2013-06-08

Democracy in Action

"After a decade of breakneck economic growth, Indians are consuming fewer calories on average today than they were in the 1970s. Economic development scientists call it India’s calorie consumption puzzle, and it has been around for a while.
Even as incomes have increased over the past four decades, per capita caloric intake has been falling:"
India’s Calorie Consumption Puzzle

Food Stamp Needs in the United States:


 

2013-06-06


The Obama administration on Thursday defended its collection of the telephone records of millions of Americans...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/07/us-usa-wiretaps-verizon-idUSBRE95502920130607
 

2013-06-05

 

The former head of the IRS visited the White House more times than any Cabinet member, according to an analysis by The Daily Caller, raising questions about the nature of those visits -- particularly around the time the agency was targeting conservative groups.
The Caller analysis of White House visitor logs showed former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House at least 157 times under the Obama administration.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/30/former-irs-chief-shulman-reportedly-visited-white-house-at-least-157-times/

Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS official currently in charge of overseeing the agency’s implementation of Obamacare, has logged 165 recorded visits to the  White House 165 times since 2011, according to an analysis of White House visitor records compiled by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.
Ingram headed the IRS’ tax-exempt division in 2010 when the scandal-ridden agency began improperly targeting the tax-exempt nonprofit status of conservative groups.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/05/irs-official-sarah-hall-ingram-recorded-165-white-house-visits-never-overlapped-with-shulman/

According to the Wall Street Journal, two Cincinnati IRS employees have suggested to congressional investigators that the policy of targeting tea party groups seeking tax-exempt status was sparked at least in part from agency officials in Washington.
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One IRS worker, Elizabeth Hofacre, told the committee interviewers that Carter Hull, an IRS lawyer in Washington, “closely oversaw her work and suggested some of the questions asked applicants,” the Journal reported
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=ie7&q=WSJ%3A+Cincy+IRS+workers+say+targeting+was+sparked+by+requests+from+DC&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7LENN


 

2013-06-02

"The BIS said in its quarterly report that the markets are “under the spell of monetary easing”, convinced that central banks will keep the asset boom going despite signs of “broad deceleration” in the US economy and fatigue in China.

Jaime Caruana, the BIS’s managing director, said last month that the authorities should refrain from further stimulus to keep growth alive, warning that excessive liquidity is distorting the financial system without achieving much. “If a medicine does not work as expected, it’s not necessarily because the dosage was too low,” he said.
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Morgan Stanley said emerging markets face a “mini sudden-stop” as bond flows dry up. The retreat is driven by fears that the Fed will soon taper its bond purchases, draining dollar-based liquidity.

The BIS figures show that British banks are heavily exposed to the developing world, with $919bn of loans, more than the Americans ($794bn), French ($473bn) or Germans ($307bn).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10094747/BIS-records-startling-collapse-of-eurozone-interbank-loans.html




The former lead singer of indigenous band Yothu Yindi has died at his home in the Northern Territory. Mr Yunupingu* died at home in Yirrkala, Eastern Arnhem Land.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/yothu-yindi-singer-dies-after-disease-battle-20130603-2nkl8.html#ixzz2V7RkKwtN
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