Wall Street Survivor Forums

Blonde jokes!

NightTrading101 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:31:57 GMT

A Blond: was driving down the highway to Disneyland when she saw a sign that said 'DISNEYLAND LEFT'.
After thinking for a minute she said to herself 'oh well!' and turned around and returned home.

Bear Market

MTnews — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:42:02 GMT

Daily Market Commentary for November 20, 2009

Bear Market

Stocks opened lower today extending the two-day bear market; investors focused their attention towards the technology sector, they showed concern when Dell, the third largest PC maker reported disappointing earnings. (Read more at Millennium-Traders.Com) http://www.millennium-traders.com/news/marketcommentarynovember2009.aspx

Economic data released today: N/A

At the NYSE closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. stock indices ended the trading session on the world markets as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing bell price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) shed 10.65 points, EOD 10,321.79
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) shed 33.17, EOD 7,084.47
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) shed 10.22 points, EOD 2,146.60
S&P 500 (SPX) shed 3.3 points, EOD 1,091.60
BEL 20 (BEL20) shed 2.15 points, EOD 2,483.46
CAC 40 (CAC40) shed 30.86 points, EOD 3,729.36
FTSE100 (UKX100) shed 16.29 points, EOD 5,251.41
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) gain 15.0213points, EOD 9,497.68

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,275 declined stock prices 1,797, unchanged stock prices 97, stock prices hitting new highs 54 and stock prices hitting new lows 8. NYSE quotes for volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: FAS shed 1.20, HOD 76.00, LOD 74.14, EOD 74.96; SJM gain 2.93, HOD 56.86, LOD 55.13, EOD 56.41; NE shed 1.70, HOD 41.43, LOD 38.62, EOD 40.00; EDC shed 0.54, HOD 128.45, LOD 123.65, EOD 126.51; CME gain 1.02, HOD 325.45, LOD 316.85, EOD 322.99; POT gain 1.54, HOD 115.43, LOD 110.43, EOD 114.71; AFL gain 0.26, HOD 44.94, LOD 43.97, EOD 44.10.

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,248, declined stock prices 1,458, unchanged stock prices 140, stock prices hitting new highs 47 and stock prices hitting new lows 31. NASDAQ quotes, volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the NASDAQ stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: FSLR gain 0.05, HOD 121.79, LOD 118.90, EOD 121.18; ISRG shed 2.24, HOD 281.68, LOD 273.15, EOD 276.44; BIDU shed 0.42, HOD 427.79, LOD 421.77, EOD 427.59; AMZN gain 0.67, HOD 129.99, LOD 127.41, EOD 129.66; INTU shed 0.61, HOD 30.00, LOD 29.27, EOD 29.66; ARUN shed 0.64, HOD 9.39, LOD 8.62, EOD 8.94.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 238, declined stock prices 295, unchanged stock prices 40, stock prices hitting new highs 11 and stock prices hitting new lows 6.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Dec 09: EOD 1090.50; Change -3.75
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) Dec 09: EOD 1,765.25; Change -5.00
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) Dec 09: EOD 10,308; Change -19
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 (MF) Dec 09: EOD 686.50; Change -5.60
Nikkei 225 (Yen) Dec 09: EOD 9,480; Change 30

World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.6729 U.S. Dollars 1.4860
Japanese Yen 89.0000 to U.S. Dollars 0.0112
British Pound 0.6058 to U.S. Dollars 1.6506
Canadian Dollar 1.0699 to U.S. Dollars 0.9347
Swiss Franc 1.0173 to U.S. Dollars 0.9830

COMMODITY MARKETS:
Energy Sector - Nymex:
Light Crude (December 09) shed $0.74, EOD $76.72 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (December 09) shed $0.02, EOD $2.01 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (December 09) gain $0.04, EOD $4.76 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (December 09) gain $0.01, EOD $1.98 a gallon ($US per gallon)

Metals Markets - Comex:
Gold (December 09) gain $6.60, EOD $1,148.50 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (December 09) shed $0.01, EOD $18.45 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (January 09) shed $2.00, EOD $1,441.90 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (December 09) gain $0.03, EOD $3.13 ($US per pound)

Livestock and Meat Markets - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (December 09) gain $1.10, EOD $64.38
Pork Bellies (February 10) gain $0.05, EOD $87.13
Live Cattle (December 09) gain $0.05, EOD $85.43
Feeder Cattle (January 10) gain $0.85, EOD $92.68

Other Commodities - Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (December 09) shed $3.75, EOD $407.00
Soybeans (January 10) gain $7.00, EOD $1,046.00

BOND MARKET:
2 year EOD 100 17/32, change -1/32, Yield 0.72, Yield change 0.02
5 year EOD 100 30/32, change -3/32, Yield 2.16, Yield change 0.02
10 year EOD 100 4/32, change -5/32, Yield 3.36, Yield change 0.02
30 year EOD 101 15/32, change -4/32, Yield 4.28, change 0.01

Access upcoming scheduled economic data anytime by viewing the Economic Calendar from Millennium-Traders, free access to visitors on our website.

Visitors may subscribe to our free Weekly Market News for a review of the previous weeks trading news plus, view upcoming economic data scheduled for the week ahead.

Review current edition as well as, archives of the News & Commentary plus, view complete details of calls made in our Trading Rooms and stock picks from our Swing Trading service. Traders should review our FREE Monthly Trading Lesson posted on our website.

Thanks for reading
Millennium-Traders.Com http://www.millennium-traders.com/index.aspx

Obama's Critics should be bowing their heads

Jewdakris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:11:24 GMT

Obama's critics should be bowing their heads

The American right has worked itself into a lather over Obama's bow to Japan's emperor. They owe him an apology

Barack Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor: not unseemly deference, just impeccable manners. Photograph: Charles Dharapak/AP

To most reasonable people, it was a well-intentioned show of respect to a head of state who greeted his guest on the steps of his home before ushering him inside for lunch.

But Barack Obama's greeting to Japan's emperor, Akihito, at the weekend has worked the American right into a lather over what they see as their president's unseemly deference to a symbol of hereditary power.

The outrage was initially confined to commentators such as William Kristol, who, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, wondered "why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan."

Now no less a figure than *** Cheney has waded in. "There is no need for an American president to bow to anyone," the former vice-president told the politico.com website.

By contrast, when Cheney met Akihito, he restricted the niceties to a stiff-backed handshake … but then Cheney is all charm.

Sean Hannity at Fox News claimed the Japanese were "mortified" by the addition of a handshake to the traditional greeting.

They were nothing of the sort: the handshake, though not strictly necessary, has crept into bowing etiquette, particularly in international business and politics. What better way to illustrate the meeting of two cultures?

Far from embarrassment, there is consternation here that some Americans should be so incensed by their president's impeccable manners. If anyone was belittled it was Akihito, who stands eight inches shorter than the 6ft 1in Obama.

Etiquette experts in Japan have praised the president's efforts, while an Imperial Household Agency spokesman said the greeting looked "natural and appropriate".

At the very least it was an improvement on the cringeworthy efforts of celebrities, Madonna included, who greet their Japanese fans with a nod of the head, palms pressed together in prayer. Sorry, Madge … wrong country.

But the vitriol continues.

In his LA Times blog titled, "How low will he go?" Andrew Malcolm called Obama "undignified" and his behaviour deeply misguided in the presence of a man whose father occupied the chrysanthemum throne when Japan and the US were at war.

Stephen Colbert exploited the bow's rich comic potential with a reference to George Bush Snr's "greeting" to his Japanese counterpart Kiichi Miyazawa in 1992: a lapful of vomit.

The conservative pundit Bill Bennett told CNN: "It's ugly. I don't want to see it. We don't defer to emperors."

Which is fine, because Obama wasn't deferring to anyone.

The angle and length of a bow in Japan depends on who is bowing to whom. Etiquette demands that a 90-degree bow should be reserved for such occasions as meeting the emperor or another VIP, or as a sincere expression of apology or regret.

Context is everything. I have seen teachers perform an "Obama" in front of graduating pupils, and departing senior editors practically kiss their kneecaps before a newsroom of lowly hacks. Deference, or simple gratitude and civility?

The Obama administration has stepped in to defend the president. "I think that those who try to politicise those things are just way, way, way off base," an unnamed official said.

The state department, meanwhile, attempted to clear up any confusion over how Americans should behave abroad.

Thanks to their ignorance, Cheney, Kristol et al now owe Obama an apology. A perfectly executed dogeza, foreheads pressed to the ground, would be a good start.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2009/nov/18/obama-japan-bow

How long does it take an order to fill?

shingo_the_pest — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:30:37 GMT

This morning I ordered 20,000+ shares of HPOL. That's about $22,000. I was hoping it would fill quickly, but the BUY order has been open for 45 minutes now, and the price of HPOL has risen from $1.10 to $1.25 in the mean time. I would have liked to take that profit. I was hoping to jump in and out really quickly.

In the past I've been more of an investor than a trader. I've never paid attention to how long it takes an order to process before. And if the stock rose a few cents in before the order filled, then oh well, just water under the bridge. But I'm practicing day trading now, and I'm starting to wonder how long this should take...

How quickly should a BUY order be filled? Does it take usually take 45 minutes (or more)? Is the delay happening because I bought such a huge order?

TRAILING STOPS

lou_stehman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:35:39 GMT

MUCH OF WHAT I HAVE LEARNED ON WSS U. SAYS DON'T TRADE WITHOUT THEM. BUTT, WSS DOES NOT OFFER TRAILING STOPS, WHY?

Could Inventory Problems Kill Intel (INTC) and Texas Instruments' (TXN) Recent Rally?

karand — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:55:50 GMT

Intel (NasdaqNM: INTC) opened at $19.40. So far today, the stock has hit a low of $19.18 and a high of $19.40. INTC is now trading at $19.19, down $.93 (-4.62%). Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $12.05 to a high of $21.27. INTC shares are falling with other semiconductor stocks this morning after analysts at BofA/Merrill downgraded a number of stocks in the sector, saying in a note to investors that inventory levels are close to eclipsing demand. The analysts added, "we think the longer this persists the greater the risk of a correction in the supply chain." INTC was reduced to Neutral from Buy. Technical indicators for the stock are bullish and S&P gives INTC a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking. If you are looking for a hedged play on INTC the stock seems like it could be a candidate for a January out-of-the-money bear-call credit spread above the 21 range.

Campbell Soup (CPB) Raises Dividend

karand — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:58:52 GMT

Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) closed yesterday at $33.77. So far the stock has hit a 52-week low of $24.63 and 52-week high of $38.24. Campbell Soup stock has been showing support around 33.12 and resistance in the 34.12 range. Technical indicators for the stock are Bullish and S&P gives CPB a neutral 3 STAR (out of 5) hold rating. CPB appears on the Investors Observer Analysts Favorites list. For a hedged play on this stock, look at a May '10 32.50 covered call (CPB EZ) for a net debit in the $31.52 area. That is also the break even stock price for this trade. This covered call has an 184 day duration, provides 6.66% downside protection and a 3.11% assigned return rate for a 6.17% annualized return rate (comparison purposes only). Campbell Soup has a current annual dividend yield of 2.99%.

Real Unemployment Rate 17.5%

Montana — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03:53 GMT

The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed

EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, JOBLESS RATE, U-6, U-3, RECOVERY, STOCK MARKET NEWS

Posted By: Jeff Cox | CNBC.com

CNBC.com

| 19 Nov 2009 | 04:55 PM ET

As experts debate the potential speed of the US recovery, one figure looms large but is often overlooked: nearly 1 in 5 Americans is either out of work or under-employed.

According to the government's broadest measure of unemployment, some 17.5 percent are either without a job entirely or underemployed. The so-called U-6 number is at the highest rate since becoming an official labor statistic in 1994.

The number dwarfs the statistic most people pay attention to—the U-3 rate—which most recently showed unemployment at 10.2 percent for October, the highest it has been since June 1983.

The difference is that what is traditionally referred to as the "unemployment rate" only measures those out of work who are still looking for jobs. Discouraged workers who have quit trying to find a job, as well as those working part-time but looking for full-time work or who are otherwise underemployed, count in the U-6 rate.

With such a large portion of Americans experiencing employment struggles, economists worry that an extended period of slow or flat growth lies ahead.

"To me there's no easy solution here," says Michael Pento, chief economist at Delta Global Advisors. "Unless you create another bubble in which the economy can create jobs, then you're not going to have growth. That's the sad truth."

Pento warns that forecasts of a double-dip ("W") or a straight up ("V") recovery both could be too optimistic given the jobs situation.

Instead, he believes the economy could flatline (or "L") for an extended period as small businesses struggle to grow and consequently rehire the workers that have been furloughed as the U-3 unemployment rate has doubled since March 2008.

As that trend has happened, the U-6 rate has expanded at an even more dramatic pace. Economists cite several reasons for the phenomenon.

For one, more workers are becoming discouraged as real estate—the focal point for the expansion in the earlier part of the decade—has collapsed and taken millions of directly related and ancillary jobs with it.

Many workers believe those jobs aren't coming back, and have thus quit looking and added themselves to the broader unemployment count.

"In the earlier part of this decade, 40 percent of all new jobs created were in real estate. Attorneys, mortgage brokers, agents, construction—they were all circled around housing," Pento says. "We've had a jobless recovery in the last two recessions. This is going to be the third jobless recovery in a row."

Another factor that may be leading people onto the rolls of those no longer looking for jobs is the government's accommodative extensions of jobless benefits.

"Workers are unemployed for a much longer span than we've seen historically," says David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International in New York. "Part of that may be affected by the longer availability of benefits. It reduces the incentives for an urgent job search."

The U-6 rate debuted in January of 1994 at 11.8 percent, while the U-3 was at 6.6 percent. The measure hit a low of 6.9 percent in April 2000 while U-3 sat at 3.8 percent.

While the current methodology only dates back 15 years, a former U-6 gauge was in existence previously and peaked at 14.3 percent in 1982. Economists predict the current measure would fall just below that number using the same methodology.

"We're in the process of discovering how severe this recession and the long-run impact on certain industries will be and what that will do to overall employment," Resler says. The U-6 rate "portends a very slow, sluggish recovery."

If that holds and the US economy stays weak, that presents challenges for investors.

"People focus too much on that 10 percent number and not on the larger number," says Kevin Mahn, chief investment officer at Hennion & Walsh in Parsippany, N.J. "There's a humongous inventory of people out there looking for work and have been looking for work for a long time. Where are those jobs going to come from?"

High unemployment and the resulting pressure on consumers is driving many investors to look for opportunities overseas and in other assets.

Walsh says that trend is going to continue, with clients going to foreign markets, real estate investment trusts, certain bonds—anywhere that can offer profits above the slow-growth mire of US-based investments.

"If full employment is 4 percent, people are wondering how we're going to get from 10 (percent) to 4. Well, try getting from 17 to 4. We may not get back to full employment for a decade," Mahn says. "As an investor, that causes me to look for different places now. Maybe you can't just put money in US large caps and ride out this recovery."

gbrc

mickymoose99 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:40:14 GMT

------
GBRC

Having a great day +5.68% tick is up

almost at twice the ten day

RSI LINE @ 53.18 and rising

HIST GRAM starting to build

went as high @ 0.99

alot of promise here

keep an eye on it

Prominent Russian Scientist: 'We should fear a deep temperature drop -- not catastrophic global warming'

Mr. Magoo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:13:10 GMT

Prominent Russian Scientist: 'We should fear a deep temperature drop -- not catastrophic global warming'

'Warming had a natural origin...CO2 is 'not guilty'

Tuesday, October 27, 2009By Marc Morano – Climate Depot

Reprint of new scientific paper: (Full pdf paper available here.)

THE SUN DEFINES THE CLIMATE

(Habibullo Abdussamatov, Dr. Sc. - Head of Space research laboratory of the Pulkovo Observatory, Head of the Russian/Ukrainian joint project Astrometria - (translated from Russian by Lucy Hancock) Dr. Abdussamatov is featured on page 140 of the 2009 U.S. Senate Report of More Than 700 Dissenting Scientists Over Man-Made Global Warming. Also see "Related Links" below.)

Key Excerpts: Observations of the Sun show that as for the increase in temperature, carbon dioxide is "not guilty" and as for what lies ahead in the upcoming decades, it is not catastrophic warming, but a global, and very prolonged, temperature drop. [...] Over the past decade, global temperature on the Earth has not increased; global warming has ceased, and already there are signs of the future deep temperature drop. [...] It follows that warming had a natural origin, the contribution of CO2 to it was insignificant, anthropogenic increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide does not serve as an explanation for it, and in the foreseeable future CO2 will not be able to cause catastrophic warming. The so-called greenhouse effect will not avert the onset of the next deep temperature drop, the 19th in the last 7500 years, which without fail follows after natural warming. [...] We should fear a deep temperature drop -- not catastrophic global warming. Humanity must survive the serious economic, social, demographic and political consequences of a global temperature drop, which will directly affect the national interests of almost all countries and more than 80% of the population of the Earth. A deep temperature drop is a considerably greater threat to humanity than warming. However, a reliable forecast of the time of the onset and of the depth of the global temperature drop will make it possible to adjust in advance the economic activity of humanity, to considerably weaken the crisis.

Excerpts: Experts of the United Nations in regular reports publish data said to show that the Earth is approaching a catastrophic global warming, caused by increasing emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. However, observations of the Sun show that as for the increase in temperature, carbon dioxide is "not guilty" and as for what lies ahead in the upcoming decades, it is not catastrophic warming, but a global, and very prolonged, temperature drop.

Life on earth completely depends on solar radiation, the ultimate source of energy for natural processes. For a long time it was thought that the luminosity of the Sun never changes, and for this reason the quantity of solar energy received per second over one square meter above the atmosphere at the distance of the Earth from the Sun (149 597 892 km), was named the solar constant.

Until 1978, precise measurements of the value of the total solar irradiance (TSI) were not available. But according to indirect data, namely the established major climate variations of the Earth in recent millennia, one must doubt the invariance of its value.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, German and Swiss astronomers Heinrich Schwabe and Rudolf Wolf established that the number of spots on the surface of the Sun periodically changes, diminishing from a maximum to a minimum, and then growing again, over a time frame on the order of 11 years. Wolf introduced an index (“W”) of the relative number of sunspots, computed as the sum of 10 times number of sunspot groups plus the total number of spots in all groups. This number has been regularly measured since 1849. Drawing on the work of professional astronomers and the observations of amateurs (which are of uncertain reliability) Wolf worked out a reconstruction of monthly values from 1749 as well as annual values from 1700. Today, the reconstruction of this time series stretches back to 1611. It has an eleven-year cycle of recurrence as well as other cycles related to onset and development of individual sunspot groups: changes in the fraction of the solar surface occupied by faculae, the frequency of prominences, and other phenomena in the solar chromosphere and corona.

Analyzing the long record of sunspot numbers, the English astronomer Walter Maunder in 1893 came to the conclusion that from 1645 to 1715 sunspots had been generally absent. Over the thirty-year period of the Maunder Minimum, astronomers of the time counted only about 50 spots. Usually, over that length of time, about 50,000 sunspots would appear. Today, it has been established that such minima have repeatedly occurred in the past. It is also known that the Maunder Minimum accompanied the coldest phase of a global temperature dip, physically measured in Europe and other regions, the most severe such dip for several millennia, which stretched from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries (now known as the Little Ice Age).

The search for a relationship between large climate variations and phenomena observed in the Sun led to an interest in finding a connection between periods of change in the terrestrial climate and corresponding significant changes in the level of observed solar activity, because the sunspot number is the only index that has been measured over a long period of time.

Determinative role of the Sun in variations in the climate of the Earth

The Earth, after receiving and storing over the twentieth century an anomalously large amount of heat energy, from the 1990's began to return it gradually. The upper layers of the world ocean, completely unexpectedly to climatologists, began to cool in 2003. The heat accumulated by them unfortunately now is running out.

Over the past decade, global temperature on the Earth has not increased; global warming has ceased, and already there are signs of the future deep temperature drop (Fig. 7, 11). Meantime the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over these years has grown by more than 4%, and in 2006 many meteorologists predicted that 2007 would be the hottest of the last decade. This did not occur, although the global temperature of the Earth would have increased at least 0.1 degree if it depended on the concentration of carbon dioxide. It follows that warming had a natural origin, the contribution of CO2 to it was insignificant, anthropogenic increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide does not serve as an explanation for it, and in the foreseeable future CO2 will not be able to cause catastrophic warming. The so-called greenhouse effect will not avert the onset of the next deep temperature drop, the 19th in the last 7500 years, which without fail follows after natural warming.

The earth is no longer threatened by the catastrophic global warming forecast by some scientists; warming passed its peak in 1998-2005, while the value of the TSI by July - September of last year had already declined by 0.47 W/m2 (Fig. 1).

For several years until the beginning in 2013 of a steady temperature drop, in a phase of instability, temperature will oscillate around the maximum that has been reached, without further substantial rise. Changes in climatic conditions will occur unevenly, depending on latitude. A temperature decrease in the smallest degree would affect the equatorial regions and strongly influence the temperate climate zones. The changes will have very serious consequences, and it is necessary to begin preparations even now, since there is practically no time in reserve. The global temperature of the Earth has begun its decrease without limitations on the volume of greenhouse gas emissions by industrially developed countries; therefore the implementation of the Kyoto protocol aimed to rescue the planet from the greenhouse effect should be put off at least 150 years.

[...]

Consequently, we should fear a deep temperature drop -- not catastrophic global warming. Humanity must survive the serious economic, social, demographic and political consequences of a global temperature drop, which will directly affect the national interests of almost all countries and more than 80% of the population of the Earth. A deep temperature drop is a considerably greater threat to humanity than warming. However, a reliable forecast of the time of the onset and of the depth of the global temperature drop will make it possible to adjust in advance the economic activity of humanity, to considerably weaken the crisis.

For complete paper see here:

Flashback: 'Sun Sleeps': Danish Scientist declares 'global warming has stopped and a cooling is beginning...enjoy global warming while it lasts' - Sept. 2009

Climate Fears RIP...for 30 years!? - Global Warming could stop 'for up to 30 years! Warming 'On Hold?...'Could go into hiding for decades' study finds – Discovery.com – March 2, 2009

Paper: Scientific evidence now points to global COOLING, contrary to UN alarmism

Meteorologist: 'Global cooling in its 8th year, declining ocean heat content, sea level rises slowed or stopped, sun in a deep slumber' – April 30, 2009

Geologist: 'Records of past natural cycles suggest global cooling for first several decades of the 21st century to about 2030' – June 5, 2009

Astronomers: 'Sun's output may decline significantly inducing another Little Ice Age on Earth' – August 15, 2009

Indian Geologist Dissents -- launches website: 'Enjoy Global Warming: Its natural' - Sept. 2009

Glenn Beck is scarier than Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, says Anti-Defamation League

KELLYBROWN9 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:07:30 GMT

Weep for joy, Glenn Beck: the Anti-Defamation League has cited you as the national media's fear-monger-in-chief.

In a new report examining the wave of anti-government hostility that's spread across the country since Barack Obama won the White House, the ADL cited Beck as the "most important mainstream media figure who has repeatedly helped to stoke the fires of anti-government anger."

Beck, a right-wing talk host with a TV show on Fox and popular syndicated radio program, is in a league of his own, the report from the Jewish anti-hate watchdog group asserts.

According to the report, other conservative media hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, routinely blast Obama and his administration, but they have typically dismissed or refused to offer a platform to conspiracy theorists and anti-government extremists.

Not Beck.

"Beck and his guests have made a habit of demonizing President Obama and promoting conspiracy theories about his administration," the report states. "Beck has even gone so far as to make comparisons between Hitler and Obama and to promote the idea that the president is dangerous."

In March, for example, Beck promoted a right-wing conspiracy theory that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is building concentration camps to house "dissidents."

The United States is "headed towards socialism, totalitarianism beyond your wildest imagination," he said.

Beck later backed away from the FEMA camp theory, but, according to the report, his constantly saying "I fear for my country" breeds hostility towards the government.

A spokesman for Beck declined to comment.

Management Course...

nanakeser — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:41:34 GMT

Management Course

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you $800 to drop that towel." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, "Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbor." she replies. "Great," the husband says, "did he say anything about the $800 he owes me????"

Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

House Financial Services Committee APPROVES Bill to Audit the Fed

Mr. Magoo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:12:32 GMT

House Financial Services Committee APPROVES Bill to Audit the Fed (Rejecting Watt’s Fake Alternate) and Votes to Rein In Foreign Currency Swaps

Washington’s Blog
Friday, Nov 20th, 2009

Congressman Watt tried to de-rail the bill to audit the Federal Reserve (H.R. 1207) with a fake alternate bill. See this, this, this and this.

Fortunately, the House Financial Services Committee approved H.R. 1207 by 43-26, and rejected Watt’s bill.

In addition, Congressmen Grayson and Paul’s bill requiring written concurrence by the Treasury Secretary prior to the Federal Reserve engaging in a foreign currency swap passed the House Financial Services Committee by a voice vote today.

If you haven’t already seen it, watch Congressman Grayson grill Bernanke about foreign swaps:

If you don’t know what foreign currency swaps are, or why the Fed has been running amok with them, watch Congressman Grayson discuss the amendment:

10 States Where the Poor Pay the Most Unfair Share of Taxes

nanakeser — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:26:06 GMT

(Nov. 19) -- The tax code is unfair and it's the poor and the middle class who are getting the raw end of the deal.

Those are some of the conclusions of a new study released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan research group. The report found that after itemized deductions, the richest 1 percent of Americans pay taxes at an average rate of 5.2 percent of their income. Middle-class residents, on average, pay taxes at a rate of 9.4 percent, and the poorest 20 percent pay at a rate of 10.9 percent.

"In effect, what we have is an upside-down system in which the more you earn, the less you pay in taxes," said Matthew Gardner, executive director of ITEP and the principal author of the study. "I don't think anyone would intentionally set out to design a tax code that way."

According to Gardner's findings, the 10 states where "regressive" taxation most significantly tilts in favor of the rich are Washington, Florida, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Alabama.

In Washington, for instance, the poorest 20 percent of residents pay taxes at a rate nearly six times higher than those of the state's richest 1 percent.

Vermont, Delaware and New York, meanwhile, are states with relatively flat, fair tax practices, the study found.

The study's goal was to try to inform future tax policy by creating an understanding of how differing state approaches benefited varying income levels, Gardner said.

"We want to shed light on how tax systems work and help provide a benchmark for judging the current systems," he said, though he stressed that ITEP was not making any specific policy recommendations.

The study's figures were calculated by analyzing and merging the overall affect of the three most common forms of taxes: income, property and sales. In states with no income tax, for instance, sales taxes and fees often account for a larger percentage of state revenue. In general, the report found that income taxes tend to be fairer than property or sales taxes because they graduate depending on salary. Sales taxes, on the other hand, tend to disproportionately target the poor and lower-middle class, because over time those fixed costs account for a much higher percentage of wages than they do for the well-off.

The report comes at a time when cities and states across the country are enacting a host of new taxes and surcharges to try to cover budgetary shortfalls brought on by the recession. In New York, Gov. David Patterson has proposed an "iPod tax" that would add a surcharge on every music download. In California and Pennsylvania, tuition hikes at state colleges and universities are being implemented. Oregon is debating whether to raise income taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

On the federal level, raising taxes remains a taboo subject, but Congress has moved to close tax loopholes for offshore accounts in the hopes of recouping billions of dollars in potential revenue.

Amid this backdrop, Gardner said he hopes his study will help illustrate who is bearing the largest tax burden in the country. "The answer for just about every state," Gardner said, "is the poor and the lower to middle classes."

Sign in Atlanta bar...

Klara — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:22:49 GMT

GRAPHIC PHOTO! How Babies are Delivered.

Dr Zira — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:40:19 GMT

This is a really helpful photo for any of you who have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, godchildren actually, for anyone who spends even a little time with young children.

Eventually, you'll have to face the "where do babies come from?" issue, and this picture is definitely worth a thousand words.

But prepare yourself -- it's pretty explicit!

You might want to look at it privately before sharing it with the children in your life.

math humor!

Klara — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:07:27 GMT

Two mathematicians are watching a building. They watch as two people come out, and three people walk in. Four people come out, and two walk in. One mathematician turns to the other and says, "If one more person enters the building, it will be empty."

Mathematical Riddle

bgbrown — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:53:57 GMT

3 men are travelling across country, and stop in a cheap hotel for the night. They each have $10, and the cost of the hotel is $30 (whew, just enough!) After the three men pay, they go to their room for the night. The guy at the desk thinks to himself, "boy, they have a long way to go and I just took their last few dollars". With a big heart, he tells the bell boy to go return $5 to the three traveling men. As the bell boy is walking to their room with the $5, he thinks to himself, "there's three of them and they can't split 5 dollars evenly, I'll keep $2 of it and say we're returning $3 to them". Which is exactly what he does. So, the three men have paid $10, and were each returned $1 (10-1 = 9), meaning they paid a total of $27 for the night (9 X 3=27). Yet the bell boy only kept $2, and 27 + 2 equals $29. Where did the last dollar go?

Fun math riddle, hope you enjoy it, there is a real answer and at first glance this is kind of weird to think about I suppose.

Hope you like it.

More Johnny humour

Klara — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:32:34 GMT

A teacher asked her 6th grade class how many of them were Obama fans.

Not really knowing what an Obama fan is, but wanting to be liked by the teacher, all the kids raised their hands except for Johnny in the front row.

The teacher asked Johnny why he has decided to be different.

Because I'm not an Obama fan.'

The teacher asked, 'Why aren't you an Obama fan?'

Because I'm a Republican.'

The teacher asked him why he's a Republican.

Johnny proudly answered, 'Well, my Mom's a Republican and my Dad's a Republican, so I'm a Republican.'

Annoyed by this answer, the teacher asked, 'If your mom was a moron and your dad was an idiot, what would that make you?'

With a big smile, Johnny replied, 'That would make me an Obama fan!'

I Have to Defend Sarah Palin

InnaD — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:01:10 GMT

By: Susan Estrich

I really hate defending Sarah Palin. I mean, I don't agree with her on anything. Seeing a woman at her level saying and doing some of the things she says and does is like nails screeching against a blackboard for me. And while she ultimately helps Democrats in any partisan contest, her brand of polarizing politics and efforts to annihilate the moderate wing of the Republican Party ultimately aren't very good for her own party (not my problem) or the country (everyone's problem).

And while I'm at it, it drives me crazy when she goes around blaming the McCain campaign for her mistakes instead of taking responsibility. The list goes on.

The problem is that the media can't seem to figure out that she deserves to be treated like *** Armey or Newt Gingrich or *** Cheney. Disagree with her. Point out that she's wrong more often than she's right, and that she doesn't know what she's talking about on key issues. Call her a quitter, by all means, and a sore sport and a bad loser. Ask her hard questions, or even medium-hard questions, and see if she can answer. Push her on whether she's more interested in fame and glory than making change happen.

Just don't put her on the cover in running shorts.

I'm talking, of course, about the Newsweek cover, which took a picture Palin posed for as part of a spread in Runner's World magazine about how she loves running and used it to turn her into a pinup girl. She is not a girl, and she is not a pinup.

Palin criticized the cover as "sexist and oh-so-expected." She's right. But too many liberals are being quoted praising it. How soon they forget. Calling Gov. Palin the "Caribou Barbie" and "Governor Gidget" actually pushed her numbers higher among women. It's both sexist and stupid. It was only when Palin fell on her face with Katie Couric that many women felt free to abandon her.

The irony is that the cover, far from skewering Palin, as was its clear intent, helps her. The picture overwhelms the words -- "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah? She's Bad News for the GOP and Everyone Else, Too" -- and reduces it to a hit piece. It makes Palin a heroine to the people who hate the liberal media, reinforcing the view that the media are biased against conservatives. It makes women like me horrendously uncomfortable, because sexism is not OK under any circumstances. And it makes nonpolitical, moderate women (you know, the kind who decide every election) more sympathetic to a woman who, on most issues (not just abortion, but healthcare, for instance, and stem cell research), is on the opposite side of them.

Oh, yes, and for sure it will sell books. Magazines, too. Everybody wins except women, who are still eye candy, even if they get to the point of being their party's nominee for vice president. That's the message, and it applies to all of us. It's not a liberal versus conservative issue: I've seen just as bad and worse done to Hillary Clinton. It's about sexism and powerful women and how they can be trivialized. And this is why, once again, I have to defend Sarah Palin.

C

ikemanglona — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:01:05 GMT

Citi is undr $5 bucks

Six factors and bulls like Jim Rogers drive gold rush

Mr. Magoo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:51:49 GMT

Six factors and bulls like Jim Rogers drive gold rush

By :Sanjay Vijayakumar

Nov 17 2009

Gold hit a record high of $1,143.60 an ounce on Monday. The yellow metal has been on the upswing amid a weaker dollar, uncertain economic conditions and raising concerns of inflation. Commodities guru Jim Rogers, chairman of Singapore-based Rogers Holdings, who predicted the start of the commodities rally in 1999, expects gold to rise $2,000 an ounce over the next decade.
Financial Chronicle takes a look at the key drivers of the gold surge.

Investor demand
Rising interest in commodities, including gold, from investment funds in recent years has been a major factor behind bullion's rally to historic highs. Gold's strong performance in recent years has attracted more players and increased inflows of money into the overall market. Investors, wary of the weak dollar and ultra low interest rates, are turning to gold.

US dollar
The currency market plays a major role in
setting the direction of gold, as bullion prices move in the opposite
direction to the dollar. A weak US currency makes dollar-priced gold cheaper for holders of other currencies and vice versa. US Federal Reserve has said that interest rates will stay at zero for some time, which means the greenback will remain weak.

Central banks’ gold reserves
Central banks hold gold as part of their reserves. Buying or selling of the metal by banks can influence prices. On Tuesday, the Central Bank of Mauritius bought 2 tonnes, worth about $71.7 million, of gold from the IMF. Earlier this month, RBI purchased 200 tonnes for $6.7 billion. IMF is selling gold to shore up its finances.

Political tension
The precious metal is widely considered a ‘safe-haven’, bought in
a flight to quality during uncertain times. Major geo-political events
including bomb blasts, terror attacks and assassinations can induce sharp price rises. Financial market shocks, which cause other asset prices to drop sharply, can also have a similar impact on gold prices.

Supply & demand
Supply and demand fundamentals generally do not play a big role in determining gold prices because of huge above-ground stock of around 158,000 tonnes. Gold is not consumed like other commodities. Peak buying seasons in major consumer nations such as India and China have some influence on the market, but dollar and crude carry more weight.

Oil price
Gold has recently had a strong correlation with crude oil prices, as the metal can be seen as a hedge against oil-led inflation. Perhaps, in anticipation of a possible decline in stocks and bonds due to the Opec cut, investors have started demanding gold. This spurt in demand may have led to higher gold prices. On Tuesday, oil held below $79 a barrel.

Schools let students seek secret abortions

Mr. Magoo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:48:04 GMT

Schools let students seek secret abortions
Parents not notified when 12-year-olds obtain 'confidential' medical procedures

Posted: November 18, 2009
11:20 pm Eastern

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

SACRAMENTO – A 12-year-old girl is prohibited from bringing aspirin to California public schools without a note from her mother or father – but in many California districts she may sign herself out of classes, leave her junior-high campus without parental permission, secretly have an abortion and return to school before the end of the day – and her own family may be none the wiser.

Parents and educators across the state have been in heated debate over school policies allowing children to be excused during class time without parental notification for "confidential medical services" such as abortions, birth control, and drug and mental health services.

They can't educate our kids, but they'll help them get abortions! Education elites have given us the 'dumbest generation' - It's all in "War on Children: How Pop Culture and Public Schools Put Our Kids at Risk"

California's San Juan Unified School District sought to change its own policy from one that prohibits students from being absent without parental knowledge except during medical emergencies to guidelines that would allow a student to leave for a "confidential medical appointment."

San Juan Unified School District proposed policy change

Brad Dacus, founder and president of Pacific Justice Institute, a legal nonprofit, addressed the board at a school-district meeting in Carmichael on Nov. 17 to discuss the policy, along with hundreds of concerned parents who flooded into the meeting and filled the district building lobby.

After much debate and input from the public, the San Juan Unified School District voted 3 to 2 against the policy change. Parents clapped and cheered when they heard the decision.

"We are pleased that the San Juan school board listened to the community and abandoned this disastrous proposal," Dacus said in a statement. "This is a victory for everyone who believes in parental responsibility and local control of school decisions."

They were debating changing the current policy to reflect school administrators' interpretation of California Education Code 4601.1, which states:

Commencing in the fall of the 1986-87 academic year, the governing board of each school district shall, each academic year, notify pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and the parents or guardians of all pupils enrolled in the districts, that school authorities may excuse any pupil from the school for the purpose of obtaining confidential medical services without the consent of the pupil's parent or guardian.

Pacific Justice Institute staff attorney Matt McReynolds told WND the statute is ambiguous and only says the districts may dismiss students, not that they are required to do so.

"If you use general principles of statutory construction, as we lawyers do in interpreting these things, 'may' is very different than 'must,'" he said. "It doesn't say they must dismiss them, which is how the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the National Youth Law Center interpret it. It is a district-by-district decision on whether they will tell parents."

McReynolds said a district is not required to become an "accomplice" when children opt for these services without their parents' knowledge.

"It doesn't mean students have to be dismissed during the school day to go do it," he said. "They've got afternoons and weekends if they're bent on doing that. You don't have to make the school a party to it."

McReynolds questioned how children as young as 12, 13 or 14 would be transported to clinics for "confidential medical services" if they are unable to drive and choose not to inform their parents.

"They can't drive themselves anywhere, so some adult or somebody with a driver's license would have to get them to those so-called 'confidential' medical appointments that aren't so 'confidential' after all when you really think about it," he said. "You're talking about an older boyfriend, a boyfriend's parents, maybe even a school official? Somebody has to get them there when they're that young."

McReynolds argues that hiding medical issues from parents may endanger the health and wellbeing of a child.

"A parent who is 100 percent legally and morally responsible for taking care of their minor child may have no real ability to do so if they don't know that their child just had a major medical procedure," he said. "Or in the case of counseling, they may have no idea their child is dealing with substance abuse or suicidal thoughts or any number of other things."

Asked whether a parent might successfully sue if any school district that releases a child for a "confidential medical appointment" and a child's life is endangered, McReynolds replied, "I think they would. We have raised that possibility."

But Rebecca Gudeman, senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, told the Sacramento Bee, "The great majority of children will involve their parents in such issues – reproductive health and mental health. It's the 25 percent we care about, in abusive households or in families that don't believe in mental health care."

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Raquel Simental said she did not agree with the district's decision.

"It's the law that they have access to these services," she told KCRA-TV.

The Pacific Justice Institute has also had success battling similar policies that allowed students to sign out without parental knowledge in other districts, including Modesto, Fairfield-Suisun and San Diego. According to KCRA-TV, Sacramento, Natomas, Twin Rivers and Elk Grove school districts still have policies allowing children to leave campus for "confidential medical services" without parental consent. McReynolds said several California school districts still have similar policies.

He said no lawsuit had been filed with the San Juan Unified School District. The move toward a policy change was recently initiated by school administrators.

"Planned Parenthood and the ACLU tend to always threaten these school districts with lawsuits if they vote differently than those groups want them to vote," he said. "They claim it would be illegal, but they've never actually filed a lawsuit when the school district adopts a parent-friendly policy."

Should a school face a lawsuit for maintaining a policy that requires parental notification, McReynolds said Pacific Justice Institute has offered to "defend any school district that gets embroiled in an actual lawsuit."

WND reported in 2004 when California Attorney General Bill Lockyer issued an opinion that said schools are required to enact confidentiality policies. But amid a grass-roots campaign organized by a traditional-family lobby group, Lockyer backed off his opinion.

McReynolds said many parents aren't aware of guidelines at their childrens' schools. But he said all parents should ask their own school administrators whether their children may be excused without consent, even families who live outside California.

"It's really important for every parent, whether their kids are in public or private school, to find out what the school policies are," he said. "You never know. See what kind of answers you get."

Hacked e-mails reveal global-warming fraud?

Mr. Magoo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:43:53 GMT

Hacked e-mails reveal global-warming fraud?
Top climate scientists discuss hiding contrary data, marginalizing dissenters

University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit

Officials at a key global warming research center in the United Kingdom have authenticated a series of e-mails and other documents apparently taken from their computer system by a hacker, but they cannot explain what scientists in internal exchanges meant by references to a "trick" that would "hide the decline" of global temperatures nor by instructions to delete contrary data.

Author James Delingpole writes in a London Telegraph column the most damaging revelations indicate climate-change scientists may have "manipulated or suppressed evidence in order to support their cause."

According to the Australian Investigate magazine, the 62 megabyte Zip file with documents, e-mail exchanges and other information from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit apparently was posted by an unidentified hacker on a Russian web server.

One e-mail said: "I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd (sic) from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline."

Another expressed internal doubts: "The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't. The CERES data published in the August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate."

Further, an e-mail exchange suggested the suppression of information: "Can you delete any e-mails you may have had with Keith re AR4? Keith will do likewise. He's not in at the moment – minor family crisis."

"And, perhaps most reprehensibly," Delingpole writes, "a long series of communications discussing how best to squeeze dissenting scientists out of the peer review process. How, in other words, to create a scientific climate in which anyone who disagrees with AGW can be written off as a crank, whose views do not have a scrap of authority."

He cites an e-mail: "This was the danger of always criticizing the skeptics for not publishing in the 'peer-reviewed literature.' Obviously, they found a solution to that – take over a journal! So what do we do about this? I think we have to stop considering 'Climate Research' as a legitimate peer-reviewed journal. Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite papers in, this journal. We would also need to consider what we tell or request of our more reasonable colleagues who currently sit on the editorial board …What do others think?"

Delingpole observes the world "is currently cooling; electorates are increasingly reluctant to support eco-policies leading to more oppressive regulation, higher taxes and higher utility bills; the tide is turning against Al Gore's Anthropogenic Global Warming theory. The so-called 'skeptical' view is now also the majority view."

Phil Jones, head of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, confirmed to Investigate magazine the documents appeared authentic.

"It was a hacker. We were aware of this about three or four days ago that someone had hacked into our system and taken and copied loads of data files and e-mails," he said.

"It's completely illegal for somebody to hack into our system," he told the magazine

But Jones denied there was any attempt to mislead or conceal.

"They're talking about proxy data going further back in time, a thousand years, and it's just about how you add on the last few years, because when you get proxy data you sample things like tree rings and ice cores, and they don't always have the last few years," he said.

Jones said he could not recall what he meant when he wrote about a plan to "hide the decline."

In the e-mail, dated 10 years ago, Jones wrote: "Once Tim's got a diagram here we'll send that either later today or first thing tomorrow. I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd [sic] from1961 for Keith's to hide the decline. Mike's series got the annual land and marine values while the other two got April-Sept for NH land N of 20N. The latter two are real for 1999, while the estimate for 1999 for NH combined is +0.44C wrt 61-90. The Global estimate for 1999 with data through Oct is +0.35C cf. 0.57 for 1998. Thanks for the comments, Ray. Cheers, Phil Prof. Phil Jones Climatic Research Unit."

The documents also included a message dated last month from Kevin Trenberth to Michal Mann about the "U-turn on climate" by Britain's BBC News.

"Well I have my own article on where the heck is global warming? We are asking that here in Boulder where we have broken records the past two days for the coldest days on record. We had 4 inches of snow. The high the last 2 days was below 30F and the normal is 69F, and it smashed the previous records for these days by 10F. The low was about 18F and also a record low, well below the previous record low. This is January weather (see the Rockies baseball playoff game was canceled on saturday and then played last night in below freezing weather)."

Despite the advocacy of a financially vested former vice president, Al Gore, and others, public opinion about whether mankind is causing an ultimately catastrophic rise in global temperatures is shifting.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has urged members of Congress to consider the joint opinion of nearly 32,000 scientists, including more than 9,000 Ph.D.s, who believe humans likely have little or nothing to do with any "global warming."

The Petition Project, launched some 10 years ago when the first few thousand signatures were gathered, has steadily grown without any special effort or campaign.

But in the last few years, and especially because of the release of Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth," the campaign has been reinvigorated.

"Mr. Gore's movie, asserting a 'consensus' and 'settled science' in agreement about human-caused global warming, conveyed the claims about human-caused global warming to ordinary movie goers and to public school children, to whom the film was widely distributed. Unfortunately, Mr. Gore's movie contains many very serious incorrect claims which no informed, honest scientist could endorse," project spokesman and founder Art Robinson has told WND.

Robinson, a research professor of chemistry, co-founded the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine with Linus Pauling in 1973, and later co-founded the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.

Paul cited the petition results in his statement to Congress.

"Our energy policies must be based upon scientific truth – not fictional movies or self-interested international agendas," Paul said. "They should be based upon the accomplishments of technological free enterprise that have provided our modern civilization, including our energy industries. That free enterprise must not be hindered by bogus claims about imaginary disasters."

The petition states: "There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth."

Robinson has warned of serious political and economic consequencesof assuming "global warming" results from mankind's actions.

"The campaign to severely ration hydrocarbon energy technology has now been markedly expanded," he said. "In the course of this campaign, many scientifically invalid claims about impending climate emergencies are being made. Simultaneously, proposed political actions to severely reduce hydrocarbon use now threaten the prosperity of Americans and the very existence of hundreds of millions of people in poorer countries," he told WND.

Warned Paul, "Above all, we must never forget our contract with the American people – the Constitution that provides the sole source of legitimacy of our government. That Constitution requires that we preserve the basic human rights of our people – including the right to freely manufacture, use, and sell energy produced by any means they devise – including nuclear, hydrocarbon, solar, wind, or even bicycle generators.

"While it is evident that the human right to produce and use energy does not extend to activities that actually endanger the climate of the Earth upon which we all depend, bogus claims about climate dangers should not be used as a justification to further limit the American people's freedom," Paul said.

CNN Poll: Blame for recession shifting from GOP to Democrats

Mr. Magoo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:42:36 GMT

CNN Poll: Blame for recession shifting from GOP to Democrats

Posted: November 20th, 2009 09:09 AM ET

From CNN Polling Unit

Washington (CNN) - Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday morning indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country's current economic problems. That's down 15 points from May, when 53 percent blamed the GOP. According to the poll 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May. Twenty-seven percent now say both parties are responsible for the economic mess.

"The bad news for the Democrats is that the number of Americans who hold the GOP exclusively responsible for the recession has been steadily falling by about two to three points per month," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "At that rate, only a handful of voters will blame the economy on the Republicans by the time next year's midterm elections roll around."

Thirty-six percent of people questioned say that President Barack Obama's policies have improved economic conditions, with 28 percent feeling that the president's programs have made things worse, and 35 percent saying what he's done has had no effect on the economy.

One reason for that, says Holland, may be the growing federal budget deficit: Two-thirds say that the government should balance the budget even in a time of war and recession.

The survey indicates that only 18 percent say the economic conditions in the country today are good, down 3 points from August. Eighty-two percent say economic conditions are poor.

"Some economic indicators may suggest that the economy has turned the corner - but try telling that to the American people," adds Holland. The number of Americans who say that the economy is in good shape - a number that grew steadily through the spring and summer - has now stalled, with fewer than one in five expressing a positive view of current conditions. More than eight in 10 say that economic conditions are in poor shape, with 43 percent calling them very poor.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted November 13-15, with 1,014 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.