Global stock markets tumbled after Greece's debt was downgraded to "junk" by rating agency Standard & Poor's over concerns that the country may default.
It makes the struggling nation the first eurozone member to have its debt downgraded to junk level.
Portugal's debt was also lowered on fears of "contagion", adding to the markets' rout and a fall in the euro.
Germany immediately said it would not "let Greece fall", and there were signs that an aid package could be increased.
Greece wants 40bn euros (£34bn) from eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to shore up its finances.
But there are fears it will not meet conditions needed to access the funds it needs to make looming debt repayments.
Doubts intensify
When ratings agencies downgrade the country's credit rating - it means they think it is now a riskier place to invest. If it reaches junk status, a country loses its investment grade status. Some financial institutions have rules prohibiting them from investing in "junk" bonds.
Greece's 2-year government bond yield surged to almost 15% on Tuesday, making it highly expensive for the country to borrow from the debt market.
Greek 5-year yields hit 10.6%, higher than many emerging market economies, including Ecuador at 10.5% and Ukraine at 7.1%.
The 2-year Portuguese bond yield jumped to 5.23% from 4.16%.
S&P said it was lowering its rating on Greece's debt to BB+ from BBB-. It also reducing Portugal's debt rating by two notches to A- as doubts intensified about countries with substantial debt relative to GDP.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Greece Cut to Junk at S&P as Contagion Spreads
Greece’s credit rating was cut three steps to junk by Standard and Poor’s, the first time a euro member has lost its investment grade since the currency’s 1999 debut. The euro weakened and stock markets throughout the region plunged.
Greece was lowered to BB+ from BBB+ by S&P, which also warned that bondholders could recover as little as 30 percent of their initial investment if the country restructures its debt. The move, which puts Greek debt on a par with bonds issued by Azerbaijan and Egypt, came minutes after the rating company reduced Portugal by two steps to A- from A+.
The turmoil comes as European Union policy makers struggle to agree on measures to ease the panic over swelling budget deficits. Leaders of the 16 euro nations may hold a summit after the Greek government’s decision last week to tap a 45 billion- euro ($60 billion) emergency-aid package failed to reassure investors, a European diplomat and Spanish official said.
“The markets are demanding their pound of flesh and want everything to be signed, sealed and delivered as of yesterday,” said David Owen, chief European financial economist at Jefferies International Ltd. in London.
The euro fell 1.3 percent to $1.3215 as of 2:58 p.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 3.1 percent to 261.65 points.
Spreads
The spread on Greek 10-year bonds over German counterparts widened 23 basis points to 675 basis points, the highest since at least 1998, as investors increased bets that Greece will restructure its debt. The Portuguese spread jumped 59 basis points to 277 basis points, and the Spanish spread rose 12 basis points to 113.
“This is no longer a problem about Greece or Portugal, but about the euro system,” Eric Fine, who manages Van’s Eck’s G- 175 Strategies emerging-market hedge fund. “My concern is the risk of coordination failure. Policy makers need to get ahead of the curve.”
The crisis worsened this week as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government delays a decision on whether to release funds for a Greek rescue. Merkel, who faces an election in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on May 9, said yesterday that Greece “must do its homework” before getting aid.
Trichet Mission
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who is in Chicago today and declined to comment on the downgrades, travels to Berlin tomorrow to brief German lawmakers on Greece’s deficit-cutting plans. The country is struggling to convince investors it can push its deficit below the EU’s limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product from 13.6 percent last year.
“No one in Europe is suggesting” that “the total amount of financing on the table is going to cover all of Greece’s borrowing needs” over the next three years, said David Beers, Global Head of Sovereign and International Public Finance Ratings, at S&P today.
Greek bonds are still eligible as collateral at the ECB, as long as the other two rating companies don’t follow suit. Moody’s Investors Service rates Greece A3 and Fitch Ratings BBB-.
The EU’s inability to contain the Greek crisis is sparking concern that other countries will have to fend for themselves and will struggle to win support from European parliaments. Portugal’s PSI-20 benchmark dropped 5.4 percent today, the most since the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse. Spain’s IBEX 35 Index dropped 4.2 percent.
Contagion
“There is a clear risk that contagion pressures might intensify in the coming months, perhaps after a brief respite immediately after the Greek package is finalized and money starts being disbursed,” said Marco Annunziata, chief European economist at UniCredit Group in London.
Merkel said yesterday she expects a German decision in “days.” Greece faces 8.5 billion euros of bonds maturing in May, with the first redemption due May 19.
Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said today his government needs to react to “attacks by markets” and will do what’s needed to reduce its deficit.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou asked for emergency cash from the EU and International Monetary Fund last week to avoid defaulting on its debt. Investors in Greek bonds may get back between 30 percent and 50 percent of the value of their holdings should the government default or restructure its debt, said S&P.
“The financial package has clearly not eased market concerns,” said Colin Ellis, European economist at Daiwa Capital Europe Ltd. in London. The Greek downgrade “together with Portugal and the widening of spreads means that other euro- area countries appear to be sliding to a similar fate.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Davis in Rome at abdavis@bloomberg.netEmma Ross-Thomas in Madrid at erossthomas@bloomberg.net
Greece was lowered to BB+ from BBB+ by S&P, which also warned that bondholders could recover as little as 30 percent of their initial investment if the country restructures its debt. The move, which puts Greek debt on a par with bonds issued by Azerbaijan and Egypt, came minutes after the rating company reduced Portugal by two steps to A- from A+.
The turmoil comes as European Union policy makers struggle to agree on measures to ease the panic over swelling budget deficits. Leaders of the 16 euro nations may hold a summit after the Greek government’s decision last week to tap a 45 billion- euro ($60 billion) emergency-aid package failed to reassure investors, a European diplomat and Spanish official said.
“The markets are demanding their pound of flesh and want everything to be signed, sealed and delivered as of yesterday,” said David Owen, chief European financial economist at Jefferies International Ltd. in London.
The euro fell 1.3 percent to $1.3215 as of 2:58 p.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 3.1 percent to 261.65 points.
Spreads
The spread on Greek 10-year bonds over German counterparts widened 23 basis points to 675 basis points, the highest since at least 1998, as investors increased bets that Greece will restructure its debt. The Portuguese spread jumped 59 basis points to 277 basis points, and the Spanish spread rose 12 basis points to 113.
“This is no longer a problem about Greece or Portugal, but about the euro system,” Eric Fine, who manages Van’s Eck’s G- 175 Strategies emerging-market hedge fund. “My concern is the risk of coordination failure. Policy makers need to get ahead of the curve.”
The crisis worsened this week as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government delays a decision on whether to release funds for a Greek rescue. Merkel, who faces an election in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on May 9, said yesterday that Greece “must do its homework” before getting aid.
Trichet Mission
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who is in Chicago today and declined to comment on the downgrades, travels to Berlin tomorrow to brief German lawmakers on Greece’s deficit-cutting plans. The country is struggling to convince investors it can push its deficit below the EU’s limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product from 13.6 percent last year.
“No one in Europe is suggesting” that “the total amount of financing on the table is going to cover all of Greece’s borrowing needs” over the next three years, said David Beers, Global Head of Sovereign and International Public Finance Ratings, at S&P today.
Greek bonds are still eligible as collateral at the ECB, as long as the other two rating companies don’t follow suit. Moody’s Investors Service rates Greece A3 and Fitch Ratings BBB-.
The EU’s inability to contain the Greek crisis is sparking concern that other countries will have to fend for themselves and will struggle to win support from European parliaments. Portugal’s PSI-20 benchmark dropped 5.4 percent today, the most since the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse. Spain’s IBEX 35 Index dropped 4.2 percent.
Contagion
“There is a clear risk that contagion pressures might intensify in the coming months, perhaps after a brief respite immediately after the Greek package is finalized and money starts being disbursed,” said Marco Annunziata, chief European economist at UniCredit Group in London.
Merkel said yesterday she expects a German decision in “days.” Greece faces 8.5 billion euros of bonds maturing in May, with the first redemption due May 19.
Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said today his government needs to react to “attacks by markets” and will do what’s needed to reduce its deficit.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou asked for emergency cash from the EU and International Monetary Fund last week to avoid defaulting on its debt. Investors in Greek bonds may get back between 30 percent and 50 percent of the value of their holdings should the government default or restructure its debt, said S&P.
“The financial package has clearly not eased market concerns,” said Colin Ellis, European economist at Daiwa Capital Europe Ltd. in London. The Greek downgrade “together with Portugal and the widening of spreads means that other euro- area countries appear to be sliding to a similar fate.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Davis in Rome at abdavis@bloomberg.netEmma Ross-Thomas in Madrid at erossthomas@bloomberg.net
SEND IN THE DRONES: PREDATORS TO FLY ABOVE TEX-MEX BORDER
SEND IN THE DRONES: PREDATORS TO FLY ABOVE TEX-MEX BORDER
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate hearing Tuesday that unmanned aerial drones will soon fly through Texas skies!
"Big Sis" declared that over the past 15 months, federal law enforcement initiatives have made the border more secure than in any other time in history, the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reports in Wednesday editions.
The new "predator bees" have the capability to fly at altitudes used by commercial aircraft, and are designed to enhance intelligence capabilities of federal, state and local law enforcement.
But a recent analysis of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles found that they were twice as likely to crash as manned aircraft, according to the Congressional Research Service.
How Many Times Did Sen. Levin Say 'Sh**ty Deal'?
While grilling David Sparks, the former head of Goldman’s mortgage department, Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), quoted, paraphrased and practically freestyle rapped Goldman e-mails that involved the words “sh**ty deal.”
"Boy, that Timberwolf was one sh**tty deal," Levin said, reciting an email about a deal involving subprime mortgages.
"How much of that sh**ty deal did you sell to your clients?" he asked Sparks.
“You knew it was a sh**y deal!" Levin exclaimed, hammering away at Sparks — and that “sh**y deal” phrase.
Levin fired off “sh**y deal” a whopping TEN — I'm sorry, ELEVEN — TIMES, sounding more like South Park's resident ranter Eric Cartman than a U.S. senator.
Source: southparkstudios.com
South Park's Eric Cartman: "Sh**ty, sh**ty, sh**ty, sh**ty!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I don’t recall,” said Sparks, with a perplexed look on his face like Kenny, the character they kill off in every South Park episode.
Only, if it were a South Park episode, he could end it by simply saying, "Shut up, Cartman!"
"Boy, that Timberwolf was one sh**tty deal," Levin said, reciting an email about a deal involving subprime mortgages.
"How much of that sh**ty deal did you sell to your clients?" he asked Sparks.
“You knew it was a sh**y deal!" Levin exclaimed, hammering away at Sparks — and that “sh**y deal” phrase.
Levin fired off “sh**y deal” a whopping TEN — I'm sorry, ELEVEN — TIMES, sounding more like South Park's resident ranter Eric Cartman than a U.S. senator.
Source: southparkstudios.com
South Park's Eric Cartman: "Sh**ty, sh**ty, sh**ty, sh**ty!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I don’t recall,” said Sparks, with a perplexed look on his face like Kenny, the character they kill off in every South Park episode.
Only, if it were a South Park episode, he could end it by simply saying, "Shut up, Cartman!"
Marines tell Idaho congressional candidate Vaughn Ward to pull campaign ad
Marines tell Idaho congressional candidate Vaughn Ward to pull campaign ad
Congressional candidate Vaughn Ward has violated a Pentagon directive prohibiting the impression that his campaign is supported by the military, according to the Marine Corps.
Ward is a Marine major assigned to 28 days of annual reserve duty at the Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C. Ward won a Bronze Star with Combat V for valor for leading a Marine company in Iraq from April to October 2006.
Ward and state Rep. Raul Labrador are the top candidates in the May 25 Republican primary. The winner will challenge Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick in November.
The Marine Corps wrote Ward earlier this month saying his online ad on the Drudge Report website on March 31 and April 1 violated the directive. The ad showed Ward in camouflage and body armor and said, "With Your Help I Will Vote To Repeal ObamaCare!"
The $2,500 ad encouraged contributions and directed viewers to the campaign website, vaughnward.com.
But the ad failed to provide the"prominent and clearly displayed disclaimer that neither the military information nor photographs imply endorsement by the Department of Defense or their particular Military Department."
The ad had no disclaimer of any kind.
"Maj. Ward was asked in writing to remove this ad because it did not comply with the (Department of Defense) Directive," Capt. Brian Block, a spokesman at Marine Headquarters at the Pentagon, said in an e-mail.
Ward took responsibility for the mistake in an interview Wednesday and promised not to repeat it.
"It's my fault. I saw the ad," Ward said. "I should have made the correction."
In the letter, "They said, 'Vaughn, you need to refrain from using this information if you're not going to put a disclaimer on it,' " Ward said.
The directive also prohibits images of candidates "in uniform as the primary graphic representation" in campaign material. Ward's photo comprises about one-third of the ad. He said his ad did not violate that part of the directive.
"To deal with this issue, because I don't want to embarrass the Marine Corps, because I don't want to be found in contravention to regulations, we pulled it," Ward said. "You won't ever see it again."
Added Ward: "Reading the regulations and then talking to others in the Marine Corps, I said, you know what, this is a gray area that I don't need to be involved in. I don't need to sell the Marine Corps. I don't need people to look at me and say, 'Oh, he's a Marine, so I'm going to support him.' I think I can do it in other ways. So, I have decided not to even use anything like that going forward."
Ward said Wednesday that he did expect to use images of him in uniform with an appropriate disclaimer.
"If I do like a campaign mailer and it's got a picture of me (in uniform), it won't be the predominant picture," he said. "There'll be other pictures on there, of me on a farm or me as a kid or whatever."
After that interview, the Statesman learned that some postcards picturing Ward in combat gear arrived in mailboxes last week with no disclaimer.
Block said on Monday, "We are currently looking into the issue of the postcard mailings, and when that review is complete, we will take appropriate action."
Ward did not reply to a request Monday for comment on the postcard.
His campaign manager, Ryan O'Barto, said a sticker with a disclaimer has been affixed to the rest of the postcards. The disclaimer appears next to the family photo in 4-point type. "We are sending more, and they have the disclaimer on them," he said.
Asked how many postcards were mailed without the disclaimer, O'Barto said, "I will get back to you on that." O'Barto did not provide an answer Monday.
Ward declined to provide a copy of the letter from the Marine Corps, saying, "That was from them to me, not to be shared."
Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/04/27/1168913/marines-tell-ward-to-pull-campaign.html#ixzz0mMFRAVB3
Congressional candidate Vaughn Ward has violated a Pentagon directive prohibiting the impression that his campaign is supported by the military, according to the Marine Corps.
Ward is a Marine major assigned to 28 days of annual reserve duty at the Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C. Ward won a Bronze Star with Combat V for valor for leading a Marine company in Iraq from April to October 2006.
Ward and state Rep. Raul Labrador are the top candidates in the May 25 Republican primary. The winner will challenge Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick in November.
The Marine Corps wrote Ward earlier this month saying his online ad on the Drudge Report website on March 31 and April 1 violated the directive. The ad showed Ward in camouflage and body armor and said, "With Your Help I Will Vote To Repeal ObamaCare!"
The $2,500 ad encouraged contributions and directed viewers to the campaign website, vaughnward.com.
But the ad failed to provide the"prominent and clearly displayed disclaimer that neither the military information nor photographs imply endorsement by the Department of Defense or their particular Military Department."
The ad had no disclaimer of any kind.
"Maj. Ward was asked in writing to remove this ad because it did not comply with the (Department of Defense) Directive," Capt. Brian Block, a spokesman at Marine Headquarters at the Pentagon, said in an e-mail.
Ward took responsibility for the mistake in an interview Wednesday and promised not to repeat it.
"It's my fault. I saw the ad," Ward said. "I should have made the correction."
In the letter, "They said, 'Vaughn, you need to refrain from using this information if you're not going to put a disclaimer on it,' " Ward said.
The directive also prohibits images of candidates "in uniform as the primary graphic representation" in campaign material. Ward's photo comprises about one-third of the ad. He said his ad did not violate that part of the directive.
"To deal with this issue, because I don't want to embarrass the Marine Corps, because I don't want to be found in contravention to regulations, we pulled it," Ward said. "You won't ever see it again."
Added Ward: "Reading the regulations and then talking to others in the Marine Corps, I said, you know what, this is a gray area that I don't need to be involved in. I don't need to sell the Marine Corps. I don't need people to look at me and say, 'Oh, he's a Marine, so I'm going to support him.' I think I can do it in other ways. So, I have decided not to even use anything like that going forward."
Ward said Wednesday that he did expect to use images of him in uniform with an appropriate disclaimer.
"If I do like a campaign mailer and it's got a picture of me (in uniform), it won't be the predominant picture," he said. "There'll be other pictures on there, of me on a farm or me as a kid or whatever."
After that interview, the Statesman learned that some postcards picturing Ward in combat gear arrived in mailboxes last week with no disclaimer.
Block said on Monday, "We are currently looking into the issue of the postcard mailings, and when that review is complete, we will take appropriate action."
Ward did not reply to a request Monday for comment on the postcard.
His campaign manager, Ryan O'Barto, said a sticker with a disclaimer has been affixed to the rest of the postcards. The disclaimer appears next to the family photo in 4-point type. "We are sending more, and they have the disclaimer on them," he said.
Asked how many postcards were mailed without the disclaimer, O'Barto said, "I will get back to you on that." O'Barto did not provide an answer Monday.
Ward declined to provide a copy of the letter from the Marine Corps, saying, "That was from them to me, not to be shared."
Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/04/27/1168913/marines-tell-ward-to-pull-campaign.html#ixzz0mMFRAVB3
Mexico Issues Travel Warning for Arizona Over Law
Mexicans in Arizona should carry documentation and “act carefully” after the state passed a law requiring local police to determine the immigration status of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said the warning is directed toward Mexicans living, studying or planning to travel to the southwestern U.S. state, which shares a border with northern Mexico, according to the e-mailed statement sent today. It comes as members of U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration said they have concerns about the new law and may seek to overturn it in court.
“There is an adverse political environment for migrant communities and all Mexican visitors,” Mexico’s ministry said. “It’s important to act carefully and respect the local laws.”
The Arizona law makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. without proper documentation. The state has an estimated 460,000 residents living there illegally, the seventh highest total in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Opponents say it will lead to discrimination and racial profiling by law enforcement authorities.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who is running for re- election, signed the bill into law on April 23, saying it would address problems of violence along the border with Mexico and crime due to illegal immigration while protecting individual rights.
‘Murderous Greed’
“We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels,” Brewer said. “We cannot delay while the destruction happening south of our international border creeps its way north.”
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during congressional testimony in Washington today that her agency has “deep concerns” about the law and that it will “detract from and siphon resources that we need to focus on those in the country illegally who are committing serious crimes.” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said today that the Justice Department may go to court to challenge the statue.
The law, which goes into effect 90 days after the Arizona legislative session ends, states that police must investigate if they have “reasonable suspicion” that someone is undocumented, according to Gabriel Chin, a professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Police officers may face lawsuits if they fail to do so, he added.
‘Angered and Saddened’
“It’s very hard for me to see how this law can be enforced without discrimination,” Chin said in a telephone interview today from Tucson. “It seems to be inevitable.”
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said April 26 that his country’s citizens are “angered and saddened” by the Arizona law, which he said “doesn’t adequately guarantee respect for people’s fundamental rights.”
About a quarter of Arizona’s 6.6 million residents are of Hispanic descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
U.S. Democratic Party leaders said last week that an overhaul of immigration law could advance through Congress this year if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can pick up enough support to muscle it through the Senate first, according to April 22 remarks by Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi told reporters that she will find the votes for the measure in the House -- where Democrats have 254 of 435 seats -- if the Senate can clear it.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has been working with Democrats on an immigration overhaul, said rushing legislation this year would be a mistake because it doesn’t have the votes yet to pass.
“The worst thing we could do is bring up immigration reform and have it crash and burn politically,” he told Napolitano. “If immigration comes up this year, it’s absolutely devastating to the future of this issue.”
The ministry said the warning is directed toward Mexicans living, studying or planning to travel to the southwestern U.S. state, which shares a border with northern Mexico, according to the e-mailed statement sent today. It comes as members of U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration said they have concerns about the new law and may seek to overturn it in court.
“There is an adverse political environment for migrant communities and all Mexican visitors,” Mexico’s ministry said. “It’s important to act carefully and respect the local laws.”
The Arizona law makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. without proper documentation. The state has an estimated 460,000 residents living there illegally, the seventh highest total in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Opponents say it will lead to discrimination and racial profiling by law enforcement authorities.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who is running for re- election, signed the bill into law on April 23, saying it would address problems of violence along the border with Mexico and crime due to illegal immigration while protecting individual rights.
‘Murderous Greed’
“We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels,” Brewer said. “We cannot delay while the destruction happening south of our international border creeps its way north.”
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during congressional testimony in Washington today that her agency has “deep concerns” about the law and that it will “detract from and siphon resources that we need to focus on those in the country illegally who are committing serious crimes.” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said today that the Justice Department may go to court to challenge the statue.
The law, which goes into effect 90 days after the Arizona legislative session ends, states that police must investigate if they have “reasonable suspicion” that someone is undocumented, according to Gabriel Chin, a professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Police officers may face lawsuits if they fail to do so, he added.
‘Angered and Saddened’
“It’s very hard for me to see how this law can be enforced without discrimination,” Chin said in a telephone interview today from Tucson. “It seems to be inevitable.”
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said April 26 that his country’s citizens are “angered and saddened” by the Arizona law, which he said “doesn’t adequately guarantee respect for people’s fundamental rights.”
About a quarter of Arizona’s 6.6 million residents are of Hispanic descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
U.S. Democratic Party leaders said last week that an overhaul of immigration law could advance through Congress this year if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can pick up enough support to muscle it through the Senate first, according to April 22 remarks by Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi told reporters that she will find the votes for the measure in the House -- where Democrats have 254 of 435 seats -- if the Senate can clear it.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has been working with Democrats on an immigration overhaul, said rushing legislation this year would be a mistake because it doesn’t have the votes yet to pass.
“The worst thing we could do is bring up immigration reform and have it crash and burn politically,” he told Napolitano. “If immigration comes up this year, it’s absolutely devastating to the future of this issue.”
Sunday, April 25, 2010
No exit seen from Thailand's very un-Thai crisis
rapacious colonial powers at bay, averting political violence or settling family squabbles, Thais have earned a reputation for deft diplomacy, thwarting confrontation and achieving compromise, or as they proudly say, "bending with the wind like bamboo."
Until now, it seems.
The latest iteration of Thailand's political crisis, which pits a largely rural movement against the government, is in its seventh week. There is no end in sight and seemingly no one able to break the deadlock that has seen protesters occupying key areas of Bangkok for weeks.
Individuals and institutions, including the monarchy, that once played key mediating roles, are either powerless or silent.
Confrontations have so far taken the lives of 26 people and paralyzed central Bangkok, where the protesters, known as the Red Shirts, occupy a square-mile (half-kilometer) of some of the capital's most glamorous shopping areas.
Almost everyone agrees that old-fashioned give-and-take is the best way out of the stalemate, which has crippled Thailand's golden tourist industry and shaken investor confidence.
But three rounds of talks have already failed, and the seemingly intractable standoff even has some worrying publicly about the potential for civil war.
"Every night, the country is sitting on a time bomb, waiting for chaos to occur," says Surichai Wun-gaeo, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
The latest talks broke down Saturday after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected a Red Shirt proposal that Parliament be dissolved in 30 days, a softening of earlier demands for immediate dissolution to be followed by elections.
Until now, it seems.
The latest iteration of Thailand's political crisis, which pits a largely rural movement against the government, is in its seventh week. There is no end in sight and seemingly no one able to break the deadlock that has seen protesters occupying key areas of Bangkok for weeks.
Individuals and institutions, including the monarchy, that once played key mediating roles, are either powerless or silent.
Confrontations have so far taken the lives of 26 people and paralyzed central Bangkok, where the protesters, known as the Red Shirts, occupy a square-mile (half-kilometer) of some of the capital's most glamorous shopping areas.
Almost everyone agrees that old-fashioned give-and-take is the best way out of the stalemate, which has crippled Thailand's golden tourist industry and shaken investor confidence.
But three rounds of talks have already failed, and the seemingly intractable standoff even has some worrying publicly about the potential for civil war.
"Every night, the country is sitting on a time bomb, waiting for chaos to occur," says Surichai Wun-gaeo, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
The latest talks broke down Saturday after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected a Red Shirt proposal that Parliament be dissolved in 30 days, a softening of earlier demands for immediate dissolution to be followed by elections.
The Red Shirts consist mainly of rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and pro-democracy activists who opposed the military coup that ousted him in 2006. They believe Abhisit's government is illegitimate because it came to power under military pressure through a parliamentary vote after disputed court rulings ousted two elected pro-Thaksin governments.
But what really fuels the protesters - and makes reconciliation difficult - are not legal decisions and political wrangling, but deep-seated anger at a Bangkok-based elite they say treats the rural poor as second-class citizens while it fails to alleviate their poverty.
Compromise is hard even for past masters of the art, given the "intensification of polarization" in Thai society, says Surat Horachaikul, another political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.
But what really fuels the protesters - and makes reconciliation difficult - are not legal decisions and political wrangling, but deep-seated anger at a Bangkok-based elite they say treats the rural poor as second-class citizens while it fails to alleviate their poverty.
Compromise is hard even for past masters of the art, given the "intensification of polarization" in Thai society, says Surat Horachaikul, another political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.
Senators close to deal on U.S. financial regulation
Senators close to deal on U.S. financial regulation
WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. senators negotiating financial regulatory reform legislation said on Sunday they were close to a bipartisan agreement, but conceded they may not get a deal before a crucial Senate vote on Monday.
Democratic Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and Senator Richard Shelby, the panel's top Republican, told NBC's "Meet the Press" they were talking through the weekend to try to reach agreement on a bill aimed at preventing future taxpayer bailouts of financial firms.
"We're getting there, we're close, we've got more work to do," Dodd said. "I hope can get the votes tomorrow to start the debate."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has set a procedural vote to begin debate on a Democratic bill late on Monday. Republicans said they will likely vote to block consideration of the bill if no bipartisan agreement is reached by then.
Democrats would need at least one Republican to break ranks with their leaders to get the 60 votes needed in the 100-member Senate to start debating the bill.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Take a Look on financial regulation [ID:nN16148428]
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But even if Democrats fail to win the vote, the legislation would not be dead, just be delayed. Members of both parties appear anxious to pass legislation ahead of the November mid-term congressional elections.
"I think we're closer than we've ever been," Shelby said. "Will we get a bill by tomorrow, I doubt it."
Republican Senator Bob Corker, who has been involved in the discussions, told ABC's "This Week" that was "very likely" Republicans would stick together and block consideration of the bill if a bipartisan alternative is not produced by then.
"It's very important that we reach that bipartisan agreement first," Corker said when asked if any Republicans would support taking up debate on Monday.
Despite the partisan maneuverings ahead of the vote on Monday, the top players in the negotiations expressed confidence that they eventually will produce a bill that both Democrats and Republicans will support.
The broad legislative push by President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats comes as fraud charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) have thrown Wall Street and Republicans onto the defensive after months of working to weaken Democratic reform proposals.
Lawmakers agree they do not want a repeat of the financial crisis that nearly brought about U.S. economic collapse and forced taxpayers to bail out once high-flying financial firms.
"I'm very confident. I think we're going to have very strong support from Republicans for a strong bill," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on CNN's "GPS" show. "I think everybody has to be for reform," he said.
Senior White House adviser Lawrence Summers said emails sent by Goldman executives on money the firm made by betting against risky mortgage securities show the need for transparency in financial markets.
Summers, on CBS's "Face the Nation," said he would not comment on specifics of a fraud suit against Goldman brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"But I will say this," he said. "This underscores what is at the center of the president's vision here: the importance of transparency, the importance of things being in the open, the importance of it being known who is in a position to benefit from what."
The financial reform bill, approved along party lines by Dodd's committee, would bring new oversight to hedge funds and derivatives while cracking down on risky bank trading and putting in place protections for consumers.
It would also establish a system for unwinding troubled financial companies to prevent a repeat of catastrophes such as the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
The Lehman Brothers collapse came at the start of the deepest recession since the Great Depression, triggered by the implosion of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage derivatives market.
Democratic Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and Senator Richard Shelby, the panel's top Republican, told NBC's "Meet the Press" they were talking through the weekend to try to reach agreement on a bill aimed at preventing future taxpayer bailouts of financial firms.
"We're getting there, we're close, we've got more work to do," Dodd said. "I hope can get the votes tomorrow to start the debate."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has set a procedural vote to begin debate on a Democratic bill late on Monday. Republicans said they will likely vote to block consideration of the bill if no bipartisan agreement is reached by then.
Democrats would need at least one Republican to break ranks with their leaders to get the 60 votes needed in the 100-member Senate to start debating the bill.
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But even if Democrats fail to win the vote, the legislation would not be dead, just be delayed. Members of both parties appear anxious to pass legislation ahead of the November mid-term congressional elections.
"I think we're closer than we've ever been," Shelby said. "Will we get a bill by tomorrow, I doubt it."
Republican Senator Bob Corker, who has been involved in the discussions, told ABC's "This Week" that was "very likely" Republicans would stick together and block consideration of the bill if a bipartisan alternative is not produced by then.
"It's very important that we reach that bipartisan agreement first," Corker said when asked if any Republicans would support taking up debate on Monday.
Despite the partisan maneuverings ahead of the vote on Monday, the top players in the negotiations expressed confidence that they eventually will produce a bill that both Democrats and Republicans will support.
The broad legislative push by President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats comes as fraud charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) have thrown Wall Street and Republicans onto the defensive after months of working to weaken Democratic reform proposals.
Lawmakers agree they do not want a repeat of the financial crisis that nearly brought about U.S. economic collapse and forced taxpayers to bail out once high-flying financial firms.
"I'm very confident. I think we're going to have very strong support from Republicans for a strong bill," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on CNN's "GPS" show. "I think everybody has to be for reform," he said.
Senior White House adviser Lawrence Summers said emails sent by Goldman executives on money the firm made by betting against risky mortgage securities show the need for transparency in financial markets.
Summers, on CBS's "Face the Nation," said he would not comment on specifics of a fraud suit against Goldman brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"But I will say this," he said. "This underscores what is at the center of the president's vision here: the importance of transparency, the importance of things being in the open, the importance of it being known who is in a position to benefit from what."
The financial reform bill, approved along party lines by Dodd's committee, would bring new oversight to hedge funds and derivatives while cracking down on risky bank trading and putting in place protections for consumers.
It would also establish a system for unwinding troubled financial companies to prevent a repeat of catastrophes such as the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
The Lehman Brothers collapse came at the start of the deepest recession since the Great Depression, triggered by the implosion of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage derivatives market.
Friday, April 23, 2010
EXCLUSIVE: Porn surfing rampant at U.S. science foundation
EXCLUSIVE: Porn surfing rampant at U.S. science foundation
Employee misconduct investigations, often involving workers accessing pornography from their government computers, grew sixfold last year inside the taxpayer-funded foundation that doles out billions of dollars of scientific research grants, according to budget documents and other records obtained by The Washington Times.
The problems at the National Science Foundation (NSF) were so pervasive they swamped the agency's inspector general and forced the internal watchdog to cut back on its primary mission of investigating grant fraud and recovering misspent tax dollars.
"To manage this dramatic increase without an increase in staff required us to significantly reduce our efforts to investigate grant fraud," the inspector general recently told Congress in a budget request. "We anticipate a significant decline in investigative recoveries and prosecutions in coming years as a direct result."
The budget request doesn't state the nature or number of the misconduct cases, but records obtained by The Times through the Freedom of Information Act laid bare the extent of the well-publicized porn problem inside the government-backed foundation.
For instance, one senior executive spent at least 331 days looking at pornography on his government computer and chatting online with nude or partially clad women without being detected, the records show.
When finally caught, the NSF official retired. He even offered, among other explanations, a humanitarian defense, suggesting that he frequented the porn sites to provide a living to the poor overseas women. Investigators put the cost to taxpayers of the senior official's porn surfing at between $13,800 and about $58,000.
"He explained that these young women are from poor countries and need to make money to help their parents and this site helps them do that," investigators wrote in a memo.
The independent foundation, funded by taxpayers to the tune of $6 billion in 2008, is tasked with handing out scientific grants to colleges, universities and research institutions nationwide. The projects it funds ranges from mapping the genome of the potato to exploring outer space with powerful new telescopes. It has a total of 1,200 career employees.
Recent budget documents for the inspector general cite a "6-fold increase in employee misconduct cases and associated proactive management implication report activities." The document doesn't say how many cases were involved in the increase, and officials could not immediately provide a figure.
Employee misconduct investigations, often involving workers accessing pornography from their government computers, grew sixfold last year inside the taxpayer-funded foundation that doles out billions of dollars of scientific research grants, according to budget documents and other records obtained by The Washington Times.
The problems at the National Science Foundation (NSF) were so pervasive they swamped the agency's inspector general and forced the internal watchdog to cut back on its primary mission of investigating grant fraud and recovering misspent tax dollars.
"To manage this dramatic increase without an increase in staff required us to significantly reduce our efforts to investigate grant fraud," the inspector general recently told Congress in a budget request. "We anticipate a significant decline in investigative recoveries and prosecutions in coming years as a direct result."
The budget request doesn't state the nature or number of the misconduct cases, but records obtained by The Times through the Freedom of Information Act laid bare the extent of the well-publicized porn problem inside the government-backed foundation.
For instance, one senior executive spent at least 331 days looking at pornography on his government computer and chatting online with nude or partially clad women without being detected, the records show.
When finally caught, the NSF official retired. He even offered, among other explanations, a humanitarian defense, suggesting that he frequented the porn sites to provide a living to the poor overseas women. Investigators put the cost to taxpayers of the senior official's porn surfing at between $13,800 and about $58,000.
"He explained that these young women are from poor countries and need to make money to help their parents and this site helps them do that," investigators wrote in a memo.
The independent foundation, funded by taxpayers to the tune of $6 billion in 2008, is tasked with handing out scientific grants to colleges, universities and research institutions nationwide. The projects it funds ranges from mapping the genome of the potato to exploring outer space with powerful new telescopes. It has a total of 1,200 career employees.
Recent budget documents for the inspector general cite a "6-fold increase in employee misconduct cases and associated proactive management implication report activities." The document doesn't say how many cases were involved in the increase, and officials could not immediately provide a figure.
Budget crisis puts LA court system at risk
LOS ANGELES – The nation's largest court system is in the midst of a painful budget crisis that has shut down courtrooms and disrupted everything from divorce and custody proceedings to traffic ticket disputes.
The Los Angeles court system has already closed 17 courtrooms and another 50 will be shut down come September unless something is done to find more money. The judge who presides over the system predicts chaos and an unprecedented logjam of civil and family law cases in the worst-case scenario.
The crisis results from the financially troubled state's decision to slash $393 million from state trial courts in the budget this year. The state also decided to close all California courthouses on the third Wednesday of every month.
What has emerged is a hobbled court system that is struggling to serve the public.
Custody hearings, divorce proceedings, small-claims disputes, juvenile dependency matters and civil lawsuits have been delayed amid the courtroom shutdowns in Los Angeles. Drivers who choose to fight traffic tickets now have to wait up to nine months to get a trial started.
Complex civil lawsuits, those typically involving feuding businesses, could really feel the hit. It now takes an average of 16 months for such cases to get resolved, but court officials expect the cuts to bog down these civil matters to the point that they take an average of four years to finish.
"On any given day, 100,000 people go in and out of our courthouses," said Superior Court Judge Charles W. McCoy Jr., who presides over the Los Angeles system. "That's a Rose Bowl full of people."
The criminal courts are immune from the cuts out of concern for public safety.
The Administrative Office of the Courts accuses McCoy of being "overly pessimistic" about the future. Its chief financial officer, Stephen Nash, is opposing McCoy's stopgap proposal to divert $47 million from a courthouse construction fund into the general operating budget to keep courtrooms open.
A hearing scheduled for Friday in San Francisco could decide whether the plan to divert construction funds moves forward.
Nash says there are other ways to avert disaster and a report by his staff holds out hope that the state budgetary crisis will ease, providing new funds for the courts.
"We think you need to be more creative than what Los Angeles is offering," he said. "I'm saying we are going to be able to craft a solution."
Asked what alternatives he proposes, Nash was vague.
"We're going to be looking under every rock at every fund we have. Four months from now, there will be offsets identified," he said.
Communities around the country have had to deal with various levels of cutbacks to government services and courts, but California's situation is especially dire.
Citizens with court business who aren't aware of the Wednesday furloughs are showing up on those days only to find the courts are closed. Those with traffic matters are being diverted to automated call centers, but they can't talk to a person because traffic call staff was laid off.
"Thousands of people needing court services unfortunately are turned away on court closure days," said McCoy.
The Los Angeles courts launched a public awareness campaign this week with large signs posted at courthouses and notices on the court's website to notify people that the system is closed every third Wednesday.
The Los Angeles system has already laid off 329 workers — about 6 percent of its 5,400-person work force. About 500 more jobs are at risk later this year.
Other courts statewide are suffering as well. San Francisco has plans to lay off 122 court employees — 21 percent of the staff — by mid-May unless a solution is found to its budget crisis. The California Supreme Court closed its satellite office in downtown Los Angeles to reduce its spending.
With employees going unpaid on furlough days, Supreme Court Justice Ronald George asked all of the state's 1,700 judges to forgo a day's pay each month. More than 85 percent of the judges agreed, with the money saved going to operation of all courts or back to their own courts.
George has opposed diverting courthouse construction funds because he said such projects would be a boon to the state's hard hit construction industry.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in January proposed restoring $100 million to the courts as part of his budget proposal, but George characterized that funding as uncertain. Much of the money would materialize only if the federal government gives states extra money to help balance their budgets.
McCoy said the Los Angeles court's budgetary shortfall is $133 million which will be permanent each year unless there is an influx of funds from somewhere. He raised the prospect of a cumulative cut of 1,800 people from the 5,400-member work force over two and a half years.
With resulting cutbacks in services, he said, "Confidence in the courts would be lost."
"It's unprecedented," said McCoy. "Even during the Great Depression we did not close down court operations. We kept the courts open."
Eds: CORRECTS name of court official to Stephen Nash, sted Stephen Nathan in grafs 9-13. CORRECTS that San Francisco has plans to lay off staff but has not carried out cuts yet.
The Los Angeles court system has already closed 17 courtrooms and another 50 will be shut down come September unless something is done to find more money. The judge who presides over the system predicts chaos and an unprecedented logjam of civil and family law cases in the worst-case scenario.
The crisis results from the financially troubled state's decision to slash $393 million from state trial courts in the budget this year. The state also decided to close all California courthouses on the third Wednesday of every month.
What has emerged is a hobbled court system that is struggling to serve the public.
Custody hearings, divorce proceedings, small-claims disputes, juvenile dependency matters and civil lawsuits have been delayed amid the courtroom shutdowns in Los Angeles. Drivers who choose to fight traffic tickets now have to wait up to nine months to get a trial started.
Complex civil lawsuits, those typically involving feuding businesses, could really feel the hit. It now takes an average of 16 months for such cases to get resolved, but court officials expect the cuts to bog down these civil matters to the point that they take an average of four years to finish.
"On any given day, 100,000 people go in and out of our courthouses," said Superior Court Judge Charles W. McCoy Jr., who presides over the Los Angeles system. "That's a Rose Bowl full of people."
The criminal courts are immune from the cuts out of concern for public safety.
The Administrative Office of the Courts accuses McCoy of being "overly pessimistic" about the future. Its chief financial officer, Stephen Nash, is opposing McCoy's stopgap proposal to divert $47 million from a courthouse construction fund into the general operating budget to keep courtrooms open.
A hearing scheduled for Friday in San Francisco could decide whether the plan to divert construction funds moves forward.
Nash says there are other ways to avert disaster and a report by his staff holds out hope that the state budgetary crisis will ease, providing new funds for the courts.
"We think you need to be more creative than what Los Angeles is offering," he said. "I'm saying we are going to be able to craft a solution."
Asked what alternatives he proposes, Nash was vague.
"We're going to be looking under every rock at every fund we have. Four months from now, there will be offsets identified," he said.
Communities around the country have had to deal with various levels of cutbacks to government services and courts, but California's situation is especially dire.
Citizens with court business who aren't aware of the Wednesday furloughs are showing up on those days only to find the courts are closed. Those with traffic matters are being diverted to automated call centers, but they can't talk to a person because traffic call staff was laid off.
"Thousands of people needing court services unfortunately are turned away on court closure days," said McCoy.
The Los Angeles courts launched a public awareness campaign this week with large signs posted at courthouses and notices on the court's website to notify people that the system is closed every third Wednesday.
The Los Angeles system has already laid off 329 workers — about 6 percent of its 5,400-person work force. About 500 more jobs are at risk later this year.
Other courts statewide are suffering as well. San Francisco has plans to lay off 122 court employees — 21 percent of the staff — by mid-May unless a solution is found to its budget crisis. The California Supreme Court closed its satellite office in downtown Los Angeles to reduce its spending.
With employees going unpaid on furlough days, Supreme Court Justice Ronald George asked all of the state's 1,700 judges to forgo a day's pay each month. More than 85 percent of the judges agreed, with the money saved going to operation of all courts or back to their own courts.
George has opposed diverting courthouse construction funds because he said such projects would be a boon to the state's hard hit construction industry.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in January proposed restoring $100 million to the courts as part of his budget proposal, but George characterized that funding as uncertain. Much of the money would materialize only if the federal government gives states extra money to help balance their budgets.
McCoy said the Los Angeles court's budgetary shortfall is $133 million which will be permanent each year unless there is an influx of funds from somewhere. He raised the prospect of a cumulative cut of 1,800 people from the 5,400-member work force over two and a half years.
With resulting cutbacks in services, he said, "Confidence in the courts would be lost."
"It's unprecedented," said McCoy. "Even during the Great Depression we did not close down court operations. We kept the courts open."
Eds: CORRECTS name of court official to Stephen Nash, sted Stephen Nathan in grafs 9-13. CORRECTS that San Francisco has plans to lay off staff but has not carried out cuts yet.
Report says health care will cover more, cost more
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law is getting a mixed verdict in the first comprehensive look by neutral experts: More Americans will be covered, but costs are also going up.
Economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department concluded in a report issued Thursday that the health care remake will achieve Obama's aim of expanding health insurance — adding 34 million to the coverage rolls.
But the analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs, raising projected spending by about 1 percent over 10 years. That increase could get bigger, since Medicare cuts in the law may be unrealistic and unsustainable, the report warned.
It's a worrisome assessment for Democrats.
In particular, concerns about Medicare could become a major political liability in the midterm elections. The report projected that Medicare cuts could drive about 15 percent of hospitals and other institutional providers into the red, "possibly jeopardizing access" to care for seniors.
The report from Medicare's Office of the Actuary carried a disclaimer saying it does not represent the official position of the Obama administration. White House officials have repeatedly complained that such analyses have been too pessimistic and lowball the law's potential to achieve savings.
The report acknowledged that some of the cost-control measures in the bill — Medicare cuts, a tax on high-cost insurance and a commission to seek ongoing Medicare savings — could help reduce the rate of cost increases beyond 2020. But it held out little hope for progress in the first decade.
"During 2010-2019, however, these effects would be outweighed by the increased costs associated with the expansions of health insurance coverage," wrote Richard S. Foster, Medicare's chief actuary. "Also, the longer-term viability of the Medicare ... reductions is doubtful." Foster's office is responsible for long-range costs estimates.
Republicans said the findings validate their concerns about Obama's 10-year, nearly $1 trillion plan to remake the nation's health care system.
"A trillion dollars gets spent, and it's no surprise — health care costs are going to go up," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., a leading Republican on health care issues. Camp added that he's concerned the Medicare cuts will undermine care for seniors.
In a statement, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sought to highlight some positive findings for seniors. For example, the report concluded that Medicare monthly premiums would be lower than otherwise expected, due to the spending reductions.
"The Affordable Care Act will improve the health care system for all Americans, and we will continue our work to quickly and carefully implement the new law," the statement said.
Passed by a divided Congress after a year of bitter partisan debate, the law would create new health insurance markets for individuals and small businesses. Starting in 2014, most Americans would be required to carry health insurance except in cases of financial hardship. Tax credits would help many middle-class households pay their premiums, while Medicaid would pick up more low-income people. Insurers would be required to accept all applicants, regardless of their health.
The U.S. spends $2.5 trillion a year on health care, far more per person than any other developed nation, and for results that aren't clearly better when compared to more frugal countries. At the outset of the health care debate last year, Obama held out the hope that by bending the cost curve down, the U.S. could cover all its citizens for about what the nation would spend absent any changes.
The report found that the president's law missed the mark, although not by much. The overhaul will increase national health care spending by $311 billion from 2010-2019, or nine-tenths of 1 percent. To put that in perspective, total health care spending during the decade is estimated to surpass $35 trillion.
Administration officials argue the increase is a bargain price for guaranteeing coverage to 95 percent of Americans. They also point out that the law will decrease the federal deficit by $143 billion over the 10-year period.
The report's most sober assessments concerned Medicare.
In addition to flagging provider cuts as potentially unsustainable, the report projected that reductions in payments to private Medicare Advantage plans would trigger an exodus from the popular alternative. Enrollment would plummet by about 50 percent. Seniors leaving the private plans would still have health insurance under traditional Medicare, but many might face higher out-of-pocket costs.
In another flashing yellow light, the report warned that a new voluntary long-term care insurance program created under the law faces "a very serious risk" of insolvency.
Economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department concluded in a report issued Thursday that the health care remake will achieve Obama's aim of expanding health insurance — adding 34 million to the coverage rolls.
But the analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs, raising projected spending by about 1 percent over 10 years. That increase could get bigger, since Medicare cuts in the law may be unrealistic and unsustainable, the report warned.
It's a worrisome assessment for Democrats.
In particular, concerns about Medicare could become a major political liability in the midterm elections. The report projected that Medicare cuts could drive about 15 percent of hospitals and other institutional providers into the red, "possibly jeopardizing access" to care for seniors.
The report from Medicare's Office of the Actuary carried a disclaimer saying it does not represent the official position of the Obama administration. White House officials have repeatedly complained that such analyses have been too pessimistic and lowball the law's potential to achieve savings.
The report acknowledged that some of the cost-control measures in the bill — Medicare cuts, a tax on high-cost insurance and a commission to seek ongoing Medicare savings — could help reduce the rate of cost increases beyond 2020. But it held out little hope for progress in the first decade.
"During 2010-2019, however, these effects would be outweighed by the increased costs associated with the expansions of health insurance coverage," wrote Richard S. Foster, Medicare's chief actuary. "Also, the longer-term viability of the Medicare ... reductions is doubtful." Foster's office is responsible for long-range costs estimates.
Republicans said the findings validate their concerns about Obama's 10-year, nearly $1 trillion plan to remake the nation's health care system.
"A trillion dollars gets spent, and it's no surprise — health care costs are going to go up," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., a leading Republican on health care issues. Camp added that he's concerned the Medicare cuts will undermine care for seniors.
In a statement, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sought to highlight some positive findings for seniors. For example, the report concluded that Medicare monthly premiums would be lower than otherwise expected, due to the spending reductions.
"The Affordable Care Act will improve the health care system for all Americans, and we will continue our work to quickly and carefully implement the new law," the statement said.
Passed by a divided Congress after a year of bitter partisan debate, the law would create new health insurance markets for individuals and small businesses. Starting in 2014, most Americans would be required to carry health insurance except in cases of financial hardship. Tax credits would help many middle-class households pay their premiums, while Medicaid would pick up more low-income people. Insurers would be required to accept all applicants, regardless of their health.
The U.S. spends $2.5 trillion a year on health care, far more per person than any other developed nation, and for results that aren't clearly better when compared to more frugal countries. At the outset of the health care debate last year, Obama held out the hope that by bending the cost curve down, the U.S. could cover all its citizens for about what the nation would spend absent any changes.
The report found that the president's law missed the mark, although not by much. The overhaul will increase national health care spending by $311 billion from 2010-2019, or nine-tenths of 1 percent. To put that in perspective, total health care spending during the decade is estimated to surpass $35 trillion.
Administration officials argue the increase is a bargain price for guaranteeing coverage to 95 percent of Americans. They also point out that the law will decrease the federal deficit by $143 billion over the 10-year period.
The report's most sober assessments concerned Medicare.
In addition to flagging provider cuts as potentially unsustainable, the report projected that reductions in payments to private Medicare Advantage plans would trigger an exodus from the popular alternative. Enrollment would plummet by about 50 percent. Seniors leaving the private plans would still have health insurance under traditional Medicare, but many might face higher out-of-pocket costs.
In another flashing yellow light, the report warned that a new voluntary long-term care insurance program created under the law faces "a very serious risk" of insolvency.
Paramount Gets Sacha Baron Cohen Film
Paramount Gets Sacha Baron Cohen Film (After He & WME Get Paramount's Goats)
The deal is headed to Paramount after a lot of studios were hot for the comedy, and ultimately Sony and Paramount were the final two left standing in the bidding war. So the goat gambit worked. (Actually, there were two goats sent by the studio: one to WME headquarters, and the other to its client Sacha, both wearing Paramount T-shirts and trailing animal handlers. That's how badly Paramount topper Brad Grey, who was leading his team's negotiations, wanted this comedy project). This followed Sacha Baron Cohen and writers Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel pitching the laugher to a total of six studio presidents over 2 days. Berg, Schaffer, and Mandel were the Seinfeld writer/producers who are now the executive producers of Curb Your Enthusiasm and get a ton of money for movie jobs. So this will be a whopping deal.
As we reported yesterday, visitors to WME were greeted by a goat wandering across the 3rd floor atrium -- that is, until Ari Emanuel had the goat removed after it took a dump in the hallway -- because there's a character in the movie that tends goats and the Paramount guys wanted to show WME, which was selling the project, they have a sense of humor, too. "This is the reason why people are paying so much attention to this pitch. It's a big straight ahead comedy and Sacha is starring in a really funny role," a studio source told me.
This big deal comes at a time when Hollywood studios seem to hate spending money on development lately. But they couldn't resist Sacha or the writers' bonafides. Schaffer was one of the writers on Bruno. Mandel's script work on the wife-swapping baseball film The Trade has Warner Bros hoping to make the film with Ben Affleck. The trio's last credited movie collaboration was EuroTrip and The Cat in the Hat.
Greece Asks EU to Trigger Bailout Agreement
Greece called for activation of a financial lifeline of as much as 45 billion euros ($60 billion) this year in an unprecedented test of the euro’s stability and European political cohesion.
The appeal for help from the European Union and International Monetary Fund follows a surge in borrowing costs to what Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou called unsustainable levels that undermine efforts to cut a budget deficit that is more than four times the EU limit.
“There was no response from the markets, either because they didn’t believe in the political will of the EU or because they decided to go on with speculation,” Papandreou said today. “The situation threatens to demolish not only the sacrifices of the people but also the regular course of the economy.”
With national debt of almost 300 billion euros and investors demanding almost triple what they charge Germany for its 10-year bonds, Greece faces a fiscal mess that threatened to spread to Spain and Portugal, forcing the EU to set up a standby aid facility. At stake is the future of the euro 11 years after its creators gave the European Central Bank responsibility for interest rates while leaving budget policy in national capitals.
Rating Cut
The request came a day after the yield on the country’s benchmark two-year note topped 11 percent, approaching that of Pakistan, and Moody’s Investors Service lowered Greece’s creditworthiness by one notch to A3, saying it was considering further cuts. Greek securities initially rallied on the announcement and then pared the gains.
“Clearly, the package will buy Greece time this year,” said Colin Ellis, European economist at Daiwa Capital in London. “But that’s all that it has done. Greece still faces a herculean task to show that it can get its public finances in order and reduce its deficit.”
The yield on the Greek 2-year bond rose 4 basis points to 10.672 percent, the highest since before the start of the euro in 1999 and more than 10 times the German rate. The yield had declined more than 200 basis points today.
Greece’s ASE stock index also reversed a gain of as much as 4.6 percent and declined 0.2 percent to 1857.96. The benchmark has shed more than a third of its value in the past six months as banks, the biggest holders of Greek bonds, slumped and concerns the crisis will lead to a prolonged recession hurt the market.
One Roof
The euro, which has dropped 7 percent this year as Greece undermined confidence in the single currency, rose to $1,3363 today after slipping to a one-year low yesterday of $1.3261.
Economists including Harvard University Professor Martin Feldstein have said the single currency would falter because divergent economies couldn’t fit under one monetary roof.
The Greek request needs approval from all 15 other euro- area countries including Germany, where surveys have shown public opposition to aiding Greece. BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, has expressed concerns about a “backlash” from citizens in EU nations prepared to offer a lifeline.
“We want to see the EU countries really get behind it and see that they’ve gelled around the idea of providing this support at the government level, at the senior policy maker level,” Curtis Arledge, chief investment officer of fixed income at BlackRock, said on April 13. “If you see the backlash, they need to get their people on board.”
National Approval
Luxembourg’s parliament today approved its part of the loans. France has already earmarked the funds, which still needs legislative approval. Germany, which will put up 8.4 billion euros of the loans, is “ready to act” on parliamentary approval, Finance Ministry spokesman Michael Offer said today.
The three-year aid facility for Greece offers as much as 30 billion euros in loans from euro-area nations this year at a below-market interest rate of about 5 percent. As much as 15 billion euros are available in the first year from the IMF at even lower rates, EU officials have said.
The Greek government started talks on April 21 in Athens with EU and IMF officials to set conditions on the funds before they are disbursed. Such deliberations, which usually take two to three weeks, may be completed in “a matter of days,” said EU spokesman Amadeu Altafaj.
Looming Redemptions
Facing 8.5 billion euros of bonds maturing May 19 and with little chance of being able to tap the financial markets, Greece won a promise by the IMF chief to act speedily over the call for a financial lifeline.
“We are prepared to move expeditiously on this request,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said today.
Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said the approval processes by the euro area and IMF “will all go in parallel and quickly.” He said that triggering the aid facility leaves “no doubt” about Greece’s ability to repay debt next month and that the country will tap markets again “when the conditions are appropriate.”
Under EU rules, governments must keep their budget deficits below 3 percent of gross domestic product. While the EU can penalize countries for breaching the limit, no nation has been sanctioned since the euro was introduced in 1999. Of the 16 euro region members, only Luxembourg and Finland had deficits within the limit last year.
The government’s deficit-cutting goal became questionable yesterday after Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, revised up the 2009 shortfall to 13.6 percent of GDP, and said it was considering a further revision to as much as 14.1 percent.
Deficit Pledges
The government in Athens had pledged to reduce the budget deficit by at least 4 percentage points of GDP this year to 8.7 percent. When Greece first made that pledge, its starting point was a 2009 deficit of 12.7 percent.
Unions have already put the government on notice that there will be more strikes if Papandreou seeks to impose more austerity measures beyond the tax increases and wage cuts already implemented under the 2010 deficit goals. Civil servants held their fourth one-day strike of the year this week and other unions have regularly walked off the job since the original measures were announced, threatening to deepen the recession.
Greece’s economy may contract 4 percent this year, twice as much as in 2009 and double the government’s forecast, according to Deutsche Bank AG. After a wave of domestic protests against austerity measures, the government needs to raise almost 10 billion euros by the end of May to cover maturing bonds and another 20 billion euros by the end of the year to pay debt coupons and finance the deficit.
Late Entry
Greece failed to qualify for the euro area initially, joining two years later and only after understating its budget gap. With the euro, ECB interest rates that never exceeded 4.75 percent and EU funds to help build roads and airports, the country had economic growth of about 4 percent on an annual average basis -- one of the fastest in Europe -- until 2008 when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse sparked a global financial crisis.
German politicians have expressed reluctance to aid Greece, citing the country’s manipulation of statistics to qualify for euro entry and an EU treaty clause that prohibits bailouts.
Allies of Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Christian Democrat, criticized her for signing up to an April 11 European deal on the setting some of the terms of any aid for Greece, saying she dropped an initial demand that subsidies be ruled out.
‘Stringent Conditions’
“Germany buckled under the pressure -- we shouldn’t kid ourselves that such loans are anything but subsidies,” Frank Schaeffler, deputy finance spokesman for Merkel’s Free Democrat junior coalition partners, said at the time.
Merkel today said the Greek government, which aims to bring its deficit within the European limit in 2012, must satisfy “very stringent conditions” for aid and negotiate a “credible savings program” with the EU and IMF.
“Only when those two conditions are met can we talk about specific aid, including the kind of aid and the amount,” she said.
Papandreou had called the EU-IMF aid facility a “loaded gun” that would lower borrowing costs in the market and make an actual request for support unnecessary. Investors weren’t intimidated and the rout in Greek bonds intensified after the aid package was adopted on April 11. Greek 10-year bond yields have soared more than 125 basis points since then and topped 10 percent yesterday, the highest since 1998.
The yield premium that investors demand to hold Greek 10- year bonds instead of benchmark German debt widened to more than 500 basis points yesterday, the most since before the euro’s 1999 debut.
The appeal for help from the European Union and International Monetary Fund follows a surge in borrowing costs to what Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou called unsustainable levels that undermine efforts to cut a budget deficit that is more than four times the EU limit.
“There was no response from the markets, either because they didn’t believe in the political will of the EU or because they decided to go on with speculation,” Papandreou said today. “The situation threatens to demolish not only the sacrifices of the people but also the regular course of the economy.”
With national debt of almost 300 billion euros and investors demanding almost triple what they charge Germany for its 10-year bonds, Greece faces a fiscal mess that threatened to spread to Spain and Portugal, forcing the EU to set up a standby aid facility. At stake is the future of the euro 11 years after its creators gave the European Central Bank responsibility for interest rates while leaving budget policy in national capitals.
Rating Cut
The request came a day after the yield on the country’s benchmark two-year note topped 11 percent, approaching that of Pakistan, and Moody’s Investors Service lowered Greece’s creditworthiness by one notch to A3, saying it was considering further cuts. Greek securities initially rallied on the announcement and then pared the gains.
“Clearly, the package will buy Greece time this year,” said Colin Ellis, European economist at Daiwa Capital in London. “But that’s all that it has done. Greece still faces a herculean task to show that it can get its public finances in order and reduce its deficit.”
The yield on the Greek 2-year bond rose 4 basis points to 10.672 percent, the highest since before the start of the euro in 1999 and more than 10 times the German rate. The yield had declined more than 200 basis points today.
Greece’s ASE stock index also reversed a gain of as much as 4.6 percent and declined 0.2 percent to 1857.96. The benchmark has shed more than a third of its value in the past six months as banks, the biggest holders of Greek bonds, slumped and concerns the crisis will lead to a prolonged recession hurt the market.
One Roof
The euro, which has dropped 7 percent this year as Greece undermined confidence in the single currency, rose to $1,3363 today after slipping to a one-year low yesterday of $1.3261.
Economists including Harvard University Professor Martin Feldstein have said the single currency would falter because divergent economies couldn’t fit under one monetary roof.
The Greek request needs approval from all 15 other euro- area countries including Germany, where surveys have shown public opposition to aiding Greece. BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, has expressed concerns about a “backlash” from citizens in EU nations prepared to offer a lifeline.
“We want to see the EU countries really get behind it and see that they’ve gelled around the idea of providing this support at the government level, at the senior policy maker level,” Curtis Arledge, chief investment officer of fixed income at BlackRock, said on April 13. “If you see the backlash, they need to get their people on board.”
National Approval
Luxembourg’s parliament today approved its part of the loans. France has already earmarked the funds, which still needs legislative approval. Germany, which will put up 8.4 billion euros of the loans, is “ready to act” on parliamentary approval, Finance Ministry spokesman Michael Offer said today.
The three-year aid facility for Greece offers as much as 30 billion euros in loans from euro-area nations this year at a below-market interest rate of about 5 percent. As much as 15 billion euros are available in the first year from the IMF at even lower rates, EU officials have said.
The Greek government started talks on April 21 in Athens with EU and IMF officials to set conditions on the funds before they are disbursed. Such deliberations, which usually take two to three weeks, may be completed in “a matter of days,” said EU spokesman Amadeu Altafaj.
Looming Redemptions
Facing 8.5 billion euros of bonds maturing May 19 and with little chance of being able to tap the financial markets, Greece won a promise by the IMF chief to act speedily over the call for a financial lifeline.
“We are prepared to move expeditiously on this request,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said today.
Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said the approval processes by the euro area and IMF “will all go in parallel and quickly.” He said that triggering the aid facility leaves “no doubt” about Greece’s ability to repay debt next month and that the country will tap markets again “when the conditions are appropriate.”
Under EU rules, governments must keep their budget deficits below 3 percent of gross domestic product. While the EU can penalize countries for breaching the limit, no nation has been sanctioned since the euro was introduced in 1999. Of the 16 euro region members, only Luxembourg and Finland had deficits within the limit last year.
The government’s deficit-cutting goal became questionable yesterday after Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, revised up the 2009 shortfall to 13.6 percent of GDP, and said it was considering a further revision to as much as 14.1 percent.
Deficit Pledges
The government in Athens had pledged to reduce the budget deficit by at least 4 percentage points of GDP this year to 8.7 percent. When Greece first made that pledge, its starting point was a 2009 deficit of 12.7 percent.
Unions have already put the government on notice that there will be more strikes if Papandreou seeks to impose more austerity measures beyond the tax increases and wage cuts already implemented under the 2010 deficit goals. Civil servants held their fourth one-day strike of the year this week and other unions have regularly walked off the job since the original measures were announced, threatening to deepen the recession.
Greece’s economy may contract 4 percent this year, twice as much as in 2009 and double the government’s forecast, according to Deutsche Bank AG. After a wave of domestic protests against austerity measures, the government needs to raise almost 10 billion euros by the end of May to cover maturing bonds and another 20 billion euros by the end of the year to pay debt coupons and finance the deficit.
Late Entry
Greece failed to qualify for the euro area initially, joining two years later and only after understating its budget gap. With the euro, ECB interest rates that never exceeded 4.75 percent and EU funds to help build roads and airports, the country had economic growth of about 4 percent on an annual average basis -- one of the fastest in Europe -- until 2008 when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse sparked a global financial crisis.
German politicians have expressed reluctance to aid Greece, citing the country’s manipulation of statistics to qualify for euro entry and an EU treaty clause that prohibits bailouts.
Allies of Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Christian Democrat, criticized her for signing up to an April 11 European deal on the setting some of the terms of any aid for Greece, saying she dropped an initial demand that subsidies be ruled out.
‘Stringent Conditions’
“Germany buckled under the pressure -- we shouldn’t kid ourselves that such loans are anything but subsidies,” Frank Schaeffler, deputy finance spokesman for Merkel’s Free Democrat junior coalition partners, said at the time.
Merkel today said the Greek government, which aims to bring its deficit within the European limit in 2012, must satisfy “very stringent conditions” for aid and negotiate a “credible savings program” with the EU and IMF.
“Only when those two conditions are met can we talk about specific aid, including the kind of aid and the amount,” she said.
Papandreou had called the EU-IMF aid facility a “loaded gun” that would lower borrowing costs in the market and make an actual request for support unnecessary. Investors weren’t intimidated and the rout in Greek bonds intensified after the aid package was adopted on April 11. Greek 10-year bond yields have soared more than 125 basis points since then and topped 10 percent yesterday, the highest since 1998.
The yield premium that investors demand to hold Greek 10- year bonds instead of benchmark German debt widened to more than 500 basis points yesterday, the most since before the euro’s 1999 debut.
Nick Clegg echoes Obama in debate
Nick Clegg echoes Obama in debate
* Tensions were evident during the 90-minute event. Viewers saw the same sort of bickering that characterizes U.S. debates. Candidates turned to face each other and directly challenged positions.
* Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader who was shown to have gained the most in opinion polls from the first televised political debate a week earlier, stressed the need for bank reform, greater British engagement in the world, a clear mission in Afghanistan for Britain and a new nuclear policy at the debate in Bristol, England. These are all views that Obama has pushed for the United States, either as president or while still a candidate.
* Clegg's rivals in the May 6 national election, Prime Minister Brown of the Labour Party and Conservative leader Cameron, at times ganged up on Clegg to try to score political points. Like Obama, Clegg said it was a mistake to invade Iraq. Like Obama, Clegg said climate change is an urgent problem that needs to be addressed swiftly with international action.
* And like Obama, Clegg said it was time to change nuclear policy from Cold War weapons, such as Britain's Trident system, to the possibility of terrorists gaining nuclear weapons, a point Obama promoted last week at a nuclear summit in Washington. Clegg even invoked Obama's name, saying: "President Obama said last week, I think quite rightly, that now the greatest threat to us is not the Cold War threat of old. It's terrorists getting hold of dirty bombs."
* This last point prompted the kind of slashing response characteristic of political debates in America, where the sharp retort is eagerly anticipated by viewers. "I have to deal with these decisions every day," Brown said. "And I have to say to you, Nick: Get real. Get real. Because Iran, you are saying, might be able to have a nuclear weapon and you don't take action against them."
* Clegg, tried to tie Cameron to right-wing extremists, a standard debate tactic against conservatives in American politics. "How on earth does it help anyone in Bristol or anyone else in the country for that matter, David Cameron, to join together in the European Union with a bunch of nutters, anti-Semites, people who deny climate change exists, homophobes -- that doesn't help Britain," Clegg said.
* Brown, the unpopular incumbent, tried to raise his stature by accusing both of his rivals of promoting risky policies that would weaken either British national security or its economic recovery. "This may have the feel of a TV popularity contest but in truth this is an election about Britain's future. If it's all about style and PR, count me out," Brown said.
* Tensions were evident during the 90-minute event. Viewers saw the same sort of bickering that characterizes U.S. debates. Candidates turned to face each other and directly challenged positions.
* Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader who was shown to have gained the most in opinion polls from the first televised political debate a week earlier, stressed the need for bank reform, greater British engagement in the world, a clear mission in Afghanistan for Britain and a new nuclear policy at the debate in Bristol, England. These are all views that Obama has pushed for the United States, either as president or while still a candidate.
* Clegg's rivals in the May 6 national election, Prime Minister Brown of the Labour Party and Conservative leader Cameron, at times ganged up on Clegg to try to score political points. Like Obama, Clegg said it was a mistake to invade Iraq. Like Obama, Clegg said climate change is an urgent problem that needs to be addressed swiftly with international action.
* And like Obama, Clegg said it was time to change nuclear policy from Cold War weapons, such as Britain's Trident system, to the possibility of terrorists gaining nuclear weapons, a point Obama promoted last week at a nuclear summit in Washington. Clegg even invoked Obama's name, saying: "President Obama said last week, I think quite rightly, that now the greatest threat to us is not the Cold War threat of old. It's terrorists getting hold of dirty bombs."
* This last point prompted the kind of slashing response characteristic of political debates in America, where the sharp retort is eagerly anticipated by viewers. "I have to deal with these decisions every day," Brown said. "And I have to say to you, Nick: Get real. Get real. Because Iran, you are saying, might be able to have a nuclear weapon and you don't take action against them."
* Clegg, tried to tie Cameron to right-wing extremists, a standard debate tactic against conservatives in American politics. "How on earth does it help anyone in Bristol or anyone else in the country for that matter, David Cameron, to join together in the European Union with a bunch of nutters, anti-Semites, people who deny climate change exists, homophobes -- that doesn't help Britain," Clegg said.
* Brown, the unpopular incumbent, tried to raise his stature by accusing both of his rivals of promoting risky policies that would weaken either British national security or its economic recovery. "This may have the feel of a TV popularity contest but in truth this is an election about Britain's future. If it's all about style and PR, count me out," Brown said.
Frat inspired by Robert E. Lee bans Rebel uniforms
Frat inspired by Robert E. Lee bans Rebel uniforms
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A college fraternity inspired by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee has banned members around the country from wearing Confederate uniforms to "Old South" parties and parades after years of complaints that the tradition was racially insensitive.
The Virginia-based Kappa Alpha Order issued new rules to chapters earlier this year saying members aren't allowed to wear Rebel uniforms to parties or during their parades, which are a staple on campuses across the South.
The decision, announced in an internal memo posted on the group's website, followed a flap last year at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where a black sorority complained after a KA parade stopped in front of its house on campus. KA members were dressed in the gray uniforms of Confederate officers, and young women wore hoop skirts.
More than 70 alumnae of the sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, sent a petition to Alabama President Robert Witt complaining about the use of Confederate flags and uniforms on campus.
In the memo to chapters, Kappa Alpha's national executive director, Larry Wiese, said such displays had to end.
"In today's climate, the Order can ill afford to offend our host institutions and fend off significant negative national press and remain effective at our core mission, which is to aid young men in becoming better community leaders and citizens," Wiese wrote.
The KA chapter at Alabama has canceled this year's Old South parade, which was set for this week. Still, a large Confederate national flag covers the front of its house on campus.
Other KA chapters quit donning Confederate uniforms or holding parades with Old South themes in recent years as criticism grew. The University of Georgia chapter canceled its parade in 2006 after complaints by residents of a black neighborhood. Instead, it switched to a Founder's Day parade, with members riding horses but ditching Confederate gear.
Auburn University's chapter ended its Old South parade in 1992 after black students confronted white students with Confederate flags.
Kappa Alphas at Centenary College in Shreveport, La., moved their Old South events off campus in 2002 after drawing protests from the Black Student Alliance and others over the Confederate garb.
On Thursday, the University of Alabama said the decision to call off the parade there was made by the fraternity in consultation with school administrators.
Thomas Wilson, KA's president at Alabama, said the fraternity supports "an inclusive campus environment, and as an organization we chose not to participate in an activity that we knew other members of the community found offensive."
"The members of the fraternity understand that when traditions hurt others, even unintentionally, it's time to change them," said dean of students Tim Hebson.
An alumna of the black sorority that complained about racial insensitivity at last year's parade said there are ways for the fraternity to acknowledge its Southern heritage beside dressing up like Confederate soldiers.
"The women of Alpha Kappa Alpha and other racially diverse groups on UA's campus trust that the men of Kappa Alpha will find ways to commemorate their founders in a spirited and significant manner that simultaneously recognizes the progress that we have made in race relations since the founding of Kappa Alpha and the rich diversity and inclusiveness of our progressive and positive campus," said Joyce Stallworth, now an associate education dean at Alabama.
Kappa Alpha was founded in 1865 at Washington & Lee University — a school partly named for the Confederate general, and the group calls Lee its "spiritual founder." It has about 130 chapters nationwide.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A college fraternity inspired by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee has banned members around the country from wearing Confederate uniforms to "Old South" parties and parades after years of complaints that the tradition was racially insensitive.
The Virginia-based Kappa Alpha Order issued new rules to chapters earlier this year saying members aren't allowed to wear Rebel uniforms to parties or during their parades, which are a staple on campuses across the South.
The decision, announced in an internal memo posted on the group's website, followed a flap last year at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where a black sorority complained after a KA parade stopped in front of its house on campus. KA members were dressed in the gray uniforms of Confederate officers, and young women wore hoop skirts.
More than 70 alumnae of the sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, sent a petition to Alabama President Robert Witt complaining about the use of Confederate flags and uniforms on campus.
In the memo to chapters, Kappa Alpha's national executive director, Larry Wiese, said such displays had to end.
"In today's climate, the Order can ill afford to offend our host institutions and fend off significant negative national press and remain effective at our core mission, which is to aid young men in becoming better community leaders and citizens," Wiese wrote.
The KA chapter at Alabama has canceled this year's Old South parade, which was set for this week. Still, a large Confederate national flag covers the front of its house on campus.
Other KA chapters quit donning Confederate uniforms or holding parades with Old South themes in recent years as criticism grew. The University of Georgia chapter canceled its parade in 2006 after complaints by residents of a black neighborhood. Instead, it switched to a Founder's Day parade, with members riding horses but ditching Confederate gear.
Auburn University's chapter ended its Old South parade in 1992 after black students confronted white students with Confederate flags.
Kappa Alphas at Centenary College in Shreveport, La., moved their Old South events off campus in 2002 after drawing protests from the Black Student Alliance and others over the Confederate garb.
On Thursday, the University of Alabama said the decision to call off the parade there was made by the fraternity in consultation with school administrators.
Thomas Wilson, KA's president at Alabama, said the fraternity supports "an inclusive campus environment, and as an organization we chose not to participate in an activity that we knew other members of the community found offensive."
"The members of the fraternity understand that when traditions hurt others, even unintentionally, it's time to change them," said dean of students Tim Hebson.
An alumna of the black sorority that complained about racial insensitivity at last year's parade said there are ways for the fraternity to acknowledge its Southern heritage beside dressing up like Confederate soldiers.
"The women of Alpha Kappa Alpha and other racially diverse groups on UA's campus trust that the men of Kappa Alpha will find ways to commemorate their founders in a spirited and significant manner that simultaneously recognizes the progress that we have made in race relations since the founding of Kappa Alpha and the rich diversity and inclusiveness of our progressive and positive campus," said Joyce Stallworth, now an associate education dean at Alabama.
Kappa Alpha was founded in 1865 at Washington & Lee University — a school partly named for the Confederate general, and the group calls Lee its "spiritual founder." It has about 130 chapters nationwide.
St. Louis Rams get their man in QB Sam Bradford
For Sam Bradford, the defining moment came about two weeks before his March 29
pro day.
"We were down in Pensacola (Fla.) throwing, and it was just one of those
workouts where I was accurate," Bradford said. "My ball, it was coming out
quick. My arm strength felt good."
After he finished, he called a friend and said, "I think I'm back. The arm felt
great. It felt like a normal, normal shoulder."
For the Rams, there was no cathartic moment, no one day when the light came on
and they said: "Sam's a Ram."
Bradford said he got good vibes in terms of St. Louis' interest at the NFL
scouting combine at the end of February.
Bradford's pro day a month later showed the Rams — and everyone else — that he
was back and fully healthy from his shoulder surgery.
As for the intangibles, there were Bradford's personality, his temperament, a
picture developed piece by piece, meeting by meeting, in the weeks leading up
to Thursday. Coach Steve Spagnuolo liked the way Bradford interacted with the
coaches and his teammates at the pro day.
"I got to know just from sitting with him that he's a thinker, he's a listener,
he's got a calmness about him," Spagnuolo said. "I thought all those qualities
were pretty good in a quarterback.
"He listens first before he reacts. He does not appear to be a knee-jerk
reactor or off the cuff. And I think you need a little bit of that as a
quarterback. You've got to be a little bit poised. Or a lot poised. I see that
in him."
But unlike the selection of offensive tackle Jason Smith a year ago, or
defensive end Chris Long two years ago, this one wasn't decided for sure until
earlier this week.
"What really on the surface should have been an obvious pick — and maybe to a
lot of you it was that we were taking a quarterback — (wasn't obvious),"
general manager Billy Devaney said. "Those other two kids that we were thinking
about, (Ndamukong) Suh and (Gerald) McCoy, they made this whole process really
difficult, being the players and the type of people that they are.
"It really was a tough decision, and it shouldn't have been. We wrestled with
it. Just because we think those two kids are really going to be special
football players."
(Notice, no mention here of Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, purported to
be one of the Rams' four "finalists" for the No. 1 overall pick.)
But when Devaney went around the room Wednesday to gauge the opinion of his
scouts, the coaching staff and the rest of the personnel executives, it was
unanimous. Bradford. That consensus helped push it over the top. It should be
noted, too, that Rams ownership was very pro-Bradford, particularly after
seeing the team pass on quarterback Matt Ryan two years ago and Mark Sanchez
last year. (Apparently, Chip Rosenbloom hasn't abdicated the throne just yet.)
So Sam's a Ram — the Oklahoma Sooner becomes the first quarterback taken in the
first round by the Rams since Bill Munson in 1964, almost half a century ago.
"We don't see any negatives," Devaney said. "Rare size. Accuracy is off the
charts. Where I screwed up early on is he's a much better athlete. Especially
when you see him live. And the more tape you see, you see him escaping and
running away from people.
"He's a much better athlete than I'd given him credit for early on in this
process. Extremely intelligent. Character. I think he's a classy kid. All those
things. I happen to think he's the whole package."
In a conference call with St. Louis reporters a few minutes after his
selection, Bradford was just a step or two short of giddy in talking about
being selected by the Rams.
"You have no idea how excited I am, just to have the opportunity to come to St.
Louis and start my NFL career," he said. "It's just a blessing, and I can't
wait to get there and get to work."
Those rumors about Bradford not wanting to play with St. Louis? They were about
as accurate as the blather about Washington making a move to the No.1 spot
Thursday morning, or those rumors of Mike Holmgren and Cleveland offering
everything short of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to move up.
"There wasn't any offer on the table at any point," Devaney said. "We had
discussions. I'll be honest, Cleveland called probably about 15 minutes before
we were on the clock. And just kind of said, 'Anything change?'
"I said, 'No, not really.' "
So Cleveland never offered anything?
"Zero. Never got to that point," Devaney said.
Devaney even joked at the start of the Rams' post-pick news conference: "Mike
Holmgren's on the phone right now, working on the second pick."
Star Wars 2010
Star Wars 2010? U.S. military launch space plane on maiden voyage... but its mission is top secret
A top secret space plane developed by the US military has blasted off from Cape Canaveral on its maiden voyage.
Billed as a small shuttle, the unmanned X-37B heralds the next generation of space exploration. It will be the first craft to carry out an autonomous re-entry in the history of the US programme.
But its mission - and its cost - remain shrouded in secrecy. The Air Force said the launch was a success but would give no further details.
However, experts have said the spacecraft was intended to speed up development of combat-support systems and weapons systems.
There have already been accusations that the programme could lead to the 'weaponisation' of space.
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Lift off: The X-37B sits on top of an Atlas V rocket as it's launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida
Ready for launch: The X-37B rocket in Florida before it blasted off into space
This undated image released by the U.S. Air Force shows the X-37B spacecraft. Its mission and cost are shrouded in secrecy
Speaking after the launch, Air Force deputy under-secretary for space systems Gary Payton, admitted it was impossible to hide a space launch but was cagey about the what exactly the X-37B would do.
'On this flight the main thing we want to emphasise is the vehicle itself, not really, what's going on in the on-orbit phase because the vehicle itself is the piece of news here,' he said.
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He refuted claims that the craft was a step towards military dominance in space.
'I don't know how this could be called weaponisation of space,' he said. 'It's just an updated version of the Space Shuttle type of activities in space.
'We, the Air Force, have a suite of military missions in space and this new vehicle could potentially help us do those missions better.'
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle took a decade to develop and will spend up to nine months in orbit. It will re-enter Earth on autopilot and land, just like an ordinary plane, at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The decision on when it returns to Earth is dependant on the Air Force are satisfied with the tasks it has been set to carry out in space.
'In all honesty, we don't know when it's coming back for sure,' Mr Payton said. 'It depends on the progress we make with the on-orbit experiments and the on-orbit demonstrations.'
Mystery: Scientists work on a prototype for the rocket prior to its launch
A computer graphic shows what the X-37B will look like in space. It took a decade to develop and will spend up to nine months in orbit
This computer image shows the space plane re-entering Earth. Although it resembles a small space shuttle it is not designed to carry humans. It's wingspan is a mere 4.5m with a length of 8.9m. It is powered by batteries and solar cells
When it is time for the plane to come back down, commanders will send out a message which will make it re-enter orbit. It will then navigate its way back to the air force base.
While in orbit the spacecraft will conduct a number of classified experiments the results of which will be brought back to Earth for analysis. The military has not revealed what those experiments will entail.
Mr Payton said the Air Force's main interest is to test the craft's automated flight control system and learn about the cost of turning it around for launch again.
The X-37B is 9m long (29ft) and has a wingspan of 4.5m (15ft), making it a quarter of the size of a normal Shuttle.
It is powered by a solar cells and lithium-ion batteries, unlike a traditional craft which is powered by a fuel cell system. It has a large engine at the rear for orbit changing. The space plane is also reusable.
Built by Boeing's Phantom Works division, the X-37 program was originally headed by Nasa. It was later handed over to the Pentagon's research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on the project, but the true total has not been revealed.
The Air Force has given a very general description of the mission objectives: testing of guidance, navigation, control, thermal protection and autonomous operation in orbit, re-entry and landing.
While the massive Space Shuttles have been likened to cargo-hauling trucks, the X-37B is more like a sports car, with the equivalent trunk capacity.
Dr Joan Johnson-Freese, chair of national security and decision making at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, told the BBC the launch was something of an experiment for the military.
'It might be at this point in time that (the US Air Force is) going to roll the dice and see if something good happens,' she said.
'If it does, they'll continue with it. Otherwise, this will be another one of those projects that goes into a bin somewhere.'
She claimed the US military had wanted a craft with the ability to loiter in space for some time.
'If it lives up to its speculated hype, it could be a manoeuvrable satellite,' she said.
'You could move it to, for example, hover over the straits of Taiwan and it could evade attempts to shoot it down. It could do a lot of things that up until this point have been mostly fiction.'
A second experimental plane is already on order and is due to launch in 2011.
Secret: It is still unclear what kind of experiments will be conducted onboard. The X-37 program was originally headed by Nasa. It was later handed over to the Pentagon's research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit
Iceland's Volcanic Glacier Disrupts European Air Travel
As volcanoes go, the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull on Tuesday, April 13, won't make the science books. Though scientists haven't yet been able to gather enough information on the eruption to give it a score on the Volcanic Explosivity Index - which ranks volcanic events on a 1-to-8 scale - it's unlikely to score very high. Eyjafjallajokull barely compares to major eruptions like Mount St. Helens in 1980, which released 1.5 million metric tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, or the catastrophe of Krakatoa in Indonesia in 1883, which killed more than 40,000 people and was felt around the world. During Eyjafjallajokull, by contrast, there have been no deaths, and just 800 people living near the volcano had to be evacuated.
But Eyjafjallajokull's eruption has still had a major impact on the world, as its 7-mile-high plume of volcanic gases and silicate ash has spread across much of Europe, bringing air travel across the continent to a near standstill. Britain's airspace is still closed, and authorities don't expect to loosen restrictions until sometime Saturday at the earliest. On Friday, two-thirds of European flights were canceled, as were 180 transatlantic flights. Delays and cancellations hit airports from Toronto to Tokyo, and the problems have cost the global air-travel industry an estimated $200 million a day. Not bad for a distinctly minor-league eruption. (See a gallery of the eerie beauty of the eruption.)
Still, the havoc caused by Eyjafjallajokull is a reminder that in our globalized, interconnected world, it's less the sheer power of a natural disaster than where and when it happens - and how prepared we are to respond. Eyjafjallajokull was at the right place at the right time to wreak maximum havoc on air travel. (Even relatively small amounts of volcanic ash high in the air can clog sensitive jet engines, shutting down ventilation and causing the machinery to melt down and fail.) If the volcano had erupted in the years before air travel became common, it wouldn't have caused trouble for anyone but the people of Iceland.
The same goes for other kinds of natural disasters. The earthquake that hit Haiti in January killed some 230,000 people, yet the temblor registered only a 7.0 on the Richter scale - bad, but not that bad. In fact, the quake barely compared to the 8.8 temblor that hit Chile a little more than a month later, killing fewer than 500 people. What's the difference? Population density - the Haiti quake struck the country's dense capital of Port-au-Prince, while the Chile one missed big cities like Santiago - and preparation. Chile is a relatively well-off South American nation with a long history of earthquakes, so its buildings are designed to resist seismic waves, and the government and people know how to respond to a disaster. Impoverished Haiti, by contrast, was helpless, and its people paid the price. (See how some people fought the ash to try to reach their destinations.)
As global populations have grown and people have crowded into risk zones - like earthquake areas and flood plains - the toll of natural disasters has grown as well. According to the Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters, the number of catastrophic events has more than doubled since the 1980s, and the Red Cross estimates that the economic damage from disasters rose fivefold, to $629 billion, from 1985 to 2005. That doesn't necessarily mean that volcanoes and quakes are getting worse - but rather that there are more of us living in areas where we might be affected by a disaster, and we have more to lose.
Fortunately, global wealth and technology allow us to better prepare for and respond to natural disasters. In the case of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption, European air-traffic controllers already had plans in place to deal with ash clouds. Shutting down the continent's airspace and grounding thousands of flights was expensive and inconvenient, but it was far preferable to having planes fall out of the sky. And while the economic toll of such disasters may be rising, huge death tolls are far less common. In 1783, the volcano Laki in Iceland erupted on a massive scale, throwing so much ash and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere that it led to a famine that killed half of Iceland's livestock and 25% of its population. An eruption of that size today likely wouldn't cause nearly as dramatic a death toll - though it might well interrupt flyers for weeks or even months. (See why volcanic ash is a health issue for air travelers.)
Authorities hope Eyjafjallajokull will quiet down in the days to come and the ash cloud will disperse, allowing European air travel to return to normal - although its last eruption, in 1821, went on for two years. Yet the volcano's worldwide impact should not have come as a surprise, considering the fallout from Iceland's economic collapse in 2008, which affected borrowers across Europe. In natural disasters as well as the financial system, what happens in Iceland doesn't always stay in Iceland.
See TIME's Pictures of the Week.
But Eyjafjallajokull's eruption has still had a major impact on the world, as its 7-mile-high plume of volcanic gases and silicate ash has spread across much of Europe, bringing air travel across the continent to a near standstill. Britain's airspace is still closed, and authorities don't expect to loosen restrictions until sometime Saturday at the earliest. On Friday, two-thirds of European flights were canceled, as were 180 transatlantic flights. Delays and cancellations hit airports from Toronto to Tokyo, and the problems have cost the global air-travel industry an estimated $200 million a day. Not bad for a distinctly minor-league eruption. (See a gallery of the eerie beauty of the eruption.)
Still, the havoc caused by Eyjafjallajokull is a reminder that in our globalized, interconnected world, it's less the sheer power of a natural disaster than where and when it happens - and how prepared we are to respond. Eyjafjallajokull was at the right place at the right time to wreak maximum havoc on air travel. (Even relatively small amounts of volcanic ash high in the air can clog sensitive jet engines, shutting down ventilation and causing the machinery to melt down and fail.) If the volcano had erupted in the years before air travel became common, it wouldn't have caused trouble for anyone but the people of Iceland.
The same goes for other kinds of natural disasters. The earthquake that hit Haiti in January killed some 230,000 people, yet the temblor registered only a 7.0 on the Richter scale - bad, but not that bad. In fact, the quake barely compared to the 8.8 temblor that hit Chile a little more than a month later, killing fewer than 500 people. What's the difference? Population density - the Haiti quake struck the country's dense capital of Port-au-Prince, while the Chile one missed big cities like Santiago - and preparation. Chile is a relatively well-off South American nation with a long history of earthquakes, so its buildings are designed to resist seismic waves, and the government and people know how to respond to a disaster. Impoverished Haiti, by contrast, was helpless, and its people paid the price. (See how some people fought the ash to try to reach their destinations.)
As global populations have grown and people have crowded into risk zones - like earthquake areas and flood plains - the toll of natural disasters has grown as well. According to the Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters, the number of catastrophic events has more than doubled since the 1980s, and the Red Cross estimates that the economic damage from disasters rose fivefold, to $629 billion, from 1985 to 2005. That doesn't necessarily mean that volcanoes and quakes are getting worse - but rather that there are more of us living in areas where we might be affected by a disaster, and we have more to lose.
Fortunately, global wealth and technology allow us to better prepare for and respond to natural disasters. In the case of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption, European air-traffic controllers already had plans in place to deal with ash clouds. Shutting down the continent's airspace and grounding thousands of flights was expensive and inconvenient, but it was far preferable to having planes fall out of the sky. And while the economic toll of such disasters may be rising, huge death tolls are far less common. In 1783, the volcano Laki in Iceland erupted on a massive scale, throwing so much ash and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere that it led to a famine that killed half of Iceland's livestock and 25% of its population. An eruption of that size today likely wouldn't cause nearly as dramatic a death toll - though it might well interrupt flyers for weeks or even months. (See why volcanic ash is a health issue for air travelers.)
Authorities hope Eyjafjallajokull will quiet down in the days to come and the ash cloud will disperse, allowing European air travel to return to normal - although its last eruption, in 1821, went on for two years. Yet the volcano's worldwide impact should not have come as a surprise, considering the fallout from Iceland's economic collapse in 2008, which affected borrowers across Europe. In natural disasters as well as the financial system, what happens in Iceland doesn't always stay in Iceland.
See TIME's Pictures of the Week.
Endangered sturgeon fish flourishing in Wisconsin
Extinction of marine and land animals became a threatening nature of extinct dinosaurs and other animals become extinct but we have to save what can be Annagazp
The fish survived whatever killed the dinosaurs and have struggled against habitat destruction and overfishing. Now many of its 25 species are endangered, but a small pocket in upper Wisconsin boasts of having one of the world's largest concentrations of the fish.
The success is because of the state's strict spearing limits, poaching laws, restocking efforts and the popular — and well-protected — spring spawning, which mostly finished last week.
"If we can restore the sturgeon population in the Great Lakes and manage the current population effectively, then we know we are doing a pretty good job of managing the other aspects of the aquatic community," said state sturgeon expert Ron Bruch.
In Lake Winnebago there are now around 40,000 lake sturgeons, likely where the population was in the 1800s, Bruch said. In the 1950s, it was 10,000. Whereas in the Great Lakes system, there are now about 156,750, less than 1 percent of what it was in early 1800s, said Rob Elliott, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist.
Thousands from around the state and elsewhere visit the Lake Winnebago system tributaries to watch the enormous fish writhe and splash as they lay eggs in shallow, moving water. The fish, which grow up to 300 pounds and look like a cross between a catfish and shark, are close enough to touch.
"Some people say they are awful homely, awful bad looking, but to me ... they are beautiful fish, just like a beautiful blonde," said 73-year-old Pat Wudtke, who's speared sturgeon for 50 years during the state's annual season.
For the past decade, Wudtke also has been among the hundreds who volunteer to protect the fish from poachers.
"I'll do everything I can to preserve them," Wudtke said.
People love the animals because of their unique look, that the species is prehistoric and their size, Bruch said.
"This is the only place really in the world that you can see them to this extent," he said.
The spawning spectacle pumps $350,000 into three nearby cities, some of which have signs directing people to the spawning sites.
The fish's success in Lake Winnebago has Bruch concerned. Though only a few cases of poaching are reported each year, he worries there will be more since other areas have a sturgeon shortage and demand is high. And he thinks the taste of lake sturgeon caviar compares with the high-priced kind.
There also are reports of poaching of white sturgeon in California as its caviar has grown more popular, said Ellen Pikitch, executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science in New York. It is illegal to fish wild white sturgeon in California and sell its meat or eggs, but people can sell farm-raised white sturgeon. It's also illegal in the U.S. to sell lake sturgeon meat and its eggs from the states.
In the Black and Caspian Seas the beluga sturgeon is overfished for its caviar, which costs up to $5,000 a pound.
Wisconsin does allow sturgeon spearing, with thousands huddled in shanties on a frozen Lake Winnebago. Spearers are allowed one sturgeon per person. Most get none. The DNR ends spearing when 5 percent of the population is taken.
The spearing is why the group, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, started in 1977, because they wanted to keep that tradition alive, said a founder, Bill Casper. Bruch credits the group for part of the sturgeon's success. It runs the sturgeon guard program and raises funds for research and hatcheries, among other things.
But some say even one speared sturgeon is too many.
"If they were not removed from the water," Pikitch said, "They would have opportunity to spawn many, many times in a long lifetime."
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Federal air marshal
Federal air marshal charged with raping woman at SeaTac hotel
A federal air marshal is being held in jail on $250,000 bail on a charge he raped an escort at gunpoint in a SeaTac hotel while wearing his badge.
According to documents charging Lecheton "Omar" Settles, 30, of Herndon, Va., with first-degree rape, he threatened to use his position as a law-enforcement officer and his government-issued firearm to commit the rape.
Police and prosecutors say that Settles, who was in town for official business, called an escort service on Friday from his room at the Marriott.
When a female escort arrived, Settles was dressed, court documents say. The woman agreed to dance in lingerie for $180, according to charging documents.
When she emerged from the bathroom, however, Settles was naked. He wore his badge around his neck and was holding a handgun, police and prosecutors said.
According to charging documents, Settles told the woman he was a U.S. marshal and that she had to do what he told her.
Settles is not a member of the U.S. Marshals Service, the documents state, but is a federal air marshal employed by the Transportation Security Administration, which provides security for airports and airlines.
Court documents say that Settles placed the handgun on the bed while he raped the woman and then demanded that she return the money he'd already paid her.
Court documents say Settles also placed the woman in handcuffs and pretended to call his supervisor after the rape.
The woman called police at the urging of a friend, court documents say.
According to court documents, Settles first denied having sexual contact with the woman but changed his story after he was told that she had accurately described him.
Settles, who was a probationary employee of the TSA, has been terminated, according to TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird.
U.S. Unveils New $100 Bill to Foil Counterfeiters
The new look, aimed at thwarting counterfeiters, has several new security features, including a “3-D Security Ribbon” and an image of a bell on the front of the note that, when tilted, changes in color from copper to green. The reverse side of the bill includes a new vignette of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
“As with previous U.S. currency redesigns, this note incorporates the best technology available to ensure we’re staying ahead of counterfeiters,” said Geithner, whose signature appears on the bills.
The bills also retain from the previous version a portrait watermark of Franklin, who signed the Declaration of Independence, as well as a security thread and a “color- shifting” numeral 100, officials announced at the unveiling ceremony at the Treasury in Washington.
“When the new design $100 note is issued on Feb. 10, 2011, the approximately 6.5 billion older design $100s already in circulation will remain legal tender,” Bernanke said. “U.S. currency users should know they will not have to trade in their older design $100 notes when the new ones begin circulating.”
The $100 bill is the largest denomination note printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a division of the Treasury. Larger denominations of $500, $1,000 and more are no longer issued but remain in circulation, especially among collectors.
To contact the reporter on this story: Vincent Del Giudice in Washington vdelgiudice@bloomberg.net.
“As with previous U.S. currency redesigns, this note incorporates the best technology available to ensure we’re staying ahead of counterfeiters,” said Geithner, whose signature appears on the bills.
The bills also retain from the previous version a portrait watermark of Franklin, who signed the Declaration of Independence, as well as a security thread and a “color- shifting” numeral 100, officials announced at the unveiling ceremony at the Treasury in Washington.
“When the new design $100 note is issued on Feb. 10, 2011, the approximately 6.5 billion older design $100s already in circulation will remain legal tender,” Bernanke said. “U.S. currency users should know they will not have to trade in their older design $100 notes when the new ones begin circulating.”
The $100 bill is the largest denomination note printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a division of the Treasury. Larger denominations of $500, $1,000 and more are no longer issued but remain in circulation, especially among collectors.
To contact the reporter on this story: Vincent Del Giudice in Washington vdelgiudice@bloomberg.net.
High times for American
Albergwana U.S. and provocative style of personal liberty and freedoms speak on behalf of the appeal
To you the latest news
Marijuana smokers across the America lit up in public parks, outsido
statehouses and in the posh confines of a Hummer parked outside a pot gardening superstore to observe the movement's annual 'high holiday' yesterday.
Those who weren't within whiffing distance of a college campus or a reggae concert may not have realised that Tuesday was '4/20', the celebration-cum-mass civil disobedience derived from '420' - insider shorthand for cannabis consumption.
Smoke gets in your eyes: An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people all exhale marijuana smoke as the clock hit 4.20pm during the 4/20 event on Norlin Quad at the University of Colorado in Boulder
Oversized: A giant marijuana joint is lit at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Marijuana legalisation advocates lit up across the country during the annual observance of 4/20
Advocates from New Hampshire to California trumpeted marijuana's rising commercial and political acceptance while producing collective clouds of pungent smoke - often under the watchful eyes of law enforcement officers who for the most part let the parties proceed.
A daylong rally in Denver's Civil Centre Park drew thousands of people, as did the public smoking event that persisted at the University of Colorado in Boulder despite discouragement from college administrators.
Colorado politicians coincidentally marked the day by backing new regulations for dispensaries selling medical marijuana.
In New Hampshire, about 100 people rallied in the state capital of Concord on the eve of a Senate vote to decriminalise small amounts of pot.
Shocking: A young boy smokes a hash pipe while attending the annual 420th smoke-in at the Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia
'Mary Jane': Marijuana smoke rises from a crowd in front of the state capitol building in Denver. Colorado is one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana - which is know as 'Mary Jane' to users
Some lit up joints as state troopers watched from inside the Statehouse.
Governor John Lynch said he will veto the bill if it reaches him.
In Juneau, Alaska, about 20 young people, two dogs and a mother pushing a stroller marched in driving rain, whooping and chanting, 'Yes we cannabis!' - a play on Barack Obama's campaign slogan. Their route took them past the state Capitol and City Hall.
In California, where voters in November will consider whether to tax the sale of marijuana for recreational use, a three-month-old cultivation equipment emporium in Oakland got a 24-hour jump start, sponsoring a '420 Eve' festival on Monday.
Hey, bud: A man smokes a marijuana blunt - the drug wrapped up inside a cigar casing - at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco yesterday afternoon
Save yourself: A street preacher has marijuana smoke puffed in his face as he confronts marijuana smokers at Golden Gate Park
Hits from the bong: A woman wears a marijuana joint costume in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Right, pot for sale at the Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia
Several hundred revelers lined up outside the 15,000sq ft iGrow 'hydroponics superstore'. Security guards kept them at bay until 4.20pm, when they could enter a medical marijuana delivery service raffle to win an giant joint and a tour of a 53ft long portable grow room with a starting price of $60,000.
'I wouldn't have thought we would be able to consume on site,' marveled John Corral, 19, of San Jose, after he obtained a wristband that gave him access to the event's two 'vapour lounges,' the one inside the Hummer and another inside a companion Range Rover limousine.
Two years ago, before he had a doctor's recommendation to smoke pot, Corral commemorated 4/20 on Hippie Hill, the Golden Gate Park promontory where an earlier generation of pot aficionados made their stand.
Marijuana use - medically and recreationally - is getting more attention these days, with voters in California and possibly three other states set to decide whether to legalize adult use of the drug.
Not all peace and love: A man gets kicked in the head as protesters fight during a celebration of marijuana in Yonge and Dundas Square in Toronto
Going downtown: Police arrest the man during a rally for the legalization of marijuana after a gun was seized in an altercation in Toronto
South Dakota voters will consider in the fall whether to join California and the 13 other states that allow medical cannabis use.
Most Americans still oppose legalising marijuana, but larger majorities believe pot has medical benefits and the government should allow its use for that purpose, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll released yesterday.
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said the drug's steady movement from counterculture indulgence to mainstream acceptance was evident on Tuesday, when four cable television channels dedicated 'a good chunk of programming to 420'.
St. Pierre said that with the terms 'marijuana' or 'cannabis' regularly showing up on the top Internet searches, it's clear that groups like his, which has lobbied to decriminalize marijuana since 1970, are no longer blowing smoke.
Toke that: A woman passes a arge joint at a pro-marijuana '4/20' celebration in front of the state capitol building in Denver
Pain relief: Tracey Wood lights a pipe filled with medical marijuana for her boyfriend Micah Moffet in Denver
'There is a large mainstreaming of all of this,' he said. 'Some of it is happening because commercial entities looking to comport with local social mores and values are taking advantage of this bizarre numerology.'
There are a variety of stories about the origin of 420, but pot advocates generally attribute the term to the time when a group of San Francisco Bay area high schoolers would gather to smoke marijuana during the early 1970s.
The term was then popularised by High Times magazine and the Grateful Dead.
At the iGrow event, Tom Patton of GrowOp Technology, proudly discussed the inspiration for the 'Big Bud' growing trailer he developed with Derek Peterson, a former stock broker.
A pot protester, Rich Hall, takes a puff of a marijuana joint in front of the Statehouse in Concord, New Hampshire
A haze of marijuana settles on the crowd at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado
Patton said he kept hearing about pot growers who 'were constantly putting up and taking down' grow rooms built inside warehouses or residential homes because of complaints from neighbours, fires sparked by faulty wiring or threats of law enforcement raids.
His pot room on wheels, which comes outfitted with a security system and technology to adjust temperature and humidity levels from an iPhone, may not completely eliminate the last concern, but that hasn't stopped a pair of New York bankers from investing in the invention.
'This is an enabling technology, not a hiding-out technology,' Patton said.
The lure of revenue and respectability has prompted some veterans of the marijuana wars to diversify.
Joshua Freeman, a Sonoma County pot grower, was at the 420 Eve festival handing out samples of the specialty plant food he recently developed and is trying to market.
'We are not just a bunch of stoners sitting back on a couch playing video games,' Freeman said.
A marijuana user smokes during a 420 Day celebration on "Hippie Hill" in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and 'smoke outs' in many parts of the United States
Voters in California will consider a measure on the November general election ballot that could make the State the first in the nation to legalise the growing of a limited amount of marijuana for private use
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