President-elect Obama News Conference (11-26-08)

Obama held his 4th press/news conference as President elect on Wednesday (11-26-08). Read the complete transcript.

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA: It has been increasingly clear in recent months -- and we saw some additional reports this morning -- that we're facing an economic crisis of historic proportions. And at this defining moment in our nation's history, the old ways of thinking and the old ways of acting just won't do. We're called to seek fresh thinking and bold new ideas from the leading minds across America. And as we chart a course to economic recovery, we must ensure that our government -- your government -- is held accountable for delivering results.

Today, I'm pleased to announce the formation of a new institution to help our economic team accomplish these goals: the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. This board is modeled on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board created by President Eisenhower to provide rigorous analysis and vigorous oversight to our intelligence community by individuals outside of government -- individuals who would be candid and unsparing in their assessment. This new board will perform a similar function for my administration as we formulate our economic policy.

The board will be composed of distinguished individuals from diverse backgrounds outside of government -- from business, labor, academia and other areas -- who will bring to bear their wisdom and expertise on the formulation, implementation and evaluation of my administration's economic recovery plan. The board will report regularly to me, Vice President-Elect Biden and our economic team as we seek to jump-start economic growth, create jobs, raise wages, address our housing crisis, and stabilize our financial markets.

Let me speak to why I think this is necessary. The reality is is that sometimes policymaking in Washington can become a little bit too ingrown, a little bit too insular. The walls of the echo chamber can sometimes keep out fresh voices and new ways of thinking. You start engaging in groupthink. And those who serve in Washington don't always have a ground-level sense of which programs and policies are working for people and businesses, and which aren't.

This board will provide that fresh perspective to me and my administration with an infusion of ideas from across the country and from all sectors of our economy, input that will be informed by members' firsthand observations of how our efforts are impacting the daily lives of our families.

I'm pleased to announce that this board will be chaired by one of the world's foremost economic policy experts, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve and one of my most trusted advisors, Paul Volcker. Paul has been by my side throughout this campaign, providing a deep understanding of financial markets, extensive experience managing economic crises, and keen insight into the global nature of this particular crisis. Paul has served under both Republicans and Democrats, and is held in the highest esteem for his sound and independent judgment. He pulls no punches. He seems to be fairly opinionated. (Laughter.) He has a long and distinguished record of service to our nation, and I am pleased that he's answered the call to serve once again.

Laid-off Workers Riot in China: Video

Protests by Chinese workers is a rare site, especially when it becomes a riot. In this case it was laid-off workers from a toy factory. Video below:

Mumbai Terror Attacks Targeted Americans: Video

The terror attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai targeting Europeans and Americans is likely the work of al Qaeda or sympathizers. So far 125 have died in the attacks in involving Western catering luxuary hotels, Oberoi and Taj Mahal and a cafe. See the video below:

FBI Warns of Terror Plot Against NYC Subways During Holidays

The FBI is warning law enforcement authorities of a possible terror plot by al Qaeda directed against the New York City subways (which I ride every day) during the Christmas Holiday season. You can't dismiss this as another Bush scaremongering. The election is over and the Republicans lost. So maybe we should be concerned. And the administration wouldn't want to frighten shoppers during the holiday season. It could be just an al Qaeda scare tactic to hurt an already damaged economy. Then again we had plenty of warnings prior to 9-11. They just weren't made public or taken seriously. Bin Laden's organization would like to make itself relevant at a time when they are on the defensive.

Federal authorities are warning law enforcement personnel of a possible terror plot against the New York City subway system during the holiday season.

An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system.

Anti-terror agencies say they have no specific details to confirm the plot has moved "beyond aspirational planning," but are issuing the alert out of concern that an attack could come during the holiday season," warns the memo, which is dated Tuesday.

While federal agencies often issue all sorts of advisory warnings, the language of this one is particularly forceful.

President Obama Press Conference Transcript (11-25-08)

This was President elect Barack Obama's third press conference (11-25-08). Read the complete transcript.

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA: Please be seated. Good morning, everybody.

Yesterday, we talked about the need to jumpstart our economy. I speak to you today mindful that we meet at a moment of great challenge for America, as our credit markets are stressed and our families are struggling.

But as difficult as these times are, I'm confident that we're going to rise to meet this challenge, if we're willing to band together and recognize that Wall Street cannot thrive so long as Main Street is struggling, if we're willing to summon a new spirit of ingenuity and determination and if Americans of great intellect, broad experience and good character are willing to serve in our government at its hour of need.

Yesterday, I announced four such Americans to help lead the economic team that will advise me as we seek to climb out of this crisis. Today, I'm pleased to announce two other key members of our team: Peter Orszag as director and Robert Nabors as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Now, before I explain why I selected these outstanding public servants, let me say a few words about the work that I'm asking them to undertake. As I said yesterday, the economic crisis we face demands that we invest immediately in a series of measures that will help save or create 2.5 million jobs and put tax cuts in the pockets of the hard-pressed middle class.

Many of those new jobs will come in areas -- such as energy independence, technology and health care modernization -- that will strengthen our economy over the long term. But if we are going to make the investments we need, we also have to be willing to shed the spending that we don't need.

In these challenging times, when we are facing both rising deficits and a sinking economy, budget reform is not an option. It's a necessity. We can't sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars, on programs that have outlived their usefulness or exist solely because of the power of politicians, lobbyists or interest groups. We simply can't afford it.

This isn't about big government or small government. It's about building a smarter government that focuses on what works. And that's why I will ask my team to think anew and act anew to meet our new challenges.

We are going to go through our federal budget, as I promised during the campaign, page by page, line by line, eliminating those programs we don't need and insisting that those that we do need operate in a sensible, cost-effective way.

Let me just give you one example of what I'm talking about. There's a report today that from 2003 to 2006, millionaire farmers received $49 million in crop subsidies even though they were earning more than the $2.5 million cutoff for such subsidies. If this is true -- and this was just a report this morning, but if it's true, it is a prime example of the kind of waste that I intend to end as president.

We're also going to focus on one of the biggest long-run challenges that our budget faces -- namely, the rising cost of health care in both the public and private sectors. This is not just a challenge, but also an opportunity to improve the health care that Americans rely on and to bring down the costs that taxpayers, businesses and families have to pay.

Now, that's what the Office of Management and Budget will do in my administration. It will not only help design a budget and manage its implementation, but it's also going to make sure that our government -- your government -- is more efficient and more effective at serving the American people.

There's no better person to help lead this effort as director of the OMB than my friend Peter Orszag. Peter's been one of our nation's leading voices on budgetary issues. It's said that a nation's budget reflects its values and its priorities. I believe that's true. And I know that Peter will bring to his work at the OMB a set of priorities that I and the American people share.

Throughout his career, he's made significant contributions in our understanding of all the major economic challenges that we're now confronting -- from reducing medical costs, to saving Social Security, to fighting global climate change, to helping put the dream of a college degree within the reach of more students.

As director of the Congressional Budget Office, he reenergized and reinvigorated the agency, while shifting its focus to confront the health care crisis that is not only a cause of so much suffering for so many families, but a rapidly growing portion of our budget and a drag on our entire economy.

U.S. Food Banks Can't Keep up with Demand

With stories that U.S. food banks can't keep up with the increase in people whom are going hungry, it's starting to look a lot like the Great Depression. And it will only get worse if something isn't done soon. Maybe some of those hundreds of billions could go towards feeding the needy. How about the wealthy chipping in? After all, many of the rich are responsible for the economic mess we're currently in.

Donations to many of the USA's food banks are not keeping pace with growing demand as the sour economy forces more people to seek help, charitable organizations say.

"We have seen a 100% increase in demand in the last year … and food donations have dropped precipitously," says Dana Wilkie, CEO of the Community Food Bank in Fresno, Calif.

The group, which distributes food to 200 food pantries and feeding centers, is supplying cheaper chickens instead of turkeys for Thanksgiving, she says.

Nationally, donations are up about 18%, but demand has grown 25%-40%, says Vicki Escarra of Feeding America, the USA's largest hunger-relief charity. Feeding America, formerly America's Second Harvest, has a network of 206 food banks.

About 70% of new clients are making their first visit to a food bank, Escarra says.

Federal Budget Deficit Could hit $1 Trillion this Year

The federal budget deficit could hit $1 trillion this year with more tax dollars going to bail out failed financial institutions. Very little of that money is going to help the average American. Those tax dollars should be reinvested into the economy to stimulate growth. In particular, the government (including local and state) should spend on rebuilding our dilapidated infrastructure which would increase employment thus stimulating the economy. Also more of those funds should go to help homeowners late paying their mortgages due to no fault of their own. As for Wall St. and the banks, they should get loans with strings attached. No bailouts. The goal must be economic growth. You can't get the economy going by creating more unemployment. Any government program/bailout should be for the purpose of stimulating economic growth not saving individual corporations or financial institutions.

The federal government's ledger has gone from a surplus just seven years ago to facing a prospect of a $1 trillion deficit next year.

Given those dire financial straits, President-elect Barack Obama said at a news conference Tuesday, "Budget reform is not an option. It's a necessity."

But unlike his predecessor President George W. Bush, who in better economic times talked about returning to surpluses by 2012, "balanced budgets" were not in Obama's vocabulary.

The government's first obligation, he said, was to spark an economic recovery and put people back to work. To do that, the Democratic-led Congress is expected to have a new stimulus package, costing in the $500 billion range, ready to go when Obama takes office in January.

That's on top of the hundreds of billions already spent or committed by Treasury and the Federal Reserve to revive the moribund financial markets. On Tuesday the government announced two new programs providing $800 billion to help unfreeze the market for consumer debt and to make mortgage loans cheaper and more available.

All that, in the short term, will send the deficit into the stratosphere.

Budget hawks were stunned when the federal deficit hit a record $455 billion in fiscal 2008, which ended Sept. 30, more than double the previous year's deficit. But now, even the fiscally conservative say another doubling, to $1 trillion or more, may be inevitable if the economy is to be rescued.

James Horney, director for federal fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said it was "pretty likely" that this year's deficit will approach $1 trillion. Big deficits can't be helped in bad times, he said, as the government is required to spend more to help the needy and stimulate the economy even as tax revenues decline.

"The question, of course, is what's the alternative?" Horney said. If the government doesn't move to stimulate the economy, "the outcome could be much worse."

Obama made clear Tuesday that he will take a hard look at the budget once the economic ship is righted.

"We can't sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness or exist solely because of the power of politicians, lobbyists or interest groups. We simply can't afford it.

"This isn't about big government or small government. It's about building a smarter government that focuses on what works," he said.

Federal Reserve to Buy $600 billion in Mortgage Related Assets

The government, Federal Reserve should be bailing out homeowners not the mortgage companies and banks that made those predatory real estate loans in the first place. It was the collapse of the housing bubble that caused the current financial crisis. It is the consumer whom should get the greatest relief.

The Federal Reserve said Tuesday it will buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed assets in another attempt to deal with the financial crisis.

The Fed said it will purchase up to $100 billion in direct obligations from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the Federal Home Loan Banks. It also will purchase another $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities, pools of mortgages that are bundled together and sold to investors.

The $600 billion effort on mortgages came as the Fed also unveiled a new program to help unfreeze the market that backs consumer debt such as credit cards, auto loans and student loans.

The program on consumer debt will lend up to $200 billion to the holders of securities backed by various types of consumer loans. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had said recently that the government was working on the new program, which will be supported by $20 billion of credit protection provided by the $700 billion bailout fund.

Meanwhile the horrible economic news gets worse:

The US economy contracted at a 0.5 percent pace in the third quarter, the government said Tuesday, revising down its earlier estimate for gross domestic product (GDP).

Last month, the Commerce Department in its first estimate had pegged the downturn at 0.3 percent.

The latest revision was in line with forecasts by private economists and reflected weaker consumer spending, exports and government expenditures.

The report reflected an abrupt turn from growth of 2.8 percent in the second quarter, although analysts said that figure was skewed by a surge in exports and consumer spending boosted by one-time tax rebates.

Many economists say the downturn in the fourth quarter could be much worse, reflecting a credit crunch and ongoing woes in housing and manufacturing.

The collapse continues:

Prices of single-family homes in September plunged a record 17.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices issued on Tuesday.

The composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 1.8 percent in September from August, S&P said in a statement.

S&P said its composite index of 10 metropolitan areas declined 1.9 percent in September from August for a 18.6 percent year-over-year drop, also a record.

The rate of home price declines has accelerated on a quarterly basis too.

In the third quarter, the decline in the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index -- which covers all nine U.S. census divisions -- remained in double digits, posting a record 16.6 percent decline versus the third quarter of 2007. This has worsened from the annual declines of 15.1 percent and 14.0 percent, reported for the second and first quarters of the year, respectively.

Does Obama have a clue?:

President-elect Barack Obama wants to project fiscal restraint even as his economic team assembles a massive recovery package that could cost several hundred billion dollars.

A day after introducing the captains of his economic team and promoting a giant jobs plan, Obama on Tuesday was to lay out his budget belt-tightening vision. The dual images — big spender and disciplined budget watcher — were designed to give both political and economic assurances to the public, the Congress and the financial markets.

Obama also was expected to introduce Peter Orszag as his new director of the Office of Management and Budget, the White House office that serves as a funnel for federal agency budget requests. Orszag is the current director of the Congressional Budget Office.

Obama's economic team embodies what at first glance seem to be mutually exclusive goals. Timothy Geithner, Obama's choice for treasury secretary; Lawrence Summers, who will head the National Economic Council; and Orszag all have links to Robert Rubin, who as President Clinton's treasury secretary pushed for a balanced budget.

But all three will also be part of an administration that will drive deficits to new heights with an economic plan designed to save or create 2.5 million jobs and redirect the economy over the next two years. Economists from across the political spectrum, including some who have served as informal advisers to Obama, have put the size of an economic recovery package as high as $700 billion over two years.

Face The Nation Transcript (11-23-08)

Obama Economic Adviser Austan Goolsbee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on Face The Nation. Read the complete transcript (11-23-08).

SCHIEFFER: Yes, well, let’s talk a little bit about this program that he outlined yesterday. He’s talking about tax cuts, building roads and bridges.

Some people are saying it may have to be something in the neighborhood -- I think Senator Schumer, this morning, said it may be in the neighborhood of five, six, seven hundred billion dollars.

Is that the sort of thing; is that the scope we’re talking, here?

GOOLSBEE: Look, the problem is very, very serious. This is as big of an economic crisis as we’ve faced in 75 years. And we’ve got to do something that’s up to the task of confronting that.

I don’t know what the exact number is, but it’s going to be a big number. It has to be. The point is to, kind of, get people back on track and startle the thing into submission.

I mean, we’ve got well over a million people who already who lost their jobs. Most of the private-sector forecasts say we could lose a million more, plus. The unemployment rate could reach levels we haven’t seen in decades.

And so the thing is, we’ve had a period, under this administration, where they resisted the idea of economic recovery. The approach has been, let’s, sort of, look the other way and things will get better.

We’ve tried not having a stimulus. We’ve tried not having a housing plan. We’ve tried not giving tax cuts to ordinary Americans. And it hasn’t worked. I mean, look out the window. That’s where it is. And so that’s -- kind of, that era of dithering is going to end. Starting January 20, Obama’s coming in. We’re out with the dithering. We’re in with a bang. That’s what it’s got to be.

SCHIEFFER: But you’re talking about something in this neighborhood, in this ballpark, though?

GOOLSBEE: It -- it has to be big. In the campaign, he was looking at stimulus that was in the $175 billion range, and the economy has gotten substantially worse since then.

So, I mean, as I say, it’s going to be a number big enough that, when they spell it out, it looks like, ooh -- you know, with that many zeros on it.

SCHIEFFER: This really sounds like a major thing. When can you get these people back to work?

Because, generally, when you talk about these public works programs like this -- and certainly, the nation’s infrastructure needs some serious repair and some serious rebuilding. But how long is it before the jobs start?

GOOLSBEE: Well, the goal -- the task that the president-elect has given to his economic team to come up with this package is to come up with things that will be immediately applicable.

So, as you say, infrastructure -- roads, bridges and investing in the country is important, but that the goal of this is an economic recovery package that will be taking place in the first two years.

GOOLSBEE: So there are a lot of infrastructure maintenance, rebuilding schools, things, places we can invest in health care, in broadband, in smart energy as well as the tax cuts, that the goal is to get things moving within that two-year period. That’s exactly the goal of the economic recovery.

SCHIEFFER: And what about tax cuts here? You’re going to have some immediate tax cuts for the middle- and lower-income people.

GOOLSBEE: Absolutely. Look, this economic recovery package that he’s describing is every bit in keeping with exactly the philosophy he outlined throughout the campaign for pretty much two years. And that is, we’ve got to make investments in the future of this country and we’ve got to provide relief to ordinary Americans, to 95 percent of workers. And that will be in effect.

Traitor Joe Lieberman on Meet the Press: Transcript (11-23-08)

Turncoat Senator Joe Lieberman refused to apologize to President elect Barack Obama for supporting John McCain during the presidential election while appearing on Meet The Press. Read the complete Transcript (11-23-08).

MR. BROKAW: You've always, as a public servant, held other people accountable. You were the only one to speak out on the floor, for example, against Bill Clinton during the time of the impeachment. Holding yourself accountable, looking back over the last six weeks, two months or so, what are the statements that you most regret?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, I don't want to go into the details. Let me just say this, I don't regret having supported John McCain because I sincerely believed in his experience and his extraordinary record of working across party lines to get things done. But I do regret, as I said to the caucus and, and afterward publicly, there were some things I said in the heat of a campaign that I wish I had said more clearly. There are other things, frankly, I wish I hadn't said at all. That happens to all of us in the heat of a campaign. But, nonetheless, I regret it and I want to move forward. And I was very grateful that my caucus, in the resolution they passed, did not disapprove of my support of Senator McCain, because they respected that I did is as an Independent Democrat for somebody I had worked with very closely. They expressed their disapproval of some of the things I said. I accept that. That was the spirit of reconciliation. And now we move on together to get the nation's business done.

MR. BROKAW: Have...

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Urgently.

MR. BROKAW: Have you picked up the phone and talked to Barack Obama about just that?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: I, I called Senator Obama, President-elect Obama, after the campaign. He's busy. I heard back from Joe Biden and Rahm Emanuel. I'm sure, in time, Senator Obama and I, who, who, who have developed a good friendship and working relationship over the years he's been in the Senate, will, will talk. In some sense he talked to me through Harry Reid and his spokespeople, and I appreciate very much the spirit of reconciliation that he evoked. We don't have the luxury of looking backward to the campaign. He's the winner. He's the president-elect. We've all got to work together with him to make him successful, and that's what I'm committed to doing.

MR. BROKAW: I hear the word regret but not the word apology.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, I do, I regret it. I mean, I don't, I, I, you know, I'm going forward. You can take from the word regret what you, what you, will. I wish I had not said some of the things I've said. But, again, we all do it. There was a lot of stuff said in this campaign about both candidates that I think a lot of people regret. I'm happy to step forward and say that I regret some of the things I've said. But somebody once said to me, God put our eyes in front of our head so we would always be naturally looking forward. And that's what, at this time of peril for our country, we've all got to be doing.

Why is Lieberman a traitor, you ask? This is an individual who betrayed his party simply because he is more loyal to Israel than to the United States of America, to whom he has sworn loyalty.

Politicians Flunk Test on American History

This is astonishing. American politicians did worse than the general public on a test measuring knowledge of American history and the workings of the government. It's like a doctor failing a test on medicine.

US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.

Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).

"It is disturbing enough that the general public failed ISI's civic literacy test, but when you consider the even more dismal scores of elected officials, you have to be concerned," said Josiah Bunting, chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board at ISI.

"How can political leaders make informed decisions if they don't understand the American experience?" he added.

The exam questions covered American history, the workings of the US government and economics.

Among the questions asked of some 2,500 people who were randomly selected to take the test, including "self-identified elected officials," was one which asked respondents to "name two countries that were our enemies during World War II."

Sixty-nine percent of respondents correctly identified Germany and Japan. Among the incorrect answers were Britain, China, Russia, Canada, Mexico and Spain.

Forty percent of respondents, meanwhile, incorrectly believed that the US president has the power to declare war, while 54 percent correctly answered that that power rests with Congress.

President Obama Job Creation Video Address (11-21-08)

President Barack Obama made a brief video address on a job creation plan for bolstering the economy. His goal is to create 2.5 million jobs over 2 years.

Bloomberg on Obama's radio address:

President-elect Barack Obama said he aims to create 2.5 million new U.S. jobs in a two-year plan to simulate an economy facing a “crisis of historic proportions.”

Obama, in his weekly radio address, today said that “financial markets faced more turmoil,” potentially leading to a “deflationary spiral” that may plunge the nation further into debt and cost millions more jobs. New home purchases in October were the lowest in half a century and 540,000 more jobless claims were filed last week, the highest in 18 years, he said today.

Job losses in the U.S. have totaled 1.2 million this year as the economy entered a slowdown exacerbated by the worst credit crisis in seven decades. More firings will weigh on the economy and consumer spending, putting pressure on Obama and Congress to agree on legislation that will stimulate growth.

“I have already directed my economic team to come up with an economic recovery plan that will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011 -- a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office” on Jan. 20, Obama said. “We have now lost 1.2 million jobs this year, and if we don’t act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year.”

Florida Teen Commits Suicide Seen Over Internet, Chatters Urge him On

How sick. While a Florida teenager commits suicide by overdosing seen from a webcam over the internet, chatters cheer lead the tragic act.

With his webcam trained on him, a Florida teenager died in his bed of a drug overdose while others watched over the Internet, officials said Friday.

Some of those watching urged him to take more drugs while others debated whether he had taken enough to kill himself. Hours passed before someone finally notified authorities that he appeared lifeless, officials said.

The teenager was pronounced dead Wednesday afternoon in Pembroke Pines, Florida, said Wendy Crane, investigator for the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office.

The cause of death was found to be an overdose of benzodiazepine, an antidepressant, as well as other opiate drugs used to treat depression, Crane said. CNN is not reporting the teenager's name. Video Watch CNN's John Zarrella detail the webcam suicide »

The youth's body was found in his apartment behind a locked door, which police broke down. Police turned off the webcam and computer, Crane said.

She said he did not take anything on camera, according to footage she reviewed, but he blogged between 3 and 4 a.m. Wednesday that he had taken an overdose of drugs. He also posted a suicide note.

He was seen lying on his bed on the streaming video, posted on the Web site Justin.tv. On the site, a person can stream video from a Web camera while "viewers" chat with each other in a box next to the video, Crane said. The comments and video have since been removed from the Web site.

Crane read the comments posted during the 10 hours the youth could be seen lying on his bed.

As the teenager was lying on his bed, she said, people were typing things like, "Oh, that's not enough to kill you." Others, she said, were egging him on, saying things like "Go ahead and do it." Still others thought it wasn't real, Crane said.

NIC: America on Decline as Superpower, China on the Rise

Expect America to decline as a superpower in the years ahead, while China and India become more powerful. Who says so? The U.S. National Intelligence Council (NIC); America's intelligence community. They make this assessment in the The Global Trends 2005 report.

The world is shifting towards a multi-polar system with a less dominant US and a more powerful China and India, and a "historic" transfer of wealth from west to east, according to a new US intelligence report.

The Global Trends 2005 report, released by the director of national intelligence yesterday, says that while the US will remain the most powerful country in 2025, the rise of emerging powers and regional blocs will constrain its ability to "call the shots" across the world.

The National Intelligence Council analysis concluded the US would be ever more constricted by scientific advances in other countries, the expansion of irregular warfare by state and non-state actors, the proliferation of long-range precision weapons and the growing frequency of cyber warfare. "The multiplicity of influential actors and distrust of vast power means less room for the US to call the shots without the support of strong partnerships."

The report said the international system prevailing since the second world war would be "unrecognisable by 2025 owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalising economy, a historic transfer of relative wealth and economic power from west to east, and the growing influence of non-state actors".

The NIC analysis warned such multi-polar systems have historically been more unstable than bipolar or unipolar ones. It added that while there were likely to be strategic rivalries over trade, investment, technological innovation and acquisition, it could not "rule out a 19th century-like scenario of arms races, territorial expansion and military rivalries".

Palin Turkey Pardon Press Conference Shows Bird Being Killed

While Sarah Palin holds a press conference for the traditional pardoning of a Turkey, we see (video below) in the background a bird being killed while the Alaska Governor speaks.

Bush Declares War on Endangered Species

His final act of destruction, the President wants to throw out the rules that protect endangered species. Bush, like Hitler, is pursuing a scorched earth policy in his final days of power. He destroyed the economy, our armed forces, and now the environment.

Animals and plants in danger of becoming extinct could lose the protection of government experts who make sure that dams, highways and other projects don't pose a threat, under regulations the Bush administration is set to put in place before President-elect Obama can reverse them.

The rules must be published Friday to take effect before Obama is sworn in Jan. 20. Otherwise, he can undo them with the stroke of a pen.

The Interior Department rushed to complete the rules in three months over the objections of lawmakers and environmentalists who argued that they would weaken how a landmark conservation law is applied.

A Nov. 12 version of the final rules obtained by the Associated Press has changed little from the original proposal, despite the more than 250,000 comments received since it was first proposed in August.

The rules eliminate the input of federal wildlife scientists in some endangered species cases, allowing the federal agency in charge of building, authorizing or funding a project to determine for itself if it is likely to harm endangered wildlife and plants.

Jobless Claims Jump Unexpectedly to 16-year High

This is more catastrophic news. Claims for unemployment benefits is a leading a indicator for the economy. With it falling to the highest levels in 16 years (1992), we are seeing a crisis getting even worse. The greatest indication of a collapsing economy is a climbing unemployment rate. The government must do everything possible to stop the bleeding in employment. People must keep their jobs or descend deeper. Where is Obama in all this? This nonsense about there being only "one president at a time" must thrown out the window. Get out there and start leading. If you wait until January it could be too late.

New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, providing more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market expected to get even worse next year.

The government said new applications for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 542,000 from a downwardly revised figure of 515,000 in the previous week. That's much higher than Wall Street economists' expectations of 505,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

That is also the highest level of claims since July 1992, the department said, when the U.S. economy was coming out of a recession.

The four-week average of claims, which smooths out fluctuations, was even worse: it rose to 506,500, the highest in more than 25 years.

In addition, the number of people continuing to claim unemployment insurance rose sharply for the third straight week to more than 4 million, the highest since December 1982, when the economy was in a painful recession.

Suit forces eHarmony to offer Gay Dating Service

Let's see, it is not legal to get married if you are of the same sex but it is required that homosexuals be treated equally in a all segments of society. This is getting frightening. What next--will they require that we keep company with gays and lesbians a be accused of discrimination? Or how about a polygamist suing eHarmony for not having a service for them as well? We are obviously headed for a cultural war in America.

Online dating service eHarmony has agreed to create a new website for gays and lesbians as part of a settlement with a gay man in New Jersey, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General said on Wednesday.

The website will provide a dating service with "male seeking a male" or "female seeking a female" options, the Attorney General's office said in a statement.

eHarmony said it will launch the new same-sex dating site, named "Compatible Partners," by March 31.

The settlement was the result of a discrimination complaint filed by Eric McKinley against eHarmony in 2005, which will be dismissed under the settlement agreement.

eHarmony was founded in 2000 by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil Clark Warren and had ties with the influential religious conservative group Focus on the Family.

VP Cheney, Gonzales Indicted in Texas

It is a shocker: Vice President Dick Cheney and former U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, are being indicted. Finally Whether they get convicted and go to jail is another question. The irony is that it is happening in Texas. The criminal-in-chief, George W., will pardon the 2 long before there was any chance the charges would stick. It would happen on January 19th.

A Texas judge has set a Friday arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others named in indictments accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a federal detention center.

Cheney, Gonzales and the others will not be arrested, and do not need to appear in person at the arraignment, Presiding Judge Manuel Banales said.

In the latest bizarre development in the case, the lame-duck prosecutor who won the indictments was a no-show in court Wednesday. The judge ordered Texas Rangers to go to Willacy County District Attorney Juan Guerra's house, check on his well-being and order him to court on Friday.

Half of the eight high-profile indictments returned Monday by a Willacy County grand jury are tied to privately run federal detention centers in the sparsely populated South Texas county. The other half target judges and special prosecutors who played a role in an earlier investigation of Guerra.

al Qaeda No. 2 Insults Obama with a Racial Epithet

Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, (video and transcript below) is not only a murderer but a racist. He also doesn't know much about American history. He attacks Barack Obama, who has had his name mispronounced deliberately on many occasions to read Osama, and defends Malcolm X. Wasn't Malcolm X murdered by a Muslim?

Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites.

The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Ayman al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader.

In al-Qaida's first response to Obama's victory, al-Zawahri also called the president-elect — along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice — "house negroes."

Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "house slaves." But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as "house negroes."

The message also includes old footage of speeches by Malcolm X in which he explains the term, saying black slaves who worked in their white masters' house were more servile than those who worked in the fields. Malcolm X used the term to criticize black leaders he accused of not standing up to whites.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the latest message was just "more despicable comments from a terrorist."

The 11-minute 23-second video features the audio message by al-Zawahri, who appears only in a still image, along with other images, including one of Obama wearing a Jewish skullcap as he meets with Jewish leaders. In his speech, al-Zawahri refers to a Nov. 5 U.S. airstrike attack in Afghanistan, meaning the video was made after that date.

Al-Zawahri said Obama's election has not changed American policies he said are aimed at oppressing Muslims and others.

Here is complete transcript of Zawahri diatribe.

Muslim brothers everywhere: Peace be upon you and the Mercy of Allah and His blessings. As for what comes after:

Barack Obama has won the presidency of the United States of America, and on this occasion, I would like to send several messages.

First, a message of congratulations to the Muslim Ummah on the American people's admission of defeat in Iraq. Although the evidence of America's defeat in Iraq appeared years ago, Bush and his administration continued to be stubborn and deny the brilliant midday sun. If Bush has achieved anything, it is in his transfer of America's disaster and predicament to his successor. But the American people, by electing Obama, declared its anxiety and apprehension about the future towards which the policy of the likes of Bush is leading it, and so it decided to support someone calling for withdrawal from Iraq.

The second of these messages is to the new president of the United States. I tell him: you have reached the position of president, and a heavy legacy of failure and crimes awaits you. A failure in Iraq to which you have admitted, and a failure in Afghanistan to which the commanders of your army have admitted. The other thing to which I want to bring your attention is that what you've announced about how you're going to reach an understanding with Iran and pull your troops out of Iraq to send them to Afghanistan is a policy which was destined for failure before it was born. It appears that you don't know anything about the Muslim Ummah and its history, and the fate of the traitors who cooperated with the invaders against it, and don't know anything about the history of Afghanistan and its free and defiant Muslim people. And if you still want to be stubborn about America's failure in Afghanistan, then remember the fate of Bush and Pervez Musharraf, and the fate of the Soviets and British before them. And be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them.