CoOlDiGgY news (late edition)

The coming inflation wave

(Fortune) -- Whether the American economy is in an inflationary or deflationary environment sounds like it should be a fundamental and settled question. But due to the unprecedented financial crisis, the answer is actually subject to intense debate among economists.

Making economic projections is far from a scientific process, so it's not surprising to find valid arguments on both sides of the divide. The economists who are right will help investors drive returns over the next three years.

Inflation can be a positive or negative, depending on the level and duration of it in our economy. The main negative associated with inflation is a drop in purchasing power of money, and therefore, consumers. In extreme cases, consumers may actually start hoarding if they fear continued and aggressive price increases. The positive side of inflation is to decrease the real value of debt, or essentially provide debt relief.

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*Iran Nuclear Scientist Defects to U.S. In CIA 'Intelligence Coup'

*Obama wants U.N. sanctions on Iran in weeks

*Pharma Planning to Dump Experimental and Controversial Vaccines in Public Schools


*Health Reform Law to Spawn More Tax Men?

*Subway riders question NYPD’s ‘ridiculous’ show of force

*Iraq election challenged over 'banned' candidates

*WikiLeaks to release video of civilians, journalists being murdered in air strike

*Children WILL face 'naked' airport scans

*Report: California’s foreign-born population has peaked

*VIDEO: Ed Asner for 9/11 Truth



earlier:

Recession Leading to the End of Speeding 'Cushion'

The recession may be claiming a new victim: the 5-10-mph "cushion" police and state troopers across the USA have routinely given motorists exceeding the speed limit.

As cities and states scramble to fill budget gaps with revenue from traffic citations, "not only are the (speeding) tolerances much lower, but the frequency of a warning instead of a ticket is way down," says James Baxter, president of the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin-based drivers' rights group that helps its members fight speeding tickets.

"Most people, if they're stopped now, are getting a ticket even if it's only a minor violation of a few miles per hour," Baxter says. He cites anecdotal evidence of drivers being pulled over at slower speeds.

Read more...

*4 dead in D.C. shooting


*US oil company donated millions to climate sceptic groups

*Two-Thirds of Boys in Afghan Jails Are Brutalized

*Time Magazine: E.U. Members Sell Weapons with Torture Potential

*Elizabeth Warren: Banks Fought For the Very Thing They Are Now Fighting Against

*Catholic League Defends Pope, Blames Homosexuality for Molestations

*Is America ‘Yearning for Fascism’?

*Double suicide bombings kill 12 in Russia's Dagestan

*Canada to pull out of Afghanistan in 2011

CoOlDiGgY news (late edition)

Regulated or Not, Nano-Foods Coming to a Store Near You

For centuries, it was the cook and the heat of the fire that cajoled taste, texture, flavor and aroma from the pot. Today, that culinary voodoo is being crafted by white-coated scientists toiling in pristine labs, rearranging atoms into chemical particles never before seen.

At last year's Institute of Food Technologists international conference, nanotechnology was the topic that generated the most buzz among the 14,000 food-scientists, chefs and manufacturers crammed into an Anaheim, Calif., hall. Though it's a word that has probably never been printed on any menu, and probably never will, there was so much interest in the potential uses of nanotechnology for food that a separate daylong session focused just on that subject was packed to overflowing.

In one corner of the convention center, a chemist, a flavorist and two food-marketing specialists clustered around a large chart of the Periodic Table of Elements (think back to high school science class). The food chemist, from China, ran her hands over the chart, pausing at different chemicals just long enough to say how a nano-ized version of each would improve existing flavors or create new ones.

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*55% Favor Repeal of Health Care Bill

*NATO rejects Russian call for Afghan poppy spraying

*Soldiers Take Psychiatric Medications for Stress

*Swine Flu Virus Not So New, Study Finds

*Pentagon eases 'don't ask, don't tell' law

*US supports Pakistan economic zones

*Is US using Google proxy to attack China?

*Apartment rents cheaper than stays in homeless shelters

*Why Greenspan's Explanation for the Economic Collapse is Rubbish

*Nano car bursts into flames, raising safety fears

*Tea Party protester apologizes for cruelty to Parkinson's victim

*Philip J. Berg Reveals More About "Barry Soetoro"

earlier:

Al Gore Backs Mayor's 'Carbon Surcharge' Rate Hikes For DWP Customers

Former Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday backed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's "carbon surcharge" proposal for Department of Water and Power customers despite reports indicating that the plan could hike power fees as much as 28.4 percent.

"Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles has introduced one of the most forward-thinking clean energy plans I have ever seen," Gore said in a statement. " ... This innovative proposal can be the catalyst the Department of Water and Power needs to power Los Angeles' use of green energy."

Villaraigosa's plan, which he said would cost the average customer about an extra $2.50 month (now he says it's up to $3.50 a month), is aimed at weening the city off coal power and onto 20 percent renewable energy by the end of the year. It will also create 16,000 jobs and retrofit homes and businesses with energy efficient gear.

But ... the Los Angeles Times reports that the hikes, the first of which has already been approved by the DWP board, would amount to 8.8 to 28.4 percent power-bill increases, and that some of the extra cash would go to initiatives already underway at the DWP.

Some on the City Council are challenging the initial rate hike and will debate whether to send the plan back to the DWP board for reconsideration Tuesday. Opponents are concerned that the hike comes at the worst time -- high unemployment plagues the city -- with a DWP that is the city's richest department. While the city faces a near-$700 million deficit in July and the possibility of 4,000 layoffs, many DWP workers are getting raises.

Still, Gore likes the plan

Read more...

*Poll: Americans Hate Wall Street

*Cops In N.J. Town Given Keys To Homes

*How to tell if you are Middle Class

*Panel to study what to do with U.S. nuclear waste

*UN body to look at meat and climate link



*Airport Worker Caught Ogling Image of Woman on Naked Body Scanner

*US authorities "deal" with Wikileaks

*UN head in Afghanistan meets with militant group

*Hungary, Latvia and Romania on verge of collapse Spain, Greece call for bailout fund

*Measure to legalize marijuana will be on California's November ballot

*Explain why you sold Britain's gold, Gordon Brown told

*Georgia accepts Gitmo inmates

*France ditches carbon tax as social protests mount

*"Childless on Principle" gains ground in Russia

*Ottawa joins the war on photography

*Why did Barry Soetoro change his name to Barack Hussein Obama?

CoOlDiGgY news (late edition)

The Cost Of Defying Healthcare: $2,250 a Month And the IRS

The cost of defying Obamacare by withholding compliance on your income tax return will not be for the faint hearted – families will be forced to cough up $2,250 a month while being closely scrutinized by an army of new IRS agents with fresh “combat training,” armed to the teeth with 12 gauge pump action shotguns.

“The Internal Revenue Service will function as the government’s chief enforcer for health care reform, should President Obama sign the bill into law as expected, monitoring both businesses and individuals to certify whether they have the insurance coverage the government requires,” writes Matt Cover of CNS News.

The penalties associated with defying mandatory health care are staggering. From 2014 onwards, for every month that individuals or businesses with over 50 employees fail to carry a minimum level of health insurance, they will be hit with fines of up to $750 a month for individuals and $750 per uncovered employee for businesses. For a family of four, this could amount to a whopping $27,000 a year ($2250 a month for each household).

Read more...

*Democracy No Longer Free: First Corporate Campaign Ads Appear After Supreme Court's Citizens United Decision

*Netanyahu is Loud and Clear: We Will Continue To Build

*Lawmakers Eyeing National ID Card

*US Halts Poppy Eradication in Afghan Areas

*US may try Cindy Sheehan for anti-war campaign

*America's Most Underwater Housing Markets

*VIDEO: Michael Moore: Healthcare Bill “A Victory for Capitalism”


*Judge won't force Miss. district to hold prom

earlier:

European countries involved in business of torture

Despite laws prohibiting their trade, tools used for torture are being exported by some European countries to regimes around the world, with little regard for human rights, Amnesty International claims.

EU law expressly prohibits the export or import of goods that have no practical use other than for the purpose of capital punishment or torture, but the lack of enforcement means countries like Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain and Italy are still selling torture instruments abroad – to countries where there is documented proof of the use of such equipment for torture.

“Pepper sprays can be used by police officers in the situations of extreme violence, but they can also be misused, and they widely are in many places for torture and ill treatment,” says Mike Lewis from Amnesty International. “But there is also another category of equipment that we see being marketed by European firms, and in some cases imported into the European Union. Devices that have no other use but for torture and ill treatment – devices like electric shock belts.”

The organization is talking about devices like fixed wall restraints, metal thumb cuffs, spiked batons and sleeves and cuffs that can deliver electric shocks to about 50,000 volts.

Amnesty also says that in the last four years, the Czech Republic issued export permits for foot and hand shackles, electric shock tools and chemical sprays to countries where police and security forces are known to use them for torture. It named the counties such as Senegal, Cameroon, Pakistan, Moldova and Georgia.

Read more...

*Supreme Court Battle Quietly Brews Over Possible Future Nominations

*Illegal US immigrant detention practices questioned. Part 1

*Airport device follows fliers' phones

*Unclean Water Claims More Lives Than War

*Norman Finkelstein Responds to Clinton, Netanyahu AIPAC Comments


*Walls come down on age for over-55 communities

*Jane Hamsher: The Sober Reality of Health Care Reform

*France tells Greece: Broke? Buy a few warships