How Social Security and Medicare just got stronger … The new federal budget bill President Obama signed into law earlier this week makes some crucial fixes aimed at strengthening the finances of Social Security and Medicare. While some people will receive reduced benefits with these changes, everyone wins when these programs are put on a sounder footing and obvious flaws are remedied. &ndash...Read More
DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg said the idea that marijuana can be used as medicine is a "joke."…"What really bothers me is the notion that marijuana is also medicinal – because it's not … If you talk about smoking the leaf of marijuana – which is what people are talking about when they talk about medicinal marijuana – it has never been shown to be safe...Read More
U.S. stocks decline as jobs report looms … U.S. stocks ended Thursday's session modestly lower for a second consecutive day as investors turned cautious ahead of an important employment report due Friday. – MarketWatchDominant Social Theme: The market is in a good place.Free-Market Analysis: Commentators often attribute human-like qualities to stocks and stock markets. The market w...Read More
US accuses Moscow of 'dangerously' worsening Syria war … The United States said that Russia's air war in Syria had "dangerously exacerbated" the conflict, accusing Moscow of seeking to bolster President Bashar al-Assad's regime instead of targeting jihadists. Washington's latest broadside against Russian intervention in Syria came as government troops, emboldene...Read More
Marijuana grows causing blackouts, power company says … Dozens of people in Northeast Portland lost power amid the sizzle of summer because of marijuana. Two indoor grows in the same area overloaded the circuits, causing an outage for about 200 customers. That was one of seven outages from grows that's hit Pacific Power since July. – Oregon LiveDominant Social Theme: We'll buy...Read More
The multi-state military training exercise known as Jade Helm 15 is done. There did not turn out to be any FEMA camps populated with anti-Obama patriots plucked from their homes by American special forces. Desert regions of the United States do not seem to have been turned over to ISIS or Russia in an attempt by the government to something-something-something … Still, it's a shame one-th...Read More
IMF signals renminbi set for inclusion in SDR basket … International Monetary Fund representatives have told China that the renminbi is likely to join the fund's special drawing rights (SDR) basket of reserve currencies … The renminbi's inclusion in the SDR basket will help spur China to accelerate financial reforms and economic opening up and catalyze yuan liberalization, acco...Read More
Obama weighs expanding background checks through executive authority … Speaking at the White House on Thursday evening, a visibly frustrated and emotional President Obama remarked on the deadly shooting at a community college in Oregon … In response to the latest mass shooting during his presidency, President Obama is seriously considering circumventing Congress with his executive auth...Read More
India Banks Are Finally Looking Better, And So Is Their Economy … Moody's raised national banks credit outlooks to stable from negative. Nonperforming loans on the books of Indian banks are showing signs of improvement, and so is the nation's economy. Despite some much publicized disses of the Indian investment story, mainly from emerging market commodity guru Jim Rogers, India...Read More
Florida medical pot law misses deadline, nearly a year behind … Almost a year-and-a-half since Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers legalized a form of medical marijuana, the latest deadline for making it available to Floridians has gone up in smoke. Again. – MyPalmBeachPostDominant Social Theme: Say, it seems like there's a lot of pushback against any kind of cannabis legalization....Read More
Thirty years of stock market crashes – and the signs they were coming. Is another stock market crash around the corner? … As the stock market struggles to recover from "Black Monday" in August, many investors are wondering how long it will be before the market regains the levels seen before the crash … Here we look at seven of the stock market setbacks of the past 30 ye...Read More
Whatever the Chilcot Inquiry finds will be as irrelevant as Tony Blair himself … though the families of fallen troops will disagree. There are things that we know we know, and what we know we know about Iraq we knew from the start. … We also know that whatever Chilcot concludes will lead Mr Tony neither to The Hague nor to salvation from his wretched half-life as an emblem of national...Read More
Colombia seeks to legalize medical marijuana products … Colombia's Health Ministry seeks to allow for the manufacture and sale of medical marijuana products in Colombia, local media reported Wednesday. Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria reportedly stated that he is working on a decree to allow for the commercialization of medical cannabis products. – Colombia ReportsDominant Social...Read More
Iraq and Syria conflicts will see US putting boots on the ground after all … It was President Barack Obama's big promise: before he left office, America would be done deploying forces to fight other people's wars … And now what's happening exactly? – UK IndependentDominant Social Theme: US peacemakers are to withdraw from enemy combat zones as soon as possible, or at...Read More
Here's How You Know The Economy Is Not Growing Fast Enough … The Federal Reserve is acting cautiously. If they're concerned, chances are you should be, too. Federal Reserve Board chair Janet Yellen announced on Wednesday that the Fed's benchmark interest rate – the federal funds rate – will remain unchanged … The statement by the Federal Open Market Committee, t...Read More
Following the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, measures were passed both in Connecticut and New York that put some restrictions on gun ownership. These measures placed a ban on semi-automatic weapons bearing certain military assault weapon features and the possession of high capacity magazines. This seems fairly unobjectionable, but groups of gun rights advocates still attempted to over...Read More
House Benghazi Hearings: Too Much Too Late … Last week the US House of Representatives called former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to appear before a select committee looking into the attack on a US facility in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. The attack left four Americans dead, including US Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. As might be expected, however, the "Benghazi Committee"...Read More
Oil is a better bet than Treasuries as the Federal Reserve contemplates raising interest rates, according to Park Sungjin, an investor in Seoul … U.S. interest rates may head higher in the coming months, said Park, the head of investment management at Meritz Securities Co., which has $7 billion in assets. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The economy is recovering. Is a safe haven even...Read More
Medical cannabis fuels new sector …There's a flurry of activity in the 'farm to pharma' sector. A pot stock boom looks set to sweep the Australian sharemarket after plans to legalise medical cannabis, with a host of ASX-listed companies fast-tracking their moves to enter the market. Australia's first listed medical marijuana company, MMJ PhytoTech, which merged with Canadian...Read More
Yes, the Civil War was about Slavery. Get over it. Stone Mountain can keep its memorial, but it needs a reboot … Yesterday I wrote a piece about how it's time for the Georgia legislature to stop honoring slavery, and it seems people have taken it way out of context. The first line of that post was "Is it time to put away the war between the states? Yes, it is. It's way past time...Read More