Author: admin

Would You Like to Give Your Blood and Saliva to a Nameless Official for No Apparent Reason?

Would you like to anonymously tell this government official standing directly in front of you if you're currently breaking the law?The federal government is
spending $8 million on a study to determine the number of drunken
or drug-impaired drivers on the road. The way the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration decided to make this scientific
calculation is causing some concern: They’re apparently forcibly
pulling cars over en masse and asking them to “voluntarily” give
them some blood or saliva to test.

It happened in Fort Worth, Texas, recently, prompting at least
local one woman to ask, “WTF?” Courtesy of NBC’s Dallas-Fort Worth

affiliate:

“It just doesn’t seem right that you can be forced off the road
when you’re not doing anything wrong,” said Kim Cope, who said she
was on her lunch break when she was forced to pull over at the
roadblock on Beach Street in North Fort Worth.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is
spending $7.9 million on the survey over three years, said
participation was “100 percent voluntary” and anonymous.

But Cope said it didn’t feel voluntary to her — despite signs
saying it was.

“I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go
straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into a parking
spot,” she said.

Once parked, she couldn’t believe what she was asked next.

“They were asking for cheek swabs,” she said. “They would give
$10 for that. Also, if you let them take your blood, they would pay
you $50 for that.”

Government science at works, folks. Cope said she submitted to a
breath test because she “felt trapped.”

NBC turned to a local civil liberties attorney who looked at the
forms given to those who had been pulled over. It turned out the
claim that participation was voluntary was nonsense, even beyond
Cope and others being forced into the parking lot. The form stated
that drivers were tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before
the consent process has been completed.”

In addition, the NHTSA hired off-duty local police officers to
man the roadblock, so attempting to convince drivers that their
participation to test to see if they were currently breaking the
law was completely anonymous probably did not pan out well for
them. A column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
noted that a previous similar effort in 2007 had one out of six
drivers declining to participate. That seems like a high enough
refusal rate to throw any actual figures the agency comes up with
into question.

The NHTSA has done similar studies throughout the years since
the ‘70s. You can access their previous results
here and determine for yourself it this is anything more than
creepy government busywork. The tests show a pretty significant
decline in the number of folks testing positive for alcohol while
behind the wheel since they started these surveys, and hardly
anybody was showing high levels of alcohol in their system during
the daytime in 2007. Their own previous results makes the delaying
of people on their lunch breaks all the more annoying.

from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/20/would-you-like-to-give-your-blood-and-sa
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EUR Collapses As ECB ‘Strawmans’ Negative Rates (Again)

Given our earlier comment on the collapse of European earnings, it is perhaps unsurprisng that the CEB is throwing everything at the problem of a strong EUR:

  • *ECB SAID TO WEIGH MINUS 0.1% DEPOSIT RATE IF MORE EASING NEEDED

Of course, we await the official denial but suspect this is nothing more than attempt to gauge market response to the policy idea (just as Draghi did in May). For now, EURUSD has dumped to 1.3480, and US equities are soaring…

Reaction:

 

 

Deja Vu:

  • May 2, 2013: DRAGHI SAYS ECB HAS OPEN MIND ON NEGATIVE DEPOSIT RATE

And the rapid response when the reaction was seen last time:

European Central Bank Governing Council Member Ewald Nowotny told CNBC on Friday that the markets over-interpreted ECB President Mario Draghi's comments on negative deposit rates at Thursday's press conference. "Well I think the markets over-interpreted this point. Of course, there is always some kind of technical discussion about it but there is no specific plan in that direction," Nowotny said in Bratislava. "I personally think this is something where one really has to analyze very carefully the effects, side effects, psychological effects so this is not something that is of relevance in the immediate future."

 

But Nowotny said this was a "very sensitive issue" that would need "much more information, much more analysis than we have available at this moment." He warned it could in fact dry up the flow of credit. "This is one of the possible outcomes," he said.


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/bOn3xMGmnK0/story01.htm Tyler Durden

EUR Collapses As ECB 'Strawmans' Negative Rates (Again)

Given our earlier comment on the collapse of European earnings, it is perhaps unsurprisng that the CEB is throwing everything at the problem of a strong EUR:

  • *ECB SAID TO WEIGH MINUS 0.1% DEPOSIT RATE IF MORE EASING NEEDED

Of course, we await the official denial but suspect this is nothing more than attempt to gauge market response to the policy idea (just as Draghi did in May). For now, EURUSD has dumped to 1.3480, and US equities are soaring…

Reaction:

 

 

Deja Vu:

  • May 2, 2013: DRAGHI SAYS ECB HAS OPEN MIND ON NEGATIVE DEPOSIT RATE

And the rapid response when the reaction was seen last time:

European Central Bank Governing Council Member Ewald Nowotny told CNBC on Friday that the markets over-interpreted ECB President Mario Draghi's comments on negative deposit rates at Thursday's press conference. "Well I think the markets over-interpreted this point. Of course, there is always some kind of technical discussion about it but there is no specific plan in that direction," Nowotny said in Bratislava. "I personally think this is something where one really has to analyze very carefully the effects, side effects, psychological effects so this is not something that is of relevance in the immediate future."

 

But Nowotny said this was a "very sensitive issue" that would need "much more information, much more analysis than we have available at this moment." He warned it could in fact dry up the flow of credit. "This is one of the possible outcomes," he said.


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/bOn3xMGmnK0/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Home Sales Plunge At Fastest Rate In 16 Months

It seems, despite the Fed’s efforts to unscamble the treasury complex’s eggs, that the rate shock of a taper/no-taper decision has become sticky in the housing market. With the fast money exiting, existing home sales missed expectations for the 4th month in a row – dropping to the lowest annualized number since June (very much against the trend in recent years). This is the biggest month-over-month drop in existing home sales since June 2012 but, of course, NAR has an excuse… “low inventory is holding back sales.” So, in other words, they could sell loads more houses if only there were more available for sale (or prices were lower…)…

This is not a “seasonal” thing… and in fact is very much against the seasonals of the last few years…

 

 

Via NAR,

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a flattening trend is expected. “The erosion in buying power is dampening home sales,” he said. “Moreover, low inventory is holding back sales while at the same time pushing up home prices in most of the country. More new home construction is needed to help relieve the inventory pressure and moderate price gains.”

 

The median time on market for all homes was 54 days in October, up from 50 days in September, but well below the 71 days on market in October 2012. Short sales were on the market for a median of 93 days, while foreclosures typically sold in 46 days, and non-distressed homes took 53 days. Thirty-six percent of homes sold in October were on the market for less than a month.

 

Total housing inventory at the end of October declined 1.8 percent to 2.13 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 5.0-month supply at the current sales pace; the relative supply was 4.9 months in September. Unsold inventory is 0.9 percent above a year ago, when there was a 5.2-month supply.


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/91dmTlIxZTg/story01.htm Tyler Durden

A. Barton Hinkle: Food Police Are Gluttons for Punishment – of Others

Any day now the Food and Drug
Administration could impose burdensome new regulations that would
cost an ungodly lot. The rules, fiercely debated for the past three
years, will dictate the disclosure of calorie counts for foods sold
in restaurants, grocery stores, delis, bakeries, coffee shops, and
even gas stations. A. Barton Hinkle explains that despite all this
effort, the FDA will actually achieve absolutely nothing.

View this article.

from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/20/a-barton-hinkle-food-police-are-gluttons
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According To CBS Poll, Obama's Approval Rating Finally Catches Down With Dubya

Well that escalated quickly. Just a week ago we noted that President Obama’s approval rating trajectory was following an increasingly Dubya-esque route and sur eneough, today, a CBS poll shows that a mere 37% “approve” of the job Obama is doing. This is the same poor approval rating as Bush II’s second term at this time and perhaps more ironically comes only a month or so after he crowed of the Republicans’ collapsing polling results during the debt-ceiling debacle. In aggregate, as RealClearPolitics shows, Obama’s approval rating has collapsed to the lowest on record (and likewise his disapproval rating has soared). We await the next ‘distraction’ from the administration’s dismal state of affairs…

 

Simply out – it’s been a one-way street since the election.. Over-promise and under-deliver – the mantra of every 2nd term president…

 

Source: RealClearPolitics


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/I0LDSbSG5Sc/story01.htm Tyler Durden

According To CBS Poll, Obama’s Approval Rating Finally Catches Down With Dubya

Well that escalated quickly. Just a week ago we noted that President Obama’s approval rating trajectory was following an increasingly Dubya-esque route and sur eneough, today, a CBS poll shows that a mere 37% “approve” of the job Obama is doing. This is the same poor approval rating as Bush II’s second term at this time and perhaps more ironically comes only a month or so after he crowed of the Republicans’ collapsing polling results during the debt-ceiling debacle. In aggregate, as RealClearPolitics shows, Obama’s approval rating has collapsed to the lowest on record (and likewise his disapproval rating has soared). We await the next ‘distraction’ from the administration’s dismal state of affairs…

 

Simply out – it’s been a one-way street since the election.. Over-promise and under-deliver – the mantra of every 2nd term president…

 

Source: RealClearPolitics


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/I0LDSbSG5Sc/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Todd Krainin on the Truth About War

The United State’s involvement in the
Middle East looks nothing like the understated, bloodless snapshots
provided by daily newspapers. Todd Krainin takes ReasonTV into
a harrowing work of anti-mythology about 21st century combat,
Photojournalists on War: The Untold Stories from Iraq.

View this article.

from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/20/todd-krainin-on-the-truth-about-war
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Youth in Revolt Against Obama! 54% of Millennials Now Disapprove of Him!

According to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, 54
percent of folks ages 18 to 29 disapprove of the job Barack Obama
is doing. In March 2009, fully 60 percent approved of the
guy.

I’ve got a new piece up at The Daily Beast that argues
Obama has lost the kiddos not in spite of his policies but because
of them. Here’s a snippet:

Back in 2008, Barack Obama seemed like the coolest cat to hit
the national scene in a long time, almost scientifically engineered
to appeal to idealistic young Americans. He was the perfect
combination of a dream dad and an older brother who could run you
ragged up and down the basketball court, wink and nod about smoking
dope, and hip you to some older but still cool music, you know? In
2008, the Pravda of youth culture,Rolling
Stone, slathered the future president with praise for being so
with it that he even knew how to use…an iPod. We were all pretty
sure that his eventual Republican challenger, John McCain, had
stopped listening to music when Rudy Vallee went electric or
Stephen Foster released his Chris Gaines record or something, but
there Obama was, listening to Bob Dylan, Yo-Yo Ma, Sheryl Crow, and
even Jay-Z. “I have pretty eclectic tastes,” Obama told Rolling
Stone. He even went on to invoke “Maggie’s
Farm,” Dylan’s classic song of generational defiance and opting
out. “It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political
rhetoric,” explained.

Yeah, well, it’s all over now baby blue. Like Bush before him –
and in many wars, even worse than Bush before him – Obama has
personified the failure of leaders to speak plainly, honestly and
directly and to enact simple, effective, financially responsible
policies that speak to Americans’ hopes and dreams. The great
political continuity in the 21st century is one of
transpartisan failure and the continuing flight from party
affiliation by more and more Americans.

from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/20/youth-in-revolt-against-obama-54-of-mill
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Barbara Jean Phenicie, 71, of Peachtree City

Barbara Jean Phenicie, 71, of Peachtree City, Ga. passed away November 14, 2013.

Mrs. Phenicie was a long time teachers aid at the First Presbyterian Kindergarten and preschool, she was also a elder and a deacon at the church.

Mrs. Phenicie was preceded in death by a grandson Brian Phenicie, and also her parents Walter & Mildred Kolb.

read more

via The Citizen http://www.thecitizen.com/articles/11-20-2013/barbara-jean-phenicie-71-peachtree-city