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The drills will take place west of the Leizhou Peninsula and will run from Monday until the end the month. The area will be closed off to all other vessels, according to a notice posted on the website of China's Maritime Safety Administration. The new exercises appear to be a response to increased US military activity in the region over recent weeks and months. Monitoring data provided by a Beijing think tank showed that the US has just carried out a number of surveillance missions over the last week. The South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) said that...

At a Thursday morning press conference, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) showed little concern for the fact that illegal aliens crossing the border with impunity might be dangerous for Americans. “Let me just close by saying this: clearly there’s a disparity of shared values in terms of respecting the dignity and worth of everyone – being concerned about every death that happens, uh, because we live in an imperfect world, and that’s very sad,” Pelosi said. “But it is not a justification for having more children die in custody of be separated from their families.”

BALTIMORE - South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune told reporters Thursday that he is “personally very offended about being called the establishment” by some GOP presidential candidates. "I think in a presidential campaign the rhetoric is kind of hot. I think it's just inevitable. We can't control what candidates are going to say or are going to do," said Thune, who is the Senate Conference Chairman, during the GOP retreat. "We can only control what we are going to do here and as individual members of Congress."

Democrats weathered the government shutdown by standing united. And even as ObamaCare stumbled through a rocky rollout, Democratic lawmakers remained largely in sync with the administration even as they expressed disappointment about the flawed health exchange website. Yet ObamaCare's flaws have proven to be far more serious than a few poorly written lines of software code. Lingering problems with the site, combined with fresh concerns about rising premiums and Americans being pushed off their existing health care plans, have further eroded the law's political standing, prompting congressional Democrats to begin putting more daylight between themselves and the White House. To...

While liberals were busy bemoaning the low wages of the minimally skilled hamburger flippers and other fast food employees, while Congress and the unions were busy exempting themselves from the Obamacare they pushed for,, another group of workers was falling victim to the Unaffordable Health Care Act. Shop girls. Sales clerks. Forever 21, the privately held fast fashion retailer teen aged girls just lo-o-ove, recently informed many full time employees that beginning Sunday, August 18 they were suddenly part time employees; their maximum working hours dropping to 29.5 hours a week. Obamacare's mandatory employer provided health insurance kicks in for...

The DUmmies continue to reel from the real effects of Obamacare, as it begins to unfold. The latest news is that the national clothing-store chain Forever 21 is moving many of their employees from full-time to part-time status, so the company doesn't have to suffer the punitive costs of Obamacare. Hey, DUmmies, OWN IT! This is what you voted for. Own it. But no, instead of owning it, the DUmmies are frowning it. They're mad at Forever 21 for trying to keep their business in business. Why, in fact, this calls for a BOYCOTT!! The DUmmies are going to...

A new study from the Congressional Budget Office starts with the scariest graph you’ll see today. Source: Congressional Budget Office In other words, you’re not imagining it: This economic recovery has been a big disappointment relative to what the United States has usually experienced after a recession. Growth has been 9 percent below what was seen in past recoveries on average in its first three years. The CBO report tries to disentangle where that underperformance is coming from and its answer is deeply unsettling: The U.S. economy just isn’t as good at growing as it used to be. The new...

The Demise Of The Twinkie: Hostess Files Motion To Liquidate By Tom Gara And that’s that: Hostess Brands, maker of Twinkies, Wonder Bread and more, announced this morning it has filed a motion with bankruptcy court to start liquidating the company immediately. A huge number of jobs are soon to be lost. “Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce,” said CEO Gregory F. Rayburn in the statement, “and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.” In a letter posted on a new site set up to communicate with employees and suppliers through...

Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal entertainment unit is laying off about 500 employees at cable channels, Jay Leno's late-night TV show and the Universal Pictures movie studio, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. The cuts add up to about 1.5 percent of the company's workforce of 30,000 employees, the source said. A large portion of the layoffs occurred at the G4 cable channel, a network about video games and the gaming culture, the source said. Two of the network's shows were recently canceled. Other layoffs occurred about two months ago at "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," which...

Hostess Brands Inc. is permanently closing three bakeries following a nationwide strike by its bakers union. The maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread said Monday that the strike has prevented it from producing and delivering products, and it is closing bakeries in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati. The facilities employ 627 workers. Thousands of members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike Nov. 9 to protest cuts to wages and benefits under a new contract offer, which the union rejected in September. Union officials say the company stopped contributing to workers'...

It didn’t take long. The layoffs and closings are piling up. The saddest thing about compiling this list is that by the time today is over, the list will probably have grown dramatically. The next saddest part is that at least some of these lay off employees voted for Barack Obama because they didn’t believe this would happen. These are more than just headlines. Every number represents real people who have lost their livelihood. Boeing Announces Big Layoffs in Defense Division cut 30% of workforce Anonymous employer in Los Vegas: “I have 114 employees. I’m firing 22” Momentive Inc. plans...

Some low-wage employers are moving toward hiring part-time workers instead of full-time ones to mitigate the health-care overhaul's requirement that large companies provide health insurance for full-time workers or pay a fee.Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week. That is the threshold at which large employers in 2014 would have to offer workers a minimum level of insurance or pay a penalty starting at $2,000 for each worker. Pillar Hotels & Resorts this summer began to focus more on hiring part-time workers among its 5,500...

The victory by Barack Obama on election night has resulted in a huge wave of firings and layoffs all over America. A large number of businesses seem to have suddenly shifted into panic mode. The number of layoff announcements that we have seen in the last 48 hours has been absolutely shocking. So why is this happening? Well, the truth is that the federal government is absolutely suffocating small businesses all over America with rules, regulations and taxes. If you have never tried to run a small business, then you have no idea how oppressive this system actually is for...

Freedom Works has put together a list of companies that will be laying of employees as a result of President Barack Obama's health care law: Welch Allyn Welch Allyn, a company that manufactures medical diagnostic equipment in central New York, announced in September that they would be laying off 275 employees, or roughly 10% of their workforce over the next three years. One of the major reasons discussed for the layoffs was a proactive response to the Medical Device Tax mandated by the new healthcare law. Dana Holding Corp. As recently as a week ago, a global auto parts manufacturing...

A global wind company with offices in the Pacific Northwest has announced more layoffs. Vestas says it will cut an additional 3,000 jobs by the end of 2013. That nearly doubles the number of jobs the wind turbine company had planned to eliminate. Most recently Vestas it would layoff 3,700 people by the end of 2012. Vestas has not said where jobs will be cut from its global workforce, though some of the job eliminations happen as the company sells off some manufacturing facilities. That means workers will be employed through a different company. Vestas’ North American sales and service...

Boeing Announces Big Layoffs in Defense Division http://www.cnbc.com/id/49729998 ING Layoffs In State Are Unrelated To Massive Staff Reduction In Europe http://www.courant.com/business/connecticut-insurance/hc-ing-layoffs-20121107,0,5645363.story Caterpillar’s Layoffs Parallel A Falling Monthly Copper Price Index http://agmetalminer.com/2012/11/07/caterpillars-layoffs-parallel-a-falling-monthly-copper-price-index/ More Layoffs May Be In Store for Alcatel-Lucent http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/11/06/more-layoffs-may-be-in-store-for-alcatel-lucent.aspx Boeing Telegraphs Layoffs in Defense, Space & Security Unit http://247wallst.com/2012/11/07/boeing-telegraphs-layoffs-in-defense-space-security-unit/ Umatilla Chemical Depot plans layoffs this month, in 2013 http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/11/06/2160493/umatilla-chemical-depot-plans.html#storylink=cpy Hawker Beechcraft to close plants in Arkansas, Texas, Arizona, cut more jobs http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/52f3fff526904fc68717a1cf890c9f9c/KS--Hawker-Beechcraft-Layoffs

HarperCollins Publishers will close its warehouse and distribution operation in Throop next summer and put close to 200 people out of work. “The industry is changing,” said Erin Crum, spokeswoman for HarperCollins, a book publisher based in New York. “It just makes sense for us to go this route as we shift to a more digital industry.” Ms. Crum would not disclose how many people will be laid off when the warehouse at the Keystone Industrial Park closes. However, Craig Pawlik, principal officer of Teamsters Local 229 in Scranton, said 192 people will be furloughed. The union represents maintenance and...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stock futures were lower Friday, as disappointing corporate results weighed on sentiment, setting the market up for a third straight day of declines. J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) reported a much bigger than expected loss, sending its shares tumbling more than 8% in premarket trading. The company lost 93 cents a share excluding special items, while analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were forecasting a loss of only 7 cents. Sales also fell short of forecasts. It marked the third straight quarter of bigger than forecast losses at J.C. Penney as new CEO Ron Johnson struggles...

Obama was "fired up" and so were the voters, and so now, the mass firings begin. Here's a collection of today's headlines. Please say a prayer for the families who will be suffering. Had Romney won, many of these companies would now be hiring. Teco Coal officials announce layoffs Momentive Inc plans temporary layoffs for 150 Wilkes-Barre officials to announce mandatory layoffs 600 layoffs at Groupon More layoffs announced at Aniston Weapons Incinerator Murray Energy confirms 150 layoffs at 3 subsidiaries 130 laid off in Minnesota dairy plant closure Stanford brake plant to lay off 75 Turbocare, Oce to lay...

Around 90 employees are being laid off from the Teco Coal Corporation. Director of Personnel, Paul Matney, says no mines are shutting down but they are reducing their manpower and staffing, which will reduce some production. Matney said that the layoffs are at several locations and are the result of the economic conditions of the coal market. He says more information will be released Friday.