A strikeout on settlements: Why Obama's diplomacy is flailing
Tuesday, September 28th 2010, 4:00 AM
Every so often, the sayings of Casey Stengel come to mind. The longtime manager of the New York Yankees, accustomed to a Prussian professionalism, moved over to the astonishingly hapless New York Mets in 1962 and, surveying his new team, uttered an exasperated question: "Can't anybody here play this game?" What applied to those Mets applies now to the Obama administration. In the Middle East, it's no hits and plenty of errors.
The arena of the administration's incompetence is the issue of West Bank settlements. This is something of a misnomer since while some of the settlements are recklessly deep into the West Bank - Ariel (above), for instance - others are indistinguishable parts of Jerusalem. They are all, under international law, illegal. But some, regardless of legality, are going to stay. Even in the Middle East, common sense can play a role. The Jerusalem-area settlements are not going to be abandoned by Israel.
Given the highly emotional nature of the settlement issue, it made no sense for the administration - actually, President Obama himself - to promote an absolute moratorium on construction as the prerequisite for peace talks. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu complied, under extreme pressure, but only to a 10-month moratorium. For Netanyahu, this in itself was a major concession. He heads a right-wing coalition that takes settlements very seriously. Netanyahu had a choice: accede to Obama's terms and have his government collapse, or end the moratorium. On Sunday, with the 10 months being up, he chose the latter. We will see if the end of the moratorium means the end of peace talks. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has not yet ended negotiations. He's going to confer with his fellow Arab leaders. Obama ought to also confer with someone who knows the region.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/09/28/2010-09-28_a_strikeout_on_settlements_why_president_obamas_diplomacy_is_failing.html#ixzz10rmwxwnu
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/09/28/2010-09-28_a_strikeout_on_settlements_why_president_obamas_diplomacy_is_failing.html#ixzz10rmwxwnu
New Cybersecurity Bill Gives Obama ‘Power To Shut Down Companies’
Businesses who don’t follow government orders would be suspended for at least 90 days with no congressional oversight
Paul Joseph Watson
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
An amalgamated cybersecurity bill that lawmakers hope to pass before the end of the year includes new powers which would allow President Obama to shut down not only entire areas of the Internet, but also businesses and industries that fail to comply with government orders following the declaration of a national emergency – increasing fears that the legislation will be abused as a political tool.
Consumer confidence drops to lowest since Feb.
Email this StorySep 28, 10:31 AM (ET)
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
NEW YORK (AP) - Americans' view of the economy turned grimmer in September amid escalating job worries, falling to the lowest point since February.
The downbeat report, released Tuesday, raises more fears about the tenuous U.S. economic recovery. It also further underscores the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street; consumers' confidence fell further even as stocks rebounded in September.
The Conference Board, based in New York, said its monthly Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 48.5, down from the revised 53.2 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting 52.5.
The reading marked the lowest point since February's 46.4. It takes a reading of 90 to indicate a healthy economy - a level not approached since the recession began in December 2007.
Economists watch confidence closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity and is critical to a strong rebound.
"America is very close to a destructive tipping point," co-authors Glenn Hubbard and Peter Navarro warn in their new book Seeds of Destruction. "We must change how we conduct our politics and economics...or we will inevitably go the way of all once-great nations and suffer an irreversible decline." Hubbard, dean of Columbia Business School, joined Dan Gross and I to discuss the "major structural imbalances" facing America, chief among them being the government's profligate spending.
By Scott Malone
BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. chief executive officers' view of the economy darkened in the third quarter, with top executives saying they were less willing to hire new workers as they fear sales growth will slow.
The change in mood reported in a Business Roundtable survey on Tuesday bodes poorly for the tepid U.S. economic recovery, which has been held back by stubbornly high unemployment. The news was not entirely grim, though -- more CEOs expect to boost their capital spending over the next six months, a trend that reflects both strong corporate balance sheets and a desire to lift productivity.
"This is and will continue to be somewhat of a long and uneven recovery. We're not seeing a lot of major momentum develop here," said Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ - News), who also serves as chairman of the Roundtable. "Until we see aggregate demand start to materialize, hiring will continue to be on somewhat of a slower pace."
The downbeat report, released Tuesday, raises more fears about the tenuous U.S. economic recovery. It also further underscores the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street; consumers' confidence fell further even as stocks rebounded in September.
The Conference Board, based in New York, said its monthly Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 48.5, down from the revised 53.2 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting 52.5.
The reading marked the lowest point since February's 46.4. It takes a reading of 90 to indicate a healthy economy - a level not approached since the recession began in December 2007.
Economists watch confidence closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity and is critical to a strong rebound.
U.S. Economy "Close to a Destructive Tipping Point," Glenn Hubbard Says
Posted Sep 28, 2010 07:30am EDT by Aaron Task in Newsmakers, RecessionCEOs less willing to hire, sales a worry
By Scott Malone
BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. chief executive officers' view of the economy darkened in the third quarter, with top executives saying they were less willing to hire new workers as they fear sales growth will slow.
The change in mood reported in a Business Roundtable survey on Tuesday bodes poorly for the tepid U.S. economic recovery, which has been held back by stubbornly high unemployment. The news was not entirely grim, though -- more CEOs expect to boost their capital spending over the next six months, a trend that reflects both strong corporate balance sheets and a desire to lift productivity.
"This is and will continue to be somewhat of a long and uneven recovery. We're not seeing a lot of major momentum develop here," said Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ - News), who also serves as chairman of the Roundtable. "Until we see aggregate demand start to materialize, hiring will continue to be on somewhat of a slower pace."
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