Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Quick Hits - November 16, 2011

Starting with OccupyWallStreet...

A NY Court ruled yesterday in favor of NYC and the owners of Zuccotti Park saying that they could restrict access to the park for tents and overnight sleeping.  Legal representatives for the OWS movement in NYC took the City to court to stop the NYPD eviction of the demonstrators from where they had been squatting for nearly two months.  A liberal Judge issued a temporary restraining order on the City, but the afternoon ruling by a different Judge supported the city's action. 

In Toronto and in London, local police began to attach eviction notices to the tents in each of those city's Occupy movement locations.  London's is in the plaza outside of St. Paul's Cathedral - which has been closed as a result of the Occupy movement.  This follows Portland, OR and Oakland, CA sending in police to clear out the Occupy movement squatters from public spaces in those cities earlier in the week.  In Los Angeles, which has the distinction of being an Occupy movement that received the official endorsement of the City Council, rumors are of negotiations underway for their departure from the South Lawn of City Hall. 

James Downie of the Washington Post opines that the actions of Mayor Bloomberg are the beginnings of a police state.  This is a pathetic argument particularly considering some of the demands made by OWS are far closer to a police state. 

The National Review has an interesting look at the very radical background of the OWS legal team...matches their clients.

Recent actions of President Obama and his Administration continue to reverberate throughout the media...

On the topic of the Crony Capitalism, newly released emails show that Administration officials pressured Solyndra to delay their planned layoffs in 2010 until after the 2010 Midterm elections in order to prevent the layoffs to be used a political tool against the Administration.

The Administration decision to punt / delay any decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until the 1st Quarter of 2013 also continues to have ramifications.   Rather than risk alienating a key element of his base going into the 2012 Presidential election, the President decided to not only cost this country jobs, but offend a valued ally.  David Wilkins, the former US Ambassador to Canada noted that President Obama passed up 20,000 jobs to protect one job, his own.

The Administration is hoping that this decision will encourage the hard core / hard left environmentalists who actively supported the President in 2008 will provide the same level of support in 2012 to assist on his reelection.

Here's a good piece that summarizes the Keystone project - and a compelling argument why the US should welcome oil from Canada's oil sands.

Insider trading by Government officials and advisers remains a big story in the wake of the disclosure of the practice by the book, Throw Them All Out and the 60 Minutes report.  Obama economic advisor and multi-billionaire Warren Buffett was part of the team that helped the Administration define bailout rules and it turns out he made massive profits from trading based on his insider knowledge.  Somehow, I don't think this DoJ or SEC will be giving Buffett or any of those who did this in Congress (from both parties) the Martha Stewart treatment.

The Eurozone crisis over Greece is rapidly heating up again...2 of the 3 major party leaders supporting the new Greek coalition government have rejected calls to sign on to the strict EU reforms being demanded of Greece as a condition for the latest bailout.  Without making these reforms, the EU will not provide Greece with the billions it needs to avoid bankruptcy - which could take place within the next 30 days.

Big Peace's World View for 16 November highlights that bond prices in countries across Europe plummeted on Tuesday, pushing bond yields to crisis levels.  With this, the crisis is clearly expanding well beyond just the PIIGS.  Only German seems outside these effects as decades of socialistic approaches to governance and economics come due.

Speaking of Greece, economic turmoil, austerity measures, and bailouts, California is moving closer to it's own day of reckoning.  California's credit lines are drawn down 85% - and the budget crisis continues to expand as revenues run well below projections while expenditures are running above projections. 

Kings County and two of it's residents have filed a lawsuit against the California High Speed Rail Authority in an effort to stop the use of Proposition 1A funds for the program.  This is in the wake of the latest estimates that the project will cost about $100 billion, take 23 years to complete, and will require billions that the state does not have.

Wrapping up for today, check out the latest entry from Lawhawk on the Rebuilding of Ground Zero...

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