Since its start in June 2008, this non-diversified fund has sought investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond to the price and yield performance of an index which tracks the 25 largest publicly traded companies engaged in the ownership, management and supply chains of forests and timberlands. The holdings thereby may include forest products companies, timber real estate investment trusts (REITs), paper product packaging companies or agricultural product companies.

While WOOD has had a promising gain of 4.24% so far this year, the fund is capable of sizable annual gains such as in 2012, when WOOD soared 20.4%. In addition, this ETF offers a modest dividend yield of 1.17%. And with current lumber prices skyrocketing — lumber prices exceeded $450 per 1,000 board feet this past April — expect WOOD to surge in tandem with those prices as the year progresses.

WOOD concentrates its assets in four sectors that comprise the components and products of the forestry industry: basic materials, 63.62%; consumer cyclical, 17.24; real estate, 12.49; and consumer defensive, 6.65%. WOOD’s top ten individually held companies make up 55.73% of the fund’s total assets. The top five of these are: Rayonier Inc. (RYN), 7.92%; Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY), 7.86%; Plum Creek Timber Co. (PCL), 7.77%; West Fraser Timber (WFTBF.TO), 6.32%; and MONDI (MNDI.L), 4.51%.

With the recent rebound in the housing industry (its biggest gain in seven years was last March), expect home prices to keep rising, causing timber’s value to make gains, too. With timber companies profiting, WOOD’s share price should climb as well due to that buoyed demand for lumber. And if you are invested in this ETF, you could take part in these possible profits. (Knock on wood!)

If you want my advice about buying and selling specific ETFs, including appropriate stop losses, please consider subscribing to my Successful Investing newsletter. As always, I am happy to answer any of your questions about ETFs, so do not hesitate to email me by clicking here. You just may see your question answered in a future ETF Talk.

The post ETF Talk: Can Money Grow on Trees? appeared first on Human Events.

Since May 22, the only story that really matters to the markets is what the Federal Reserve is going to do with respect to its current bond-buying program. On that day, we heard Chairman Ben Bernanke introduce the concept of “tapering” into the trading milieu. Since then, stocks have sold off hard, and bonds have sold off really hard.

Bond yields, which move the opposite of bond prices, have soared. From May 22 through June 18, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note spiked 12.2% to a level we haven’t seen since April 2012. Immediately following today’s dovish Fed statement, which had no hint of any pending tapering anytime soon, the yield on the 10-Year note yield index spiked some 6.5% to more than 2.30% (as of 3 p.m. EDT).

The language in today’s Fed statement was the biggest reason for the spike in bond yields. Here was the key quote from the FOMC statement: “The Committee sees the downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as having diminished since the fall.” The Fed also raised its expectations for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for 2014, from 2.9-3.4% to 3-3.5%.

Now, while I don’t think this GDP growth rate is very strong, it seems to be enough for bond traders, and hence the selling in bonds, as represented by the chart here of the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT).

Interestingly, during Ben Bernanke’s press conference, stocks also fell hard, with the Dow dropping some 142 points, or 0.93%, as of 3 p.m. EDT.

So, even though the Fed came out with a dovish position on monetary policy, it seems like both the stock and bond markets are skeptical.

If you own either stocks or bonds here, then I highly recommend that you exercise the utmost caution and reduce your exposure to the riskiest asset classes out there. For stocks, it could mean selling some of your winners and increasing your cash position. For bonds, it means reducing your exposure to high-yield sectors such as junk bonds. Perhaps more importantly, it also means reducing your exposure to bonds with the longest-dated maturities, as they pose the greatest interest-rate risk.

Now is the time to start taking action, as you don’t want to get caught up in a Fed-induced selling reaction in either stocks or bonds.

On the Limits of the Fed

“Monetary policy cannot do much about long-run growth; all we can try to do is to try to smooth out periods where the economy is depressed because of lack of demand.”

–Ben Bernanke

It seems as though even the Fed chairman realizes the central bank is limited in its ability to help the economy in the long run. Still, the Fed will pull the levers the way it sees fit, and that is a reality we’ll all have to deal with for years to come.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote you’d like me to share with your fellow Making Money Alert readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my audio podcast, newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Doug.

To read my e-letter from last week’s Eagle Daily Investor, please click here. I also invite you to comment about my column in the space provided below my Eagle Daily Investor commentary.

Best,

Doug Fabian

The post Making Money Alert: The Only Story that Matters appeared first on Human Events.

Amid signs the White House is getting ready to unveil new executive-level steps to curb greenhouse gases, Obama linked fighting climate change to peace and justice while calling for bold action.

“Peace with justice means refusing to condemn our children to a harsher, less hospitable planet,” he said in a speech at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. “The effort to slow climate change requires bold action.”

Obama touted his first-term work on green energy and boosting auto efficiency rules, but added: “We know we have to do more — and we will do more.”

… whether you like it or not, tax serfs of America.  I wasn’t timing the President’s latest “pivot to job creation,” but it has to be one of the fastest, weakest pretenses of caring about American jobs he’s ever made.  There was some rumbling that little distractions like the IRS scandal and NSA surveillance controversy were getting in the way of the great job creation agenda, which is what Obama really wanted to talk about… and then, poof, he’s in Berlin, announcing that U.S. jobs are a small price to pay, in exchange for battling a menace that no one on Earth can come close to proving is real.

Obama said Wednesday that a global climate accord is needed.

“With a global middle class consuming more energy every day, this must now be an effort of all nations, not just some. For the grim alternative affects all nations — more severe storms, more famine and floods, new waves of refugees, coastlines that vanish, oceans that rise. This is the future we must avert,” Obama said.

Ah, so we’re back to blaming hurricanes and tornadoes on human industry, are we?  Arrgh!  Sky gods angry!  Sky gods punish unbelievers with storms if they don’t make sacrifice!  And didn’t Obama promise in 2008 that his ascension to the Presidency would be remembered as the moment the oceans began to recede?  Another broken campaign promise!

Also, one can’t help but notice the rest of the world is heading in the opposite direction.  All across the West, bankrupt green-energy regimes are being scuttled.  Once upon a time, Spain gave us a marvelous story about a would-be knight who tilted at windmills, but modern Spain is abandoning that hobby, because windmills are really expensive.  And outside the West, no one ever had much enthusiasm for crippling their economy in the pursuit of fashionable environmentalist dogma.  After spending the last few months laughing as panicked global warming cultists fumble around for a way to explain the temperate climate data none of their models ever predicted, it’s surreal to watch the President of the United States party like it’s 1999.

The President is also very concerned about American nuclear stockpiles, a problem nobody else in America has on their radar screens at the moment.  Reuters:

“After a comprehensive review I have determined that we can ensure the security of America and our allies, and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent, while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one third,” he said.

“I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures,” Obama said, speaking in front of the Brandenburg Gate which once stood alongside the wall that divided communist East Berlin and the capitalist West.

I love it when people reminisce about the “capitalist West.”  It’s like getting carded when you buy beer at the grocery store, even though you’ve got a white beard.  It makes you feel young again.

Obama’s remarks in Berlin are examples of a man with a hammer looking around and seeing a world full of nails.  He loves talking about the “problems” he wants to solve, not the problems his country actually has.  ”Climate change” is the greatest blank check for power the government of any nominally free country ever wrote itself.  The problem can never be solved; it can be portrayed as an existential threat even when years of accumulated data show no trace of it.  Those who resist the crusade against it can be shouted down as heretics, while the crusaders are given limitless credit for selfless devotion to the Earth.

And nuclear disarmament is the global leadership soapbox few liberals can resist mounting, an opportunity for endless negotiations and feel-good speeches about turning back the hands of the doomsday clock.  Meanwhile, the real problems are aspiring members of the nuclear club like Iran, whose new leader the Obama Administration couldn’t wait to hail as a “moderate,” even though he didn’t waste any time announcing that Iran has no intention of ending its uranium enrichment program.  His big moderate debutante ball should last just long enough for the Iranians to reach the next, terminal stage of their nuclear program.

It’s a pity President Obama can’t give us any bold speeches and rousing calls for action on the problems America actually has.  Every time he gets a spotlight, he uses it to rail against disobedient segments of the American populace – from gun owners, to greenhouse-gas-emitting industries, Tea Party activists, and people other than politicians and Hollywood stars who dare to fly around in private jets.  Wouldn’t it be nice if he announced a fearless crusade to root out corruption at the IRS, the EPA, the State Department, or something else that’s actually his responsibility?

The post Obama in Berlin: the world’s big problems are global warming, American nukes appeared first on Human Events.

Stocks declined today, after a two-day rally in the S&P 500, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the central bank may “moderate” its pace of bond purchases later this year as risks to the economy have decreased and the jobless rate should fall. “The Fed’s walking a tightrope here,” George Rusnak, national managing director of fixed-income strategies for Wells Fargo Private Bank in Philadelphia, said. “They’re balancing preparing the markets that tapering is going to begin, but at the same time, comforting them that it’s not going to be too dramatic and too quick to be disruptive. It’s a fine line.”

Dollar Gains Ground after Fed Decision (Reuters)

The dollar reversed its earlier losses against the euro and yen today after the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee said it sees less of downside risks to the economy’s outlook and the labor market. Further, the dollar gained even more after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank’s policy setting committee sees a likely reduction in bond purchases. “The markets are reacting to the more positive economic assessment in the statement, notably the comment that economic risks have diminished,” said Vassili Serebriakov, currency strategist, BNP Paribas, New York. “I think it’s being seen as a signal that the Fed is close to tapering.”

Obamacare Hurting Jobs, According to Poll (CNBC)

The looming effects of Obamacare on their bottom line is prompting many small business owners to hold off on hiring and even to shed jobs, according to a recent Gallup poll. “We were startled because we know that employers were concerned about the Affordable Care Act and the effects it would have on their business, but we didn’t realize the extent they were concerned, or that the businesses were being proactive to make sure the effects of the ACA actually were minimized,” said attorney Steven Friedman of Littler Mendelson — his firm, which specializes in employment law, commissioned the poll.

The post Stocks Fall on Bernanke Comments; Dollar Gains Ground after Fed Decision; Obamacare Hurting Jobs appeared first on Human Events.

There’s a saying you might have heard about the prostate gland that sums up the situation very nicely: The prostate is a young man’s best friend and a mature man’s worst enemy. That’s because typically the prostate is trouble-free until a man hits mid-life.

After age 50, though, this doughnut-shaped gland that surrounds the urethra in the lower abdomen (and is responsible for producing the prostatic fluid that transports and protects sperm) frequently becomes inflamed or enlarged. As a result, it constricts the flow of urine from the bladder.

When that happens, you end up not only running to the bathroom all day and night, but enduring sexual problems as well. And, of course, there are those two words every man dreads hearing from his doctor: prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is one of the leading cancers among men, with more than a quarter of a million cases diagnosed each year and nearly 30,000 deaths annually. While it is most common in men over the age of 65, an increasing number of much younger men, some only in their 30s, are being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Those numbers may seem frightening, but there is a silver lining: Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from the disease. Generally, this type of cancer is so slow-growing that it’s possible to live with it for many years without complications.

Of course, prostate cancer is not the only problem that can occur. The prostate can also become inflamed (prostatitis) or enlarged – a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Either condition can create serious discomfort and symptoms, as my patient Wade found, including some that may mimic those of cancer, such as:

• Frequent, often urgent, urination
• Pain or burning sensation during urination
• Difficulty urinating
• Feeling an urge to urinate with little flow or “dribbling” problems
• Blood in the urine
• Ongoing lower back or pelvic pain
• Waking during the night to urinate

In addition to age, other risk factors for prostate problems include family history and race, with African-American men more likely to develop prostate cancer than Caucasians. Obviously, there’s very little you can do to about the passage of time, your relatives’ health, or your race. But there are plenty of ways to protect yourself from these difficulties – and heal your prostate at the same time.

5 Steps for Proper Prostate Care

No doubt you are familiar with the blood test known as PSA (prostate-specific antigen). This is the most common method of screening for prostate cancer. I encourage all of my male patients to get a PSA baseline test as early as possible, so we can keep a close eye on any changes that may occur.

Although some doctors feel that a score between 0 and 4 is “normal,” I prefer to be more proactive. For my patients, a PSA score above 1 means it’s time to make some changes. I also encourage my patients not to get too fixated on the numbers themselves but to pay attention to the up or down trend of the PSA readings, since this is more important than the numbers alone.

Conventional doctors usually write patients with benign prostate problems prescriptions for drugs like Finasteride (Proscar is the generic name) or Dutasteride (Avodart). But I’ve found that the side effects of these drugs – which include making some symptoms worse! – can be as bothersome as the condition itself.

Fortunately, there is a better way! The following five steps have helped my patients reduce their PSA scores and find relief from the very uncomfortable symptoms prostate problems can create.

Before starting with these recommendations, however, please make certain you only have BPH or another benign condition, rather than prostate cancer. Monitoring changes in PSA over time is one of the most important health steps that all men over age 40 must do. Your doctor should carefully review your PSA scores over time, since any increases must be closely monitored. There are many things that can spike PSA that are not an issue, including having sex within 24 hours of the test.

Step 1) Focus on Good Fats

Good fats — especially the omega-3 essential fatty acids found in certain types of fatty fish — are building blocks for healthy cell membranes throughout your body. Unfortunately, about four out of five adults are woefully lacking in omega-3 fats. This sets the stage for the inflammation that causes prostatitis, as well as hormonal dysfunction – and major prostate difficulties – because a starved cell membrane can easily fail, creating a falling dominoes scenario with other cells. Damaged cell membranes are an underlying reason for hormonal problems and many diseases, including pre-diabetes, diabetes, and weight problems.

You’re doing more than improving your hormones when you provide your body with healthy fats. According to research led by the Harvard School of Public Health, nearly 100,000 Americans die each year from too few omega-3 fats in their diets. So, getting adequate omega-3s is not just about your prostate – this is really the foundation of overall good health. I recommend one to three grams daily from a stable, purified product that is free of toxins and chemicals.

For your convenience, you can find the omega-3 supplement I recommend to patients at my clinic here.

At the same time, I recommend reducing your intake of the bad fats known as trans fats. The same Harvard study I mentioned above also found that up to 97,000 people die annually from eating too many trans fats. How much is too much? Any amount.

Trans fats are vegetable oils transformed from their natural liquid state into solid form to increase shelf life and improve the texture of processed foods. On labels, look for “partially hydrogenated” oils. These could be soy, palm, or other oils — the type doesn’t matter. It’s the partial hydrogenation that leads to serious health problems.

Trans fats are found in just about all frozen, packaged, and fast foods, including prepared baked goods, such as breads, buns, cakes, cookies, crackers, and snack foods. But they also turn up in salad dressings, cereals, nutrition bars, sauces, soups, ready-to-eat popcorn, and any type of boxed or frozen entrée or side dish.

Step 2) Get Going

Exercise is so important that I recommend it to just about all of my patients, including those with prostate issues. The benefits of regular, moderate exercise include:

• Burning calories and helping maintain a healthy weight
• Thinning the blood and encouraging healthy circulation
• Disposing of waste material and toxic substances in the body
• Improving sleep and mood
• Strengthening the heart and immune system
• Reducing the risk of cancer and other serious illnesses
• Relieving stress
• Fortifying muscles, joints, and bones, and reducing the risk of falling

If someone invented a pill that provided these benefits, people would be lined up around the block to buy it – and you can get it for free just by exercising! So please take this advice to heart. Invest in a pair of comfortable shoes and schedule 30-minute walks each day. The pay-off is well worth it.

Step 3) Feed Your Prostate

The shamefully low nutrient content of the Standard American Diet (SAD) creates a shortage of vitamins and minerals in the body, leaving you vulnerable to cancer, as well as many other health problems. This is why I always recommend a diet built around vegetables, fruits, good fats, and lean protein, preferably only occasionally from red meat.

Don’t underestimate the power of good fats when it comes to your health. A recent study from the prestigious Duke University Medical Center found that men with prostate cancer whose diets contained healthy fats from olive oil and nuts were less likely to have their cancer spread to other parts of the body than men who consumed unhealthy fats in meat and processed foods.

The problem with meat is that it elevates levels of arachidonic acid in your body, and that, in turn, increases inflammation, the very thing an individual with prostate problems wants to avoid! Choosing lean poultry, wild-caught fish, beans, protein powder, or a protein-rich grain like quinoa is a smart move for anyone who wants to reduce inflammation.

Prostate-friendly foods include the entire family of cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, and bok choy. In addition, lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomatoes, has been shown to provide protection against prostate cancer and even inhibit its spread to other organs among those who already have the disease. You should know, however, that tomatoes cooked in a small amount of a good fat, such as olive oil, contain more lycopene than raw tomatoes. So spaghetti sauce is actually a health food! Here’s a refreshing idea for summer – freeze extra spaghetti sauce in an ice cube tray. When you need something cool, pop one out and enjoy it as a frozen snack, instead of sugary sodas.

Step 4) Pass On Plastics

In last year’s newsletter on estrogen, I mentioned the problems caused by estrogen-producing chemicals in our food, water, and environment. One of these chemicals – a synthetic form of estrogen known as bisphenol A or BPA – has been the subject of thousands of studies and is linked to a number of serious health problems, including:

• Inflammation
• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Hormonal dysfunction
• Fatigue
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Headaches
• Rapid heart rate
• Digestive problems
• Trouble focusing or concentrating
• Tremors

BPA is still being studied to determine its full impact on our health. But I can tell you that we all have BPA in our bodies, and it is definitely causing problems.

So where does BPA come from? If you drink water from an ordinary plastic bottle, you’re also ingesting BPA because it’s in many plastics. (There are BPA-free plastics, but these products usually let you know that, since it’s becoming a major selling point. If it doesn’t say BPA-free, I would assume it contains the chemical.)

Even if you avoid plastic water bottles, you’re still at risk of BPA ingestion since it’s used to line many food and beverage cans and is also found in plastic wraps and the containers many people use to store food. It’s also present on the thermal-printed receipts given out by most stores, plastic housewares, product packaging, and on and on. The bottom line is that we are being overwhelmed with BPA and similar chemicals, and that is not good for your health in general and your prostate in particular.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to cut down on your exposure to BPA, including:

• Replace plastic food-storage containers with glass versions, which are now widely available;
• Avoid microwaving any food in plastic, because heat sends BPA molecules into the food;
• Invest in a reusable, stainless steel or glass water bottle instead of drinking from plastic;
• Look for alternatives to canned foods, such as frozen or fresh;
• Revisit my earlier newsletter on detoxification to explore ways to rid your body of these kinds of toxins.

Step 5) Take Targeted Nutrients

In Step One above, I recommended increasing your intake of omega-3 essential fatty acids for better prostate health. At the same time, you should be reducing your intake of inflammation-producing omega-6s, typically found in vegetable-based cooking oils, such as safflower, corn, sunflower, and soybean. (For more details on the importance of a balanced intake of omega-3s and omega-6s, please see my earlier newsletter on good and bad fats.)

When shopping for a quality omega-3 product, look for one that has been purified or molecularly distilled to remove toxins. Remember, too, that the best results are usually obtained from products that have two to three times the amount of DHA as EPA, two of the beneficial substances found in omega-3s. My recommended dosage for omega-3s is 3 grams daily.

In addition, I recommend the following:

• Vitamin D3, an essential nutrient for overall good health and a strong immune system, as well as a healthy prostate. Take 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily.
• Curcumin, which I consider to be a “must have” for just about everyone who cares about his or her health. Hundreds of studies with curcumin show that it is a powerful anti-inflammatory, reducing the condition that underlies such ailments as heart disease, aging, diabetes, and prostate inflammation. Take 500 mg of curcumin one to three times daily.

If you are currently experiencing any of the annoying and, at times, debilitating symptoms of an enlarged prostate, I have just formulated a prostate-specific supplement combining the top ingredients shown in clinical trials to support a healthy prostate. These nutrients not only ease symptoms of prostate ailments, but they reduce the prostate’s size, as well.

There may be dramatic developments in the treatment of prostate cancer soon, since it was recently discovered that 90 percent of all cases are caused by a bacteria known as Propionibacterium acnes. Meanwhile, there are steps you can take, starting today, to create a healthier internal environment for your prostate and to reduce the likelihood of serious health complications. With some dietary tweaks, a commitment to regular, moderate exercise, avoidance of plastics, and a few carefully chosen supplements, you and your prostate should be able to maintain a healthy relationship for years to come.

The post Prostate Relief in 5 Simple Steps appeared first on Human Events.

Prep time: 30 to 40 minutes

With tomato season in full swing, this is a great time to take advantage of nutrient-rich tomatoes and make up a batch of my family’s favorite pasta sauce. Loaded with equally healthy onions, garlic, and carrots, this pasta sauce is so versatile, you can use it on grilled veggies, fish, or chicken, too. Best of all, it’s filled with prostate-pleasing lycopene, thanks to the combination of tomatoes and olive oil. As always, please look for organic ingredients to minimize your toxic load.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup organic, extra virgin olive oil
• 1½ cups chopped onions
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
• 6 cups seeded and cored tomatoes, coarsely chopped (with juice)
• 1 tablespoon shredded fresh basil
• Sea or lite salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot and sauté onions and carrots for 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Stir in garlic and add tomatoes, then bring to a simmer.
3. Stir in basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes. It should thicken a bit while cooking.

If you wish, transfer cooked sauce to a food processor and process slightly to create a smoother, less rustic sauce.

The post Healthy Tomato Sauce Recipe appeared first on Human Events.

The State Department investigator who accused colleagues last week of using drugs, soliciting prostitutes, and having sex with minors says that Foggy Bottom is now engaged in an “intimidation” campaign to stop her.

Last week’s leaks by Aurelia Fedenisn, a former State Department inspector general investigator, shined a light on alleged wrongdoing by U.S. officials around the globe. But her attorney Cary Schulman tells The Cable that Fedenisn has paid a steep price: “They had law enforcement officers camp out in front of her house, harass her children and attempt to incriminate herself.”

[...] After the CBS News made inquiries to the State Department about the charges, Schulman says investigators from the State Department’s Inspector General promptly arrived at Fedenisn’s door. “They talked to both kids and never identified themselves,” he said. “First the older brother and then younger daughter, a minor, asking for their mom’s place of work and cell phone number … They camped out for four to five hours.”

Schulman says the purpose of the visit was to get Fedenisn to sign a document admitting that she stole State Department materials, such as the memos leaked to CBS. Schulman says it was crucial that she didn’t sign the document because her separation agreement with the State Department includes a provision allowing disclosures of misconduct. Furthermore, none of the materials were classified.

As Schulman points out, they could have simply mailed these papers to Fedenisn.  The Post Office needs all the business it can get these days.

The State Department Office of the Inspector General followed up on the story by telling Foreign Policy the agency “sought to retrieve the documents and information, and put the person who leaked them on notice not to distribute them further, nor distribute additional documents or information, in accordance with the standard ‘Separation Statement’ presented to all employees when leaving Department employ and signed by Ms. Fedenisn in December, 2012.”  Some breaches of protocol are apparently taken much more seriously than others.

Meanwhile, a couple of top officials at the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service are under scrutiny for sworn testimony that seems to have been a bit less than forthcoming, according to Fox News:

The officials are Scott Bultrowicz, who until Feb. 1 served as director of DS, and Tracy H. Mahaffey, who remains the executive director of DS. In videotaped depositions conducted this past February, Bultrowicz claimed not to know about any claims by a federal agency that DS officials have failed to follow proper procedures; and Mahaffey claimed not to know about any pending investigations into DS.

Yet Fox News has obtained meeting notes, draft reports and other evidence that suggest both officials were aware, at the time they were deposed, of a pending investigation into DS and its operations by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). What’s more, both officials had been apprised of the OIG’s preliminary finding that DS did indeed fail to follow proper procedures in at least eight cases, and possibly more, because of “undue influence” and “pressure” brought to bear by senior State Department officials to halt internal investigations.

The evidence indicates the two officials were presented with those conclusions approximately 60 days before they testified in their depositions.

This testimony came after an experienced officer in the Diplomatic Security Service filed suit against Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, claiming he was targeted for demotion after refusing overseas assignments because his daughter was terminally ill.  Among the perjury defenses deployed by the officials in question is the claim that they asked if they knew about any active investigations, but the OIG was conducting inspections at the time, and those are, like, totally different.  Lovely.

Ironically, one of the topics covered at the meeting these State officials tried to forget about was the lack of “a firewall to preclude the DS and Department of State hierarchies from exercising undue influence in particular cases.”  Which is pretty much what Aurelia Fedenisn blew the whistle on, isn’t it?

The post More fun with the State Department: whistleblower harassment and possible perjury appeared first on Human Events.

Nearly 80% of the $955 billion Farm Bill is devoted to SNAP. In an effort to control the rising cost of SNAP payments, both the Senate and House versions of the Farm Bill reduce the funding levels for SNAP. The Senate version cuts $4 billion from the program, which is predicted to cut the expected cost of the program to about $760 billion over the next 10 years while adding provisions to combat the illegal trafficking of food stamps. The House version takes these cuts even further, cutting the SNAP program by around $20.5 billion over 10 years. The White House has warned legislators in the House that if they pass the larger cuts the President may veto the bill.

According to the Congressional Bridget Office, 1 in 7 Americans receive SNAP benefits, at a cost of $134 each month, this equates to a monthly cost of around $6 billion. Over the last five years, SNAP’s costs have doubled. According to the Associated Press, in 2012 alone, SNAP cost $78.4 billion to put 46 million people on food stamps; in 2006, 26 million people received benefits at a cost of $33 billion. Regardless of the cuts Congress decides to make, the fact that SNAP has been growing at a rapid rate cannot be ignored. Similar growth over an extended period may create a situation where the program cannot be sustained.

The key issues with SNAP are centered on eligibility, waste and abuse. In the states using categorical eligibility for the SNAP program, recipients are determined not by the set income and asset limitations of SNAP, but by participation in other cash welfare assistance programs, which can have lesser eligibility standards.

Eligibility for the program expanded considerably since its inception. Currently, SNAP is the fourth largest means-tested program for low income families and individuals. This rapid expansion of eligibility has led to a rapid growth in the number of individuals receiving SNAP benefits. When the food stamp program was first expanded nationally in the 1970s, just 1 in 50 Americans participated.

Another issue which has inflated the number of food stamp recipients is the funding structure used by SNAP. Under the current funding structure, states are given an incentive to increase the number of participants in SNAP, as the money they receive automatically increases as more people enroll.

In a Heritage Foundation paper outlining needed reforms to the food stamp program, Robert Rector and Katherine Bradley recommended several areas where SNAP could be improved, returning the program to its intended role and encourage work and self-sufficiency.

“Future spending needs to be subject to reasonable limits. When the economy recovers, total means-tested spending should be returned to pre-recession levels adjusted for inflation. Food stamp spending should also be returned to pre-recession levels when the recession ends. In addition, when the economy improves, able-bodied, non-elderly adults receiving food stamps should be required to work, prepare for work, or at least look for a job as a condition of receiving aid.”

Efforts to reform SNAP were also considered in amendments to last year’s 2012 Farm Bill proposal. These reforms would have ended the bonuses states receive when they increase their food stamp participation (the CBO estimated this change could save $480 million over 10 years). A second amendment aimed to restore asset tests designed to ensure SNAP recipient meet eligibility requirements (this was estimated to save $11 billion over 10 years). Both amendments failed in the Senate.

Simply cutting spending on SNAP does little to effect the programs glaring issues. Reforms ensuring that recipients are both truly eligible and actively seeking work are needed. Both Congress and state legislators should take a closer look at such reforms before SNAP expenditures spiral out of control.

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to Center around food stamps appeared first on Human Events.

Rupert Murdoch relented to shareholder demands, splitting his News Corp. media empire into two separate investments. Tuesday’s move was a procedure more akin to separating Siamese twins than spinning off a new company, as two new, nearly equal businesses were created. The new entities are: “News Corp.” (NNC), which consists of the Wall Street-based publishing company focused on print-based media and “21st Century Fox,” which consists of Murdoch’s faster-growing new media assets, such as Fox TV. Investors in the old News Corp will receive one share of the 21st Century Fox for every four shares they hold of the elder company. But just because Murdoch submitted to the will of his shareholders, don’t mistake that move for enough momentum to boost both companies. Shares of NNC dropped 3 percent from their initial public offering price, ending the day at $14.55. Will this reorganization be good for Murdoch’s bottom line when all is said and done? Investors will find out shortly.

Confidence Waning in Emerging Markets (CNBC)

Investors who fled to emerging markets in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis had a nice run of growth. But if the findings of a new survey are accurate, the run is done. The BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for June showed that 9 percent of the asset allocators surveyed were opting to underweight emerging market stocks for the first time since early 2009. A good deal of the negative sentiment stems from the belief that China’s economy is entering a downward trend. In fact, 31 percent of all regional fund managers think the Chinese economy will weaken during the next 12 months and take regional emerging markets down, too. Confirming investor flight from emerging markets, EPFR Global — a global data provider — found that last week marked the year’s biggest outflow of funds from emerging markets: $5.76 billion. Now the question becomes, when do emerging markets become the contrarian pick of the year?

Inflation at 53-Year Low… Means Very Little to Middle America (Bloomberg)

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) reflected a price rise of just 1.1 percent for the first four months of 2013. That remarkably low inflation rate — combined with the Federal Reserve not hitting its unemployment goal of 7.6 percent — means the United States will continue to buy bonds to the tune of $85 billion a month. Unfortunately, the 53-year-low inflation rate means little else to investors or Middle America. That’s because the CPI doesn’t include energy or food prices in its statistics: two areas where prices continue to rise the fastest and cost Americans the most money on a daily basis. If food and energy prices ever reverse course and start to come down, then you’ll have the country’s attention.

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Abdul Qayyum Zakir, the Taliban’s abrasive, often brutal, senior military commander, received a summons from the Quetta shura, the insurgency’s ruling council, last December. The shura’s verbal message was brief, blunt, and shocking: Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban’s supreme leader, had decided to remove Zakir from his powerful position and to promote Zakir’s rival and co-equal, Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, to become the insurgency’s undisputed number-one military man.

The former Guantánamo inmate protested vehemently, saying there was no proof that Omar had sent the message, according to several well-placed Taliban sources. Zakir, and other top Taliban leaders who had received similar messages ousting them in the name of Omar, know that there have been no verifiable communications on paper, by phone, or in audio or video recordings from the so-called Leader of the Faithful, since he disappeared into the Kandahar mountains on the back of a motorcycle in November 2001 as his regime collapsed.

The Obama Administration was very happy about the latest communique from the motorcycle trails of Kandahar, as related in yesterday’s Washington Post:

In a statement read live on television in Doha, the Qatari capital, a Taliban spokesman said that the militant group “never wants to pose harm to other countries from its soil” and that it was open to talking with other Afghans. Those pledges met U.S. conditions for opening a Taliban political office in Qatar.

President Obama called the agreement “a very early step,” describing it as a parallel process to “the transition that is taking place militarily in Afghanistan” as the U.S.-led international coalition hands over security control to the Afghan military and prepares to withdraw all combat troops by the end of next year.

“We anticipate there will be a lot of bumps in the road,” Obama said in remarks at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland.

Oh, no.  He did not just say “bumps in the road,” did he?  Shades of Benghazi!

Sure enough, the Taliban promptly killed four American soldiers in a rocket attack on Bagram Air Base, and murdered five Afghan police officers in Helmand Province for good measure.  The police killings were reportedly carried out by Taliban infiltrators, who gunned down their rookie “colleagues” and made off with their weapons.  Also, a leading anti-Taliban politician, Mohammed Mohaqiq, narrowly survived a bomb attack in Kabul yesterday.

On Wednesday, the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, announced he would not participate in the talks unless the Americans stepped out, while also expressing some frustration with the Taliban’s unseemly haste to get on with murdering all opposition and retaking control of the country.  The Associated Press reports:

Karzai had said Tuesday that he would send representatives from his High Peace Council to Qatar for talks but aides said he changed his mind after objecting to the way the announcement was handled, in particular the Taliban’s use of its formal name “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” in opening an office in Doha.

Shafiullah Nooristani, a member of the High Peace Council, told The Associated Press that the use of the name violated agreements Karzai’s government had made with the U.S. and caused diplomatic issues for Afghanistan.

“The agreement was that the office should open only – and only – for negotiations, not as a political entity like a parallel institution to the Afghan Embassy which is already there,” Nooristan said.

Karzai also suspended talks with on a new U.S.-Afghan security deal that would allow some American troops to remain in the country after the international combat mission ends in 2014 to protest the fact that his government was being left out of the initial process.

What a farce.  America expended a horrendous amount of blood and treasure to install the Karzai regime, but he feels free to treat us like dirt every time the Taliban goads him by calling him an “American puppet.”  Everyone knows this is all just time-killing theater until the Taliban can retake the country, a process that will involve killing a lot more than just time.  The name they used for their “peace office” in Doha, the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” is what they called themselves when they ran the country last time.

The only mildly surprising development is that the Taliban couldn’t restrain themselves from killing Americans for more than a few hours.  They would have been smart to give President Obama the fig leaf of “peace talks” he needs to complete American withdrawal, clearing their path back to Kabul.  It looks like they don’t think any such pretense is necessary.

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