[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY2NMng77rM 450 300]
Comments »San Fran & Cleveland Fed Presidents Say Subdue Inflation Could Pave the Way for More Easing
Perhaps the Consumer is Responsible for Unemployment
The Clam Hands Over $76.9 Billion to Uncle Sam
Tim Tebow Declines to Endorse Any Presidential Candidates Despite Courtship
Sensing the excitement and loving his message, Tebow is also being courted by Republican presidential candidates. The quarterback recently told The Associated Press he’s been asked by more than one of the contenders for his support. He wouldn’t name names, but did say he’d declined the offer.
“I think you have to have so much trust in who you support, just from product endorsements to endorsing a candidate because if that person or company does something (bad), it reflects on you,” said Tebow, who’s a pitchman for Nike, Jockey and FRS energy drink.
Tebow has, however, placed himself in the political realm before – two Super Bowls ago when he starred in a Focus on the Family commercial with his mother sharing the story of how she gave birth to him in the Philippines in 1987 after spurning a doctor’s advice to have an abortion for medical reasons. After being criticized for that ad, he didn’t do an encore and instead tries to toe the line of showing his religion without shoving it down people’s throats.
That hasn’t stopped people from mocking him – and worse.
After Tebow was particularly bad in an ugly loss to Buffalo on Dec. 24, comedian and talk show host Bill Maher sent out a tweet that basked in the QB’s misfortune, blaming Jesus for the loss. “And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere in hell Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler `Hey, Buffalo’s killing them,’” Maher tweeted.
Maher, in turn, was roundly ripped for the post.
Less toxic was the recent skit on “Saturday Night Live,” where “Jesus” materializes in the locker room with an actor portraying Tebow, admits he is pulling some strings during these Bronco games, then after being told the New England Patriots are next on the schedule, suggests Tebow substitute his playbook, “the holy Bible,” for one with some Xs and Os.
The “SNL” Jesus also concedes that he, personally, prays to the Broncos place-kicker, Matt Prater, whose excellence has defined what the Tebow sensation has been about for most of this season: a bunch of teammates, motivated by a less-than-perfect leader who never gives up, coming together and picking each other up when the going gets tough.
A great story line that has held most of the year.
The twist on Sunday, though, was that for the first time this season, it could reasonably be argued that Tebow was a one-man show. In the win over Pittsburgh, he completed five passes of 30 yards or more. And with his defense struggling, he threw a perfect strike for the game-winner to receiver Demaryius Thomas, who didn’t have to change his stride and, thus, ran untouched into the end zone.
“He was the same Tim, calm and collected,” Thomas said. “He took it one play at a time and was in the huddle and said, `It’s either we win or we go home.’”
Comments »Pimco’s El-Erian: Beware Unpredictability of Extreme Events
Small Business Confidence Grows in December
Optimism grew among the small business community in December as recent data has improved.
Comments »
Consumer Borrowing Rises the Most in Ten years
Jefferies Declares the End to the Decline of U.S. Manufacturing
USA Today Reports National Debt on Par With the Entire Economy
Iran Sentences American Man to Death in CIA Case
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – An Iranian court has convicted an American man of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death, state radio reported Monday, in a case adding to the accelerating tension between the United States and Iran.
Iran charges that as a former U.S. Marine, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati received special training and served at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged intelligence mission. The radio report did not say when the verdict was issued. Under Iranian law, he has 20 days to appeal.
The 28-year-old former military translator was born in Arizona and graduated from high school in Michigan. His family is of Iranian origin. His father, a professor at a community college in Flint, Michigan, has said his son is not a CIA spy and was visiting his grandmothers in Iran when he was arrested.
His trial took place as the U.S. announced new, tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which Washington believes Tehran is using to develop a possible atomic weapons capability.
Iran, which says it only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and research, has sharply increased its threats and military posturing against stronger pressures, including the U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s Central Bank in attempts to complicate its ability to sell oil.
The U.S. State Department has demanded Hekmati’s release.
The court convicted him of working with a hostile country, belonging to the CIA and trying to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism, Monday’s report said.
In its ruling, a branch of Tehran Revolutionary Court described Hekmati as a mohareb, an Islamic term that means a fighter against God, and a mofsed, or one who spreads corruption on earth. Both terms appear frequently in Iranian court rulings.
In a closed court hearing in late December, the prosecution asked for the death penalty for Hekmati.
The U.S. government has called on Iranian authorities to grant Swiss diplomats access to him in prison. The Swiss government represents U.S. interests in Iran because the two countries don’t have diplomatic relations.
Hekmati is a dual U.S.-Iranian national. Iran considers him an Iranian since the country’s law does not recognize dual citizenship.
His father, Ali Hekmati, and family friend Muna Jondy, an attorney who has been speaking on behalf of the family, did not immediately respond to emails and phone messages left at their offices before business hours Monday morning.
Similar cases against Americans accused of spying have heightened tensions throughout the years-long standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran arrested three Americans in July 2009 along the border with Iraq and accused them of espionage, though the Americans said they were just hiking in the scenic and relatively peaceful Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
One of them was released after a year in prison, and the other two were freed in September in deals involving bail payments that were brokered by the Gulf sultanate of Oman, which has good relations with Iran and the U.S.
On Dec. 18, Iran’s state TV broadcast video of Hekmati delivering a purported confession in which he said he was part of a plot to infiltrate Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.
In a statement released the same day, the Intelligence Ministry said its agents identified Hekmati before his arrival in Iran, at Bagram Air Field in neighboring Afghanistan. Bagram is the main base for American and other international forces outside Kabul, the Afghan capital.
It is not clear exactly when he was arrested. Iranian news reports have said he was detained in late August or early September.
Hekmati’s father, Ali, said in a December interview with The Associated Press, that his son was a former Arabic translator in the U.S. Marines who entered Iran about four months earlier to visit his grandmothers.
At the time, he was working in Qatar as a contractor for a company “that served the Marines,” his father said, without providing more specific details.
FLASH: TEBOW WINS AGAIN
Tim Tebow threw for an 80 yard td against the Steelers, in overtime, on the first play in OT.
Gods loves Tebow time.
Comments »Report: Jay Z and Beyonce Reserve Entire Floor at Lennox Hill Hospital for Birth Delivery
It was a girl and it cost a cool $1.3 million for the entire floor.
Comments »State of the Nation: Upward Mobility is Up in Smoke
Jack Frost Has Gone on Holiday
America’s Working age Population to Grow Until 2050
What to Expect Next Week: Alcoa Starts Off the Earnings Season
“SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Investors are expected to increasingly focus on corporate news next week as U.S. companies enter the earnings-reporting season. But Europe won’t be far from their minds as the continent’s sovereign debt woes show little sign of abating.
“Attention is certain to turn to earnings next week. Investors will attempt to quantify the extent of earnings damage from the economic turmoil in Europe,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist of PNC Asset Management Group.”
Comments »Proceed With Caution
Caution is better than at your own risk or not at all. The recent U.S. economic data has been strong lately, but some caution to wait and see if the recent uptick was a holiday binge or if it is the start of better things to come.
Comments »The Fed’s Bullard: Strong Data May Mean The Fed is Done Buying Bonds
Done buying bonds for now. It will be a wait and see approach as we are certainly not normal and back on our feet. Never the less good data will be cheered!
Comments »Romney Up Big in N.H. as Lead Widens, Polls Show
Updated: January 7, 2012 | 9:36 a.m.
January 6, 2012 | 6:44 p.m.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a commanding lead in the Jan. 10 New Hampshire Republican primary, according to three new polls released Friday that show Romney could become the first nonincumbent to sweep the first two GOP nominating contests in the modern campaign calendar.
The three polls all show Romney—who currently holds a slender lead in Iowa—blowing out the competition next week in his adopted home state, while former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., has received only a modest bump following his surprising surge to a virtual tie for first place in Iowa on Tuesday. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is in second place in each of the three surveys, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is fading. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who is staking his entire primary campaign on a strong performance in the Granite State, trails badly in each of the polls.
- Suffolk University in Boston, which has been conducting a two-day tracking poll for Boston-based WHDH-TV since Dec. 30, released its first poll conducted entirely after the Iowa caucuses. The latest results—compiled from interviews with likely primary voters on Wednesday and Thursday—show Romney leading Paul, 40 percent to 17 percent. Santorum runs third, at 11 percent, while Gingrich is fourth, at 9 percent. Huntsman is at 8 percent, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry earns just 1 percent of the vote.
- The University of New Hampshire Survey Center conducted a poll for WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H., from Monday through Thursday. In the full poll, Romney led Paul, 44 percent to 20 percent, with Gingrich and Santorum tied at 8 percent. Huntsman is at 7 percent. But UNH also provided results for the last two days of the poll, following Iowa: Romney leads with 43 percent, followed by Paul (18 percent), Santorum (11 percent), Gingrich (9 percent), and Huntsman (7 percent).
- A new NBC News/Marist poll, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, shows Romney leading Paul, 42 percent to 22 percent. Santorum jumped to third place, with 13 percent, followed by Gingrich and Huntsman, each at 9 percent.
As in Iowa and other states, the New Hampshire polls show a significant drop in Gingrich’s support. In the NBC News/Marist poll, Gingrich has plummeted 15 points since late November, arguably the peak of his candidacy.
The polls also show the breadth of Romney’s lead. He leads across genders, among most age groups (Paul leads among those voters 18-34 in the UNH poll but not the Suffolk poll), and among those voters who identify with the tea party and those who do not.
The UNH poll crosstabs also break out the horse race by religion, and the poll shows that Santorum has not yet made significant inroads with Catholic voters, who made up 38 percent of the 2008 primary electorate. Santorum captures the vote of 10 percent of Protestants, and just 9 percent of Catholics.
Campaigning in Tilton, N.H., Romney sounded a note of caution about the results.
“I know some pollsters say I’m doing real well. Let me tell you, those polls, they can just disappear overnight,” he said. “What you say to a pollster is a bit like going on a date. It’s like well, I might try this but you know, getting married, that’s something else. So we need to make sure you’re working real hard and I’ll keep working real hard.”
Meanwhile, President Obama continues to face tough sledding in the Granite State. Just 40 percent of all New Hampshire registered voters approve of the job he is doing as president, according to the poll, equal to his poor approval rating in late November. Nearly half of voters—49 percent—disapprove of Obama’s job performance.
The Suffolk University poll surveyed 500 likely primary voters, for a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
The UNH poll surveyed 631 likely primary voters, for a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. That includes 318 interviews conducted after the Iowa caucuses; those results have a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.
The NBC News/Marist was conducted by Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The poll surveyed 2,263 registered voters, for a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. There were 711 likely GOP primary voters, for a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
