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Peter Tork, former member of the wildly popular 60's group The Monkees, was recently diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma and will undergo extensive surgery today in New York. The cancer is uncommon and generally grows slowly on a person's head and neck. It's most frequently found in the salivary glands but in Tork's case was discovered on the lower region of his tongue. Doctors say preliminary findings from a biopsy show the cancer has not spread beyond the initial site and the 67-year old Tork says his prognosis is good. His surgery will be...

The BIS said European and British banks have relied on an “unstable” source of funding, borrowing in their local currencies to finance “long positions in US dollars”. Much of this has to be rolled over in short-term debt markets. The currency mismatch has become a potential risk for banks as the dollar continues to climb against the euro and Swiss franc, and especially sterling and Sweden’s krona. “The build-up of large net US dollar positions exposed these banks to funding risk, or the risk that their funding positions could not be rolled over,” said the BIS. The report, entitled “US...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Reform-Agendas-at-the-Departments-of-Agriculture-and-Homeland-Security/ THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _____________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 4, 2009 Reform Agendas at the Departments of Agriculture and Homeland Security Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today discussed their efforts to cut costs and make government more efficient and effective. Listed below is an overview of the measures they have implemented at their agencies to save money and better serve the American people. Reform Agenda at the Department of Agriculture One of Secretary Vilsack’s first actions was to ask each...

MARCH 5, 2009 Has Obama Buried Reagan? The GOP is faltering in its defense of Republican ideals. By DANIEL HENNINGER The Democratic idea bank of Robert & Robert says it's safe to unload on Ronald Reagan. Robert Reich: "It is the boldest budget we have seen since the Reagan administration, and drives a nail in the coffin of Reaganomics. We can basically say goodbye to the philosophy espoused by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher." Robert Shrum: "Obama is not only unwinding Reagan's policies, he is offering a Rooseveltian paradigm that justifies government pragmatically." Hmmm. Let us consider an alternative universe....

    Written December 2007, this article turns out to be very prescient Pimco's Bill Gross put it like this: "What we are witnessing is essentially the breakdown of our modern day banking system." Gross is right, but he only covers a small portion of the problem. The economist Ludwig von Mises is more succinct in his analysis: There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought on by credit expansion. The question is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final...

Found among a plethora of positive support from the FReepers, I came across this post by mad_as_he$$ on conservative blog Freerepublic.com - “Well Mr. Williams, What would you have us do?” Clearly, the people are getting in the mood to fight back against the increasingly powerful enemy within, comfortably ramming Marxism down the throat of every freedom-loving American, as if they face no real opposition.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 5:51pm EST Castor, Martinez support Obama homeowner plan Tampa Bay Business Journal - by Michael Hinman Staff writer President Obama implemented his Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan Wednesday, expected to allow some homeowners to refinance mortgages through a more streamlined process. Congresswoman Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, said the plan will help nearly 10 million families restructure or refinance mortgages as a way to avoid foreclosure, allowing them to take advantage of new lower interest rates. “Families need to know they have to call their lender right away,” Castor said. “Up until now, it has been very difficult...

It was all going so well. The dresses, the brains, the Vogue cover shoot – everything so far about Michelle Obama has left us wide-mouthed in admiration. It seemed there was no end to her fabulousness. Then Mr and Mrs Brown came to stay. Unflattering: the White House released only one photograph of Michelle Obama and Sarah Brown together Like all good guests, Sarah Brown arrived bearing gifts for the children, Malia and Sasha. And they were really nice presents. A bit of thought had clearly gone into choosing them: Top Shop dresses (with matching necklaces) and a selection of...

President Obama says he wants to be president of all the people. But some groups are urging him to make an exception for the Boy Scouts of America. Critics of the Scouts who are outraged that the group is allowed to exclude gays and atheists while receiving federal funding are urging Obama to reject the group's honorary presidency, a designation bestowed on every U.S. president since William Howard Taft in 1910. "I'm hoping and praying he turns down the honorary presidency," said Howard Menzer, president of Scouting for All, which advocates for inclusion of gays into the Boy Scouts. "No...

This is hilarious. A Chinese vendor is using an Obama portrait to sell buns! http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=380922&id=879751&dcid=8

March 5, 2009                                     Thursday of the First Week in Lent       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25 Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,had recourse to the LORD.She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids, from morning until evening, and said:"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you. Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,for I am taking my life in my hand.As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathersthat you, O...

I met up with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos at the National Capital chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals’ Annual Professional Night this evening and asked if he had strategy session conference calls with aides in the White House as reported by Politico’s John F. Harris. Politico's Michael Calderone recently reported that Kerry Smith, ABC News Sr.VP for editorial quality, wrote that Stephanopoulos "speaks to Mr. Emanuel, a friend he has known for nearly two decades, as a source, just as he speaks to countless sources across the political spectrum each and every day. That is his job as an...

Just how massive is President Barack Obama's proposed $3.6 trillion budget? The current federal budget consumes 20 percent of America's gross domestic product. Obama's proposed budget consumes 22 percent. That's an extra 2 percent of a more than $14 trillion economy -- in just one budget. Obama's budget is so large that it has succeeded in uniting Republicans and Democrats -- against it. Politico.com reported on Wednesday that a group of 14 "moderate" Democrats, including New Hampshire's Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, is working behind the scenes to cut a significant amount of spending out of the President's proposals -- both the...

Psalm 137 1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land? 5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;...

Gay twins who worked as servers at a Los Feliz restaurant were sexually harassed by the homosexual men who owned the eatery, a jury determined today in awarding each plaintiff $1,000. The Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated for a little more than a half day before finding that the 32-year-old twins were forced to work in a hostile work environment. However, the panel rejected Jed and Wyatt Lorenzen's other claims, including retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Besides Rush Limbaugh and CNBC's Rick Santelli, the Obama administration has a more generic media target: "cable chatter." President Barack Obama used the phrase last week, when he said that some of the issues debated in his economic stimulus plan represented a very small part of the plan and "this sometimes gets lost in the cable chatter." It came up again Wednesday at a White House event, when Obama spoke about efforts to reduce government spending. "I want to make sure everyone catches this, because I think sometimes the chatter on the cable stations hasn't been clear about this," Obama...

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton has not participated in any of the White House’s planning sessions on health care, the issue that defined her public persona during the 1990s. Intent on establishing herself as a powerful secretary of state, she has steered clear of public statements on the topic and has not discussed it in any detail with President Obama. Mrs. Clinton’s distance from the health care initiative, figuratively and literally — she will be in Brussels on Thursday when Mr. Obama begins his effort to overhaul the system with a high-profile gathering of experts — underscores how the Obama...

A fake British aristocrat was convicted yesterday of playing a leading role in an audacious attempt to carry out the world’s biggest bank raid. The gang of international criminals came close to stealing £229 million from a City bank by exploiting the high-tech security measures designed to protect money transfers. But the plot failed when a hacker into the system missed one set of numbers from an electronic form. Hugh Rodley — who insisted on being addressed as “Lord” despite having bought his manorial title — was the front man for the group, setting up companies and bank accounts to...

The Dallas Cowboys released Terrell Owens on Wednesday night, several outlets reported, citing unnamed team sources. The Dallas Morning News, ESPN and Fox all reported the news, citing unnamed team sources. The Cowboys informed Owens that they had decided to go another direction Wednesday night, the Morning News reported.

Why people should really worry about Obama and Ayres   DUFF HALE January 29th, 2009 Talk show host Sean Hannity continues to refer to William Ayres as "an unrepentant terrorist," which he most assuredly is. That, of course, allows Barack Obama to dismiss out-of-hand what Ayres did "when I was only eight years old." He can dismiss it as "gotcha politics." While what Ayres did should not be dismissed or ignored, the fact is Senator Obama has rightly deplored his "despicable acts." End of story. Right?Not so fast. The implication of this relationship goes much deeper and much farther....