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World

netanyahu and abbas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (right). AP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the abduction of three Israeli teens during what were his first remarks since they disappeared in the West Bank four days ago. His remarks came after the Obama administration on Sunday joined Israel in implicating the militant group Hamas, calling the kidnapping a “despicable terrorist act.”

The group of teens, including one who also holds U.S. citizenship, disappeared almost without a trace late Thursday while reportedly hitchhiking in the country’s West Bank region.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been alone in accusing Hamas of being responsible for the kidnappings, but now Secretary of State John Kerry said that officials are still investigating the abduction, but that “many indications point to Hamas’ involvement.”

Israeli troops tasked with searching for the teens arrested roughly 80 Palestinians Sunday, including dozens of members of the terrorist group Hamas. The arrests resulted from an overnight raid in the West Bank.

Israeli officials also said they hold Abbas and his government in the West Bank responsible for the fate of the three Jewish seminary students, as they have not only failed to put an end to the group’s activities, but activity collude with them for political power.

Earlier this month, Mahmoud Abbas formed a unity government that has the backing of Hamas.

In a statement Monday, his office condemned both the kidnappings, but couldn’t help but to appease his Hamas backers by including the Israeli crackdown in his condemnation.

The statement says “the Palestinian leadership condemns the series of events … beginning with the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens and ending with a series of Israeli violations.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the abduction

Economy

The latest New York manufacturing data from the regional Fed shows activity increased to 19.28 in the month of June, beating economists’ estimates of 15. Though the reading represents an increase from the 19.01 measured the month prior, the geopolitical volatility in Iraq is translating into anxiety on Wall Street.

“Iraq is still weighing heavily on investors’ minds,” Michael Block, chief strategist at Rhino Trading Partners, said in an e-mail,adding, “There is very real concern that ISIS will march on Baghdad.”

The volatility in the oil-rich region put upward pressure on crude prices Monday. The benchmark U.S. contract increased by 12 cents, or 0.11 percent to $107.03 a barrel. It is currently trading near a six-month high.

Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.03 percent to $3.059 a gallon, while the safe-haven investment in gold increased $7.10, or 0.57 percent to $1,282 a troy ounce.

Readings above 0 point to expansion, while those below indicate contraction.

The latest New York manufacturing data from

World

ISIS mass killings in Iraq

Image posted on militant websites on Saturday show ISIS fighters with captured Iraqi soldiers in plainclothes after taking over a base in Tikrit. (Photo; Associated Press)

Sunni Islamist militants from the ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, claimed Sunday that they have massacred hundreds of captive Shiite members of Iraq’s security forces, posting shocking pictures of a mass execution in Tikrit.

Iraq’s government has reportedly increased Baghdad’s defenses Sunday, after the Islamic militant group captured two major cities last week. The Iraqi’s will have to go it alone, at least, until the president get’s back from another mini vacation. After giving a hyper-partisan commencement speech Saturday at the University of California, which centered on climate change, Obama decided to take a bit of time for himself.

“While we cannot confirm these reports, one of the primary goals of [ISIS] is to set fear into the hearts of all Iraqis and drive sectarian division among its people,” State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Sunday. “We condemn these tactics in the strongest possible terms and stand in solidarity with the Iraqi people against these horrendous and senseless acts of violence.”

Over the weekend, the city of Tal Afar, which is west of Mosul, also fell to the ISIS, who now control roughly one-third of Iraq and far more than any other Islamic terrorist organization. While developments may put more pressure on the Obama administration to aid Iraq militarily, the militants openly mocked President Obama and the United States. After uploading the pictures depicting mass killings in Iraq to an ISIS Twitter feed, the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, took aim at the U.S.

“Soon we will face you, and we are waiting for this day,” he said.

The images’ captions hurled threat after threat at the country’s Shiite population. “The filthy Shiites are killed in the hundreds,” one read. “The liquidation of the Shiites who ran away from their military bases,” read another, and, “This is the destiny of Maliki’s Shiites,” referring to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have called on everyday citizens to wage war against the ISIS, and have reportedly seen large numbers of Shiites respond to their plea. Thousands of Shiites have reportedly volunteered to fight against the ISIS.

“The Iraqi fighter is well known for his courage and valor, he has never been known to be defeated or deserted,” Maliki’s office said in a statement after the images were released.

Unbelievably, the Obama administration is reportedly preparing to talk with Iran about how they may help to repel the insurgents. And even though the two nation’s clearly have opposing interests in Iraq — the U.S. preferring peace between the nation’s top three sects to the Iranian desire for Shia dominance — Obama may just get bipartisan support for the plan.

“Why did we deal with Stalin? Because he was not as bad as Hitler,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-SC) said Sunday on CNN. “The Iranians can provide some assets to make sure Baghdad doesn’t fall.”

U.S. allies in Sunni-dominated countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan, say they will be alienated by such a dialogue, while allies in Israel and others in the Middle East fear that Iran will use the perceived U.S. weakness to gain an even greater advantage in the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

Sunni Islamist militants from the ISIS, the

Entertainment

Casey Kasem dead

Oct. 27, 2003: Radio broadcast legend Casey Kasem poses for photographers after receiving the Radio Icon award during The 2003 Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas. (Photo: AP)

Radio broadcast legend, Casey Kasem, has died at age 82. Kasem’s unique voice and style set the industry standard for the Top 40.

Danny Deraney, publicist for Kasem’s daughter, Kerri Kasem, told the Associated Press that Kasem died Sunday morning.

Kasem’s “American Top 40” began on July 4, 1970, in Los Angeles. The No. 1 song on his first list was “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” by Three Dog Night.

“American Top 40” continued until his retirement in 2009, though it aired on various syndications and in various venues. In his final sign-off on each show, he famously told viewers the following optimistic message: “And don’t forget: keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”

Kasem had suffered from Lewy Body disease, which was the subject of a recent public family battle between his second wife Jean and his three adult children from his first marriage. The family members argued over his health care and quality of life. It was just days ago that a judge granted his daughter, Kerri, the authority to withhold medication, fluids and food.

In the ruling handed down just last Wednesday, attorney Troy Martin said, Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy decided that giving Casey Kasem food and fluids would be more harmful than good, and cause further pain and unnecessary pain to the 82-year-old Kasem.

Kerri Kasem initiated end-of life measures on June 6.

Radio broadcast legend, Casey Kasem, has died

Elections

Jack Kingston vs David Purdue Georgia primary

Jack Kingston (left) is now favored over former front-runner David Purdue (right) in the Georgia Republican primary run-off.

As is often the case in a run-off election, the first-round favorite has become the underdog in the July 22 run-off and visa versa. Perdue finished first with just under a third of the vote in the May 20 Georgia Republican primary for U.S. Senate. However, for several reasons, second-place finisher Jack Kingston is now poised to win the nomination and starts as the heavy favorite over Democrat Michelle Nunn in November.

First, polling conducted on the race shows Kingston with an 11-point lead over Perdue, but it is what is occurring on the ground and reflected in the polling that warrants the rating change. If we overlap the counties that supported Karen Handel, who was eliminated in the May 20 primary, and compare them with the areas Kingston has enjoyed an increase in support, then it becomes clear that Handel’s voters are backing Kingston over Perdue. And they are doing so in droves.

Another related factor is simple enthusiasm. Kingston’s voters are far more enthusiastic over his potential nomination and believe he is the better candidate to take it to Nunn, daughter of longtime Senator Sam Nunn, in November. While we actually believe that is the case, it only matters what the voters of Georgia believe. Kingston is currently leading Nunn by 6 points, a slightly larger margin than Perdue leads her by in a hypothetical matchup.

Second, Jack Kingston is an ally of Gov. Nathan Deal, who is also running for reelection. This has allowed him to keep up with Perdue’s self-funding abilities, though he has still been outspent. Further, it appeared early in the cycle that the constant bombardment of negative headlines involving ethics violations may hurt Deal’s reelection prospects. But that isn’t looking as if it will be a great boon to Democrat challenger and state senator Jason Carter.

Carter, the grandson of former president Jimmy Carter, believed that the increase in the state’s black voter population would propel him to victory. Yet, Deal performed exceptionally strong among black voters in 2010 and is poised to do so again in November.

If Deal wins even 10 percent of the black vote, then it is practically a statistical impossibility for Carter to pull together a majority. The Georgia Senate race and Governor’s race are both rated “Likely Republican” on PPD’s 2014 Senate Map Predictions and 2014 Governor’s Map Predictions.

Poll Date Sample Kingston Perdue Spread
InsiderAdvantage 7/15 – 7/16 696 LV 46 41 Kingston +5
InsiderAdvantage 7/7 – 7/9 1278 LV 42 41 Kingston +1
InsiderAdvantage 6/10 – 6/11 401 LV 46 35 Kingston +11
SurveyUSA 6/3 – 6/5 419 LV 52 41 Kingston +11

 

Jack Kingston, the second place finisher, is

Polls

happy fathers day 2014

As fatherlessness grows in American, Father’s Day as a holiday ranks lower than ever in terms of importance to Americans.

For Father’s Day 2014, Rasmussen Reports conducted a survey on the importance of both the holiday, and the actual role of a father. As fatherlessness grows in American, the holiday ranks lower than ever in terms of importance to Americans. However, most still agree on the importance of fatherhood itself.

A survey of 1,000 adults conducted on June 9-10, found that just 10 percent of American adults consider Father’s Day one of America’s most important holidays, while 26 percent rate it as one of the least important holidays. Yet, 61 percent place it somewhere in between the two options.

However, 68 percent of American adults say the role of father is the most important role a man can play in their life. Unfortunately, the crisis of fatherlessness has grown considerably since the “Great Society” reforms incentivized families to have children out of wedlock. As the People’s Pundit identified in Our Virtuous Republic, “in 1964 a full 93 percent of children born in the United States were born to married parents.” Now, less than 59 percent of all children born in American boast the same.

Baris also notes that “marriage decreases the probability of child poverty by upwards of 82 percent. Sadly, the survey reflects the decreased significance society has placed on the role of father, which has had a dramatic impact on the nation’s societal well-being.

Dr. Helen Smith similarly argued American society has become anti-male. Men are sensing the backlash and are consciously and unconsciously going “on strike.” They are dropping out of college, leaving the workforce and avoiding marriage and fatherhood at alarming rates.

For Father’s Day 2014, Rasmussen Reports conducted

Opinion

lois lerner emails

IRS having problems uncovering Lois Lerner’s emais

Over a year ago the IRS was issued a subpoena to produce former IRS official Lois Lerner’s emails dating from 2009 through 2011. But now, they are MIA.

The IRS is conveniently claiming that they are unable to recover the majority of her emails due to a hard drive “crash.”

Lois Lerner, the former official at the center of the IRS targeting scandal, was recently held in contempt by the House of Representatives, but Attorney General Eric Holder has no intention of actually charging her for obstruction of justice, and now the

Representative Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, could easily have had the FBI secure the hard drive for forensic investigators to recover appropriate date, and still could do so. He said he was “shocked” that the IRS gave him such an excuse, but that seems more than naive to the conservative base.

Yet, Camp says he believes that it is absurd it took over a year for the IRS to state they do not have the emails that were requested.

“It is completely unacceptable and now calls into question the credibility of the IRS’s response to congressional inquiries. There needs to be an immediate investigation and forensic audit by Department of Justice as well as the Inspector General,” Camp said.

The IRS is trying to pacify the committee by claiming they were able to collect 24,000 emails from the time period that was requested. Unsurprisingly, the IRS says those emails would contain any correspondence that she may have had with Democratic members of Congress.

“The IRS has made unprecedented efforts in connection with this effort, producing more than 750,000 pages of documents to help complete the investigations. In total, the IRS’s efforts to respond to Congress have involved more than 250 IRS employees working more than 120,000 hours at a direct cost of nearly $10 million,” the agency said.

The IRS claims the technical staff was unable to recover the email data, but FBO officials tell People’s Pundit Daily that the data — if truly lost due to hardware failure — could easily be recovered, just not by IRS officials.

Calls are growing louder for Speaker John Boehner, who has been reluctant to set up a select committee on the IRS targeting scandal, despite the consistent obstructions akin to his own  justification for the Benghazi select committee. Even if Boehner was to establish a select committee on the IRS scandal, every day that passes is another day the systemic corruption in the IRS has time to dispose of evidence.

Over a year ago the IRS was

World

obama

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: U.S. President Barack Obama looks annoyed during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki in the Oval Office at the White House November 1, 2013 in Washington, DC. Al-Maliki requested additional U.S. assistance in battling ISIS in Iraq. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

President Obama said at a press conference Friday that Iraq must “solve their problems,” despite the fact Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had been pleading for U.S. help for nearly two years. Last month, when the situation in Iraq became dire, al-Maliki requested manned and unmanned airstrikes from President Obama, who offered little in response.

“Unfortunately, Iraq’s leaders have been unable to overcome too often the mistrust and sectarian differences that have long been simmering there, and that’s created vulnerabilities within the Iraqi government as well as their security forces,” Obama said.

Chief White House correspondent for Fox News, Ed Henry, is in New York today. With Henry out of the fold, the remaining White House press core tossed soft-ball questions to Obama, who initially said he would take just one question. President Obama said he is reviewing possible military responses to the attacks by Al Qaeda-inspired militants in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, but cautioned the process would not be immediate.

The president offered little information on his administration’s actual plan to deal with the Middle East crisis in Iraq. On one hand, the president admitted that the waste of American blood and treasure would be a disaster. He also conceded that the fall of Iraq would be a foreign policy nightmare for America’s long-term security interests.

“Nobody has an interest in seeing terrorists gain a foothold inside of Iraq, and nobody is going to benefit from seeing Iraq descend into chaos,” Obama said.

However, he offered no explanation of how he intends to juggle the need for response with his lack of will to put military options on the table. Certainly, no reporter bothered to ask the president if he regrets prematurely pulling U.S. forces out of the country before establishing a status of forces agreement.

“Clearly, the US withdrawal from Iraq has not brought the peace the White House promised,” foreign policy analyst Michael Rubin of AEI said. “Historians will judge the wisdom of George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein, but the situation Iraq currently faces was not inevitable.”

President Obama also insinuated that Iraqi security forces don’t deserve a significant U.S. response due to the low moral and abandonment of posts. Yet, moral could be attributed to a number of factors, some of which the U.S. could have prevented. Prime Minister al-Maliki favored a status of forces agreement with the U.S., but requested jurisdiction over U.S. troops stationed in the country. However, neither President Obama or Vice President Joe Biden even bothered to negotiate the terms of the agreement, leading to the situation Iraq finds itself in now.

Meanwhile, ISIS has been overrunning cities and moving toward Baghdad, with some forces as close as 35 miles from the city. The group took control of Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on Wednesday, as Iraqi soldiers and security forces fled their posts. The ISIS’s spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, threatened Thursday that Sunni ISIS fighters would capture the southern Iraqi Shiite cities of Karbala and Najaf, two locations of the holiest shrines for Shiite Muslims.

Mosul, the capital of Ninevah province, fell on Thursday, leaving one of the country’s largest banks vulnerable to attack. The group robbed nearly $500 million and is currently in possession of all the American-made military hardware left behind by the overwhelmed Iraqi security forces.

President Obama said at a press conference

Economy

According to Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan a reading on consumer sentiment measured in at 81.2 in June, below economists’ estimates of 83. The measurement was also lower than a final reading in May of 81.9.

The latest June consumer sentiment report is a drop from the unexpected and contested rise in the month of April to 82.6, which was the highest level since July and up from 80 in the prior month.

Consumer spending represents roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy, or gross domestic product, which has been sputtering and contracting. GDP growth for the 1Q of 2014 was nonexistent, contracting by a full 1 percent. Consumer spending shifting from essentials and luxury goods to energy and health care spending. The trade gap also shaved off a significant percentage of GDP, which is showing no sign improvement.

Yesterday, a report released by the Commerce Department showed both import and export prices rising more than economists had forecast.

According to Thomson Reuters and the University

Economy

producer prices and Ford factory worker

Producer prices reported by the Labor Department. A Ford Factory worker on the assembly line. (Photo: REUTERS)

U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in May as costs declined across-the-board, adding to the Fed view that inflation pressures are easing.

The Labor Department said on Friday its producer price index for final demand ticked down 0.2 percent, which was a staunch reversal from April’s 0.6 percent increase. The April index showed the largest gain in 1-1/2 years.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast producer prices increasing again, but by just 0.1 percent.

The Labor Department adjusted its PPI series at the start of the year, to include services and construction. However, the index has been volatile due to prices received for trade services, making it hard to get an accurate read on inflation.

Wholesale prices suggested a pick-up in inflation pressure over the past few months, but if accurate, Friday’s report counters the past trend.

In the 12 months through May, prices received by the nation’s farms, factories and refineries together increased by 2.0 percent, a slowing from April’s 2.1 percent gain.

Meanwhile, even though the average American would say otherwise, the Labor Department report said wholesale food prices dropped 0.2 percent after increasing for four consecutive months. Further, gasoline prices reportedly dropped 0.9 percent, a reading not in line with a report released yesterday. The situation in Iraq is most assuredly going to have a negative impact on gasoline prices and will likely reflect next month’s report.

Prices received for services at the final demand level also dropped by 0.2 percent, a reversal from the 0.6 percent gain in April. Excluding food and energy, two of the largest factors influencing the index, producer prices fell 0.1 percent in April after increasing 0.5 percent the prior month.

Despite suggestions that the report shows inflation is being held at bay, the overall trend suggests it isn’t. In the 12 months through May, the core PPI for final demand rose 2.0 percent, adding to the 1.9 percent increase in the period through April.

U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in May

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