Economy

Boost in Food-Stamp Funding Percolates Through Economy
DAVENPORT, Iowa -- The lush red strawberries caught the attention of Rachel Patrick, a mother of five shopping at a farmers market along the Mississippi River here. She selected two cartons and ignited a little-noticed chain reaction that is an important

BBC Report: Chinese Babies Stolen; "Sold"
The BBC is reporting that dozens of Chinese babies have been forcefully taken from their parents by the government and sent into the international adoption system. The report–which I couldn’t find any trace of elsewhere–suggests that families breaking th

Organic foods may not be
There is an old Latin saying: "Caveat emptor", translated as "Let the buyer beware." Where food labeled as "USDA Organic" is concerned, this old adage is a good warning. Consumers, who pay significantly higher prices in many instances for organic foods, a

Residents find family help from Angel Food Ministries
Feeding a family of four for an entire week on may sound like a nearly impossible task, but one local congregation is partnering with a national ministry to make sure that is exactly what can happen. First Baptist Church in Marshalltown recently st

School’s Out, but Many Will Get Free Meals
REGULAR classes at the Greater Brunswick Charter School in New Brunswick, N.J., ended June 25, but many students and their families will continue to stop by each week this summer to collect two bags of free groceries — pasta, rice, tomato sauce, canned tu

Is organic food better? There's growing evidence
As production of organic foods is rising about 20 percent a year, farmers markets are crowded and even mainstream grocery stores carry organic produce. Organics are moving beyond the fad stage, Jim Riddle says. They are here to stay because they are of

Speaker-Rep. James Traficant, Jr. (Ohio) addressing the House:
"Mr. Speaker, we are here now in chapter 11.. Members of Congress are official trustees presiding over the greatest reorganization of any Bankrupt entity in world history, the U.S. Government. We are setting forth hopefully, a blueprint for our future. Th

'Food, Inc.': The Unsavory Business of Feeding America
By Ann Hornaday Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, June 19, 2009 In the muckraking tradition of Upton Sinclair and the slick documentary stylings of "An Inconvenient Truth," Robert Kenner's "Food, Inc." seeks to lift the curtain on the cynical and o

International Report Predicts Decade of High Food Prices
A report released in Paris says international food prices will likely remain high during the next decade, although they will probably not hit the heights that sparked riots last year. Experts also say the prices will have a mixed impact in developing coun

Finding Purpose in Serving the Needy, Not Just Haute Cuisine
RICHMOND, Calif. — Along with salt and pepper, the well-used kitchen contains a dash of wisdom. In the jostling hubbub of Tim Hammack’s kitchen at the Bay Area Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter in an eddy of urban need, it is about taking life as it come

Are YOU a slave?
What you learn here is far more than to simply eliminate debt, as important as that is. Still more important is to know who you really are and to stop letting the Money Power machines run your life and the life of your family and friends. That's what I me

Food bank provides emergency resources in Silver Point
"I've worked in aerospace. I have a college degree. I am half-way through a masters degree. But I don't have a job and I don't have money for food. I can't believe I'm the recipient of a food drive, but I'm so grateful for it. I can eat tonight." The

The Only Two Reasons to Own Gold
I always get a real kick out of hearing that “the consumer is 70 percent of the economy,” mostly because it gives me a chance to heap ridicule and scorn on whoever said it, and I say that the consumer is 100 percent of the economy! One CAN say that, wi

Desperate Russians won't turn up their noses at expired food
Retirees, living on limited pensions, forage Moscow back alleys for the best deals on past-their-prime, even slightly rotten or moldy, goods. They say these days they're competing with bigger crowds. Reporting from Moscow -- The cheeses are spotted wit

Out of work pilots: 'Will fly for food'
SEATTLE -- Two out-of-work Seattle-area pilots have tweaked the panhandler's refrain to "Will Fly for Food." Thirty-four-year-old Chris Campbell of Seattle and 35-year-old Steffen Schmidt of Snohomish stood Thursday along a main commuter route into dow

Depression-era chronicle shows a squirrelly food pyramid
If you live by the government's nutritional guidelines, you sat down this morning to a breakfast of protein and fiber - maybe juice, whole grain cereal, and low-fat milk. If, however, you were rushed like a lot of Americans, you pulled into a fast-food

1940's Secret "Corporate" Tactic By Which Government Took All!
It started in the mid 40's and grew into what we have in government now seventy years later come 2009. Government started out as a "pay as you go" structure. By transforming into a corporate liability company over the decades, this gave them the abilit

Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?
For most of us, the idea that civilization itself could disintegrate probably seems preposterous. Who would not find it hard to think seriously about such a complete departure from what we expect of ordinary life? What evidence could make us heed a warnin

New standards could cut tax breaks for corn-based ethanol
Reporting from Washington -- The Obama administration proposed draft rules on Tuesday that could handicap producers of corn-based ethanol, a move that cheered environmentalists worried about global warming and sets the stage for an outcry from Midwest gra

Mississippi Farmers Trade Cotton Plantings for Corn
Farmers working land that has bloomed a dazzling snowy white every September since before the Civil War are switching to corn and soybeans. As gleaming silver corn silos go up on farm after farm, cotton gins are laying off workers or shutting down.

Day 1 of Chrysler's ‘surgical’ bankruptcy begins
NEW YORK - Attorneys for Chrysler LLC will ask a federal bankruptcy judge Monday to let the ailing automaker start using a new infusion of .5 billion in loans from the Treasury Department so it can operate under bankruptcy protection. At a hearing Fr

Food Stamps Create Jobs… in India
Michele Brown has seen Americans' struggles with jobs first hand. She lives in hard-hit Florida, spent 20 years in the real estate business and recently had her days as a nanny cut back after her boss had his own hours reduced.

Will California Shuck Corn Ethanol?
California regulators have apparently discovered it ain't easy being green. The California Air Resources Board began two days of hearings in Sacramento on Thursday on a proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard which considers the carbon intensity of fuels during

Carnival barkers? No, U.S. sellers hawking homes
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Not satisfied with your home purchase as the value plummets? No problem. Return it and get your money back. That is what Rockrose Development Corporation is promising potential buyers of hundreds of condominiums in New York, as sel

Crisis Plunges US Middle Class into Poverty
The financial crisis in the US has triggered a social crisis of historic dimensions. Soup kitchens are suddenly in great demand and tent cities are popping up in the shadow of glistening office towers. Even drug dealers are feeling the pinch.

Food Firms Cook Up Ways to Combat Rare Sales Slump
CAMDEN, N.J. -- The packaged-food industry has long touted itself as recession-proof. Strapped consumers are shattering that assumption, setting off a frenzy in the nation's supermarket aisles and cooking labs. In the last quarter of 2008, consumer spe

Carbon trading won't stop climate change
ONE day renewable energy looks like a sunrise industry, the next, tumbleweeds are blowing around a setting solar panel. What has changed? The price of emitting carbon dioxide. In 2005 the European Union created the world's first proper carbon market, t

Economic survivalists take root
When the economy started to squeeze the Wojtowicz family, they gave up vacation cruises, restaurant meals, new clothes and high-tech toys to become 21st-century homesteaders.

Pentagon preps for economic warfare
The Pentagon sponsored a first-of-its-kind war game last month focused not on bullets and bombs — but on how hostile nations might seek to cripple the U.S. economy, a scenario made all the more real by the global financial crisis. The two-day event nea

Tax Day protests not media's cup of tea
The mainstream media provided extensive coverage of the protests surrounding California's ban on same-sex "marriage," but appears to be virtually ignoring the grassroots "TEA parties" that are drawing huge crowds across the country. One conservative media

Southeast growers ponder future with little history for guidance
In my job I get to meet a lot of interesting people, mostly farm people, many come from a farming legacy. Being a fourth or fifth generation farmer is common and farming land that has been in their family over a hundred years is not too uncommon. Moder

Recession closes in on chicken farmers
Reporting from Siler City, N.C. -- Four years ago, Andrew Meeks literally bet the farm on chickens. Now he fears he made a losing bet. His three massive chicken houses are empty, and a "For Sale" sign has sprouted out front. Meeks, a contract chicken f

Warren Buffett takes charge
Warren Buffett hasn't just seen the car of the future, he's sitting in the driver's seat. Why he's banking on an obscure Chinese electric car company and a CEO who - no joke - drinks his own battery fluid. Warren Buffett is famous for his rules of inve

Chinese taste for fried food may keep vegetable oils hot despite slump
Permanently changed diets in China and the world's unrelenting appetite for fried food may defy the global recession and trigger a “stagflation” surge in the price of edible oils, commodity traders in Asia have said. Fears are growing that food oil mar

Mexico tariffs hurt California farmers
California agricultural groups, stung by retaliatory tariffs resulting from a U.S. trucking dispute with Mexico, are stepping up pressure on the Obama administration to quickly resolve a budding trade war that could cost them more than 0 million this y

Benefits widen public, private workers' pay gap
The pay gap between government workers and lower-compensated private employees is growing as public employees enjoy sizable benefit growth even in a distressed economy, federal figures show. Public employees earned benefits worth an average of .38 a

Chinese drywall poses potential risks
PARKLAND, Fla. – At the height of the U.S. housing boom, when building materials were in short supply, American construction companies used millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap. Now that decision is haunting hund

10 ways the new economy will look different
Cooke & Co. was the Bear Stearns of its time, a pillar of national finance. If it could fail, anyone could, and the US stock market collapsed that awful autumn. The price of real estate, railroads, and other hard assets crashed, too. Banks fell like w

Nonprofit Wash. farm produces tons of food
TACOMA, Wash. -- Otis Jackson Jr. of Parkland celebrated his 21st birthday by touching a horse. Jackson was a member of a Pierce County District Court work crew working to satisfy a community service requirement at the nonprofit Mother Earth Farm near

Obama in a Pear Tree
Still think trade protectionism is good policy? Tell it to fruit growers in the Northwest, who are already feeling the bite of President Obama's decision to appease the Teamsters union and bar Mexican trucks from U.S. highways. Mr. Obama acquiesced in

Open house, anyone? 1 in 9 homes sit empty
CHANDLER, Ariz. — The white notice taped to the front window of a luxury home in the Vasaro subdivision is a telltale sign. "Bank-owned," says real estate agent John Groves, without skipping a beat. There are other clues. Dirt where a lush lawn shou

Report: Ethanol raises cost of nutrition programs
WASHINGTON (AP) — The increased use of ethanol could cost the government up to 0 million for food stamps and child nutrition programs, a congressional report says. Higher use of the corn-based fuel additive accounted for about 10 percent to 15 percent

Hero of Our Times
Just for the hell of it, I made myself a martini when I got home earlier tonight. I'm not much of a mixed drinks guy. A shot of whiskey and a cold beer are the usual for me. Still, there are times when you need to walk past the neighborhood bar and off to

Just 53% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism
Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.

Author who predicted crisis sees inflation ahead
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An author who saw the global financial crisis coming fears the next bubble will come in the form of inflation and has little confidence U.S. President Barack Obama's team is up to the challenge ahead. "The Democrats have replaced t

Solution To Drought: It's In The Genes
California is short of more than jobs, money and optimism these days. Several years of drought have dried up reservoirs, parched fields, damaged forests and caused regulators around the state to impose restrictions on water usage. California agricul

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world
1. What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become too big to fail. Evolution in economic life helps those with the maximum amount of hidden risks – and hence the most fragile – become the biggest.

A Long Row to Hoe: Obama's ill-fated effort to cut subsidies to wealthy farmers
At least someone is getting a bonus this year. Bankers may be out of luck, and things aren't looking too good for autoworkers, but boy howdy, things are right as rain down on the farm. Food prices are holding fairly steady, energy costs are low. And ev

Making do making milk / Rising costs squeeze dairy farms, but quitting is no simple solution
WEST HAVEN -- Got milk? Kerry Gibson does. He's just not getting paid much for it. Gibson is one of many dairy farmers in Utah losing money every day by trying to make a living. At Gibson's Green Acres farm in West Haven, the state representative

Pentagon spends 0 million to fix cyber attacks
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon says it spent at least 0 million in the last six months responding to and repairing damage from cyber attacks and other network problems.

Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing
A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money. Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

Geithner's 'Dirty Little Secret'
The 'dirty little secret' which Geithner is going to great degrees to obscure from the public is very simple. There are only at most perhaps five US banks which are the source of the toxic poison that is causing such dislocation in the world financial sys

Farm state Nebraska is "happiest" in U.S.

Fannie, Freddie plan to give out bonuses totaling 0M
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) plan to pay more than 0 million in bonuses through next year to give workers the incentive to stay in their jobs at the government-controlled companies.

Dark chocolate price jump may melt sales gains
Dark chocolate sales jumped 35 percent, to 9 million between February 2007 and February 2008, while all other chocolate sales inched up 1.5 percent, to .8 billion, according to Nielsen Co. And because dark chocolate contains a higher concentration of

Lenders slash credit for responsible borrowers
As lenders close a record number of credit card accounts and slash credit lines, they're targeting an unlikely population: responsible borrowers. A new study by Fair Isaac, the creator of the FICO credit score, shows that 11% of U.S. consumers, about

Angel Food Ministries provides help in tough economic times
In today’s struggling economy, everyone is looking a bargain especially when it comes to grocery shopping and feeding our families. A local church has stepped up to the plate and is providing a service to the local community through its Angel Food Mini

Cooking up a new career in the food industry
It’s all about food lately. Culinary shows like “Top Chef” and “Hell’s Kitchen” are all the rage. Tainted peanuts have us worried about what we eat and how to make it better. Books such as “The Omnivore's Dilemma” and “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”

Modern cattle rustlers update Wild West ways
Otto Dwaine Hendricks is a character out of the Old West transplanted to the 21st century, to hear the police tell it. The Dade County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department says Hendricks is a cattle thief, responsible for making off with tens of thousands of dol

U.S. Debtor Meets G20 Creditors at the Dollar’s Funeral
Perhaps it was a grand error of judgment to host the G20 Meeting in London. The epicenter of the financial hegemony, corruption, hidden agency influence, and financial market destruction has clearly been the United States and the United Kingdom working in

Ho-hum – The Collapse of the Dollar
Recently, the news has been rife with reports of the imminent collapse of the dollar. Now, I would have guessed that this story would be of inordinate interest – especially to Americans. What it means, fundamentally, is that their dollars are going

House, Senate poised to adopt budget
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's allies in the Senate on Thursday voted down an alternative plan by Sen. John McCain to boost the Pentagon budget and spare wealthier people from paying higher taxes.

'Ontario residents only' at Tent City
Dozens of Ontario police and code enforcement officers descended upon the homeless encampment known as Tent City early Monday, separating those who could stay from those to be evicted. Many who had taken shelter at the camp -- which had grown from 20 t

Commodities subject to laws of supply, demand
Unlike financial assets, commodities, for the most part, are subject to the laws of economic gravity -- supply and demand. Higher prices, for example in oil, led to a sharp reduction in demand as people lowered consumption or used substitutes. Falling pr

U.N. 'Climate Change' Plan Would Likely Shift Trillions to Form New World Economy
A United Nations document on "climate change" that will be distributed to a major environmental conclave next week envisions a huge reordering of the world economy, likely involving trillions of dollars in wealth transfer, millions of job losses and gains

Cities and States Plan Strange New Taxes on Pretty Much Everything
Even as taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet in a crumbling, tumbling economy, your friendly neighborhood (and state and federal) government is having a hard time making do with the meager trillions you're throwing its way, so it's relying on an old

Maple syrup-makers strike gold
FAIRFIELD, Vt. — The spring sun is shining and billows of steam are rising from the chimneys at Tom and Cecile Branon's sugarhouse, set on a rise above acres of maple trees. The scent of maple syrup is strong enough to make your mouth water. The price is

Will the Dark Cloud of Commercial Real Estate Blot Out the U.S. Recovery?
While this is hardly a portrait of an economy on a roll, there are enough bright spots to nurture a feeling that the U.S. economy is finally on a path to recovery - especially given the upbeat response the latest elements of the Obama administration’s fix

The Three Ways China May Deal With Growing U.S. Debt
“We have lent a huge amount of money to the United States,” Premier Wen said. “Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little bit worried. I request the U.S. to maintain its good credit, to honor its prom

Researchers Weigh In on Debate About Affordability of Highly-Nutritious Food
Researchers at the University of California – Davis and the University of Washington tested their hypothesis that lower-cost diets among low-income women would be higher in calories but lower in nutrients. Their tests concluded that the more energy-dense

A bumper crop of food gardens
WASHINGTON: More than a third of Americans, including First Lady Michelle Obama, are working the hoe at home, keen to grow their own tomatoes, cucumbers and beans. According to the National Gardening Association, home vegetable gardens are sprouting ac

A Vegetable Garden Grows at the White House
Earlier this month, Michelle Obama and twenty-three schoolchildren helped prepare the ground for an organic vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House. The first lady showed the young gardeners how to turn the soil for the one hundred square me

Geithner-Krugman Feud Comes To A Head On Sunday Shows (VIDEO)
"It's a plan to rearrange the deck chairs and hope that that keeps us from hitting the iceberg," the Nobel Prize-winning economist said of Geithner's bank plan. "They've done some things very fast, but they've been very small things ... There's no way thi

The Question Tim Geithner Refuses To Answer
Each of the financial institutions that Geithner is desperate to bail out has tens or hundreds of billions of dollars that could be used to cover losses before the taxpayer had to cough up a dime. And with the exception of Lehman Brothers (and, now, Gener

Hunger lives here
When most people think of “the hungry,” they tend to think of those in poor, third-world countries. Or the homeless. Or poor people who live “somewhere else.” In reality, millions of Americans are going hungry in every community in the country. Familie

Oklahoma City food bank hopes to save more pets
Many people consider their pets part of the family, but Oklahoma City’s animal advocates are worried about what happens when finances are tight and the choice is to feed the kids or feed the dog. Their solution: a pet food bank. Just like traditional

Mobile Food Bank Begins Operation
UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio — A social services agency is operating a new mobile food pantry for southeast Ohio. Unemployment runs as high as 15 percent in some southeast Ohio counties, and many residents do not have access to nearby food pantries. "So ma

Fed's Plosser: Economic outlook "pretty ugly"
He said that there had been discussion of going to Congress to seek authority for the Fed to issue its own debt, which could be used to help shrink its balance sheet, but he would prefer to remove liquidity in a more "traditional fashion." "There are a

Ask the World Bank President
Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, and a man who believes that 2009 will be a “dangerous year”, will be speaking on March 31st and has agreed to take questions from Reuters readers. Zoellick has been outspoken during the current economic cri

U.S. donates dairy surplus to schools, food programs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will shift 0 million worth of surplus dry milk into school lunches and food donations to help poor people, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday. With unemployment on the rise, a record 31.8 mi

Second Harvest Food Bank Joining Forces with Food City
Every month, the Second Harvest Food Bank provides food for about 29,000 people in Northeast Tennessee. And to keep the pantries stocked, Second Harvest is again joining forces with Food City and the Junior Leagues of Bristol, Johnson City and Kingsport t

Food costs: Prices starting to get reined in
While prices may still seem painfully high in the supermarket aisles, long-suffering consumers are beginning to see a break in their grocery bills—a bit of good news amid economic gloom. Falling raw material costs coupled with a feeble economy have cur

Jobless claims tally rises to a new record
WASHINGTON - The number of laid-off Americans filing initial jobless benefit claims rose slightly last week while the number of people continuing to claim benefits set a record for the ninth straight week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The figure

for a cup of coffee? Use debit card wisely
Would you pay for a cup of coffee? Clifford Phillips of Spokane, Wash., did. He used his debit card to pay for a latte, not knowing there wasn’t enough money in his checking account to cover it. The bank could have declined the transaction for insuffi

Steep vet bills, sour economy doom more pets
“You could tell the leg was broken,” recalled Yount, 38, a mother of three from Bloomsdale, Mo., who found her dog in a ditch three weeks ago. But when Yount got the bill to repair Daisy’s injuries — a fractured pelvis and a shattered tibia — she knew

Shaky economy forces Americans to rediscover community
(CNN) -- Leslie Gage knew it was coming, but that didn't take away the pain. She was working as an architect for a small company in Atlanta, Georgia, when the company's founder asked her into his office. He took off his glasses and rubbed his hand agai

The Yarrow gives marrow to food bank
The band Van Halen used to infamously demand M&M's be provided backstage, with all of the brown candies removed. Local band The Yarrow will take M&M's -- even the brown ones -- but would rather receive canned food backstage. That's because the ro

National Service Corps Bill Clears Senate Hurdle
Following overwhelming House passage last week, the Senate tonight voted 74 to 14 on a procedural move that essentially guarantees a major expansion of a national service corps... Tonight’s vote, propelled by President Obama’s urging of an expansion,

Hennecke: Trillion Dollar Bailouts Will Lead To Destruction Of Western Currencies
“The budget deficit is already out of control, we might be talking about trillion U.S. dollars, which is 20 per cent of GDP, which is absolutely staggering,” said Hennecke, reiterating that easy money was what caused the problems in the first place. “

Commentary: Time for another tea party?
NEW YORK (CNN) -- There is a chill wind blowing across this land of ours. People are losing faith in their ability to realize the American dream. While AIG pays out 5 million in bonuses to people who arguably contributed to the need for the federal

Commentary: Legalize drugs to stop violence
Prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground. This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead. Violence was common in the alcohol in

Smart Goop
It would be safe to assume that there’s nothing much left to be said about Gwyneth Paltrow’s self-appointed role as America’s holistic adviser. After all, what’s not to trash about a glamorous actress who fixates on having the cleanest GI tract south of 1

GAO study: Fraudulent fish easily slip into the food stream
Sometimes excessive amounts of water, ice or breading are added to increase weight, sometimes seafood is shipped through an intermediate country to avoid customs duties, and sometimes packages are labeled as containing more seafood than they actually do,

Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?
AS tens of thousands of people recently strolled among booths of the nation’s largest organic and natural foods show here, munching on fair-trade chocolate and sipping organic wine, a few dozen pioneers of the industry sneaked off to an out-of-the-way con

Obama’s 0,000 AIG Bonus
President Barack Obama has called the bonuses that AIG paid its employees an “outrage,” but Obama himself received a “bonus” of sorts from the insurance giant — more than 0,000 in campaign contributions. In fact, the 1,332 that the Obama campaign

CAFR1 NATIONAL POST
In general, lets go back to what Al Capone use to say in the 30's: "What the hell are we fighting government for, let's become government and we will then take whatever we want." Well, they did and the rest is history.

Residents rally to West Valley Food Pantry's aid
After learning that the shelves at the West Valley Food Pantry were going empty as demand for aid had risen, the residents of nearby Bell Canyon took some decisive action: They dropped off plastic donation bags last week at mailboxes with a flier atta

The Big Takeover
CAUTION: If you are sensitive to "spicy" language, don't read this article. It is however, a very informative article about the ongoing bailout of AIG. The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using

Scenes from the recession
The state of our global economy: foreclosures, evictions, bankruptcies, layoffs, abandoned projects, and the people and industries caught in the middle. It can be difficult to capture financial pressures in photographs, but here a few recent glimpses into

Business Owners: How To Handle a Shrinking Business
During depressions, many businesses make a fatal mistake: They lay off employees. Some businesses have no choice; if the product or service is related more to quantity than quality, then perhaps there is no alternative. But many businesses are far better

Ohio Food Stamp Rules Called 'Offensive'
LEBANON, Ohio (AP) - A southwest Ohio county is threatening to ignore new food stamp rules because officials say relatively well off people are getting benefits. Commissioners in Warren County near Cincinnati said Tuesday they want to go back to the ol

Bernanke's Witness Protection Program
March 16, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- Fed chief Ben Bernanke's new funding facility is a real doozy. In fact, if the Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility or TALF, which is set to launch on Thursday, doesn't convince the American people that it's tim

Low Corn Prices Forcing Farmers To Change Planting Strategy
Farmers are gearing up for planting season, but no matter what kind of crops they harvest, some farmers are just hoping to break even this year. Last summer corn was selling for .35 a bushel; today that same bushel comes in at .50. On top of a drop

“Shadow Fed” Casts a Shadow Over the Solvency of the U.S. Banking System
By Shah Gilani Contributing Editor Money Morning It’s called the “Shadow Fed.” And it’s the next potential hot spot in the ongoing financial crisis. But few outside the Federal Home Loan Bank system, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) the

EZ-CASH Application for the Federal BAil Out Program, 2008-2009
Thank you Bruce Feirstein of Vanity Fair for sharing this: You wanted a federal bailout? Here's the "official," if heretofore unavailable to the general public, application form for your EZ-CASH pork from the government treasury.

Bilderbergers excite conspiracists
The highest levels of the Obama administration are infested with members of a shadowy, elitist cabal intent on installing a one-world government that subverts the will of the American people. It sounds crazy, but that’s what a group of very persistent

Rachael Ray on Larry King Live
Ray: We need to go back to the way our grandparents prepared food. Instead of buying pieces of chicken, buy a whole chicken. You make that on Sunday, take the leftovers, roll that into fajitas, soups, stews, make your own stock. You’ve got to start thinki

Ammunition in short supply
Local sportsmen and gun enthusiasts looking for ammunition are coming up empty handed, as a national ammunition shortage leaves gun barrels and shop shelves empty. “It’s scary when ammunition is sold out and you don’t know how you’re going to get any,”

Conservative talk radio on the wane in California
The economy's downturn has depressed ad revenue at stations across the state, thinning the ranks of conservative broadcasters. Tune in to conservative talk radio in California, and the insults quickly fly. Capturing the angry mood of listeners the othe

As Economy Plummets, Cashless Bartering Soars on the Internet
Bartering and swapping are booming as the global financial crisis squeezes cash out of the world's wallet. Web sites and business organizations promoting cash-free transactions are growing, from New Hampshire to New Zealand to Sri Lanka, as unemployment

The Culture Warriors Get Laid Off
What has happened between 2001 and 2009 to so radically change the cultural climate? Here, at last, is one piece of good news in our global economic meltdown: Americans have less and less patience for the intrusive and divisive moral scolds who thrived in

Farmers Lead a Bid to Create 2 Californias
VISALIA, Calif. — After nearly 90 years on the farm, Virgil Rogers has suffered through all manner of agricultural agita, from colicky cows to oscillating milk prices to drought, both past and present. But Mr. Rogers’s newest source of consternation, h

Weary of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own
SAN FRANCISCO — Alex Andon, 24, a graduate of Duke University in biology, was laid off from a biotech company last May. For months he sought new work. Then, frustrated with the hunt, he turned to jellyfish. In an apartment he shares here with six roomm

Tent City
Jobless rate hits 26.7%, by Susan Meeker, Colusa Sun Herald: ...State labor officials estimate more than 2,900 of Colusa County’s 11,000 workers are unemployed, a significant increase in just two months. “We are seeing a lot more people with a higher l

In hard times, tent cities rise across the country
RENO, Nev. - A few tents cropped up hard by the railroad tracks, pitched by men left with nowhere to go once the emergency winter shelter closed for the summer. In Portland, Ore., and Seattle, homeless advocacy groups have paired with nonprofits or fai

China’s Leader Says He Is ‘Worried’ Over U.S. Treasuries
BEIJING — The Chinese premier Wen Jiabao expressed concern on Friday about the safety of China’s 4088 trillion investment in American government debt, the world’s largest such holding, and urged the Obama administration to provide assurances that its invest

Are We Looking at a Stock Market Rebound, or Just Another Bear Market Head Fake?
For many investors, the last 12 months have felt like a cross between Dante’s “Ninth Circle of Hell” and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Even so, after Tuesday’s market action - which saw the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebound from a 12-year low to gain 6.4

Global Financial Assets Lost Trillion Last Year, ADB Says
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- The value of global financial assets including stocks, bonds and currencies probably fell by more than trillion in 2008, equivalent to a year of world gross domestic product, according to an Asian Development Bank report. “Th

Pastor now tells how to prep for imminent catastrophe
A nationally known pastor and author who predicts an imminent catastrophe of God's judgment on America is now telling concerned Christians it is time for peace and preparation, not panic. "This is what I hear the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart concer

UPDATE 1-U.S. mall owner General asks bondholders for leeway
LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Reuters) - General Growth Properties GGP.N, the No. 2 U.S. mall owner that has warned it may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, began on Monday to ask holders of .25 billion of bonds for nine more months of breathin

Top 10 Myths about Sustainability
When a word becomes so popular you begin hearing it everywhere, in all sorts of marginally related or even unrelated contexts, it means one of two things. Either the word has devolved into a meaningless cliché, or it has real conceptual heft. “Green” (or,

February Job Losses: Have We Hit Bottom?
The nation's unemployment rate jumped to 8.1% as the economy lost 651,000 jobs in February, the Labor Dept. reported on Mar. 6. While the report showed the deepening recession was continuing to batter the nation's wage earners, the numbers were lower than

Ten Economic Predictions for 2009
I wish that my predictions were a bit more uplifting, but we are truly in dire straits with conditions only continuing to worsen. The United States is essentially bankrupt and running on borrowed money and borrowed time. Many Americans will be facing seve

8 really, really scary predictions
Known as Dr. Doom, the NYU economics professor saw the mortgage-related meltdown coming. We are in the middle of a very severe recession that's going to continue through all of 2009 - the worst U.S. recession in the past 50 years. It's the bursting of

Food stamp enrollment jumps to record 31.8 million
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A record 31.8 million Americans received food stamps at the latest count, an increase of 700,000 people in one month with the United States in recession, government figures showed on Thursday. Food stamps, which help poor people

Economic crisis hurts male workers most: U.N.
GENEVA (Reuters) - The world's economic crisis has cost more men their jobs than women in Western countries, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said on Thursday.

On the Brink of Collapse: US food shortages loom
Because of the economic collapse, corporate farms are having the same problem as other industries: they can’t get operating loans to buy seed, fertilizer and the over-priced chemical inputs needed to mass produce food.

County facing rising need for food stamps
There is startling new information about the state of those in need in Southwest Florida. Requests for food stamps in Lee County are skyrocketing. Some might say Tiffany Stoughton serves as the perfect face of this downed economy. She is a middle cl

Farmers market in SW Valley is all about the food
A new food-only farmers market in the Southwest Valley is drawing far-flung customers with its inventory of fresh produce and home-raised eggs at a time when other markets are struggling to find vendors. Arizona residents' desire for locally farmed foo

She turns cameras on American hunger
How she came to be in Gaines' living room, holding her babies and listening to her problems, is a testament to one woman's dogged determination to make a difference. For years, Chilton directed statistical studies about hunger and food insecurity witho

Asian Stocks Fall to Five-Year Low as Global Recession Deepens
Asian stocks tumbled, dragging the regional benchmark index to the lowest in more than five years, as declines in Japanese wages and South Korean exports fueled concerns the global recession is deepening. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s large

Soros sees no bottom for world financial "collapse"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis. Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe

No end yet in sight for recession
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economy is still getting worse, even as Washington's policy makers scramble to find the formula that will revitalize credit markets and consumer spending. The economy will probably provide some more bad news over the

Why Be a Nation of Mortgage Slaves?
With so little savings, a household with negative equity almost implies negative net worth. Walking away from the mortgage immediately repairs the balance sheet. Credit may be damaged, but homeowners can rebuild it. And by renting something they can af

Newly Poor Swell Lines at Food Banks
Once a crutch for the most needy, food pantries have responded to the deepening recession by opening their doors to what Rosemary Gilmartin, who runs the Interfaith Food Pantry here, described as “the next layer of people” — a rapidly expanding roster of

Urban Composting: A New Can of Worms
ON a recent Saturday afternoon, Stephanie Stern and her husband poured 1,000 wriggling red worms from a brown bag into a plastic bin outside their bathroom, looked down and hoped for the best.

The Silver Slam
The Silver Slam is when the door on buying silver slams shut. Now, before those thousands of emails come flying my direction let me state that knowing free market economics there in theory will always be silver for sale at some price and we cannot run out

Print Your Own Money: A Solution to Financial Woes
Times are tough. The global economy seems to be spiraling downward and no one seems to know quite how to fix it. But if you’re tired of being shortchanged, there may be a solution. Change your change. It’s a simple concept: instead of using U.S. legal

A Short History of U.S. Government Handouts
Global economies are withering while Washington conceives "Financial Recovery Plan(s) from Hell," according to economist Michael Hudson in his latest February 11 article. Bankers demand more trillions, "or (they'll) plunge the economy into financial crisi

Thirty Years Later, a Return to Stagflation
CONGRESS has made a terrible mistake. Amid a rhetorical debate centered on words like “crisis,” “emergency” and “catastrophe,” it acted too fast. While arguments were made about the stimulus bill’s specific components — taxpayer money for condoms, new gre

California Weather Exposes Fiction of Global Warming
“We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California,” Chu told The Los Angeles Times, adding, “I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going.” January had been unusually dry, the start of a third dry year in a row f

Phoenix, kidnap-for-ransom capital
In broad daylight one January afternoon, on a street of ranch-style houses with kidney-shaped swimming pools, Juan Francisco Perez-Torres was kidnapped in front of his wife, daughter and three neighbors. Two men with a gun grabbed the 34-year-old from

This is how much do-do we are in right now!
Forget your political position for a moment. Going off the gold standard and any kind of fiscal discipline has got us where we are today.

Codex Alimentarius - How the global elite will control your food supply
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), based in Rome, Italy is an international organization jointly created in 1962 by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations “allegedly” to protect the

As Layoffs Surge, Women May Pass Men in Job Force
With the recession on the brink of becoming the longest in the postwar era, a milestone may be at hand: Women are poised to surpass men on the nation’s payrolls, taking the majority for the first time in American history. The reason has less to do with

Eating Isn’t Option When Minnesota Corn Burns in Houston Cars
Today, burning crops like corn, soybeans and sugar cane for fuel is policy in the U.S., Brazil and the European Union — while almost 1 billion of the world’s 6.8 billion people are hungry, the most in a generation. About 95 percent of what Vis grows feeds

The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table
He rolls into the parking lot of Leon's Thriftway in an old, maroon Impala with a trunk full of frozen meat. Raccoon — the other dark meat. In five minutes, Montrose, Mo., trapper Larry Brownsberger is sold out in the lot at 39th Street and Kensington

Nearly 7 million Zimbabweans need food aid: UN
HARARE (AFP) - - Zimbabwe's humanitarian disaster is far worse than anticipated with only six percent of the population formally employed and more than half in need of emergency food aid, a UN report said Thursday. Fewer than half a million Zimbabwea

California Cut to Lowest Credit Rating Among States
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- California became the lowest rated U.S. state as Standard & Poor’s cut its general obligation bonds one grade because Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers have failed to close a record budget deficit. California’s

Televangelism empire in chaos over family split
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. – Once one of the nation's most popular televangelists, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller is watching his life's work crumble. His son and recent successor, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller, has abruptly resigned as senior pastor of the Cryst

Peter Schiff: Stimulus Bill Will Lead to "Unmitigated Disaster"
The fiscal stimulus bill being debated in Congress not only won't help the economy, it will make the recession much worse, says Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital. Schiff scoffs at the notion the economic decline is starting to level off and

Consumers get frugal, so retailers get creative
"Most of the consumer behavior we saw in 2008 will continue well into this year," says Rosalind Wells, NRF's chief economist. "Shoppers will be seeking value and trading down to discount and off-price retailers in order to stretch their purchasing power."

America Is Completely Broke, And Here We Are Funding Fantasy Wars at the Pentagon
Given our economic crisis, the estimated trillion dollars we spend each year on the military and its weaponry is simply unsustainable. Even if present fiscal constraints no longer existed, we would still have misspent too much of our tax revenues on too f

'Bulls & Bears' Guest Can't Find Example of Stimulus Success
Four analysts were arguing on Fox News Channel’s “Bulls & Bears” that stimulus spending has never fixed a recession. But when one proponent of the hotly debated stimulus bill was pressured to refute this claim, she was unable to find an example.

Silver lining for homeowners?
Worries about foreclosure aren't the only thing on homeowners' minds these days. The first thing you should do is contact the financial institution that services your mortgage. You need to understand that lenders want to discuss options with you.

Odd Crop Prices Defy Economics
A farmer harvested corn in Illinois last September. A corn futures contract that month expired 55 cents above the cash price.

46 Of 50 States Could File Bankruptcy In 2009-2010
There is a high chance a majority of the States within the United States of America could file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. There are currently 46 states with high budget deficits, Arizona being one of them.

Joblessness Probably Rose to 16-Year High: U.S. Economy Preview
(Bloomberg) -- The jobless rate in the U.S. probably jumped in January to the highest level in 16 years as slumping sales forced employers to slash staff, economists project reports this week will show.

BB&T CEO: 'Religious Belief' in Affordable Housing, 'Misregulation' Caused Financial Crisis
Despite what the news media keep saying, capitalism and deregulation were not the causes of the financial meltdown. Instead, BB&T CEO John Allison pointed the finger at government creations like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Federal

Obama upbeat on chances of getting stimulus bill
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he is confident that an economic stimulus bill will be approved as the legislation heads toward a key vote in the House.

Relief Seen for Jobless and States in Health Care Plan
For Democrats, the stimulus bill is also a tool for rewriting the social contract with the poor, the uninsured and the unemployed.

Stimulus Plan Would Provide Flood of Aid to Education
Schools, universities and child care centers would receive 0 billion in new spending in the stimulus package scheduled for a vote in Congress.