Bush Privatize Tax Collection
Members of the National Treasury Employees Union, visiting Washington from around the country for an organizing meeting, paraded in front of the IRS on Constitution Avenue during the lunch-hour rally, hoisting signs and chanting slogans such as "Hey hey, ho ho, bounty hunters gotta go" and "Don't be fooled by White House lies, it's not wise to privatize."

Bush Plan to Sell Public Lands To Fund Schools
Forest Service officials and Western lawmakers battled Tuesday over an administration proposal that would sell national forest lands to help pay for a rural schools program, as the vital 30-day public comment period began.

Armed forces are put on standby to tackle threat of wars over water
Across the world, they are coming: the water wars. From Israel to India, from Turkey to Botswana, arguments are going on over disputed water supplies that may soon burst into open conflict.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 15,000 last week to 294,000, more than expected.
  

• Top executives of U.S. companies expect to see continued strength in the nation's economy over the next six months, especially in new hiring, according to a survey released by the Business Roundtable on Thursday
  

• The European Central Bank raised its interest rate from 2.25% to 2.50%.
  

• Retail sales in Germany were up 2.7% in January more than expected.
  

• Retail sales in Australia were up 0.8% in January.
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 171 billion cubic feet to 1.972 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are up 21% YoY.
  

• Silver futures closed above $10 an ounce Thursday, at the highest level in more than two decades, with traders upbeat about the prospects for a silver exchange-traded fund.

FOX Ratings In Free Fall - O'Reilly Leads The Way Down
As we all know, the media is rampant with sycophantic, corporate shills and can't be trusted to deliver a pizza. But an intersting trend is developing that ought to shake their confidence in the suck-up school of journalism.

Gonzales Seeks to Clarify Testimony on Spying
"It seems to me he is conceding that there are other NSA surveillance programs ongoing that the president hasn't told anyone about,"

Quick Overview

• U.S. Commerce Department said that Personal income increased 0.7 percent, consumer spending rose 0.9%.
  
  
  

• The average U.S. home increased 12.95% in value in 2005, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Wednesday.
  
  

• The ISM index rose to 56.7% in February from 54.8% in January -- more than expected.
  
  

• U.S. Construction spending was up 0.2% from December's pace.
  

• Australia's GDP was up 0.5% in the fourth quarter, weaker than expected. For 2005 the GDP was up 2.5%, the slowest in four years.
  

• The unemployment rate in the Euro zone remained at 8.3% in January. For the EU-25, the unemployment rate was 8.5%.
  

• Brazilian traders returned to work on Wednesday and lifted stocks to a record high on news that Standard & Poor's upgraded the country's credit rating -- the Real ended near a five-year high.
  

• YoY consumer prices in the Euro zone have increased 2.3% in February.
  

• Canada's industrial product price index rose 0.5% in January.
  

• The Chinese economy grew 9.9% in 2005, up from 9.5% in 2004.
  

• South Africa's GDP increased 4.9% in 2005, up from 4.5% in 2004.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 1.6 million barrels to 328.3 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 300,000 barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were down 2.1 million barrels.
  

• The International Sugar Organization estimates world sugar production in 2005-2006 at 149 million tons and total use at 151.2 million tons. Resulting in a production shortfall of 2.22 million tons -- larger than previous estimates.
  

• London copper inventories are at 115,275 tons.
  

Prodded to spend, China's consumers prefer to save

Fed Official Warns of Changes A top Federal Reserve official warned yesterday that the U.S. financial system is evolving faster than the ability of investors, lenders and regulators to evaluate and manage the risks involved

We Are All Killers..Until we stop flying
New fuel consumption figures for both fast passenger ships and ultra high-speed trains suggest that their carbon emissions are comparable to those of planes(22). What all this means is that if we want to stop the planet from cooking, we will simply have to stop travelling at the kind of speeds that planes permit.

Global credit ocean dries up
"There are several hundred billion dollars of positions in the carry trade that will be unwound as soon as they become unprofitable," said Stephen Lewis, an economist at Monument Securities. "When the Bank of Japan starts tightening we may see some spectacular effects. The world has never been through this before, so there is a high risk of mistakes."

Quick Overview

• The National Association of Realtors said resales of U.S. homes dropped 2.8% in January to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.56 million, the lowest in two years.
  
  

• The Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in February to 101.7 from a revised January 106.8.
  
  

• Chicago purchasing managers index fell to 54.9 in February from 58.5 in January.
  
  
  

• The U.S. Commerce Department said that U.S. GDP was up 1.6% in the fourth quarter, better than the previous estimate of 1.1%. For all of 2005, GDP increased 3.5%.
  
  

• Canada's GDP was up 0.6% in the fourth quarter and up 2.9% for 2005.
  

• YoY Consumer prices in the Euro zone were up 2.4% in January
  

• Industrial production in Japan was up 0.3% in January.
  
  

• YoY surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico rose 13.5% in December, the Department of Transport said.
  
  

• Argentina's jobless rate fell a full percentage point in the fourth quarter as the thriving economy continued to create new jobs.
  
  

• France Jan. Unemployment Rate rose to 9.6% vs. 9.5%.
  
  

• Australia Current Account Deficit for Q4 out at -14.4B AUD vs. -13.6B expected
  

• Newmont Mining (NEM) reported a drop in fourth quarter production despite high gold prices.
  
  

• Dow-Jones Newswires reported that Brazil is building 52 sugarcane mills to meet growing domestic and global demand for ethanol.
  

Neocons jump ship

Harper's Calls For Impeachment
“To take away the excuse,” he said, “that we didn't know.” So that two or four or ten years from now, if somebody should ask, “Where were you, Conyers, and where was the United States Congress?” when the Bush Administration declared the Constitution inoperative and revoked the license of parliamentary government, none of the company now present can plead ignorance or temporary insanity, can say that “somehow it escaped our notice” that the President was setting himself up as a supreme leader exempt from the rule of law.

Senator Feinstein's War-Profiteering
The Democrats aren’t just letting the Republicans get away with murder, however, some of them are also reaping the benefits of the Bush wars. We constantly hear about Dick Cheney’s ties to Halliburton and how his ex-company is making bundles off US contracts in Iraq. But what we don’t hear about is how Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and her husband are also making tons of money off the “war on terror”.

Venezuela Cautions U.S. It May Curtail Oil Exports The minister, Rafael Ramírez, said Venezuela, which is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and supplies more than 10 percent of American oil imports, could act in the face of what he described as aggression by the Bush administration

America's younger workers losing ground on income
From 2001 to 2004, median income fell 8 percent for householders under 35, a survey shows.

Quick Overview

• A survey by the National Association for Business Economics increased its estimate of first quarter U.S. GDP growth from an annual rate of 3.4% to 4.5%.
  
  
  

• New home sales fell 5% in January to the lowest level in a year, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Sales fell for the fourth time in six months during a balmy January, while the number of homes on the market hit a record high (Ed. Note: Right now, the number of homes on the market in the United States is 528,000) - the largest supply of homes in nine years. Sales are down four times in six months. December home sales rose 3.8%. Sales fell 7.0% in November, rose 7.7% in October, sank 2.0% in September and fell 7.1% in August.
  
  
  
  

• China should reduce the dollar share of its foreign exchange reserves because of the risks posed by the instability of the U.S. currency, influential economics professor Xiao Zhuoji said in an interview published on Monday.
  
  

• Hawkish comments by Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui last week fueled expectations the central bank will end its ultraeasy monetary policy around April.
  
  

• Canada's exports were up C$6.1 billion because of higher energy prices. Imports were up C$2.1 billion.
  
  

• YoY Japan's exports of cars, trucks and buses jumped 17.3% in January, rising for the sixth straight month.
  

• Intel Corp announced plans Tuesday to build a $300-million chip assembly and testing factory in southern Vietnam

Free speech, even if it hurts
Today, you may be imprisoned or fined for dissenting from the accepted Holocaust history in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland.

Cancelled home orders: Latest bubble prick?
Home builders are growing concerned about an increasing number of cancelled new home orders, which experts say could be a sign of an underlying weakness in the recent run in home prices.

Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.

U.S. to Pay Big Employers Billions Not to End Their Retiree Health Plans

Mr. Reed Consults With Padre Kino

Quick Overview

• Durable goods orders dove 10.2% in January from the previous month for the biggest drop in six years, led by a decline in commercial aircraft, the Commerce Department said Friday. Excluding transport, orders were up 0.6% on the month.
  

• The U.S. economy can cope if the Federal Reserve makes a "mistake" (they usually do) and raises interest rates too high, one of its top policy-makers said on Friday, in remarks implying he did not fear delivering more rate hikes.
  
  

• Brazil's economy posted a tepid fourth-quarter recovery after a third-quarter slump, ending the year on a weak note that slowed full-year 2005 economic growth to 2.3 percent, less than half that of the year before.
  
  

• The USDA said there were 12.110 million head of cattle on feed on February 1st, up 6.8% YoY. Placements in January were up 16% YoY. Marketing’s were up 2%.
  

• The USDA estimated this week's beef production at 443.4 million pounds, up 2.8% from a year ago. The USDA estimates pork production at 395.9 million pounds, down 0.2% from YoY.
  
  

• The Florida Citrus Processors said there were 92.7 million gallons of frozen orange juice concentrate in inventory on February 18th, down 35% YoY.
  
  

• London copper inventories are at 109,225 tons.
  
  

India spreads its net for gas, any gas

Families' budget squeezed by rising costs
From an economic point of view, core inflation — for now — isn't overly worrisome but it is "generating some angst within the Fed," said Sherry Cooper,

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims were down 20,000 last week to 278,000, signaling a stronger economy than expected.
  
  

• The Bank of Japan on Thursday sent the strongest signal yet of an imminent end to its ultraloose monetary policy, saying it would move quickly when prices recover steadily -- a trend it said was already beginning.
  
  

• Germany's Ifo index, increased from 101.8 to 103.3 in February, the highest reading in 14 years.
  

• The unemployment rate in Brazil climbed from 8.3% to 9.2% in January.
  

• Cotton mill use rose from an annual rate of 5.51 to 6.24 million bales in January.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil supplies were up 1.1 million barrels to 326.7 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 100,000 barrels.
  Supplies of heating oil were up 400,000 barrels.
  Supplies of underground natural gas were down 123 billion cubic feet last week to 2.143 trillion cubic feet.
  
  

• The World Gold Council said gold demand totaled 3,754 tons in 2005, up 7% YoY. YoY mine production was up 1% at 2,494 tons. The largest increas in demand came from India, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and China.
  

Quick Overview

• Following two months of downturns, the U.S. consumer prices rose 0.7% in January the most in a year, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Excluding food and energy costs, prices were up just 0.2%.
  
  

• Turkey is surrounded by 75% of the world’s known reserves of oil and gas. Long-term strategies plus recent developments are turning the country into an energy hub for the region.
  
  

• Canada's consumer price index rose 0.5% in January and up 2.8% YoY.
  

• Factory orders in the U.K. increased from -28 to -18 in February, more than expected.
  

• ED&F Man predicted that world cocoa production will be down 3% in 2005-2006, resulting in a production deficit of 221,000 tons.
  

• U.S. refineries want to end their use of MTBE as a gasoline additive and switch to ethanol, however the Department of Energy warned there may not be enough ethanol around.
  

Segway creator unveils his next act
Inventor Dean Kamen wants to put entrepreneurs to work bringing water and electricity to the world's poor.

Rising Risk of Epidemics Seen
“A good analogy to this is that we’re living through a mass extinction,” said Mark Woolhouse, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. “As lots of species are dying off through human action, human pathogens seem to be going through a bit of a reverse.”

Culture of Fear Attempting to avoid all risk is a recipe for technological and economic stagnation.

Quick Overview

• The Conference Board's U.S. index of leading indicators rose by 1.1% in January, to a record high of 140.1.
  

• A high-ranking Japanese banker urged the Bank of Japan on Tuesday to end its ultraloose monetary policy as quickly as possible and return to a "more normal" stance.
  

• Moody's Investors Service lowered General Motors Corp.'s debt rating further into "junk" territory Tuesday, citing doubt the company can set up competitive wages and benefits without filing for bankruptcy protection.
  

• Canada's index of leading indicators rose by 0.5% in January to 211.4.
  

• In January the U.K. posted a monthly budget surplus of 12.6 billion pounds. This is the largest surplus in thirteen years .
  

• The USDA said that, on January 31st, there were 61.3 million pounds of frozen bellies in storage, down 3% YoY. Frozen pork totaled 528.5 million pounds, up 6% YoY.
  

• The USDA said that, on January 31st, there were 1.064 billion pounds of frozen orange juice in U.S. cold storage, down 32% YoY.
  

• Dow-Jones Newswires reported that because of strong ethanol demand, Brazil will reduce ethanol in its gasoline from 25% to 20%.
  

Senior Lawyer at Pentagon Broke Ranks on Detainees

U.S. Rejects U.N. Report on GitmoThe United States, which is a member of the commission, has criticized the body itself for including members with poor human rights records.

China Rushes to Complete $100B Deal With Iran
China is hastening to complete a deal worth as much as $100 billion that would allow a Chinese state-owned energy firm to take a leading role in developing a vast oil field in Iran, complicating the Bush administration's efforts to isolate the Middle Eastern nation and roll back its nuclear development plans, according to published reports.

Senate Rejects Wiretapping Probe

Iraq economy falls below pre-war levels
Senator Conrad, citing the special inspector general, said almost all economic indices showed Iraq was better off before the US had invaded. Republicans, too, are sceptical of administration claims of progress. Senator Chuck Hagel told Ms Rice on Wednesday he believed the situation was getting worse.

Sea levels likely to rise much faster than was predicted
Scientists have found that many of the huge glaciers of Greenland are moving at an accelerating rate - dumping twice as much ice into the sea than five years ago - indicating that the ice sheet is undergoing a potentially catastrophic breakup.

Quick Overview

• The U.S. producer price index rose 0.3% in January and up 5.7% YoY. Excluding food and energy, prices were up .4% in January.
  
  

• The United States should focus on its global trade shortfall with the rest of the world and not solely on the two-way trade gap with China, the president of the Asian Development Bank said on Friday.
  
  

• Class 8 truck orders in North America are off to a roaring start in 2006, with January’s total reaching an all-time monthly high of 43,100 units.
  
  

• The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment dropped from 91.2 to 87.4 in February.
  

• Google Inc. on Friday criticized the Bush administration's demand to examine millions of its users' Internet search requests as a misguided fishing expedition that threatens to ruin the company's credibility and reveal its closely guarded secrets.
  
  

• Dow-Jones Newswire reported that the Ag Secretary of Minas Gerais said that 15% of his state's coffee crop has been lost to dry weather. Half of Brazil's coffee crop comes from the state of Minas Gerais.
  
  

• The International Copper Study Group said that in the first eleven months of 2005, world copper demand exceeded production by 154,000 tons – this with demand down 1% YoY and production up 4% YoY.
  
  

• Japan's GDP increased 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2005, more than expected. For calendar year 2005, real GDP was up 2.8%. Japan's latest economic growth figures show that prices, as measured by the GDP deflator, were still declining in the October-December quarter, prompting fresh calls for the Bank of Japan to weigh carefully any decision to end its ultraeasy policy.
  

• Wholesale sales in Canada were up 0.4% in December. For 2005, wholesale sales were up 5.4%. Retail sales at Canada's large retailers were up 1.4% in December and up 5.9% for all of 2005.
  

Australian bird flu vaccine on its way

Releasing early results of a clinical trial on a vaccine to combat the deadly virus, CSL (csl.ASX:) chief scientific officer Dr Andrew Cuthbertson said the company was confident it was safe and effective.

Japanese Putting All Their Energy Into Saving Fuel
"We're saving [$100] a day at city hall by shutting off the heat,"

EPA Revokes Gasoline-Additive Mandate
States no longer will have to add corn-based ethanol or MTBE to gasoline to fight pollution — a requirement that costs as much as 8 cents a gallon — under rules announced Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Amid China Threat US To Hold Mammoth Naval Operations In Pacific

Quick Overview

• The number of workers filing initial unemployment claims rose by 19,000 last week to 297,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
  
  

• U.S. Housing starts rose 15% in January, the biggest jump in 33 years, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
  
  

• The price of imported goods rose 1.3% in January, but just 0.2% excluding oil prices, the Labor Department said Thursday
  
  

• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's index of business activity increased from 3.3 to 15.4 in February, stronger than expected.
  

• Retail sales in the U.K. were down 1.3% in January, the biggest drop in over a year.
  

• Argentina's gross domestic product expanded 9.1 percent in 2005, its fastest in 13 years, as construction and agriculture led the economy to its third straight year of robust growth
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 102 billion cubic feet to 2.266 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are now up 24% from a year ago.
  

• The USDA Drought Monitor continues to show drought conditions in the south-central U.S., reaching up to South Dakota and Illinois.
  
  
  

• Up to 15 to 20% of the wheat belt (HRW) will be vulnerable Saturday morning to bitter arctic cold temperatures in areas where enough snow cover fails to develop. The main threat to the crop is in northern Kansas and southern Nebraska."
  

K Street keeps growing
Early returns on end-of-year revenues show strong growth all along Washington’s lobbying corridor

Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt
Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.

Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger
A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights.

Quick Overview

• Bernanke:
  Agrees some rate hikes may be needed.
  Inverted yield curve doesn't signal slowdown.
  Concerned about path of budget deficits.
  Economy less dependent on energy than in the past.
  Is in favor of using numeric inflation targets to improve the clarity and transparency of monetary policy.
  
  

• U.S. Industrial output fell 0.2 percent in January as warm weather slashed energy production at utilities by 10%.
  

• The New York Federal Reserve's index of regional manufacturing increased from 20.12 to 20.31 in February.
  
  
  

• Overall air cargo shipments rose 1.3% in December from a year earlier, but domestic shipments dipped, the Air Transport Association reported.
  
  

• The U.K.'s unemployment rate for October to December increased to 5.1% from 4.7%.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 4.9 million barrels last week to 325.6 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 2.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were down 700,000 barrels
  
  

• The Green Coffee Association said that U.S. coffee stocks were 4.95 million bags – up 282,693 bags.

U.S. federal government will give away $7 billion
Projections in the Interior Department's new budget estimate the federal government will permit the royalty-free pumping of $65 billion of oil and gas from federal land over the next five years, saving companies $7 billion, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Quick Overview

• U.S. retail sales were up 2.3% in January -- more than expected. Excluding autos, sales were up 2.2%.

• The Bush administration on Tuesday vowed tougher steps to make China play by global trade rules, including more enforcement staff and possible trade litigation.
  

• U.S. consumer confidence rose in the latest week, ABC News and The Washington Post said on Tuesday.
  

• The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise official interest rates again for the 15th consecutive time at its next meeting on March 27-28.
  

• London inventories of copper are at 105,450 tons
  

• YoY consumer prices in the U.K. were up 1.9% in January .
  

• In 2005, GDP increased 1.3% in the Euro zone and 1.6% in the EU-25.