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There has been an endless amount of chatter about the price of gold being too high (it's not) and perhaps representing a bubble. It also seems that fair amounts of ink and windage have been wasted on worries about the gold trade being "too crowded." In my daily column on my own Web site, on Sept. 17, I noted a remark by Dennis Gartman of The Gartman Letter that the gold market was "terribly, egregiously, preposterously, shockingly overpopulated." That day, gold closed at $1,014 an ounce. Here we are, about two months later, and gold is more than 10% higher....

NOVEMBER 15, 2009 Concerns Rise Around Obama Trip JONATHAN WEISMAN SHANGHAI -- President Barack Obama arrived here late Sunday to press China on issues from climate change to economic restructuring, amid rising concerns that his first swing through Asia as president will yield more disappointment than progress on trade, human rights, national security and environmental concerns. A flurry of actions in Singapore this weekend raised more questions than they resolved on a broad sweep of issues confronting both sides of the Pacific. On Sunday, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum dropped efforts to reach a binding international climate-change agreement...

Here is a look at the key components of GDP, showing how much each one contributed or subtracted from growth in the third quarter, along with forecasts for how they will perform going forward. CONSUMER SPENDING HOW MUCH IT GREW: 3.4 percent rate in third quarter, best showing since early 2007. CONTRIBUTION TO OVERALL GDP: 2.36 percentage points of the 3.5 percent third-quarter growth in GDP came from consumer spending. Car sales alone represented 1 percentage point of total growth, reflecting the success of the government’s Cash for Clunkers program. PROSPECTS: This is the biggest question facing the fledgling recovery,...

The number of children who have died from the swine flu has jumped sharply as the virus continues to spread widely around the United States, striking youngsters, teenagers, young adults and pregnant women unusually often, federal officials said Friday. The deaths of another 19 children and teenagers from the new H1N1 virus were reported in the past week around the country, including two in Maryland, pushing the total number of fatalities to 76 among those younger than age 18. It was the largest number of pediatric deaths reported in a single week since the pandemic began last spring. "These pediatric...

New jobless claims down 4,000 to 570,000 last week Continuing claims rise 92,000 to 6.23 million, U.S. data show on eve of payrolls By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The number of people filing for state unemployment benefits for the first time fell by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 570,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial claims have held in a fairly narrow range for the past seven weeks, down about 100,000 from the peak in March but still well above levels seen in a healthy economy. The number of people claiming benefits of any kind remained...

The NHS spent more than £800m settling legal claims last year as complaints of medical negligence against the service rose sharply. The surge in payouts is revealed in the NHS Litigation Authority's annual accounts which show that maternity services attract the highest legal costs. Clinical errors in delivering babies can result in lifelong damage and payments accordingly reflect the intensive medical care often needed for decades to come.

Doors are opening my children " Doors ARE opening "! But you must " remain " ever watchful attending to my wants( will ) for your needs . Do you see my will even now (( ( pressing ) )) into your lives ? Do not resist this but come into agreement with me for as I met Jacob so I shall meet you yet do not wrestle or ponder for my will is for you to overcome without hostility , grief or intervention . Allow me to have my will in your lives that your hip , yeah your...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid rising public impatience with an economy now under his watch, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said his administration needs to push money out faster to initiate a recovery and conceded that unemployment would rise above 10 percent. "People are going through a very tough time right now," Obama said at a White House news conference. "And I don't expect them to be satisfied." For the second time in a month, Obama voiced unease over the results of a $787 billion economic stimulus that he pressed Congress to pass as one of his first acts as president.

WASHINGTON – The sun is moving into a busier period for sunspots. Forecasters expect a relatively mild outbreak by historical standards, but one major solar storm can cause havoc with satellites and electrical systems. Researcher Doug Biesecker (BEE-sec-ker) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's space weather prediction center compared solar storms to hurricanes: A weak cycle may mean fewer storms, but even one powerful one can be devastating.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Large-scale U.S. layoffs rose again in March, according to Labor Department data on Thursday, as the economy struggles with what many expect will be the country's worst post-World War II recession. Last month witnessed 2,933 more mass layoffs, defined as affecting 50 or more workers, than February. This brought the total number of people who lost their jobs in this manner to 299,388, the highest on a record that dates back to 1995. The U.S. job market has been under severe strain as a crisis first evident in housing spread to the rest of the economy,...

This image issued by Britain's Community Security Trust on Friday Feb.... 'This Is Racism' LONDON (AP) - The number of anti-Semitic attacks on British Jews rose sharply after the start of the conflict in Gaza, a Jewish charity said Friday. The London-based Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism and works to safeguard the Jewish community in Britain, said 250 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the four weeks after Dec. 27, when Israel launched attacks on Gaza to stop Hamas rocket attacks. That compares to 40 incidents from the same period the year before. Dave Rich, a spokesman for the trust,...

The plethora of bank and corporate bailouts, stimulus plans and interest-rate cuts that the U.S. government has produced over the last three months can only lead to one outcome: The U.S. dollar has to decline. During the crisis so far, the dollar in general, and U.S. Treasury bonds in particular, have been regarded as a “safe haven,” making the dollar strong and pushing long-term U.S. Treasury rates downward. In the New Year, however, this is likely to change – the weight of the added supply of dollars in circulation will be too great for the greenback to shrug off. Back...

TIJUANA – Manuel GarcNa has worked up to 14 hours a day for the past month outside the coroner's office, which now doubles as a municipal morgue. The wave of violent crime in Tijuana has filled the refrigerated rooms of the building, and GarcNa is among at least half a dozen employees of funeral homes who mill around the hearse entrance, hoping to sell their services to the families of the deceased. When the families arrive, GarcNa tries to be the first to approach them. He speaks softly, hands them a business card and tells them the price. “It all...

HONG KONG – Asian markets rose Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, amid hopes for a year-end rally and that a new U.S. president would act to boost the sluggish American economy. With Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential race, investors were hopeful he could focus renewed energy on tackling deteriorating conditions in the world's largest economy — a vital export market — that have dragged on growth around the world, analysts said. --snip-- "Investors also are hoping that Obama can make a number of changes to help the economy," he said. --snip-- "It's an excuse for the...

Is Barack Obama the "promised warrior" coming to help the Hidden Imam of Shiite Muslims conquer the world?

Adjusted gross income reported on tax returns in 2006 averaged $58,029. In 2006 dollars that was an increase of $739, or 1.2 percent, from the $57,289 average in 2000, analysis of Internal Revenue Service data showed. Total income increased by $619.2 billion or 8.3 percent, all of which went to those making more than $75,000, and 42 percent of which went to the roughly one in 400 taxpayers who made more than $1 million in 2006. Average income fell sharply in 2001 and in 2002, when it dropped to $51,870, off nearly 10 percent from 2000, tax data show. The...

Food price rise affects restaurant menus By Ian Johnston Last Updated: 3:36am BST 13/04/2008 Restaurants have slapped a surcharge on the cost of steaks and dropped popular dishes from their menus as they pass on soaring food costs to their customers. Owners say the rising prices of staples such as rice, beef and chicken are forcing them to cut the size of portions, use more vegetables and re-write recipes to drop expensive ingredients. Fish not fowl: Le Raj restaurant owner Enam Ali has introduced pangush fish as a cheaper alternative to chicken A fillet steak surcharge of several pounds has...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street closed a dismal first quarter with a moderate gain Monday, rising after a reading on regional manufacturing came in better than expected. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, considered a precursor to the National Institute for Supply Management manufacturing survey on Tuesday, rose to 48.2 in March from 44.5 a month earlier. Economists had been expecting a reading of 47.3, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Though the reading topped forecasts, a figure below 50 nonetheless indicates a contraction in manufacturing activity. The market's reaction, however, was likely not as enthusiastic as it might seem from...

BEIJING - Food prices are set to rise around the globe after years of decline, with climate change making it harder for the world's poorest to get adequate food, according to a report released Tuesday. Rising global temperatures as well as growing food consumption in rapidly developing countries such as China and India are pressuring the world food system, meaning that food prices will rise for the foreseeable future, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute. Joachim von Braun, the director of the Washington-based research group, said food prices have been in a declining trend since scientists began developing...

Magma surge causes record rise at Yellowstone 19:00 08 November 2007 NewScientist.com news service Catherine Brahic The remains of the Yellowstone supervolcano in the US is huffing and puffing and rising by up to 7 centimetres a year, say researchers. They speculate this rise is caused by a mass of molten rock the size of Los Angeles being forced from the Earth’s mantle into the magma chamber beneath the ancient volcano. But the researchers, led by Wu-Lung Chang of the University of Utah in the US, caution that the movement does not mean an explosion is imminent. Calderas – the...

Flatter oceans may have caused 1920s sea rise 17:53 24 August 2007 NewScientist.com news service Catherine Brahic The movement of a colossal "mounds" of water in the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans may have caused sea levels to suddenly begin rising more quickly in the 1920s, researchers say. Their analysis presents a more complex picture of sea-level change and suggests that the rate of change has been more dramatic than previously thought. Data collected using tidal gauges dotted along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines during the late 19th and 20th centuries suggest that sea levels suddenly began rising more quickly...

PARIS - It's cheaper than oil and, barring a global mad cow crisis, we'll probably never run out of it. But milk has one thing in common with oil: It's trading at record highs. Reasons include growing appetites for dairy foods in China and elsewhere in Asia, where chains such as McDonald's and Starbucks are introducing unfamiliar taste buds to cheeseburgers and lattes. Other factors are rising costs for animal feed, shrinking European production and long-standing drought in Australia and New Zealand, the world's largest milk-exporting region. Paying more for milk is causing an uproar in Germany, where families consider...

Democrats spooked by rise of 'new Reagan' By Alex Spillius in Washington Last Updated: 2:32am BST 27/06/2007 Republican Fred Thompson has enjoyed a decades-long career as a Washington lobbyist The Democratic party is so alarmed by the prospect of competing against Fred Thompson, a Republican who portrays himself as a successor to Ronald Reagan, that it is advising campaigners how to attack the former actor and Tennessee senator. Mr Thompson is not expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination until next month, but Democratic strategists fear the combination of his conservatism, southern charm and populist style could make...

Rise of man theory ‘out by 400,000 years’ Dalya Alberge, Arts CorrespondentJune 25, 2007 Our earliest ancestors gave up hunter-gathering and took to a settled life up to 400,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to controversial research. The accepted timescale of Man’s evolution is being challenged by a German archaeologist who claims to have found evidence that Homo erectus — mankind’s early ancestor, who migrated from Africa to Asia and Europe — began living in settled communities long before the accepted time of 10,000 years ago. The point at which settlement actually took place is the first critical stage...

BAGHDAD - A battle raged in west Baghdad on Thursday after residents rose up against al-Qaida and called for U.S. military help to end random gunfire that forced people to huddle indoors and threats that kept students from final exams, a member of the district council said. Elsewhere, a suicide bomber hit a police recruiting center in Fallujah, killing as many as 25 people, police said. The U.S. military said only one policeman was killed and eight were wounded. The American military also reported the deaths of three more soldiers, two killed Wednesday in a roadside bombing in Baghdad and...

BEIJING - China took steps Friday to let its currency trade more freely against the dollar and to cool its sizzling economy ahead of talks in Washington over Beijing's soaring trade surplus. China eased controls on the yuan amid pressure from the U.S. and Europe, but cautioned against expecting sharp increases in its value. The U.S. responded that Beijing is not moving fast enough to allow its currency to strengthen and help reduce its growing trade gap with China. The Chinese government also raised interest rates for the second time in just over two months and tightened bank credit to...

Terrorist attacks worldwide shot up more than 25 percent last year, killing 40 percent more people than in 2005, particularly in Iraq where extremists used chemical weapons and suicide bombers to target crowds, the State Department said Monday. Among countries, Iran remains the biggest supporter of terrorism, with elements of its government backing groups throughout the Middle East, notably in Iraq, giving material aid and guidance to Shiite insurgent groups that have attacked Sunnis, U.S. and Iraqi forces, it said. In its annual global survey of terrorism, the department said 14,338 attacks took place in 2006, mainly in Iraq and...

Source: University Of British Columbia Date: April 25, 2007 Studying Early China, To Learn Why Civilizations Rise And Fall Science Daily — In the Yellow River valley of northern China, Zhichun Jing digs through the remains of long-ago cities to find insights for modern survival. Over the past 10 years, Jing has been excavating the cities of the late Shang Dynasty. Flourishing between 1,200 and 1,050 BC, the Shang was one of the first literate civilizations in China and East Asia. Its last capital city was Yinxu, where the present-day city of Anyang now stands. Zhichun Jing studies the dynamics...

Anti-Semitic hate crimes are on the rise, according to a new study released Sunday by the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism and Racism. The study, released in conjunction with the World Jewish Congress and timed to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day, noted that last year saw the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents worldwide – 590 reported in 2006 -- since 2000. Countries where the highest number of incidents was recorded included Great Britain, Australia, France and Canada. Institute director Professor Dina Porat said that Holocaust denial activities by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Second Lebanon War...

BAGHDAD — A press conference concerning the progress of security in Diyala, Iraq was held via videoconference at the Combined Press Information Center in the International Zone Friday. Army Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and Maj. Gen. Shakir Halail Husain, 5th Iraqi Division commander, discussed increased enemy activity due to escalated Coalition and Iraqi security forces operations and the continuing effort to fight terrorism. “We have seen an increase on attacks against Coalition and Iraqi security forces in the past several months,” Sutherland said. “On the other hand, we have also seen...

SPRINGFIELD, United States (AFP) - Senator Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) is hoping his own unorthodox version of the American dream propels him from being a "skinny kid with a funny name" to being the most powerful man in the world. Obama, 45, who formally declared his candidacy in the 2008 White House race Saturday, has rocketed to political stardom in only two years, and has high hopes of becoming the first African-American president. "Today, together, we can finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth," Obama told...

Link only per FR hosted.ap.org policy:IBM Posts Big Fourth-Quarter Profit Rise

Hate crimes against Jews are increasing, not only in Europe but also in the United States, specifically in New York. Anti-Semitic activities in the Big Apple, home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel, are on the rise, up by eight percent according to a report in the daily New York Post quoting New York City police department (NYPD) officials. The number of attacks against Jews in New York City rose by 20 percent since 2005, from 39 to 47 in the period from January 1 to November 5. Anti-Semitism in Europe is also rising, according to a report presented...

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. homes unexpectedly rose for a second straight month in September as builders slashed prices by the biggest annual margin in nearly 36 years and the supply of homes for sale shrank, a government report showed on Thursday. New single-family home sales increased 5.3 percent in September to an annualized rate of 1.075 million from a downwardly revised rate of 1.021 million in August, the Commerce Department said. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting September sales to ease to a 1.045 million rate from an originally reported August rate of 1.050 million....

Gov. Schwarzenegger got more good news Wednesday with the release of a survey showing that his job-approval rating is on the rise among likely voters. The survey by the nonpartisan Field Poll showed that 48 percent approve of the job Schwarzenegger is doing, up from a low of 36 percent in August 2005 but still a far cry from 2004, when his job approval rating was at 65 percent for most of the year. More people now hold a favorable view of the governor as a person, 49 percent, than hold an unfavorable view, 41 percent, a reversal from earlier...

Hospital superbug 'out of control' as child MRSA cases rise to 150 By Beezy Marsh, Health Correspondent (Filed: 10/09/2006) Nearly 150 babies and children last year suffered potentially fatal blood infections after contracting the MRSA superbug in NHS hospitals, Government research reveals. The figure is double that of previous estimates, raising concerns that MRSA is tightening its grip on the very young and that poor hospital hygiene is allowing the superbug to spread. Children with MRSA in their blood require emergency hospital treatment to prevent blood poisoning and toxic shock, which can quickly lead to organ failure and death. Premature...

The Greenland ice sheet is melting three times faster today than it was five years ago, according to a new study. The finding adds to evidence of increased global warming in recent years and indicates that melting polar ice sheets are pushing sea levels higher, the authors report. According to the study, Greenland ice loss now amounts to more than 48 cubic miles (200 cubic kilometers) each year. "Significant melting has a significant impact on sea level rise," said Jianli Chen, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin who led the study. The finding, reported today by...

Guard to St. Louis, heat deaths rise By CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press Writer AP Photo: Customers battle long lines as well as heat at the gas pumps in St. Louis,... ST. LOUIS - The governor sent in the National Guard to evacuate people from their sweltering homes Thursday after storms knocked out power to more than half a million St. Louis-area households and businesses in the middle of a deadly heat wave. With forecasters expecting another day of 100-degree heat, utility crews raced to restore electricity, and Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency, granting the mayor's request to...

Judge: Unseal Jefferson raid paperworkSaturday, June 03, 2006 From staff reports A federal appeals court judge has ruled that The Times-Picayune should have access to legal paperwork that led to the Aug. 3 raid by federal authorities on the New Orleans home of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, along with his car and the office of his campaign treasurer, Jack Swetland. The Justice Department has already released similar paperwork laying out its justification for the recent raid of Jefferson's congressional office as part of the same federal inquiry. **SNIP** A similar case is pending in a Maryland court regarding materials filed...

Pakistan border operations lead to rise in Taliban-style action (Filed: 03/04/2006) Pakistan's military operations on the front line of the US-led war on terror have led to a further "Talibanisation" of the border tribal regions that is now spreading to areas traditionally under government control. Senator Mohammed Salah Qureshi believes that many are following jihad against the US and the world In 2003 an 80,000-strong Pakistan force was deployed to flush out forces loyal to the Taliban and al-Qa'eda. But three years after Pakistani soldiers first entered the tribal area of South Waziristan many politicians from the tribal area, media...

Melting Ice Threatens Sea-Level Rise By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Earth is already shaking beneath melting ice as rising temperatures threaten to shrink polar glaciers and raise sea levels around the world. By the end of this century, Arctic readings could rise to levels not seen in 130,000 years — when the oceans were several feet higher than now, according to new research appearing in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Even now, giant glaciers lubricated by melting water have begun causing earthquakes in Greenland as they lurch toward the ocean, other...

Sharp rise in CO2 levels recorded By David Shukman BBC science correspondent Scientists fear high carbon levels will trigger sudden changes US climate scientists have recorded a significant rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, pushing it to a new record level. BBC News has learned the latest data shows CO2 levels now stand at 381 parts per million (ppm) - 100ppm above the pre-industrial average. The research indicates that 2005 saw one of the largest increases on record - a rise of 2.6ppm. The figures are seen as a benchmark for climate scientists around the globe....

Iran builds a secret underground complex as nuclear tensions rise By Philip Sherwell in Washington (Filed: 12/03/2006) Iran's leaders have built a secret underground emergency command centre in Teheran as they prepare for a confrontation with the West over their illicit nuclear programme, the Sunday Telegraph has been told. The complex of rooms and offices beneath the Abbas Abad district in the north of the capital is designed to serve as a bolthole and headquarters for the country's rulers as military tensions mount. Iran uses small attack boats to simulate assaults on US warships The recently completed command centre is...

Greenland ice swells ocean rise By Paul Rincon BBC News science reporter, St Louis Kangerdlussuaq Glacier "drains" about 4% of the ice sheet Greenland's glaciers are sliding towards the sea much faster than previously believed, scientists have told a conference in St Louis, US. It was thought the entire Greenland ice sheet could melt in about 1,000 years, but the latest evidence suggests that could happen much sooner. It implies that sea levels will rise a great deal faster as well. Details of the study, by Nasa and University of Kansas researchers, are also reported in the journal Science. The...

German unemployment has unexpectedly risen above the five million mark again ... equivalent to 12.1% of the working age population. the data was skewed by the unusually cold winter ... data also released on Tuesday showed a 1.4% fall in retail sales in December. The figures reinforced recent concerns that Germany's fledgling economic recovery could be held back by weak domestic demand. The headline rise in unemployment came as a surprise with most commentators expecting a modest rise. up to 30,000 people registered as unemployed this month ahead of the introduction of new benefit rules.

TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey is among the states seeing an increase in deaths from an intestinal bacterial infection that most often strikes older hospital patients who have taken antibiotics. National occurrences are up as well because, officials say, an overuse of antibiotics for other ailments is killing off the "good" bacteria that used to control the growth of Clostridium difficile bacterium. In the Garden State, the number of deaths attributed to the infection has doubled since 1997. State hospital discharge data reviewed by The Record of Bergen County found the infection has sickened 10,000 New Jerseyans a year, killing...

Petrol prices 'to rise steeply until spring' By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor (Filed: 21/01/2006) Motorists should be braced for yet more steep rises in the price of petrol over the coming months, the AA Motoring Trust warned yesterday. The cost of a litre of unleaded was likely to rise above 90p within weeks and could well shoot up further, a spokesman said. The warning came as the trust published a report into the spiralling cost of fuel. Petrol and diesel prices started the New Year about 10p per litre higher than in January 2005, it said. With the average...

Gasoline tax slated to rise on New Year's Day Lawmakers scramble to freeze nearly 3-cents hike From staff reports Macon County motorists are bracing for a state gasoline tax hike that will greet them at the pump on New Year's Day. On Sunday, the state tax on gasoline will jump by nearly 3 cents to a total of 29.9 cents per gallon. The increase will boost the tax to its highest level in state history. And North Carolina's gas tax will become the highest per gallon in the Southeast and the sixth highest in the U.S. The automatic tax also...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10, 2005 – Iraqi forces have the lead in providing security for national elections Dec. 15, officials said here today. This is a huge job, military and embassy officials said on background. Some 230,000 Iraqi soldiers and police will provide security for more than 6,500 election sites and polling centers in the nation. The election will select members of the first permanent democratic government in Iraq's history. More than 3,800 people are running for office, officials said. They can run as individuals or as members of parties, and parties may be connected to larger coalitions. Iraqi airwaves are...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returned victorious from her Middle East trip, after doing what no other Bush administration official had been able to do for the past five years: getting the Israelis and the Palestinians to sign an agreement. The Rafah border-crossing was hailed as a huge success for American diplomacy and Rice got all the credit for it. "The Gaza agreement was Rice's first real 'Kissingerian moment,'" wrote columnist David Ignatius in the Washington Post, constituting the ultimate praise in the world of conservative diplomacy. But while the press has been celebrating Rice's great moment, some members of...