Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Where is Obama?

Leaders dither as Gaddafi hails final showdown




REUTERS - Muammar Gaddafi's forces pushed towards the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Wednesday and his government predicted victory within days while world powers debated imposing a no-fly zone to help stop him.
Foreign powers condemn the crackdown but show little appetite for action to support an uprising that was inspired by pro-democracy rebellions that toppled the Egyptian and Tunisian presidents. A Gaddafi victory and a crackdown on protests in Bahrain could turn the tide in the region against pro-democracy movements.
Supporters of a no-fly zone to halt Libyan government air strikes on rebels circulated a draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that would authorise one, but other states said questions remained.

Qaddafi Forces Vow to 'Cleanse' Rebel-Held City of 'Armed Gangs'

Published March 16, 2011
| FoxNews.com
The Libyan Army appeared on state television on Wednesday to set a deadline for residents to leave Benghazi by midnight local time ahead a planned operation to "cleanse" the city, Sky News reports.
"The army is coming to cleanse your city of armed gangs," the Libyan army said in the statement.
Qaddafi's son says the rebel stronghold will fall to government forces within 48 hours.

Read more: http://foxnews.com/world/2011/03/16/libyan-forces-bombard-rebels-east-west/#ixzz1GoQYP2so

 

As Afghanistan falters and the Middle East burns, how Obama is missing in action

By Max Hastings
Last updated at 11:51 AM on 14th March 2011
Every time I come to Washington, I pay a ritual visit to the White House, to stand among the tourists gawping through the railings, fantasising about about what great affairs its tenant might be engaged upon.
On a brisk, grey, early spring morning last week, the wedding-cake residence of the most powerful man on earth looked pretty much the way it did in December 1941 when Roosevelt welcomed Churchill to create the Grand Alliance; in 1962 when Kennedy faced the Cuban missile confrontation; in 1972 when Nixon launched détente with China.
But amid today’s historic upheavals in the Middle East, the occupant of the White House has taken the amazingly insouciant decision that he will watch this global crisis from the bench. 
President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference at the South Court Auditorium at Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House March
Missing in action: Obama is said to be silent on major issues such as the Middle East, Afghanistan and soaring debt
The world reels before the spectacle of the Arab oil nations in turmoil. There seems a danger that Libya’s civil war could merely be the first of a succession in the region. Yet the leader of the Western world has almost nothing to say about it all.

Obama the invisible

Anti-leadership amid world crises

Last Updated: 10:14 AM, March 16, 2011
Posted: 11:48 PM, March 15, 2011
Comments: 98
headshotJohn Podhoretz
Where is the president? The world is beset. Moammar Khadafy is moving relentlessly to crush the Libyan revolt that once promised the overthrow of one of the world's most despicable regimes.
So where is the president?
Japan may be on the verge of a disaster that dwarfs any we have yet seen. A self-governing nation like the United States needs its leader to take full measure of his position at times of crises when the path forward is no longer clear.
This is not a time for leadership; this is the time for leadership.
So where is Barack Obama?

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/obama_the_invisible_Ass40MBstf15MAr9DYAORK#ixzz1GoOUSf4Y


Obama Heads to Rio Sunday; Maximum Security Awaits

Mar. 14 2011 - 7:16 pm | 222,718 views | 0 recommendations | 76 comments

The famous sidewalk along Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. President Obama heads to Brazil on Saturday and will speak in public in Rio on Sunday.

President Barack Obama will take his first official trip to Brazil this weekend where he will speak in the popular Cinelandia Square in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Access, of course, will be tightly restricted and security measures so secretive that not even the Embassy or US Consulate in Rio know exactly how it’s all going to go down.

Yen at record high against US dollar

ByJamie Chisholm, Global Markets Commentator
Published: March 14 2011 04:38 | Last updated: March 16 2011 21:53
Wednesday 21.50 GMT. The yen soared to its highest level against the US dollar since the second world war - setting a new high of Y76.36 - as investors grew more confident that Japanese investors and institutions will sell foreign assets and bring money home for reconstruction efforts. 



Current Gas Prices and Price History

-Gasoline-Price

 

New-home construction plunges in February

AP posted: 6:22 PM 03/16/11
WASHINGTON -Builders broke ground last month on the fewest homes in nearly two years and cut their requests for permits to start new projects to a five-decade low. The decline in construction activity is the latest evidence that the housing industry is years away from a recovery.
Home construction plunged 22.5 percent in February from January to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 homes, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. It was the lowest level since April 2009 and the second-lowest on records dating back more than a half-century.
The decline followed a surge in highly volatile apartment construction in January, which pushed the overall construction rate up to more than 600,000 units — the fastest rate in 20 months. Still, the building pace has been far below the 1.2 million units a year that economists consider healthy.

See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/g6Ymgn

Wholesale prices spike on steep rise in food, oil

Updated: Mar 16, 2011 - 12:54PM
Text Size
AP
WASHINGTON -Higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in nearly four decades drove wholesale prices up last month by the most in nearly two years. Excluding those categories, inflation was tame.

The Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That's double the rise from the previous month and the biggest increase since June 2009.

Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Harsh winter freezes in Florida, Texas and other southern states sent fresh vegetable prices soaring, representing 70 percent of the increase. Tomatoes, green peppers and lettuce all more than doubled in price.


Kliphnote: As I said back in 2008, is still true today.
Obama does not want to make decisions. Does not want the responsibility.
That is why he abstained about 120 times as an Illinois senator.
He had an agenda to push his social programs, and that's what he's done.
An example:
He took $500 billion out of Medicare to pay for his health care.
To hell with the people that paid into Medicare their whole working lives.
Just give it to people that don't work.
The list goes on.

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