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https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early Declassified documents show security assurances against NATO expansion to Soviet leaders from Baker, Bush, Genscher, Kohl, Gates, Mitterrand, Thatcher, Hurd, Major, and Woerner U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous “not one inch eastward” assurance about NATO expansion in his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990, was part of a cascade of assurances about Soviet security given by Western leaders to Gorbachev and other Soviet officials throughout the process of German unification in 1990 and on into 1991, according to declassified U.S., Soviet, German, British and French documents posted today by the National Security Archive...

The controversial Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California’s Mojave desert is going to close 14 years early despite $1.6 billion in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy under President Barack Obama. The Ivanpah facility works by using mirrors that concentrate sunlight on a central boiling tower, which then heats water to move turbines. It has been criticized for incinerating birds and other animals within the reflecting zone. Ivanpah has become a familiar sight on the road between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and in the airspace above, with its blinding light visible for miles.

One of the few rebellious Fed heads, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, fired another salvo when he was testifying at the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing. And he hit Wall Street risks that are wrapping their growing tentacles ever more tightly around the economy and taxpayers. The hearing, according to Chairman Bob Goodlatte, would examine whether the Bankruptcy Code is “best equipped” to deal with the insolvency of large banks, such as the “unusual level of speed” needed for their “efficient and orderly resolution,” and the “unique threats” their collapse would pose to the “broader stability of the economy.” Lacker was...

FHFA has released the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits for 2014. The big winners? Hawaii! fanniefreddicll Second is Alaska (AK). Fortunately, there aren’t enough people in the Aleutians to cause taxpayers serious problems if the unemployment spikes and/or housing prices collapse. Third on the list are Guam, the Virgin Islands and … West Virginia. West Virginia?? California, Washington DC (Maryland, Virginia), Wall Street (New York, New Jersey), Carolina Coast vacation hub (Kitty Hawk) and Idaho. Somehow, I don’t think it is Napoleon Dynamite’s hometown that is among the costliest housing in the USA. Napoleon-Dynamite-napoleon-dynamite-117744_720_540 Once again, I...

President Obama will deliver a second inaugural address later this month. He’ll no doubt reflect on what he’s done during his first four years in office — and on his signature healthcare law in particular. Let’s reflect with him. During his first campaign for the presidency in 2008, the president promised that his health reform plan would “bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family” by the end of his first term. Well, that first term is just about up. And health insurance isn’t any cheaper. In fact, it’s more expensive. Premiums have increased by an average of $3,065....

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi cites the Declaration of Independence in her defense of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the House floor on the eve of its second anniversary.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-run mortgage giants, share much of the blame for the foreclosure crisis. Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee $5.5 trillion of mortgages -- more than half of all US home mortgages. Major banks -- Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase -- service the loans for Fannie and Freddie for fees. And when they do, they do what Fannie and Freddie tell them to do. To that end, Fannie and Freddie have long issued "Servicing Guides." Fannie's latest update (Aug. 31) noted that Fannie "has established time frames within which routine...

LOS ANGELES — The Obama administration has given preliminary approval for $1.4 billion in loan guarantees for a massive solar-energy project in California's Mojave Desert. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Monday that BrightSource Energy was in line for the financing help to build solar-energy plants to power 140,000 homes. ... Environmentalists want the complex relocated because they say it will harm protected desert tortoises. BrightSource has made design changes in an attempt to alleviate environmental concerns.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - African leaders may have to guarantee Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe immunity from prosecution and safeguard his wealth if they are to persuade him to step down, a top think-tank said Tuesday. The International Crisis Group warned time had already run out to ensure fair elections next year but said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) could still exert pressure on Mugabe and his security chiefs if they were assured of a "soft landing". "In exchange, Mugabe would have to retire at the end of his term (March 2008), and the security establishment would have to accept political...

Three weeks ago, Israeli police found a mosaic floor in an Arab car. The Antiquities Authority has confirmed that the floor be belongs to a previously undiscovered synagogue in the Ramallah area. Researchers from the Israeli Antiquities Authority believe that the mosaic formed part of an ancient synagogue floor because it contained depictions of Jewish symbols, such as the base of a menorah (a seven branched candelabrum), a lulav (palm branch), and dates. Another, no less interesting feature of the mosaic, are the words “Shalom (peace) on Israel” which are inscribed on it. At first, researchers thought the thieves had...

Article II ...Section 2. The President ... He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur... www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is weighing reducing U.S. loan guarantees to Israel because of a fence it is building in the West Bank, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Israel is constructing what it calls a security fence -- in parts a concrete wall and in others metal fencing -- to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers. Palestinians describe it as a new "Berlin Wall" that grabs territory they want to be part of an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. U.S. officials said they have to consider trimming the loan guarantees because of a U.S. law...