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NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES ROCKET

NORTH KOREA FIRES ROCKET

PASSED OVER THE JAPAN…

BOOSTER MECHANISM FALLS INTO SEA OF JAPAN…

Filed under: Politics, World, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FINANCIAL TIMES CHIEF DECLARES ‘NEW WORLD ORDER’ AS POWER SHIFTS TO CHINA AT G20 MEETING

DURING TONIGHT’S LIVE BROADCAST OF CNBC WORLD’S ‘SQUAWK BOX EUROPE,’ FINANCIAL TIMES EDITOR LIONEL BARBER DECLARED THAT WE ARE NOW LIVING IN A ‘NEW WORLD ORDER’ WHERE THE ‘GROUP OF 20’ (G20) COUNTRIES WILL BE MAINLY FOCUSED ON WHAT CHINA WILL DO, INSTEAD OF THE UNITED STATES, IN SOLVING THIS FINANCIAL CRISIS. HE OFFERED THE IDEA THAT THE G20 OUGHT TO BE REFERRED TO AS THE G2 WITH THE U.S. AND CHINA BEING THE TWO HEGEMONIC POWERS…

FT Editor Lionel Barber interviews China’s Premier Hu Jintao

TEN-THOUSANDS PROTEST IN START OF ‘SUMMER OF RAGE…”

OBAMA MEETS BROWN FOR TALKS (VIDEO)…

OBAMA PREACHES GLOBAL ‘UNITY’ IN INTERVIEW WITH FT…

Filed under: Economics, Politics, World, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS THROWN OUT OF IOWA PUBLIC HEARING (Audio)

“This is the most atrocious thing I’ve seen in the history of the 15 years I’ve been a lobbyist. Pat Murphy has acted like a jack-booted Nazi,” said Ed Failor Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief, a conservative taxpayers’ rights group from Muscatine with 50,000 members…

AUDIO…

Filed under: Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REPORT: BONUSES TO CONGRESSIONAL AIDES JUMPED 17% IN 2008

PAPER: While Congress has been flaying companies for giving out bonuses while on the government dole, lawmakers have a longstanding tradition of rewarding their own employees with extra cash — also courtesy of taxpayers.

Capitol Hill bonuses in 2008 were among the highest in years, according to LegiStorm, an organization that tracks payroll data. The average House aide earned 17% more in the fourth quarter of the year, when the bonuses were paid, than in previous quarters, according to the data. That was the highest jump in the eight years LegiStorm has compiled payroll information…

Filed under: Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Obama’s Health Secretary Pays $7,040 in Back Taxes After 3 Years

WIRE: Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius has corrected three years worth of tax returns after finding “unintentional errors.”

Sebelius alerted senators to the changes in a letter dated Tuesday that was obtained by The Associated Press. She says the changes involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home and business expenses….

Cites “unintentional errors…”

Filed under: Obama, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chris Matthews Says Palin Was McCain’s ‘Mail-Order Bride’

Filed under: Humor/Irony, Media, Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

BREAKING NEWS: HEDGE FUND MUST GIVE UP CONTROL OF CHRYSLER

HEDGE FUND DOWN

PAPER: Cerberus Capital Management will lose its equity stake in Chrysler LLC’s struggling automotive company as a condition of the Treasury Department’s bailout deal with the U.S. auto maker, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The New York private-equity firm purchased an 80% stake in Chrysler in 2007, promising to bolster the auto maker’s performance by operating as an independent company. The plan, however, collapsed due to an unprecedented slowdown in the U.S. auto industry and a lack of capital at the auto maker to weather the storm…

OBAMA: LET THEM GO BANKRUPT…

Filed under: Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

OBAMA: DETROIT NO LONGER ‘VIABLE’

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

WIRE: In surprising findings to be outlined at the White House on Monday, President Obama has concluded that neither GM nor Chrysler can survive as they now exist. But the White House is sparing them for a month or two, and is promising American consumers that the government will stand behind warranties if the automakers fail…

Tells GM CEO To Head Home…

Filed under: Obama, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

About Beck He’s Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful, and a Rising Star, NYT Says

PAPER: “You are not alone,” Glenn Beck likes to say. For the disaffected and aggrieved Americans of the Obama era, he could not have picked a better rallying cry…

Filed under: Media, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Obama in Monday’s FT Interview: World Needs to Promote ‘Unity’

PAPER: In comments that appear to diverge from recent remarks by Ms Merkel, who has all but ruled out more deficit spending in Germany, Mr Obama said: “With respect to the stimulus, there is going to be an accord that G20 countries will do what is necessary to promote trade and growth.”

He added: “The most important task for all of us is to deliver a strong message of unity in the face of crisis…”

Filed under: Media, Obama, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

19,000 Credit Card Details Accessible by GOOGLE

PAPER: The credit card details of up to 19,000 British shoppers were published on the internet – where they could be found using a simple search on Google. The list, obtained by the Mail, includes the names, home addresses and full card details of thousands of Visa, Mastercard and American Express customers…

Filed under: Crime, World, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

U.S. Admiral: North Korean Missile Could Reach Hawaii

WIRE: America’s top military officer said on Friday that a rocket North Korea plans to launch next month has a range that could possibly reach Hawaii. Asked if the North Korean rocket could reach the US states of Hawaii or Alaska, Admiral Mike Mullen told CNN: “In some cases, yes, they could probably get down to Hawaii…”


Filed under: Politics, World, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Financial Crisis ‘Caused by White People With Blue Eyes’

PAPER: In Brazil, Gordon Brown continued his pre-summit tour but there was embarrassment when his host, President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, said the financial crisis was caused by “white people with blue eyes”. He told a joint press conference with Mr Brown that he had never met a black banker…

Filed under: Politics, World, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Japan to Activate Missile Defense if North Korea Fires, Orders ‘Destruction Order’

Japan’s Self Defense Forces plan to deploy Aegis destroyers off Japan and move PAC-3 missile units now stationed in 6 locations to northern Japan, over which a missile would likely pass…

Filed under: Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

OBAMA TO SEND ANOTHER 4,200 TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN

4,200

POLITICO WIRE: ANOTHER 4,200 “TRAINERS” AND CIVILIANS TO BE SENT…

PAPER: The Obama administration will unveil a new Afghanistan strategy Friday that calls for devoting significant new resources to counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan and economic development in Pakistan, according to senior U.S. officials. The White House plan will mark an escalation of the war in Afghanistan, which is quickly displacing Iraq as the administration’s chief national-security focus…

FLASHBACK: Obama’s 17,000 Troop Surge for Afghanistan…

Filed under: Obama, World, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

People March for Cop-Killer Who Raped 12-Year-Old

PAPER: “OPD you can’t hide – we charge you with genocide,” chanted the demonstrators as they marched along MacArthur Boulevard, near the intersection with 74th Avenue where Mixon, 26, a fugitive parolee, gunned down two motorcycle officers who had pulled him over in a traffic stop. He killed two more officers who tried to capture him where he was hiding in his sister’s apartment nearby…

A ‘True Hero…’

Filed under: Crime, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Zealand Trade Balance Soars on 11.6% Decline in Imports

New Zealand’s trade balance in February improved substantially from that which was expected. The figure jumped to 489.0 million from an expected 75.0 million after imports fell 11.6%.

The alleviating news comes just a day after Bill English, the nation’s Minister of Finance, said that the current account gap is “uncomfortably large.”

Imports fell as the New Zealand Dollar continued to stifle the purchasing power that domestic residents had for goods produced abroad. The first two months of the year saw their currency depreciate 16.57% against its U.S. counterpart and 9.12% against a trade-weighted basket of currencies.

The amount of goods shipped to the country from Europe fell by a staggering 21.3% and 14% from Asia.

– LG

Filed under: Global Economics, World, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New York Times Cuts 100 Workers as Costs Rise, Washington Post to Follow

WIRE: Two of the most respected U.S. newspaper publishers, The Washington Post Co and The New York Times Co, are embarking on new cost cuts in the face of dramatic declines in advertising revenue.

The Times said it laid off 100 workers and is cutting non-union salaries. It is also asking unionized employees to accept similar concessions to avoid layoffs in the newsroom…

Lawmakers Push for Newspaper Bailout…

Filed under: Media, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Poll of Change: Obama’s Approval Slips Below 50%

POLL: Under our long-standing measure of job performance (excellent, good, fair, poor), Obama’s positive ratings have dipped just below 50%. Likely voters choosing excellent or good fell three points from another Zogby Interactive poll concluded on March 5, going from 52% to 49% excellent or good; while 11% said fair and 38% poor…

Filed under: Obama, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Economy Shrinks 6.3%, Worst Since 1982

WIRE: The U.S. economy shrank at a 6.3 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter, the worst performance since 1982, in what may be the depths of the recession.

The contraction in gross domestic product was larger than the previously estimated 6.2 percent drop, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. A report from the Labor Department showed the number of people collecting jobless benefit this month climbed to a record 5.56 million…

Filed under: Economics, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,