security, how this would impact domestic production, how this would impact the overall economics in the country," said Christopher Guith, vice president of the chamber's energy institute. "There hasn't been any sort of deliberation on this."

Climate Fears Turn to Doubts

A survey in February by the BBC found that only 26 percent of Britons believed that “climate change is happening and is now established as largely manmade,” down from 41 percent in November 2009. A poll conducted for the German magazine Der Spiegel found that 42 percent of Germans feared global warming, down from 62 percent four years earlier.

Financial Reform Bill Is A ‘Disaster’: Sen. Gregg

“The bill is a disaster because it doesn’t address the fundamental underlining causes of the economic issue, which were real estate and underwriting,” he said. “This bill became, ‘I want to score the most points against Wall Street.’ Most of the initiative of this bill wasn’t directed at solving the problem, but it was directed at scoring political points.”  “You’ll basically have a consumer protection agency which decides to go out and in the morning and say, ‘well everybody who’s XYZ should have a loan, even though the local community bank says XYZ shouldn’t have a loan, because if we give them a loan, we know they’re not going to pay back,’” he said. “It’s going to become an agency that defines lending on social justice purposes instead of safety and soundness purposes.”

OBAMA REDISTRIBUTION VICTORY: PRIVATE PAY PLUMMETS, GOVT HANDOUTS SOAR

The trend is not sustainable, says University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes. Reason: The federal government depends on private wages to generate income taxes to pay for its ever-more-expensive programs. Government-generated income is taxed at lower rates or not at all, he says. "This is really important," Grimes says.

Economist David Henderson of the conservative Hoover Institution says a shift from private wages to government benefits saps the economy of dynamism. "People are paid for being rather than for producing," he says.

* European economy "teetering"

The U.S. economy faces major problems while Europe's is "teetering," the head of General Electric Co (GE.N) told a class of graduating college students on Monday.  "We are at an unprecedented moment in the history of our country. There is economic and social anxiety," said Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive of the largest U.S. conglomerate. "Europe appears to be teetering."

US Plays Down European Crisis but China Worried

European leaders have sought to deal with a crisis that has pushed many euro zone member states' borrowing costs sky high through a 110 billion euro bailout of Greece and the setting up of a $1 trillion safety net to stabilize the single currency.  But after riots on the streets of Athens and with strikes looming elsewhere, investors remain concerned about whether Europe has the political will to rein in bulging government deficits and tackle sluggish growth.  "Europe is trying to solve a debt problem with further debt," said Domenico Lombardi, president of the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy

One false move in Europe could set off global chain reaction

But the fallout from Europe could still be widely felt. U.S. trade officials, hoping the country can dramatically boost its exports, are dismayed at the steep drop in the value of the euro -- which is around $1.25, down from more than $1.50 in November. The decline makes American goods more expensive compared with those produced in Europe. The slide in the common European currency could also change the way China and a host of Asian countries approach their currency policies, possibly making them less likely to agree with U.S. demands to raise the value of their money. If they raised it, Asian goods would become more expensive in world markets, making it easier for U.S. products to compete.

FEDS: We may not process illegals referred from AZ...

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-AL, said it appeared the Obama administration is "nullifying existing law" and suggested Morton may not be the right person for his post if he fails to enforce federal immigration law.  "If he feels he cannot enforce the law, he shouldn't have the job," Sessions told Fox News. "That makes him, in my view, not fulfilling the responsibilities of his office."  Sessions said the U.S. government has "systematically failed" to enforce federal immigration law and claimed Morton's statement is an indication that federal officials do not plan on working with Arizona authorities regarding its controversial law.  "They're telegraphing to every ICE agency in America that they really don't intend on cooperating with Arizona," Sessions said. "The federal government should step up and do it. It's their responsibility."

AZ gov. to Obama: Order Guard choppers from other states to border...

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is asking President Barack Obama to reallocate National Guard helicopters from other states to help Arizona secure its border with Mexico.

The Eyes Have It

There is still something of that in all Americans, which means as a people were not really suited to the age of surveillance, the age of no privacy. There is no hiding place now, not here, and this strikes me as something of huge and existential import. It's like the closing of yet another frontier, a final one we didn't even know was there.

Krauthammer: The fruits of weakness

The real news is that already notorious photo: the president of Brazil, our largest ally in Latin America, and the prime minister of Turkey, for more than half a century the Muslim anchor of NATO, raising hands together with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the most virulently anti-American leader in the world.   That picture -- a defiant, triumphant take-that-Uncle-Sam -- is a crushing verdict on the Obama foreign policy. It demonstrates how rising powers, traditional American allies, having watched this administration in action, have decided that there's no cost in lining up with America's enemies and no profit in lining up with a U.S. president given to apologies and appeasement.

Krauthammer: This administration is lawless

US lifts sanctions against Russians linked to Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration on Friday removed sanctions against three Russian organizations the U.S. had previously accused of assisting Iran's effort to develop nuclear weapons. Penalties against a fourth Russian entity previously accused of illicit arms sales to Syria also were lifted.

Chris Christie - Doing what needs to be done

TRENTON — It took about two minutes from the time Senate President Steve Sweeney certified the passage of the millionaires tax package for Gov. Chris Christie to veto the bills at his desk.  "While I have little doubt that the sponsors and supporters of this bill sincerely believe that the state can tax its way out of this financial crisis, I believe that this bill does nothing more than repeat the failed, irresponsible and unsustainable fiscal policies of the past," wrote Christie in his veto statement. "Now is not the time for more of the same. Ultimately, another tax increase will punish the state’s struggling small businesses and set our economy further back from recovery."

'Millionaires tax' bills pass both houses, but are vetoed by Gov. Christie

Church warns scientists... only God can create life

ROME (AP) - Catholic Church officials said Friday the recent creation by researchers of the first synthetic cell can be a positive development if correctly used, but warned scientists that only God can create life.

'Artificial Life' breakthrough announced by scientists

Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA.  The researchers constructed a bacterium's "genetic software" and transplanted it into a host cell.  The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species "dictated" by the synthetic DNA.

'Frankenstein' doc creates life?

Professor Paul Freemont, of Imperial College London, called it "a landmark study".   He said: "This is a key step in the industrialisation of synthetic biology, leading to a new era."   Dr Eckard Wimmer, of Stony Brook University. New York, warned: "The possibility of misuse exists." And Dr David King, of Human Genetics Alert, said scientists were "playing God".   Dr Venter insisted the bacterium he used is found in cows, not people. But a relative of it causes pneumonia in humans.

D.C. Metro Police Escorted SEIU Protesters to Bank Of America Executive’s Home

So, let’s sum this up: A caravan of SEIU buses receive a Metropolitan (D.C.) Police Department escort to a private home in Maryland where the protesters, from all appearances, violate Montgomery County law by engaging in a stationary protest. The Montgomery County police were not informed by their cross-jurisdictional colleagues of the impending, unusually large protest pending in their jurisdiction.  What’s up with that? Had the mob decided to torch the house, the D.C. police would not have been authorized to intervene. Not their jurisdiction. They’re just escorts. Meanwhile, a teenage boy is home alone, frightened by what’s happening outside his front door.  There’s something very wrong with this picture.

Cops: Bullies tattooed boy against his will...

I added this story in to remind people what a huge problem bullying is. 

Markets Plunge for Third Day On Jitters Over EU, Economy

"For Germany to come in and unilaterally make a decision to affect the markets was seen as the first step toward dissolving the EU," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald. "There is a real fear factor going on here, it is unraveling every day that the currency gets hit."

'Chain of Dominoes' Giving Investors Cause For Worry

"We've kind of kicked the can down the road. We haven't fundamentally addressed anything...and we're hoping that over time things will work themselves out," says Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist for Channel Capital Research. "What we're finding now is it's much more difficult because it's a global system. Everything is interlinked, so it's like a chain of dominoes."

Dollar Index to Hit 88.5, then 'Collapse': Charts

The U.S. dollar index will continue rising over then next three weeks, but then collapse thereafter, Daryl Guppy, CEO of Guppytraders.com, told CNBC Thursday.  Guppy said he sees the U.S. dollar index reaching 88.5 in the coming three weeks and then "collapse" to 81.5.  "Volatility is the characteristic of the dollar index at the moment," he said.

Cramer: Europe to Collapse in 48 Hours – or Never

If we don’t see total capitulation in Europe over the next two days, Cramer said during Wednesday's Stop Trading!, investors may have to admit that the Continent is “merely” suffering a downturn. Because the repercussions from the expectations of a collapse, which have fed the negativity in the American markets and driven down stocks, can’t continue for much longer without it actually happening.

China to US: Put Your Fiscal House in Order

Sovereign debt troubles in Europe underscore how important it is for the United States to control its own borrowing as its indebtedness reaches concerning levels, a senior Chinese official said on Thursday.

Germany's Schaeuble Says Markets Out of Control

He admits that the greatest problem affecting the markets is one of trust in the ability of the EU, and especially the 16 members of the common currency area at its heart, to bring their debt and deficits under control as they have promised. “That is the task we must perform,” he tells the Financial Times aboard his Luftwaffe Challenger jet bound for Berlin. “But that doesn’t alter the fact that financial market regulation is also necessary.  “I’m convinced the markets are really out of control. That is why we need really effective regulation, in the sense of creating a properly functioning market mechanism.”

New Claims Shoot Higher as Jobless Problem Persists

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 471,000 in the week ended May 15, the highest level since the week ended April 10, the Labor Department said.

North Korea warns of war if punished for ship sinking

Tensions deepened Thursday on the Korean peninsula as South Korea accused North Korea of firing a torpedo that sank a naval warship, killing 46 sailors in the country's worst military disaster since the Korean War.  President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action" for the provocation following the release of long-awaited results from a multinational investigation into the March 26 sinking near the Koreas' tense maritime border. North Korea, reacting swiftly, called the results a fabrication, and warned that any retaliation would trigger war. It continued to deny involvement in the sinking of the warship Cheonan.  "If the (South Korean) enemies try to deal any retaliation or punishment, or if they try sanctions or a strike on us .... we will answer to this with all-out war," Col. Pak In Ho of North Korea's navy told broadcaster APTN in an exclusive interview in Pyongyang.

Greek strikers march on parliament against cuts

The strike was called by unions representing 2.5 million workers, half the country's workforce, who want the government to withdraw austerity measures agreed with the EU and IMF in return for a 110 billion-euro ($137 billion) emergency loan.  Schools and government offices were shut and hospitals were operating on skeleton staff. Tourist sites such as Athens' ancient Acropolis were also closed, ships were kept in port or prevented from docking, and domestic flights were disrupted.

One in 7 US Homeowners Late Paying or In Foreclosure

One out of seven U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter late on mortgage payments or in the foreclosure process...

The delinquency rate for one-to-four-unit residential loans in the first quarter rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.06 percent of loans outstanding from 9.47 percent the prior quarter and from 9.12 percent a year earlier.

County to charge 50-cent-per-ride fee for school-bus...

Parents in Colorado's third-largest school district are being asked to pay if their kids want to ride the bus to school.  The Douglas County school board voted 5-0 Tuesday night to approve a 50-cent-per-ride transportation fee starting next school year. The decision will affect about 17,000 students who ride the bus this year. The district hopes to raise $2 million with the program.