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News, World

On Monday, President Obama threatens Putin stating that Russia is “on the wrong side of history” on Ukraine, and that the U.S. and its allies are examining steps to “isolate” the country. Western leaders are pathetically scrambling to convince Vladimir Putin to stand down.

Obama, just prior to a meeting in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the world largely is in agreement that Russia is “in violation of international law.”

He said Moscow’s actions are deeply troubling, and said this would be a “costly proposition” for Russia if it continues down this path.

“We are examining a whole series of steps — economic, diplomatic — that will isolate Russia,” Obama said.

However, the president left the military option off of the table in hs statement, leaving Sec of State John Kerry all alone on that option. Kerry said Sunday that “all options are on the table.” In a separate interview the same morning, though, Kerry stressed that a military response is “the last thing anybody wants.”

On “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI), said that prior mistakes have put the U.S. in a precarious situation. However, now that we are where we are, a military option is not a viable option considering President Obama’s propensity to issue empty threats.

Meanwhile, Russian troops have seized border checkpoints in the Crimea, and as far as U.S. officials previously told PeoplesPunditDaily.com, Russia is in control of the region.

“There is no question,” the official continued, “that they are in an occupation position in Crimea, that they are flying in reinforcements, and they are settling in.”

“There is not a lot of options on the table. And candidly — and I’m a fairly hawkish guy — sending more naval forces to operate in the Black Sea is not a good idea.,” adding that if we were to send a naval force we’d “better be prepared” to use it.

Earlier, Putin issued a deadline for 5 AM local time for 2 Ukrainian warships in the disputed Crimea Peninsula to surrender or face “a real assault,” but Putin has since backed off of that ultimatum.

President Obama threaten Putin on Monday, stating

News, Politics

FCC newsroom

There was a serious revelation regarding the now-suspended and controversial FCC newsroom survey that was blatantly ignored by the mainstream media. Not only did the Federal Communications Commission plan to have government contractors question journalists about editorial decisions and practices, but it was also discovered that it was, indeed, a partisan motivated effort to stifle opposing opinion.

The plan, we now know, did in fact originate among Democrats on the FCC and, furthermore, the commission’s two Republican members didn’t even learn about it until the tyrannical plot was already in motion. The Democrats crafted and subsequently hid the grim details of the FCC newsroom survey from Republicans on the commission.

It has also been learned, though it is no longer surprising, the research used to justify the so-called “study” was completely one-sided.

The liberals on the FCC enlisted the help of scholars from two big, liberal journalism schools, including the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Communication and Democracy. The objective was to determine the “critical information needs” about which journalists would then be questioned.

The study, which was presented in July of 2012, listed five authors: Ernest J. Wilson III, Carola Weil, and Katherine Ognyanova from USC, Lewis Friedland from Wisconsin, and Philip Napoli from Fordham University. (Weil is now with American University.) Among the liberal panel of professors, a whopping 4 of the 5 were donors to President Obama and — no or — other Democratic campaigns.

According to Federal Election Commission records, USC professor Ernest J. Wilson III gave $3,300 to the Obama presidential campaign in 2007 and again in 2008. Fordham University Philip Napoli donated $500 to Obama in 2008, while then-USC and now-American University professor Carola Weil gave $250 in 2012. Wisconsin professor Lewis Friedland, whose fellow is the now-infamous Karen Kay Kirst-Ashman, whom we called out on PeoplesPunditDaily.com for writing propaganda in textbooks, gave $200 in 2012.

However, there are no contributions that we know of from Katherine Ognyanova from USC, who as a post-doctoral fellow led a team of graduate student researchers on the project.

It goes without saying that nothing at all is wrong with professors contributing to President Obama or other Democrats, or with Democrats exercising control on the FCC when there’s a Democratic president in the White House. However, this was clearly an effort to control and regulate the opposing views and constitutional-protected rights of American citizens. And in this case, the FCC newsroom survey was just the latest in a long line of disturbing efforts during the Obama administration to pull the levers of government to either harm or silence those who oppose authority.

If we, as Americans, cannot see anything dangerous about that, then we are already slaves. We are just waiting for it to become official.

There was a serious revelation regarding the

News, World

russian deadline

UPDATE: Putin has reportedly backed away from the Russian deadline set earlier for 2 Ukrainian warships to vacate the Crimean Peninsula.

EARLIER: A Russian deadline for 5 AM local time had been issued for 2 Ukrainian warships in the disputed Crimea Peninsula to surrender or face “a real assault,” according to a statement from a Navy commander.

“If they do not surrender before 5 AM tomorrow, a real assault will be started against units and divisions of the armed forces across Crimea,” Russia’s Black Sea Fleet Commander Alexander Vitko told the Interfax news agency Monday, Sky News reports.

Both Reuters and the Associated Press also reported the events, though the defense ministry didn’t immediately confirm the ultimatum. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting this afternoon to address the crisis.

The threat came mere hours after Ukraine’s new leaders called for Western nations to rally against Russia’s invasion of the country’s Crimean Peninsula, making a plea for economic and political support as Moscow continues to defy both the U.S. and the West.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk insisted that Crimea remains Ukrainian territory, even as thousands of Russian troops seized control over the region without suffering any casualties or even firing a shot.

“Any attempt of Russia to grab Crimea will have no success at all. Give us some time,” he said at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is visiting Kiev.

“For today, no military options [are] on the table,” he said, adding that what they urgently need is an economic and political support.

“Real support. Tangible support. And we do believe that our Western partners will provide this support,” he said.

Hague said on the BBC that Moscow would face “significant costs” for taking control of Crimea. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will follow Hague’s visit to Kiev, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday nevertheless justified the use of Russian troops in Crimea as a necessary protection for his country’s citizens living there.

The use of Russian troops is necessary “until the normalization of the political situation” in Ukraine, Lavrov said at an opening of a month-long session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“We are talking here about protection of our citizens and compatriots, about protection of the most fundamental of the human rights — the right to live, and nothing more,” Lavrov said. He had harsh words for U.S. and European officials, who have made clear that military force is off of the table, yet are moving to push for economic measures.

“Those who are trying to interpret the situation as a sort of aggression and threatening us with sanctions and boycotts, these are the same partners who have been consistently and vigorously encouraging the political powers close to them to declare ultimatums and renounce dialogue,” Lavrov said. “We call upon them to show a responsibility and to set aside geopolitical calculations and put the interests of the Ukrainian people above all.”

Lavrov will meet later Monday with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the Ukraine crisis, but markets may not wait for officials to hatch out any plans.

The uncertainty of the situation sent global stocks tumbling on Monday, pushing European Union foreign ministers are working on a joint response to Russia’s military incursion that could include economic sanctions.

The 28 foreign ministers are holding an emergency meeting on Ukraine Monday to discuss what Germany’s foreign minister, Frank Walter Steinmeier, called “Europe’s most dramatic crisis” since the end of the Cold War.

On Sunday, a senior Obama administration official told reporters that Russia had taken “complete operational control of the Crimean peninsula, some 6,000-plus airborne and naval forces, with considerable materiel [equipment].

“There is no question,” the official continued, “that they are in an occupation position in Crimea, that they are flying in reinforcements, and they are settling in.”

Russia has long wanted to reclaim the lush Crimean Peninsula, part of its territory until 1954. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet pays Ukraine millions annually to be stationed at the Crimean port of Sevastopol and nearly 60 percent of Crimea’s residents identify themselves as Russian.

A Russian deadline for 5 AM local

Economy

(Photo: REUTERS)

Manufacturing growth in the US slightly rebounded off an eight-month low in February, topping estimates and fueled by a recovery in new orders.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity rose to 53.2 in February, up from January’s read of 51.3, which was the weakest reading since May 2013.

Readings above 50 indicate expansion in the sector. February’s measurement topped the median forecast of 52.0 in a Reuters poll of economists.

The report ends two straight months of slowing manufacturing growth in the US, however, it still remains below November’s recent peak reading of 57, which is the highest since April 2011.

Last month’s weakness came on a steep drop in the forward-looking new orders index. That component rebounded to 54.5 from 51.2 in January.

There were some cautionary notes, as the production subindex sank to 48.2 from 54.8, notching its third straight month of declines and falling below 50 for the first time since August 2012. The employment index held flat at 52.3.

Meanwhile, global markets tumbled on growing fears of war sparked by the Ukraine crisis. The Russian market was down more than 10 percent, and as of 10:40 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 171 points.

Manufacturing growth in the US slightly rebounded

Economy, Markets

consumer-spending

U.S. consumer spending and personal income slightly increased in the month of January, but it was sadly driven by Americans struggling to keep to warm amid rising costs.

U.S. consumer spending rose more than expected in January as outlays on services recorded their largest increase since late 2001, an unexpected anomaly economists are saying was likely driven by demand for heating.

The Commerce Department said on Monday consumer spending increased 0.4 percent after advancing by a revised 0.1 percent in December. Spending was previously reported to have gained 0.4 percent in December.

Economists polled by Reuters were expecting consumer spending, which represents more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and GDP, to tick up just 0.1 percent in January.

January’s increase in spending was fueled by a 0.9 percent increase in services, which is the largest gain since October 2001. Economists say that is likely reflecting an increase in demand for utilities, as Americans tried to keep warm during an unusually cold spell.

With households spending being drained by the cost of utilities, forecasts on goods fell 0.6 percent in January.

For now, inflation remains modest, though spending on services has the propensity to increase the index as costs rise.

A price index for consumer spending did also tick up a bit to 0.1 percent after increasing 0.2 percent in December. Overall, however, prices have risen 1.2 percent over the past 12 months, compared to an increase of 1.1 percent in December.

Excluding food and energy,  which drastically reduces the perception of inflation, the price index for consumer spending increased by just 0.1 percent, rising by the same rate for a seventh straight month. Core prices, however, were up 1.1 percent from just a year ago, after rising 1.2 percent in December.

Again, for now, both measurements of inflation remain below the threshold set by the Federal Reserve, which is 2 percent target.

When adjusted for inflation, consumer spending rose 0.3 percent after falling 0.1 percent in December. The rise in so-called real spending may actually increase first-quarter gross domestic product, though we had some bad GDP news last week.

Income also rose slightly by 0.3 percent in January, after remaining flat in December. Meanwhile, income at the disposal of households after adjusting for inflation rose 0.3 percent in January after falling 0.2 percent the previous month.

The saving rate, which is the percentage of disposable income households are putting away for a rainy day, was unchanged at 4.3 percent in the month of January. But, actual saving fell to its lowest level since March, a long-term consequence of printing money that has not even begun to set in damage.

U.S. consumer spending and personal income slightly

Economy, Markets, News

global markets

The Ukraine crisis sent global markets tumbling last night and Wall Street followed suit on Monday, increasing the potential for sanctions on Russia. The increased threat of war forced investors to run for safety, pushing stocks down sharply.

The Moscow market fell 11.5 percent while gold hit a four-month high. The country’s sovereign dollar bonds also fell more than 2 points, and the cost of buying 5-year swaps to insure against a Russian debt default sharply increased by 33 basis points.

“Investors had underestimated the risks of an escalation in Ukraine, so the events over the weekend are a wake-up call for the market,” said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading at Global Equities in Paris.

Wall Street followed global markets as futures were sharply lower on Monday, as  U.S. crude oil jumped $2.16, or 2.1 percent, to $104.75 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline climbed 1% to $2.79 a gallon, and gold prices jumped $23.90, or 1.8 percent, up to $1,346 a troy ounce. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell 0.034 percentage point to 2.618 percent.

As of 9:45 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen more than 120 points.

“Barring a Russian attempt to take all of eastern Ukraine, which would produce a grave crisis, it appears that the big angle is economic — with a growing likelihood of sanctions that will bite, to the displeasure of multinational corporations which may have to curtail their business dealings with Russia,” analysts at the Washington, D.C.-based PRG Group wrote in a letter to clients today.

Still, Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group, told his clients to ignore event-driven swings and remain focused on economic fundamentals.

“While we cannot discount at all what is going on in the Ukraine because Russia is not some small, modest country, I would not be surprised if this week’s market close at 4pm on Friday is more determined by Friday’s payroll number and how people think the Federal Reserve will respond than what is going on in Crimea,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said on Monday consumer spending increased 0.4 percent in January, following an uptick of a previously revised 0.1 percent in December. Spending was previously reported to have gained 0.4 percent in December.

 

The Ukraine crisis sent global markets tumbling

News, World

north-korean-missile-launch

The Associated Press and Reuters have reported that there has been a North Korean missile launch early Monday.

According to South Korea’s defense ministry, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off the East coast of the Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang, which routinely conducts short-range missile tests, launched four short-range missiles late last month in a similar display of force, officials have said.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said that in Monday’s test, missiles likely flew about 300 miles after being launched off the North’s east coast, adding they were believed to be Scud-C models.

The distance means the missiles are capable of hitting targets in South Korea and Japan, two countries that, unlike Ukraine, have a treaty with the U.S. that requires the superpower to come to their assistance with military force in the event an aggressor attacks.

The launch also comes just days after the start of annual U.S. and South Korean joint military exercises, which Pyongyang routinely denounces as preparation of war.

North Korea is the latest nation to test the U.S. and its allies after Russian President Vladimir Putin requested and received authority from the Russian Parliament to use military force to seize the Crimea region of Ukraine. It is unclear what response if any President Obama has in store for the North Korean regime, who is already isolated.

However, if we can expect the same reaction toward North Korean defiance as we have seen with the Ukraine crisis, then we can expect little.

The Associated Press and Reuters have reported

News, Video, World

A newly released International Space Station video shows North Korea from space as a black spot in a world lit by the light of free markets. It serves as a warning and a reminder that it is a false promise of big government that it will ever exist to help the poor.

Flying over East Asia, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) took this video of the Korean Peninsula on Jan. 30. The Earth is teeming with city lights at night, underscoring the importance of economic freedom by showing the source of the brightest lights originating from economically friendly cities in Singapore and South Korea.

In case you can’t make out the rolling imagery, here is a still photo depicting North Korea from space taken from the video footage:

north korea from space

Communist-led North Korea, on the other hand, isn’t at all visible and leaves a dark black spot on the Korean Peninsula. The big government, despotic country is almost nearly invisible next to neighboring South Korea and China.

North Korea’s capital city, Pyongyang, barely appears as a faint light, comparable to a small island in the middle of the Asian Pacific, despite boasting a population of 3.26 million (as of 2008). The light emission from Pyongyang is equivalent to a small, rural town in capitalist-friendly South Korea.

The difference in per capita power consumption in the two countries is absolutely astonishing, with South Korea at 10,162 kilowatt hours and North Korea at 739 kilowatt hours.

A newly released International Space Station video

Opinion, Video

On Saturday, Mike Huckabee told “A Tale Of Two Superpowers,” reacting to the Ukrainian crisis in the context of the proposed defense cuts. He said we have been warned by prominent figures throughout our past that it was foolish to believe the world would be a safer place “if we just holstered our guns and sheathed our swords.”

“It’s folly to believe such nonsense. The best way to keep the peace and ensure our security is to have a military that is so overwhelmingly power that no one on earth would want to poke it into action,” Huckabee said.

As the former Arkansas governor noted, it matters not a smidgen if nations like us, but rather if they fear us. “But here we go again fooling ourselves into thinking that we can protect ourselves on the cheap,” asking a shrinking number of volunteers to pick up the slack on a growing number of deployments, while at the same time a growing number of people live off of entitlements.

The Obama-Hagel proposal that chooses to look for deficit reduction via defense cuts, has started a national debate on the topic of entitlements vs. defense spending.

Huckabee just returned after spending eleven days in Israel, a nation he noted where each 18 year-old male gives three years of military service, and every 18 year-old female gives two. Subsequently, Israeli citizens give another twenty years of reservist duty to their nation, and for the rest of their lives they must spend every minute ready “to spill the last drop of their blood” to defend a nation others would love to see destroyed.

Meanwhile, in America, less than one percent will ever serve in defense of their country, yet they must bare the burden of an out-of-control entitlement budget. The Obama-Hagel proposal cuts housing allowances, reduces the rate and frequency of pay increases for military personnel, and requires military men and women to pay more for their own health care, even as Democrats push to require nothing for the most unproductive of our society in order to get the same.

“We are willing to defend the nation with what he [Obama] calls OPK, other people’s kids,” Huckabee said, visibly disturbed. “Instead of recruiting or even drafting enough people to at least staff our defense readiness, we just send a dwindling number of willing volunteers to second and third and even fourth deployments. And we treat the national guardists and reservists as if they are full-time.”

As the governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee saw those serving in the National Guard deployed three or more times oversees, an unfortunate occurrence aimed to pick up the slack of those who aren’t willing to make any sacrifice for their nation. However, requiring such stresses on those who do have the honor and duty to answer the call, has terrible consequences.

“When more of our soldiers are lost to suicide than are killed by the Taliban, it’s time to use our brains, instead of asking other people’s kids to get their’s destroyed,” Huckabee said, adding that over 3/4 of the proposed cuts are targeted at those who are assuming the most risk.

If we have to make cuts, which nearly all conservatives and Republicans understand we must do soon to avoid a financial crisis, then Mike Huckabee proposed we “cut the desk-jockeys. Cut the government contracts that make the pals of the politicians get rich. Even cut the payouts to able-bodied people who take a government check, but have never offered anything back in return. And if we have to give them a check, give them a uniform to go with it.”

The idea of at least offering those who are on long-term welfare and are able-bodied citizens a chance to perform and serve military duty, was once and still is a very popular proposal among the American people. The difference now, however, is that we simply do not have politicians serving the public who have the courage to propose it, any longer.

That lack of courage and principled leadership has and is costing our nation greatly, and we are running out of both time and treasure while we wait for another true leader to step forward.

“In the meantime, protecting our nation is not just the business of the Army, Marines, Air Force and the Coast Guard. It’s all of our business. And we ought to ground Air Force One before we ground a fighter squadron.”

On Saturday, Mike Huckabee told "A Tale

News, Politics, Video

On her Fox News show “Justice,” Judge Jeanine Pirro rips Obama for reducing the U.S. to a paper tiger. While the issue, this time, was his empty threat against Russia intervening militarily in Ukraine, Pirro has long been critical of Obama’s foreign policy blunders.

“Threatening almost everybody and going after just about nobody,” Pirro said, referring to President Obama’s propensity to make threats that he either has no intention or fortitude to back up. Senior Editor of People’s Pundit, Richard D. Baris, fired off a tweet earlier today stating just that.

“His policies are destroying our country, putting Americans in harm’s way, and endangering America’s security,” Judge Jeanine said.

Pirro harshly criticized Obama for injecting himself in a fight via a carelessly assembled press conference, when he notably omitted that aggression toward Ukraine was not in the interest of the U.S, even after mentioning several European powers.

After playing a clip of Obama’s press conference, during which he warned there will be costs following the Russian Parliament unanimously voting to grant Putin’s request for a military intervention in Ukraine, Judge Jeanine railed the president.

“Really, Mr. President what are you going to do?” she asked. “Your red lines become pink lines, which, in the end, make us look completely yellow.”

Last year, President Obama found himself in a complete position of foolishness, weakness and naivety after drawing a “red line” against Syria for the use of chemical weapons. When evidence surfaced, though we never saw it, the president’s weakness prevented him from rallying support at home. He ultimately had no choice but to capitulate to Congress and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It was an embarrassment, which set us on a path that we are on today, with Putin viewing any White House threat or warning as empty. During his 90-minute phone call with Putin Saturday, Obama said it wasn’t in Russia’s interest to intervene in Ukraine, but Pirro says his ego must be making him delusional.

“Being dictator here at home doesn’t make you king of the world,” she blasted, adding that Obama has enough to do at home without putting himself in someone else’s war he isn’t even willing to fight.

“It’s actually embarrassing. You don’t have a foreign policy and you know it,” she said. “You and hapless Hagel just announced this week you will reduce the size of the military to pre-WWII levels.”

Turning her attention to Defense Sec. Chuck Hagel, Pirro asked “what’s with hapless Hagel? With black al Qaeda flags flying high, with Russia aligned with Syria and Iran, you geniuses decide it’s time to make drastic cuts to the military?”

After providing myriad examples of incoherence in Obama’s so-called foreign policy, slamming everyone from “Hapless Hagel” to “Clueless Clapper,” she reminded everyone that President Obama is supposed to be the guy who won the Nobel Peace Prize.

As Pirro notes at the opening of her monologue, there used to be a time when our presidents did what they said, and the world knew it. Now, under President Obama, a man who never served a day in his life and didn’t even believe his own strategy in Afghanistan, the U.S. has been reduced to a paper tiger.

PeoplesPunditDaily.com reported on a Gallup poll just last week that found Americans no longer believe President Obama is even respected by world leaders, and apparently We the People are right.

“Mr. President, everyone is laughing at us. Mr. Putin certainly is. He knows you’re no Eisenhower, no FDR, and no JFK. He’s a former KGB guy and has all the military credentials he needs,” she said.

“And what might your military credentials be, Mr. Commander-in-Chief?”

On her Fox News show "Justice," Judge

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