New unemployment claims fell sharply the week before Christmas despite widespread weather problems that were putting a drag on business activity. Early numbers suggest that retail sales were up for November and December, justifying the increase in business inventory during the third quarter. This would be in line with the declining layoffs, if inventory sold as predicted as more production will be required in January.
The Federal Reserve is cutting its $85b per month QE3 bond buying program by $10b in January and this is causing bond interest rates to climb. But so far this has had no negative effect on the stock market that continues to set records. At $75b we're still talking about the better part of a trillion dollars a year in stimulus. Of course this is 'soft stimulus' that mostly ends up as bank balance sheet entries.
Bruce Enberg: The Jade Rabbit says, "Nǐ hǎo" (hello)
Pa. court reverses church official's conviction
A Roman Catholic church official who has been jailed for more than a year for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints had his landmark conviction reversed and was ordered released Thursday.
A three-judge Superior Court panel unanimously rejected prosecution arguments that Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official ever charged or convicted for the handling of clergy-abuse complaints, was legally responsible for an abused boy's welfare in the late 1990s.
Appeals Court: Saudi Arabia can be named as defendant in suit by 9/11 families
A New York federal appeals court has restored Saudi Arabia as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by thousands of people affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Former Florida Sen. Bob Graham, who co-chaired a joint congressional inquiry into the attacks, called the ruling a "very significant breakthrough," BrowardBulldog.org reported Tuesday.
Obama signs defense bill, criticizes Congress' Guantanamo restrictions
President Barack Obama Thursday signed legislation to fund the nation's defense, a measure that includes a small military pay raise and changes in how the military deals with sexual assault allegations.
Congress approved the legislation with bipartisan votes juse before ending its 2013 session last week.
The bill would provide about $625 billion for defense operations, slightly less than last year.
Most Americans say this Congress is worst in their lifetime
The current Congress is not only unproductive, but most Americans see it as the worst they've ever known, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Thursday.
Two-thirds said the 113th Congress, which left for the year last week, is the worst in their lifetime. Twenty-eight percent disagreed. Nearly three in four said this Congress has done nothing to deal with the nation's problems.
Christmas Day bombings in Iraq's capital kill 37
Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in three separate Christmas Day bombings in Baghdad, killing at least 37 people, officials said Wednesday.
In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church in the capital's southern Dora neighborhood, killing at least 26 people and wounding 38, a police officer said.
Earlier, two bombs ripped through a nearby outdoor market simultaneously in the Christian section of Athorien, killing 11 people and wounding 21, the officer said.
Alex Baer: A Little Something Under the Ol' Electron Tree
All I want for Christmas -- now that I have a range of functional teeth up front -- is a memory that's not a sieve. There's always some body part deserving of its own song as one ages, I suppose, and as the meaty vehicle we all find ourselves traveling in as humans starts to slowly unwind, hiccup, and fade.
However, this year, and every year, there are many other things I'd like to see slipped under the tree -- and under the radar of watchful and disapproving conservative forces. Contrary to wistful bumper stickers and erstwhile, old-fashioned sentiments, I'd like more than a helping of whirled peas, please.
A little basic economic fairness, say, from the money-go-rounders would be a nice holiday touch. A giant scoop would be even better, but I dare not wish for such miracles -- not even from the Christianity-espousing moneylenders long since seeped into the temples of our democratic discourse.
Cryptolocker ransomware has 'infected about 250,000 PCs'
A virulent form of ransomware has now infected about quarter of a million Windows computers, according to a report by security researchers.
Cryptolocker scrambles users' data and then demands a fee to unencrypt it alongside a countdown clock. Dell Secureworks said that the US and UK had been worst affected.
It added that the cyber-criminals responsible were now targeting home internet users after initially focusing on professionals.
EPA’s system of tracking pesticides harmful to honeybees, critics say
The honeybees that pollinate one-third of Americans’ daily diet are dying, and in the eyes of some environmentalists, one culprit may be a decades-old Environmental Protection Agency system.
The system, called “conditional registration,” is essentially a way to get pesticides on the market quickly. But to environmentalists and some experts, it has become too loose, letting potentially dangerous pesticides on the market, and letting some stay there too long.
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