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Wednesday, November 21, 2012


'Army must invade': In southern Israel, support grows for action in Gaza

7
hours
ago


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Despite talks of a truce, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continue, with a Hamas-linked bank being hit overnight along with 10 homes of alleged Palestinian militants. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
By Martin Fletcher, NBC News

ASHKELON, Israel -- As rockets flew over southern Israel on Monday, a Land Rover packed with camping gear stopped in a field and out stepped a man called Boris who offered to make coffee for a nearby NBC news crew.

Their price for accepting the excellent brew was a harangue about Israel's need to invade Gaza and reduce it to rubble. When interrupted, Russia-born Boris just shouted louder.

"Putin! Putin! What would Putin do?" the man screamed. "Think about it! Putin! A football field he would make in Gaza, a football field! What he do in Chechnya? We do same in Gaza."
Boris's 18-year-old son was among the conscripts who had just finished basic training and was waiting, with his paratrooper unit, in a grove of eucalyptus trees for the order to invade. Father and son had not been in contact for days as all soldiers have had their cell phones taken.


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NBC's Chuck Todd reports on new developments in the Gaza-Israel conflict in the last 24 hours, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Israel, the West Bank and Egypt in an effort to promote a cease-fire.


But Boris, who did not give his last name, was sanguine about his son. "We have to do it. No choice."

Clinton heads to Mideast on peace mission, Hamas remains defiant

Ten miles away, sweeping broken glass, shattered bricks and collapsed plaster walls in her neighbor's apartment, which had suffered a direct hit from a rocket fired from Gaza, Batsheva Schneerson went even further.

"You see that window?" Schneerson asked.

There was no window -- it had been blown away by the rocket. "Exactly," she said, "the same. That's what we must do. No window. No Gaza."

A Palestinian woman looks over the rubble of her destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in the east of Gaza City on Nov. 19.


It's a familiar refrain in Israel's south-west, which has lived through almost a decade of rocket fire from Gaza. Yet while opinion polls show overwhelming support among Israelis -- around 85 percent -- for its air assault on Gaza, only 25-30 percent support a ground invasion.

There was no separate survey for people from the south of the country. Anecdotally, the support there would be almost unanimous.


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A possible ceasefire may come this evening between Hamas and Israel, but civilians living in Gaza are still in the midst of violence and today were given orders to evacuate. NBC's John Ray reports.

Almost every person NBC News spoke to in the south since the fighting began a week ago said there was no choice: The army must invade Gaza and stay as long as it takes to guarantee there will be no more rocket fire from Gaza. They said they wanted to live their lives in peace, and send their children to school without worrying about whether they would come back in one piece. 

Rina, who would not provide a last name, sat on her steps after a rocket landed a hundred yards away in a neighbor's garden in Ashkelon.

"Afraid?" she said. "No, never, I wouldn't give Hamas that pleasure. I'll sit in my bomb shelter for as long as it takes, but our boys have to show Hamas what's what. Of course the army must invade."


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The anti-missile system made in Israel and helped by American money, recognizes which rockets will hit an inhabited area and knocks them out while ignoring the others. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.
Her neighbor, sitting next to her, didn't seem so sure.

She was hugging her little dog, Yoko, which was still trembling from the explosion five minutes earlier. Ambulances and fire-trucks were still drawing up, police cordoned off the area with crime scene tape and medics ran by.

The two women shook their heads.

"We will survive," Rina said. "We will survive."

Martin Fletcher is the author of "The List", "Breaking News" and "Walking Israel".


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Surviving Sandy in Staten Island
Sheila and Dominic Traina pose for a photograph on Nov. 15 amid the remains of the house they had lived in for 43 years which was demolished by Hurricane Sandy in New Dorp Beach, Staten Island. The Trainas now face leaving the neighborhood that Sheila Traina said a friend had called
Mike Segar / Reuters
Linda Restaino poses for a photograph in front of a message written by her son on the boarded up back wall of her property which was flooded during Hurricane Sandy in New Dorp Beach, Staten Island. Restaino, who has lived at the property for 35 years, is now hoping to leave Staten Island.
Mike Segar / Reuters
Paul Hernandez poses for a photograph in his front yard as a worker removes the collapsed remains of a portion of his home destroyed when Hurricane Sandy struck in New Dorp Beach, Staten Island. Hernandez said he and other residents were angry at New York city officials for not doing more to protect their neighborhood from the ocean and the prospect of flooding.
Mike Segar / Reuters
Reverend Alex K Joy, pastor and president of the St. George Malankara Orthodox Church in New Dorp Beach, Staten Island, poses for a photograph in the basement of his church which was flooded by Hurricane Sandy. Reverend Joy, who has served as a pastor for 37 years, has been struggling to raise the $150,000 plus needed to repair the storm damage and reopen the church.
Mike Segar / Reuters
Jaswinder Kaur poses for a photograph with her two children Taranjot, 9, and Harshjot, 5, as they stand in the remains of their convenience and deli store which was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in New Dorp Beach, Staten Island. Jaswinder, a single mother, faces an uncertain furture as the building that she rented may need to be torn down. At least 23 New Yorkers were killed in this low lying area of the south shore of Staten Island where mostly one-story former beach bungalows were inundated by flooding.
Mike Segar / Reuters
Susan Aman poses for a photograph as she searches through debris for personal belongings from her father's home in Oakwood Beach, Staten Island November 14, 2012. At least 23 people died on Staten Island due to Hurricane Sandy most from drowning in storm surge flooding.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012


US seeks 'durable outcome' in Gaza truce talks, Clinton says in Israel


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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has undertaken the difficult task of helping to shepherd a possible ceasefire. Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, meanwhile, is playing a key role as an intermediary with Hamas, a group labeled by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.


 By NBC News staff and wire reports
19
hours
ago
Updated at 4:50 p.m. ET: Following her arrival in Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated at a press conference Tuesday that America's commitment to Israel's security is "rock solid," adding that "the goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians alike."

"The rocket attacks from terrorist organizations inside Gaza on Israeli cities and towns must end, and a broader calm restored," Clinton said, adding that there are no substitutes for security and a just and lasting peace.

Speaking in Jerusalem, Clinton also offered her condolences for those lost in the violence."Our hearts break for the loss of every civilian, Israeli and Palestinian, and for all those who have been wounded and are living in fear and danger," she said, adding that she would work with Israel and Egypt on brokering a truce in Gaza "in the days ahead."

Israel is prepared to escalate its offensive but would prefer a long-term diplomatic solution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

"If there is a possibility of achieving a long-term solution to this problem with diplomatic means, we prefer that," he said in a public statement alongside Clinton.

"But if not, I'm sure you understand that Israel will have to take whatever action is necessary to defend its people."

Earlier, a Hamas official said a truce with Israel would not be reached Tuesday because the Israeli government had yet to respond to proposals.

"The Israeli side has not responded yet, so we will not hold a (news) conference this evening and must wait until tomorrow," Ezzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas leader, told Reuters. "The truce is now held up because we are waiting for the Israeli side to respond," he added in a short telephone interview.


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A flurry of violence hit Gaza Tuesday as Israel bombed a Gaza bank and targeted the homes of militants. Hamas responded with more than 100 rockets. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

Clinton landed at 9:51 p.m. local time in Tel Aviv, where she met with Netanyahu. Later, Clinton will meet with the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah before heading to Cairo.

A U.S. official stressed to NBC News that Clinton would not meet with representatives of Hamas, the Islamist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, largely because of its failure to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist.

Egyptian officials said talks are ongoing to reach a truce in Gaza, although any agreement appears unlikely to address the long-term areas of disagreement between Israel and the Hamas leaders of the Gaza Strip, NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported Tuesday.

The expected "cessation of hostilities" will call on all parties to use maximum restraint, according to one former intelligence official familiar with the talks.

Earlier Tuesday, President Barack Obama spoke to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who is seeking to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

According to White House officials, Obama spoke to Morsi for the third time in 24 hours. Deputy National Security adviser Ben Rhodes said Obama wanted to talk to Morsi before Clinton's arrival in Israel.

Rhodes said Obama underscored the importance of Morsi working toward a de-escalation to the conflict in Gaza. He also commended Morsi's efforts to pursue a de-escalation and acknowledged Egypt's important role in the region's security.


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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attempting to bring about a ceasefire, or to prevent Israel from invading Gaza while convincing Egypt's president to pressure Hamas to stop firing rockets. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

Rhodes said Obama emphasized the importance of a diplomatic solution, but said that rocket fire from Gaza into Israel must stop.

Israel Defense Forces continued airstrikes overnight, and also said 39 rockets fired from Gaza hit Israel Tuesday in a message on its Twitter account.

Since Israel launched its military campaign seven days ago in response to rocket fire, more than 100 people in Gaza and three people in Israel have been killed.

Internationally, the main focus was on stopping the violence, and Morsi hinted at a possible breakthrough Tuesday.

Speaking at his sister's funeral in Egypt, Morsi said the "aggression on Gaza" would end Tuesday. He made the apparently off-the-cuff comments in front of mourners who had come to pay their respects, but did not elaborate. Several journalists traveling with Morsi confirmed he made the remark.
In Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel would be a “willing partner” in a cease-fire, but also issued a warning.

He said if further military action proved necessary “to stop the constant barrage of rockets, Israel will not hesitate to do what is necessary to defend our people.”

And Mohammed Deif, the new leader of Hamas' military wing, sounded a defiant note, saying that the movement was ready to fight and would not back down from its efforts to liberate Palestine.

He was speaking in his first audio recording since the group’s previous top military commander, Ahmed Jabari, was killed in an Israeli airstrike Wednesday. Deif, who has survived several assassination attempts in the past, called for Hamas’ supporters to remain steadfast.

We are very scared': Egyptians fear being mired in Gaza-Israel crisis'Difficult' situation

It is unclear how much influence Clinton can have on the situation.

“She is going to go out there to be in the region to have direct, face-to-face discussions with those leaders,” Rhodes said. “I don’t want to predict exactly what the outcome of those discussions will be. We all know how difficult this situation is.”

The White House thinks the leaders who are heavily involved in the region “understand what the best outcome is,” Rhodes added, but that a peaceful goal is only achievable “if Hamas takes action to stop what they’ve been doing.”

An Israeli soldier and a civilian died when rockets exploded near the Gaza frontier, police and the army said.

An Israeli air strike on two cars in the Gaza Strip killed six Palestinians Tuesday, while two children died in an attack in the north of the territory, local residents and medics told Reuters.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Tuesday for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and said a threatened Israeli ground operation in the Palestinian enclave would be a “dangerous escalation” that must be avoided.

Later, standing alongside Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Ban urged Israel to show "maximum restraint" and condemned rocket attacks on Israel.

Also Tuesday, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia and Sudan traveled from Egypt to Gaza in an unprecedented move designed to show solidarity with the Palestinians, NBC News reported.

US Embassy guard wounded

Meanwhile, a man was arrested after he stabbed a security guard Tuesday at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, a police spokesman told Reuters.

The spokesman said the guard opened fire during the attack.

Israel Radio said the attacker, who police said was armed with a knife and an ax, was wounded. 
Oded Balilty / AP
Israeli police officers detain a man who attacked a security guard at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday.

NBC's Shawna Thomas, Ayman Mohyeldin and Ian Johnston, and Reuters contributed to this report.


Rebel army seizes control of Congo city as UN peacekeepers do nothing

Analysis: Why Hezbollah is sitting out Gaza conflict
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ProPublica: Don’t Hold Your Breath for Real Financial ReformMonday, 19 Nov 2012 07:54 AM
By John Morgan

If you think President Barack Obama is going to crack down on Wall Street in his second term, you would probably be wrong, according to an analysis by ProPublica.

The non-profit investigative journalism project noted the Obama administration has installed tougher financial regulators, and with activists such as newly minted Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., now in place, the pace of new bureaucratic rules should speed up now with the election over.

But there is apparently an array of institutional obstacles in the way of real reform. “While the rule making will speed up, the core problems with the financial system and its regulators are deeper than personnel and sadly impervious to which party occupies the White House,” ProPublica asserted. “They are bipartisan and structural.”

As an example of “bipartisan cowardice and ineptitude,” ProPublica cited the failure of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), even under Obama-appointed Chairwoman Mary Schapiro, to find a way to prevent money market funds from being able to hide their risks. In that instance, a Democratic commissioner joined Republicans in proposing more study of the topic, resulting in a report that called for yet more study.

The structural issues are also profound, ProPublica said. It noted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the SEC still exist as two separate agencies, despite the intent of Dodd-Frank legislation. The CFTC is overseen by the Senate Agriculture Committee, while the SEC falls under the Senate Banking Committee, so merging the two agencies would mean loss of power by one of the Senate committees.

“One of the biggest weaknesses of Dodd-Frank is that we failed to look long and hard at true independence of regulators,” said one frustrated Senate staffer who worked on the legislation.

As a result, ProPublica said oversight of credit default swaps is split by the CFTC and the SEC, meaning half of a swap trade can be regulated by one agency, and the other half by the second agency. And it noted the Volcker Rule, a key Dodd-Frank component to prevent banks from making risky proprietary trades, is still not finalized after two and a half years of multiple-agency negotiations.

ProPublica concluded: “Dodd-Frank is so sweeping in its scope yet so picayune in its application that it will be close to impossible for the public to tell whether it’s making a difference.”

However, Forbes reported that Dodd-Frank is more popular that Obamacare, according to a Gallup poll, which could make it more difficult for lobbyists to seriously dilute its provisions.

Similarly, a post-election Reuters analysis concluded that Wall Street firms, having gambled and lost on Mitt Romney, might be well-advised to build better ties to Obama and his coterie of financial regulators.
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Soros Buys Gold as Record Prices Seen on Stimulus

Soros Fund Management Chairman George Soros (Thomas Peter/AFP/Getty Images)


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Important: Can you afford to Retire? 

Monday, 19 Nov 2012 07:33 PM

Gold’s 12-year rally, the longest in at least nine decades, is poised to continue in 2013 as central bank stimulus spurs investors from John Paulson to George Soros to accumulate the highest combined bullion holdings ever.

The metal will rise every quarter next year and average $1,925 an ounce in the final three months, or 12 percent more than now, according to the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Paulson & Co. has a $3.62 billion bet through the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold-backed exchange-traded product, and Soros Fund Management LLC increased its holdings by 49 percent in the third quarter, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show.

Central banks from Europe to China are pledging more steps to boost growth, raising concern about inflation and currency devaluation. Investors bought 247 metric tons through ETPs this year, exceeding annual U.S. mine output. While both sides said talks last Friday between President Barack Obama and Congress over the so-called fiscal cliff were “constructive,” the Congressional Budget Office has warned the U.S. risks a recession if spending cuts and tax rises aren’t resolved.“We see gold as a hedge against the follies of politicians,” said Michael Mullaney, who helps manage $9.5 billion of assets as chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust in Boston. “It’s a good time to garner some protection in portfolios by having some real asset like gold.”

Longest Streak

Gold advanced 10 percent to $1,723.79 in London this year, headed for a 12th consecutive annual gain, the longest streak in data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 1920. Prices reached a record $1,921.15 in September 2011. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 commodities gained 1 percent and the MSCI All-Country World Index of equities climbed 7.9 percent. Treasuries returned 2.8 percent, a Bank of America Corp. index shows.

Bullion held through ETPs, the first of which listed in 2003, reached a record 2,603.7 tons on Nov. 16, valued at $144.3 billion. That exceeds the official reserves of every nation except the U.S. and Germany, World Gold Council data show. The SPDR Gold Trust alone holds 1,342.6 tons.

Soros increased his investment in the trust to 1.32 million shares in the third quarter, the most since 2010, a Nov. 14 SEC filing showed. The stake, with each share representing about a 10th of an ounce, is valued at $219 million. Prices advanced 59 percent since January 2010, when Soros called gold the “ultimate asset bubble.” Michael Vachon, a spokesman for the 82-year-old who made $1 billion breaking the Bank of England’s defense of the pound in 1992, declined to comment.

Official Reserves

Paulson, who became a billionaire in 2007 by wagering against the subprime mortgage market, owns 21.8 million shares in the SPDR Gold Trust, making him the biggest shareholder, a Nov. 15 SEC filing showed. The 56-year-old raised his stake by 26 percent in the second quarter and his holding of about 66 tons exceeds the official reserves of nations from Brazil to Bulgaria to Bolivia.

The New York-based hedge fund company reduced its investments in Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. and Gold Fields Ltd., the third- and fourth-biggest producers. Armel Leslie of Walek & Associates, a spokesman for Paulson’s fund, declined to comment.

Paul Touradji’s Touradji Capital Management LP sold all of its 82,000 shares in the SPDR Gold Trust in the third quarter, according to an SEC filing. Lone Pine Capital LLC, the hedge fund run by Stephen Mandel Jr., cut its stake by 31 percent to 2.6 million shares, and Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC lowered its bet by 10 percent to 130,000 shares, filings showed last week. Officials from all three companies declined to comment.

Eight Strategists

While some investors expect stimulus to devalue currencies, the median of eight strategist estimates compiled by Bloomberg show the U.S. Dollar Index, a measure against six major trading partners, will average 82.6 next year, from 81 now. Steven Englander, Citigroup Inc.’s head of G-10 strategy, said in an interview this month that the currency market is signaling it isn’t yet convinced the Federal Reserve will fulfill its pledge to pump record amounts of cash into the economy through 2015.

Third-quarter demand for gold fell 11 percent, the most since 2009, as China’s slowing growth curbed purchases, the London-based World Gold Council said Nov. 15. India, the biggest buyer in the quarter, consumed 24 percent less in the year’s first nine months as bullion priced in rupees reached a record in September. The Washington-based International Monetary Fund cut its 2013 forecast for world growth twice since July, to 3.6 percent.

Inflation Adjusted

While prices rose 24 percent since November 2010, the size of the futures market, based on contracts outstanding, fell 29 percent, bourse data show. The metal, down 4 percent from this year’s high, has yet to exceed previous records when adjusted for inflation, with its 1980 record of $850 equal to $2,398 today, data compiled by the Fed Bank of Minneapolis show.

Hedge funds and other large speculators pared bets on a rally in futures traded on the Comex bourse in New York by 29 percent since Oct. 9, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. They’re still holding a net-long position of 140,162 futures and options, about 10 percent more than this year’s average, and increased wagers by 7.7 percent last week.

The Fed said Oct. 24 it will maintain $40 billion in monthly purchases of mortgage debt and probably hold interest rates near zero until mid-2015. The European Central Bank said it’s ready to buy bonds of indebted nations and the Bank of Japan raised its asset-purchase program for the second time in two months on Oct. 30.

Quantitative Easing

Gold rallied 70 percent as the Fed bought $2.3 trillion of debt in two rounds of quantitative easing from December 2008 through June 2011.

Investors buying bullion as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar generally earn returns only through price gains, increasing its allure as interest rates decline. It rose sixfold since the end of 2000, beating the 34 percent advance in the S&P 500, with dividends reinvested, and the 91 percent return on Treasuries. The Dollar Index fell 26 percent.

The first face-to-face meeting between Obama and leaders from Congress on the fiscal cliff yielded optimism and few details about how it would be resolved. The $607 billion of automatic spending cuts and tax increases is scheduled to take effect in January. U.S. equities and Treasuries rose Nov. 16 and gold futures were little changed.

Options Trading

Credit Suisse Group AG’s Tom Kendall, the most accurate gold forecaster tracked by Bloomberg over the past two years, sees prices averaging $1,880 in the fourth quarter next year and UniCredit SpA’s Jochen Hitzfeld, ranked second, expects $1,950. Deutsche Bank AG’s Daniel Brebner, the next most accurate, predicts $2,300 in the third quarter.

Options traders are also bullish, with the eight most widely held contracts conferring the right to buy at prices from $1,800 to $2,200 between November and March, Comex data show.

Central banks added to reserves for 19 consecutive months through August, the longest streak since 1964, IMF data show. Nations from Russia to South Korea to Mexico bought more to bring combined holdings to 31,461 tons, equal to about 18 percent of all the metal ever mined.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer, will report a 41 percent gain in profit to a record $5.04 billion next year, the mean of 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg shows. The Toronto-based company’s shares fell 27 percent this year and will gain 45 percent in the next 12 months, according to the average of 23 forecasts.

Monetary Stimulus

Analysts predict Newmont Mining Corp. and AngloGold Ashanti, the next-biggest, will also report the most profit ever next year.

“It looks as though global monetary stimulus is likely to continue, particularly in the wake of growing fiscal austerity,” said Alan Gayle, a senior strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, which oversees about $47 billion of assets. “That puts pressure on the monetary authorities to stimulate the economy and that will debase the currencies and put a bid under gold.”
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Bowles: Fiscal Cliff Inaction Could Lead to Ratings DowngradeMonday, 19 Nov 2012 08:02 AM
By Forrest Jones

Failure on the part of the government to steer the country away from the fast-approaching fiscal cliff could prompt ratings agencies to strip the United States of its triple-A rating, said Erskine Bowles, co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States in 2011 when lawmakers waited until the last second to raise the country’s debt limit in a deal that did little to address longer-term debts and deficits.

Should lawmakers fail to steer the country away from the fiscal cliff — a combination of tax hikes and government spending cuts set to take effect in early January — other ratings agencies could follow suit.

“What’s worrisome is if we get over the cliff, we don’t have a deal — and the market doesn’t anticipate that we’re actually going to be so stupid as to go over the cliff — then I think you’ll see the market really crash,” Bowles, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, told CNBC.

“I think you’ll see the rating agencies downgrade our credit again. You’ll see Fitch and Moody’s join S&P.”

At the end of this year, the Bush-era tax cuts and other benefits are due to expire at the same time automatic cuts to government spending outlined during the 2011 debt ceiling deal are set to kick in.

The widely feared fiscal cliff could siphon over $600 billion out of the economy next year alone.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates failure on the part of Congress to steer the country away from the cliff could contract the economy by 0.5 percent next year.

Lawmakers are at odds over taxes, with Democrats arguing that tax cuts should expire for the wealthy to drum up revenue, while Republicans are pushing for closing loopholes and extending tax breaks for everyone.

Tax hikes on the wealthy, many have argued, would hit small business owners and hamper hiring, which the economy really needs.

Many businesses of all sizes have put off expanding and hiring this year over uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff, as they don’t know what they will be paying in taxes next year.

Failure to compromise could spell disaster.

“I think you’ll see corporations lose confidence as to what we’re going to do, where we’re going to go. I think you’ll see them slow down hiring and stop capital expenditures,” Bowles said.

“I think that if we do get our house in order, the future of America is really bright and we can compete with the best and brightest, wherever they are. If we don't, we're well on our way to becoming a second-rate power,” he added.

“[W]e could go bankrupt.”

Markets have remained edgy lately with investors avoiding stocks due to uncertainty surrounding the cliff.

However, given recent improvements seen in the underlying economy such as stronger housing data and gains in employment, successful navigation away from the cliff could spark a rally in the stock market next year, some experts say.

“Investors are tripping over themselves in an attempt to lighten their positions in stocks,” Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist for S&P Capital IQ, wrote to clients recently, according to U.S. News & World Report.

“This swift exodus [from stocks] may soon be followed by a V-shaped recovery should a resolution be forthcoming.”

Read more: Bowles: Fiscal Cliff Inaction Could Lead to Ratings Downgrade
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Greenspan: Repeal the Debt CeilingTuesday, 20 Nov 2012 08:38 AM
By Dan Weil
The government debt is quickly approaching its $16.394 trillion limit, signaling another bruising battle between the White House and congressional Republicans to get it raised. 

The best solution: “Repeal it [the debt ceiling],” former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan tells CNNMoney.

As of last week, government debt was only $154 billion away from the limit. The Treasury expects the ceiling to be reached by year-end, though it says it can avoid default until early 2013.

Editor's Note: You Deserve to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans

The debt ceiling is an archaic concept established in 1917 because prior to that every individual debt issuance by the federal government required some form of congressional approval, Greenspan says.

“That’s the same debt ceiling we’ve had ever since.”

There’s no need for it, given that government appropriations legislation already is passed by Congress and signed by the president. “That tells us the difference between receipts and expenditures, or what the change in debt will be,” Greenspan notes.

The debt ceiling creates a separate process to validate spending that already has been approved. We should just use “the normal means of determining what debt will be through appropriations and tax policy,” he says.

As for the here and now, many experts don’t expect quick agreement on a debt-ceiling increase.

“It would be nice not to go down to the drop-dead date, but with the way the process has evolved over the last 20 years, operating on auxiliary engines is standard practice now," Lou Crandall of Wrightson ICAP tells Reuters
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Roubini: Worst to Come for Economy, Markets in 2013Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012 10:26 AM
By Forrest Jones

The worst is yet to come for markets and the global economy in 2013, according to New York University economist Nouriel Roubini.

Major economies are either in a recession or experiencing slow growth rates, while in the United States, uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff — a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts due to strike next year — will roil markets as well.

Big emerging markets like China are cooling their growth rates, while in a slew of countries, national and regional elections are set to take place in the near future, including in China, Korea, Japan, Israel, Germany, Italy and Catalonia, the latter being a pivotal Spanish province whose financing needs affects Spain and the broader eurozone.U.S. stock prices, however, are high thanks to recent rallies stemming from Federal Reserve stimulus measures such as rate cuts or asset purchases, but with fundamentals eroding, stocks could plummet next year.

“[V]aluations in stock markets are stretched: price-earnings ratios are now high, while growth in earnings per share is slackening, and will be subject to further negative surprises as growth and inflation remain low. With uncertainty, volatility and tail risks on the rise again, the correction could accelerate quickly,” Roubini wrote in a Project Syndicate column.

Meanwhile, war could erupt in the Middle East amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran, which could further disrupt economic recovery and global financial markets next year.

In short, 2013 is shaping up to be a very volatile year.

”As consumers, firms and investors become more cautious and risk-averse, the equity-market rally of the second half of 2012 has crested,” Roubini wrote in the column.

“And, given the seriousness of the downside risks to growth in advanced and emerging economies alike, the correction could be a bellwether of worse to come for the global economy and financial markets in 2013.”

Moody’s, meanwhile, stripped France of its triple-A credit rating, downgrading the country a notch to Aa1 from Aaa and left a negative outlook, meaning more downgrades are possible.

“France’s long-term economic growth outlook is negatively affected by multiple structural challenges, including its gradual, sustained loss of competitiveness and the long-standing rigidities of its labor, goods and service markets,” the ratings agency said in a release.

“France’s fiscal outlook is uncertain as a result of its deteriorating economic prospects, both in the short term due to subdued domestic and external demand, and in the longer term due to the structural rigidities noted above.”

The country is also less cushioned from external shocks than in the past, Moody’s added.

Morgan Stanley economists, meanwhile, have said the global economy faces a “full-blown recession next year,” with global gross domestic product due to contract 2 percent next year under a worst-case scenario if U.S. policymakers fail to prevent the economy from going over the fiscal cliff and if their European counterparts fail to fight the debt crisis across the Atlantic.

“More than ever, the economic outlook hinges upon the actions taken or not taken by governments and central banks,” Morgan Stanley said in a report, according to CNBC.

Investors, meanwhile, need to stay on their toes.

“Importantly, investors should keep an open mind and be prepared to switch between the scenarios as policy developments unfold,” Morgan Stanley economists concluded.
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Monday, November 19, 2012

N.J. woman swam from home to get to ER job after Sandy

After swimming to a main road, the emergency room technician hitched a ride to the hospital.


"Sandy Hero"


(Photo: Dustin Racioppi, Asbury Park Press)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Her Toms River neighborhood was flooded in hurricane's aftermath and she lost power
She thought she was needed and couldn't call to hospital to ask
The surfer swam through water clogged with debris, sludge and was picked up by a utility truck

10:48AM EST November 19. 2012 - TOMS RIVER, N.J. — The first thing Marsha Hedgepeth did when she moved into her home three years ago was count the steps from the front door to her second-floor apartment, a preparatory measure for future grocery-lugging.

Fifteen.

Then Sandy hit, and the superstorm provided her with another reference guide.

She now knows that it takes about a half hour to swim from her doorstep, in the riverside neighborhood of Gilford Park, to about two blocks from the eastbound side of Route 37, roughly the length of two football fields. She also knows that it's a 5-minute drive from the highway to the hospital where she works, if taken by utility truck.

"You know you just have to be there," said Hedgepeth, 43. "You're never going to have enough staff in a state of emergency."

Hedgepeth's bosses at Community Medical Center said they would have understood had she not shown up for her 3 p.m. shift as an emergency room technician Oct. 30, the day after Sandy struck, given the circumstances.

A tributary of the town's namesake river flows alongside her neighborhood, rising during the storm and flooded the area. Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said the waterline reached more than 4 feet in some areas of town, including Gilford Park.

Having lost power to her home, Hedgepeth saw no reason to sit in the dark and the cold while several miles west her colleagues in the emergency department were hooking up patients to oxygen tanks and suturing lacerations, "lots of lacerations," caused by Sandy's punch.

"We are the first responders. The tougher the circumstances is when you do come to work," she said.

Also, her cell phone wasn't getting any reception.

"How could I have called out when I didn't have a phone?"

Swim, then hitch

So Hedgepeth threw her phone and blue work scrubs into a plastic A&P grocery bag, then outfitted herself for what she expected would be a cold, dirty swim in the water waiting outside: jeans, old sneakers, a scarf, a hat and gloves, she said.

In the precious calm after the storm, she freestyle-stroked her way past the flotsam of Sandy's rage: decks, a lifeguard box used for ropes, a bench with the Stewart's Root Beer logo.

"I don't know if it's from Seaside or Fischer Boulevard," she said.

A regular surfer, Hedgepeth cut her way inland through the sludgy water for what she calculated was just less than a half hour, until the water level was low enough for her to bring her 5-foot-4 frame upright, she said.

Plastic bag in hand, she walked about two blocks to the highway and crossed over to the westbound side, she said.

"I'm soaking wet, I'm in denim, and all of a sudden I stick out my thumb," Hedgepeth said.

Not many cars were on the road, she said, but it didn't take long for her unlikely chariot to arrive. Rumbling up slowly, a power company truck with Michigan plates pulled over.

"They asked me where I was going, and I said, 'the emergency room,' " Hedegpath said.

For care? the workers asked. No, she said. For work.

A warm (and dry) welcome

When she walked through the emergency room door, still sopping, she was greeted by a co-worker who wrapped her arms around her and asked if she was OK. She was. Her supervisors spoke with her to ensure she was fit for work and cleared her for her shift, which would run over by four hours.

"I knew once I was there I could clean up and get to work. If my area was that bad, I knew over the bridge" — in Seaside Heights, N.J. — "it was 10 times worse. I knew they'd be coming there to the hospital."

They did. Community Medical Center has the busiest emergency room in the state and sees, on average, 260 patients a day, said Teri Kubiel, administrative director of patient care services. That average spiked to 300 in the days after Sandy.

Toms River, N.J.
Hedgepeth, now staying with a co-worker, was not the only employee aware that that would be the case.

Jean Flaherty, director of marketing, said 122 hospital employees' homes were either destroyed or uninhabitable, and 75 lost their vehicles, "yet they continued to work."

On the night of the storm, about 700 employees and patients stayed in the hospital; more than 250 were employees who caught rest on a cot or an unused gurney, Flaherty said.

With lives freshly torn by Sandy, Kubiel said the employees displayed "profound resilience."

Hedgepeth, who left the bar business several years ago to pursue a career with more stability and is enrolled in New York University's nursing program, said she had no other option.

"I like caring for others," she said. "Even in bartending, you're caring for others."

She grabbed a cup of coffee to warm up, "sat down for a second," she said, and went to work.
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Allen West Opponent Murphy Gains 242 Votes in Recount
NOVEMBER 18, 2012 7:13 PM
LAUREN VICTORIA BURKE


Whoops: Election officials in Florida recounted 37,000 early voting ballots in St. Lucie County this weekend. The results showed the Allen West’s opponent Patrick Murphy GAINED votes on West by 242.

“This election is over,” Murphy advisor Eric Johnson told reporters. The local canvassing board decided to burn everyone’s time with a recount after a Florida judge declined to order one on Friday.

As of today the total now stands at:
Murphy : 65,841
West : 52,704

No, don’t hold your breath waiting for West to concede. Not completely sure why that matters anyway.

Deadline Passed. Murphy Up by 1,900. West Statement.
NOVEMBER 19, 2012 7:03 AM
LAUREN VICTORIA BURKE

Count done. Deadline passed. West down by 1,900. Allen West releases a statement.

Stuart, FL – Congressman Allen West released the following statement regarding the election results certified today by the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections:

“Since Election Day we have been working for a fair and accurate accounting of the election outcome in which voters can put their full trust. We will review the results of today’s recount and the other available data to determine how to proceed. I have been humbled by the support we have received and the hard work of so many to ensure the integrity of this process.

We look forward to the report which will be issued by the Secretary of State’s auditors this coming week which we hope will shed light on some of the outstanding issues.”

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Sunday, November 18, 2012






Boys Return War Medals to Medal of Honor Winner's Family
By ADRIANA PRATT 
Nov. 13, 2012

When his sons do well in school, Michael Mazzariello of Wallkill, N.Y., takes them to Newburgh's Antique & Collectible Shop for a special treat – G.I. Joes. A trip in late April brought an even greater reward when a bin of soldiers' medals caught the boys' eyes. Rifling through them, Michael, 11, and Mauro, 8, came across three honors bearing the same soldier's name: Charles George. 

To Find Out More About How You Can "Stand Up for Heroes" Please Visit Our Special Section

The purple heart, bronze star and good conduct awards they found in the tiny New York shop belonged to the namesake of Asheville, N.C.'s Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a recipient of the United States' highest military honor, the medal of honor.

"We went in looking for a G.I. Joe Real American Hero and came out with a real American hero," the 6th grader Michael said.

The Mazzariello boys got to see the awards united with George's family at a Veteran's Day ceremony in North Carolina on Monday.

"It was the most satisfying moment of my life, to finally give the medals back to them," Michael said.



Michael and Mario Mazzariello, 8 and 11, tracked down the owner of medals found in an antique store. (Courtesy Mazzariello family). 
Terrance Berean, one of the store's owners, estimated the medals' worth at $800 because of their good condition and their unique circumstances of their origin. 

"They were from a Cherokee Indian who died supposedly from a grenade, so that escalates [their value] way up," Berean said.

However, Berean's son agreed to give the Mazzariellos the medals for free on one condition -- that they find their rightful owner.

Using a combination of state senators, veterans and YouTube, the boys were able to determine that these were the medals of an American hero.

On Nov. 30, 1952, George, whose Cherokee name "Tsali" means self-sacrifice, threw himself on a grenade that killed him, but saved those fighting in his company during the Korean War. His legacy was honored not only by his local Eastern Band Cherokee community, but also by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs website. Eisenhower invited George's parents to Washington D.C. to receive the honors on their son's behalf and though they held tight to the Medal of Honor, their son's other awards somehow got lost. 

Sixty years after George died serving the United States, the medals honoring his service were finally reunited with his family. Michael and Mauro spoke to a crowd gathered to honor veterans, bringing both tears and smiles to attendees' faces.

"There were standing ovations, crying, crazy emotional. And it was wonderful for us to meet Charles George's family – nieces, nephews, crazy," the Mazzariellos' father Michael said.

After this journey, young Michael has decided he too wants to serve his country.

"I want to be a doctor for the military so I can help fix them," he said.
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Republicans skip Benghazi hearing; complain about lack of information on Benghazi
Posted By Josh Rogin Thursday, November 15, 2012 - 10:37 AM

This week, a number of Republican senators have strongly criticized the administration for failing to properly explain the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. Some of those senators failed to show up for a briefing on the attack Wednesday.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been the leading congressional critic of the administration's handling of the Benghazi attack and what he sees as the administration's lack of candor with Congress on the matter. On Wednesday, he pledged to block the potential nomination of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton due to Rice's statements on the attack. That drew a sharp rebuke from President Barack Obama at Wednesday's press conference.

But although McCain had time to speak on the Senate floor and on television about the lack of information provided to Congress about the attack, he didn't attend the classified briefing for senators Wednesday given to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, of which he is a member.

Committee ranking Republican Susan Collins (R-ME) called out McCain for skipping the briefing and said his call for a special committee to investigate the Benghazi attack was not necessary because the Homeland Security committee could handle it.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), "who was there at briefing, and Senator McCain, who was not, are members of our committee, and I know they would play very important roles," Collins told Politico.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), another Homeland Security committee member who was on television complaining about the lack of Benghazi information, also did not show up for the Wednesday hearing. Paul did a CNN interview from the Capitol building Wednesday in which said he had questions about the anti-Islam video, the lack of Marines in Libya, and diplomatic security. At one point he says, "I don't know enough of the details."

The closed and classified briefing included representatives from the State Department, the Defense Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the FBI, an administration official said. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a classified hearing on Benghazi on Tuesday and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will hold one Thursday, but McCain and Paul are not members of either of those committees.

"If you want answers, a good first step is to show up and ask a question," an administration official told The Cable. "That's what a senator does."

UPDATE: According to his spokesman Brian Rogers, "Senator McCain was absent from the hearing due to a scheduling error."

UPDATE #2: Paul spokeswoman Moira Bagley tells The Cable: "Sen. Paul didn't need to attend yet another Administration press conference disguised as a classified briefing to know there should have been Marines defending our personnel in Libya, to hear the Administration make the same excuses in private they will make in public. Sen. Paul is focused on demanding answers, demanding those who made these fatal mistake be fired, and fixing the mess this Administration has made. All of that needs to be done in public, for Americans to see and hear."
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