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From: "Newsmax.com" <newsmax@reply.newsmax.com>
Date: January 20, 2013 9:41:02 PM GMT-06:00
To: "Bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com" <Bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com>
Subject: Obama's Attack Boosts Conservative Media; US Loses 'Happiest Country' Rank
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Insider Report from Newsmax.com
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Obama Attack 'Boosts Stature' of Conservative Media
2. Report: Plastic Bag Ban Endangers Health
3. Nation's Debt Will Hit Americans in 5 'Awful Ways'
4. US Slips Out of Top 10 'Happiest Countries'
5. Census Bureau: Net Mexican Immigration Has Halted
1. Obama Attack 'Boosts Stature' of Conservative Media
President Obama has launched a bizarre new attack on conservative media — blaming it for a big hole in his social life. But the attack only attests to his belief in the power of the right-wing press.
At his news conference on Monday, Jan. 14, Obama fielded a question from New York Times reporter Jackie Calmes citing criticism that Obama and his staff are too insular and he "doesn't socialize enough."
Obama responded: "I think there are a lot of Republicans at this point that feel that given how much energy has been devoted in some of the media that's preferred by Republican constituencies to demonize me, that it doesn't look real good socializing with me. Charlie Crist down in Florida I think testifies to that.
"And I think a lot of folks say, 'Well, you know, if we look like we're being too cooperative or too chummy with the president, that might cause us problems; that might be an excuse for us to get a challenge from somebody in a primary.'
"We invite folks from Congress over here all the time. Sometimes they don't choose to come, and that has to do with the fact that I think they don't consider the optics useful for them politically."
Washington Post blogger Erik Wemple observed: "Sounds like a whine. What opus from conservative medialand could possibly have prompted this charge?"
Wemple offers several suggestions, including a lengthy piece by the Washington Examiner in September, "The Obama You Don't Know," that presented a portrait of "a man quite unlike his image, not a visionary reformer but rather a classic Chicago machine pol who thrives on rewarding himself and his friends with the spoils of public office, and who uses his position to punish his enemies."
Wemple concludes: "Whether or not such stories irk the president, his remark boosts the stature of conservative media. He's saying that the prospect of censure from right-leaning media outlets weighs heavily enough on Republican lawmakers that they won't be seen hanging with the president. That's called power."
Editor's Note:
- ObamaCare: Massive New Rules Revealed for 2013
2. Report: Plastic Bag Ban Endangers Health
The ban on plastic grocery bags enacted in San Francisco and several other California communities has an unexpected side effect — an increase in food-borne illnesses, emergency room visits, and even deaths.
The culprit: the reusable grocery bags that shoppers use instead, which are breeding grounds for E. coli and other harmful bacteria, according to a new report by university researchers.
San Francisco County enacted a ban on non-compostable plastic bags at large grocery stores and drug stores in 2007, and extended it to all retail establishments in early 2012. Los Angeles followed suit in 2012, as did several other California communities including Malibu and Palo Alto.
The bans were designed to reduce litter and threats to marine life posed by discarded bags, and encourage the use of reusable grocery bags.
But studies "suggest that reusable grocery bags harbor harmful bacteria, the most important of which is E. coli," say Jonathan Klick, a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, and Joshua D. Wright, a professor at the George Mason University School of Law and Department of Economics.
"If individuals fail to clean their reusable bags, these bacteria may lead to contamination of the food transported in the bags. Such contamination has the potential to lead to health problems and even death."
Tests of randomly selected reusable grocery bags found coliform bacteria in 51 percent of them, and E. coli in 8 percent.
According to the researchers' report, which was released by the Social Science Research Network, most users did not use separate bags for meats and vegetables, 97 percent said they never washed their bags, and bacteria appeared to grow at a faster rate when the bags were stored in car trunks.
When the researchers analyzed data related to E. coli infections, the results were troubling: "The San Francisco County ban is associated with a statistically significant and particularly large increase in ER visits for E. coli infections," they said — a rise of at least 25 percent.
In addition, "the San Francisco County ban is associated with a 46 percent increase in deaths from food-borne illnesses."
Their conclusion: "We find that both deaths and ER visits spiked as soon as the ban went into effect.
"Conservative estimates of the costs and benefits of the San Francisco plastic bag ban suggest the health risks they impose are not likely offset by environmental benefits."
Editor's Note:
3. Nation's Debt Will Hit Americans in 5 'Awful Ways'
Politicians in Washington are once again squabbling over raising the debt ceiling even though the national debt already stands at $16.4 trillion — or $52,000 for each of America's 333 million people.
"Although the government won't send each of us a bill for $52,000, Americans will pay the debt in five increasingly awful ways," two economists observe in an op-ed piece for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The first is a cut in public services. The federal government currently pays interest on the debt equal to 17 cents out of every dollar it collects. That figure will likely rise to 25 cents within the next 10 years, lowering the amount the government can spend on public services.
The second way Americans will pay for the debt is in delayed retirement and lower wages, according to Antony Davies, an associate professor of economics at Duquesne University and an affiliated senior scholar at the Mercatus Center, and James R. Harrigan, a fellow of the Institute of Political Economy at Utah State University.
Due to the debt, the Federal Reserve will be under pressure to keep interest rates low to control interest expenses. Low rates mean seniors can't afford to retire because their investment savings earn low returns, and this increases competition for jobs and lowers wages for younger workers.
The third way is obvious: higher taxes.
The fourth is inflation due to the Federal Reserve's need to print money to cover government expenses. This "quantitative easing" causes inflation and requires Americans to pay more for everything they buy.
Finally, debt would ultimately lead to cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits. There are precedents: Beginning in 1983, many seniors were required to pay income tax on their Social Security benefits, and in 2000 Congress raised the retirement age for the first time.
The authors conclude: "The $16 trillion debt is as serious as a heart attack" and Americans will pay "because our government lives beyond our means."
Editor's Note:
4. US Slips Out of Top 10 'Happiest Countries'
For the first time, the United States does not rank in the top 10 of the Legatum Institute's annual ranking of the World's Happiest Countries.
The country ranked No. 10 last year in Legatum's Prosperity Index, which has been computed for the past six years, but this year the United States ranks No. 12.
The Prosperity Index is based on a study of 142 countries. Nations are ranked on 89 indicators in eight categories including Economy, Governance, Education, Health, Personal Freedom, and Entrepreneurship & Opportunity.
"In general, the most prosperous (thus 'happiest' in my book) countries enjoy stable political institutions, a strong civil society with freedom of expression, good education and healthcare, personal freedom, and a feeling of being safe and secure," observes Christopher Helman on Forbes.com.
The United States slipped to No. 12 in the Entrepreneurship & Opportunity category "due to a decline in citizens' perception that working hard gets you ahead," the Legatum's report states.
America ranks only 27th in Safety & Security and 20th in Economy, but No. 2 in Health and No. 5 in Education. Its rank for Personal Freedom is 14th.
Luxembourg is the healthiest nation, Iceland the safest, and Switzerland is tops in the Economy and Governance categories. But the No. 1 spot overall goes to Norway, which ranks among the top six in seven categories and is No. 1 or No. 2 in three of them.
Norway has a per capita GDP of $57,000 a year; 95 percent of Norwegians say they are satisfied with the freedom to choose the direction of their lives; and 74 percent say other people can be trusted.
The No. 2 spot goes to Denmark, which is tops for Entrepreneurship & Opportunity, followed by Sweden, Australia, New Zealand (which has the No. 1 spot in the Education category), Canada (No. 1 in Personal Freedom), Finland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the United States.
At the bottom of the rankings at No. 142, the "saddest" country is the Central African Republic, where the per capita GDP is $790 a year and life expectancy is 48 years. The country ranks dead last in Education and next to last in Entrepreneurship & Opportunity.
The next lowest ranking goes to Republic of Congo — last in Health and Entrepreneurship & Opportunity — followed by Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Haiti.
Among other countries, Iran is No. 102, Mexico is No. 61, Iraq is No. 131, Israel is No. 40, and China is No. 55.
The most dangerous country on earth? Chad, which ranks No. 142 in the Safety & Security category.
Yemen ranks last in Personal Freedom, although several countries including North Korea were not included in the rankings.
Editor's Note:
5. Census Bureau: Net Mexican Immigration Has Halted
Immigration to the United States is down sharply from the levels of 1982 to 2007, and equaled just 0.6 percent of the 2010 population in the last two years, according to new data from the Census Bureau.
Immigration topped 1 percent of the 2010 population only in New Jersey, New York, and Florida, and was only slightly above the national average in California. In Arizona, with its enforcement of anti-illegal immigrant laws, immigration was actually down.
The Bureau reports that net Mexican immigration has halted, and California is likely getting more Asian immigrants than Hispanics.
Most immigrants in recent years have been going to just a few metropolitan areas — New York, Miami, Orlando, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
Nationally, the excess of U.S. births over deaths, 3.3 million, was nearly double the number of immigrants, 1.8 million, in the last two years.
The Census Bureau estimates that the country has grown from 308 million when the last census was conducted in April 2010 to nearly 313 million in the middle of last year, for a growth rate of about 1.7 percent.
Among the states, the fastest growth has been in North Dakota, 4 percent, thanks to the boom in shale oil production, although the District of Columbia has a higher growth rate, 5.1 percent.
After North Dakota, the fastest-growing state is Texas, where the population rose 3.6 percent and accounted for 18 percent of all American population growth.
Utah and Colorado also grew by more than 3 percent.
Two states lost population in the past two years — Rhode Island and Michigan, although Michigan appears to be rebounding in the last year, notes Michael Barone, a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner who reviewed the Census Bureau figures.
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Illinois suffered the largest outflow of people, more than 1 percent of their 2010 populations. Barone observes: "People evidently aren't enamored of their high (and in Connecticut and Illinois, increased) tax rates."
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Editor's Note:
Editor's Notes:
- ObamaCare: ObamaCare: Massive New Rules Revealed for 2013
- Prostate Size Can Greatly Affect Quality of Life and Sleep. What Size Is Yours? See This Photo.
- Robbed — Secret 'Financial War' Will Wipe Out Your Wealth, Warns Pentagon Adviser
- Flu Epidemic Hits U.S. — What You Need to Know About Flu Shots
- Average Middle-Class Paycheck Drops $3,700
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