TAMPA BAY - The Florida Highway Patrol Troop C (Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Pasco, Hernando, Sumter and Citrus counties) has announced the roads it plans to target with driver license and/or vehicle inspection checkpoints in February. FHP says the checkpoints will be conducted during daytime hours, and generally cause delays of five minutes or less. Scroll down for a list of all affected roads.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
FHP announces daytime driver license, vehicle inspection checkpoints
America get ready for persecution....
Q: Is this legal?
A: There is a policy established by the Florida Highway Patrol that specifies the legal guidelines that must be undertaken by the agency to conduct driver license and vehicle safety inspection checkpoints. The information provided below comes directly from that policy, which was provided by FHP.
Q: How will this impact my drive? Won't these checkpoints cause big traffic jams?
A: Initially, every third vehicle will be stopped, however the Checkpoint Supervisor will monitor traffic to ensure a backup doesn't occur. If delays of more than three to five minutes occur, the Checkpoint Supervisor may order an alternate vehicle count (i.e. every fifth vehicle). If the traffic conditions cause a back up that cannot be easily alleviated by the alternate vehicle count, the Checkpoint Supervisor may temporarily suspend the checkpoint until the back-up has been cleared. Once cleared, the checkpoint can be reactivated using the last vehicle count method that was in place. Per the policy, the degree of intrusion to motorists and the length of detention to each driver should be kept to a minimum.
Q: Do these checkpoints affect trucks and buses too?
A: All vehicles and drivers, including commercial vehicles, buses and large trucks, that enter the checkpoint are subject to screening. The only exception is emergency vehicles.
Q: Isn't this profiling?
A: The FHP police states "vehicles and drivers shall not be stopped on a discretionary basis (i.e., due to the 'looks' of the vehicle or it occupant(s)."
Q: What's a "driver license checkpoint”?
A: Troopers will request the driver license and vehicle registration from each driver detained. If a driver is also the owner or registrant of the vehicle, the Trooper also may request proof of personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. FHP says violations will be enforced pursuant to Florida law and Division policy.
Q: What are" vehicle inspection checkpoints"? Troopers aren't mechanics, so why are they checking my car?
A: Per FHP, defective vehicle equipment, such as bad brakes, worn tires and defective lighting equipment, poses dangers to the public.
Q: What will officers inspect on my vehicle if I'm stopped?
A: Troopers may inspect the following equipment on vehicles:
- Horn
- Windshield wipers
- Brakes
- Tail lamps
- Directional signals (required on all vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1972)
- Stop lamps
- License plate lamp
- Headlamps
- Steering mechanism
- Tires
- Exhaust system
- Other readily visible equipment (windshield, bumpers, etc.)
Q: Am I going to get a ticket? How much do they cost?
A: During the vehicle inspection checkpoints, Troopers may issue a Faulty Equipment Violations, which are non-moving violations and do not carry points for the driver's record. Fees for non-moving violations vary by county. In Hillsborough County, a non-moving violation fee is $103, however if a citation is issued, drivers may have the faulty equipment replaced or repaired, provide proof of those repairs, and have the fine reduced to $83. The non-moving violation fees for other counties included in the checkpoints are: Citrus $116; Hernando $114; Pasco $114; Polk $114; Sumter $11
During the driver license or vehicle inspection checkpoints, citations may be issued for seat belt violations ($103-$116 fine). Drivers that appear to be impaired may be arrested, and their vehicles may be towed.
Q: What times will the checkpoints occur?
A: Any time between sunrise and sunset, according to FHP.
Q: Are these actually DUI checkpoints?
A: No. However if an officer suspects a driver is impaired, the vehicle will be moved off of the roadway and standard procedure for DUI investigation will be conducted. When probable cause exists to believe that the driver has committed DUI, the driver will be held/processed per Florida law and local procedures for DUI offenders. If there's probable cause to believe that the driver or any passenger in the vehicle has committed an offense involving the possession or use of any contraband drug, the driver or passenger will be secured and processed in accordance with Florida law and local procedures for contraband drug offenders. Additionally, when reasonable suspicion exists to believe that the driver or any passenger in the vehicle has committed an offense involving the possession or use of any contraband drug, a K-9 officer may be requested to conduct a K-9 sniff of the vehicle in order to detect and locate contraband drugs.
Here are
the roads impacted by the checkpoints, as determined by local supervisors.
ABC
China, Japan on the brink of war
Chinese warships have pointed missile radars at Japanese military targets and taken the two regional powers to the brink of "a dangerous situation", say Japanese officials.
The news overnight marks a dangerous escalation of a four-month diplomatic and military stand-off between Australia's two largest trading partners, involving disputed islets in the East China Sea.
Japan's defence minister, Itsunori Onodera, told reporters last night that a Chinese frigate pointed a missile control radar at the Japanese destroyer Yuudachi on January 30.
'This is extremely abnormal behaviour': Japan's defense minister, Itsunori Onodera. Photo: AFP
"Something like fire-control radar was directed at a Japan Self-Defense Maritime escort ship in the East China Sea," Mr Onodera told reporters in Tokyo.
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He also said a Chinese vessel had similarly targeted a Japanese ship-based helicopter two weeks earlier.
"This is extremely abnormal behaviour," Mr Onodera said.
"One step in the wrong direction could have pushed things into a dangerous situation," he said.
China Tuesday night called for calm. In a statement issued ahead of Japan's accusation, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman urged Japan "to stop all provocative actions" including sending vessels and planes to the Diaoyu Islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese.
"We hope Japan can take actions to show sincerity and willingness to work with China through talks and negotiations to control and manage the current situation," said spokesman Hua Chunying.
Diplomats and military officials in the United States, Japan and China had previously warned that the dispute was only one accident away from open military conflict.
But last night's news out of Tokyo suggests the two regional powers have come closer to live fire than many had feared.
Western military officers and diplomats were last night seeking more information to determine if the Chinese radar targeting amounted to what is known as "guide mode", which implies a missile has been locked onto a target.
"If you are the Japanese captain you would have an incredibly uncomfortable choice to make very quickly," said a Western diplomat, who has been closely following the dispute. "You’re seconds away if that thing decided to fire".
Mr Onodera's ambiguous language might also cover general radar scoping, known as "acquisition mode", or a targeted radar lock, known as "track mode", which falls short of an implication that a missile has been prepared for firing.
A chorus of outspoken Chinese generals have advocated a tough military stance ever since the Japanese Government brought the Senkaku Islands, or Diaoyu in Chinese, from private Japanese owners in September.
Japanese officials said the nationalisation was intended to de-escalate tensions by preventing the islands from falling into the hands of a hawkish politician.
But Chinese leaders immediately launched a fiery anti-Japan propaganda war, facilitated mass protests and formed a special security "small group" to steer the crisis.
Last month China's new Communist Party boss and military leader, Xi Jinping, took the rare step of ordering the People’s Liberation Army to be prepared for war.
A fortnight ago a People's Liberation Army officer, Colonel Liu Mingfu, ratcheted the sabre-rattling to a new level by raising a scenario with Fairfax Media that he said would justify a nuclear attack, while clarifying that he was not calling upon China to take such measures.
This week, however, a more powerful PLA general who is often categorised as a "hawk", and is known to be close to Mr Xi, called for cool heads to prevail.
He used a running race metaphor to argue that China should not be drawn into war just as it was about to overtake the United States after nearly two centuries of effort.
The same metaphor is also used in a book recently published by Col Liu Mingfu, How the People’s Liberation Army Can Win.
"We should not be interrupted by accidental [warfare] again," wrote Gen Liu Yuan, in an essay extract published in the Global Times.
"What the Americans and the Japanese fear is that we will catch up with them, which is why they exhaust every possible means to suppress China's development," wrote Gen Liu. "We should not fall into their trap."
The Japanese Defence Ministry has previously revealed that Japanese fighter planes were scrambled against Chinese aircraft in the area on 91 occasions between October and December.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-japan-on-the-brink-20130206-2dx25.html#ixzz2K7mP2j4d
The news overnight marks a dangerous escalation of a four-month diplomatic and military stand-off between Australia's two largest trading partners, involving disputed islets in the East China Sea.
Japan's defence minister, Itsunori Onodera, told reporters last night that a Chinese frigate pointed a missile control radar at the Japanese destroyer Yuudachi on January 30.
'This is extremely abnormal behaviour': Japan's defense minister, Itsunori Onodera. Photo: AFP
"Something like fire-control radar was directed at a Japan Self-Defense Maritime escort ship in the East China Sea," Mr Onodera told reporters in Tokyo.
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He also said a Chinese vessel had similarly targeted a Japanese ship-based helicopter two weeks earlier.
"This is extremely abnormal behaviour," Mr Onodera said.
"One step in the wrong direction could have pushed things into a dangerous situation," he said.
China Tuesday night called for calm. In a statement issued ahead of Japan's accusation, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman urged Japan "to stop all provocative actions" including sending vessels and planes to the Diaoyu Islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese.
"We hope Japan can take actions to show sincerity and willingness to work with China through talks and negotiations to control and manage the current situation," said spokesman Hua Chunying.
Diplomats and military officials in the United States, Japan and China had previously warned that the dispute was only one accident away from open military conflict.
But last night's news out of Tokyo suggests the two regional powers have come closer to live fire than many had feared.
Western military officers and diplomats were last night seeking more information to determine if the Chinese radar targeting amounted to what is known as "guide mode", which implies a missile has been locked onto a target.
"If you are the Japanese captain you would have an incredibly uncomfortable choice to make very quickly," said a Western diplomat, who has been closely following the dispute. "You’re seconds away if that thing decided to fire".
Mr Onodera's ambiguous language might also cover general radar scoping, known as "acquisition mode", or a targeted radar lock, known as "track mode", which falls short of an implication that a missile has been prepared for firing.
A chorus of outspoken Chinese generals have advocated a tough military stance ever since the Japanese Government brought the Senkaku Islands, or Diaoyu in Chinese, from private Japanese owners in September.
Japanese officials said the nationalisation was intended to de-escalate tensions by preventing the islands from falling into the hands of a hawkish politician.
But Chinese leaders immediately launched a fiery anti-Japan propaganda war, facilitated mass protests and formed a special security "small group" to steer the crisis.
Last month China's new Communist Party boss and military leader, Xi Jinping, took the rare step of ordering the People’s Liberation Army to be prepared for war.
A fortnight ago a People's Liberation Army officer, Colonel Liu Mingfu, ratcheted the sabre-rattling to a new level by raising a scenario with Fairfax Media that he said would justify a nuclear attack, while clarifying that he was not calling upon China to take such measures.
This week, however, a more powerful PLA general who is often categorised as a "hawk", and is known to be close to Mr Xi, called for cool heads to prevail.
He used a running race metaphor to argue that China should not be drawn into war just as it was about to overtake the United States after nearly two centuries of effort.
The same metaphor is also used in a book recently published by Col Liu Mingfu, How the People’s Liberation Army Can Win.
"We should not be interrupted by accidental [warfare] again," wrote Gen Liu Yuan, in an essay extract published in the Global Times.
"What the Americans and the Japanese fear is that we will catch up with them, which is why they exhaust every possible means to suppress China's development," wrote Gen Liu. "We should not fall into their trap."
The Japanese Defence Ministry has previously revealed that Japanese fighter planes were scrambled against Chinese aircraft in the area on 91 occasions between October and December.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-japan-on-the-brink-20130206-2dx25.html#ixzz2K7mP2j4d
Israel deploys third Iron Dome battery in the north
A third Iron Dome battery was deployed in the north of the country on Tuesday as a precautionary measure in light of the increasingly volatile situation in Syria.
It is the largest deployment of the anti-missile system in the north of the country since the system became operational in 2011.
Channel 2 reported Tuesday that Israel had also deployed longer-range Patriot missiles in the Galilee over the past week.
Army Radio said the development was not in response to any specific threat, but rather due to the tension in the region following last week’s airstrike on Syria, which has been widely attributed to Israel. Iran has threatened that Israel would regret the attack that reportedly destroyed advanced SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles that were being transported from Syria to Lebanon.
“Just as it regretted its aggression after the 33-day, 22-day and eight-day wars, today the Zionist entity will regret the aggression it launched against Syria,” said Saeed Jalili, the head of Iran’s National Security Council, referring to the Second Lebanon War against Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, and operations Cast Lead and Pillar of Defense against the Palestinian group Hamas.
At the end of January two other batteries were positioned near Haifa and Safed.
During the Second Lebanon War in 2006 Hezbollah targeted both cities with missiles.
Meant to protect strategic assets and heavy populated areas, the Iron Dome system proved effective during Operation Pillar of Defense, intercepting 84 percent of the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at residential areas in Israel’s south and center.
The Times of Israel
Moscow Endures the Snowiest Winter in 100 Years
MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow has not witnessed such a snowy winter in the past 100 years, Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov said on Tuesday, after heavy snowfall hit the Russian capital last night.
“This is the snowiest winter in 100 years,” Biryukov said, adding that 216 centimeters (85 inches) of snow have blanketed Moscow since the beginning of winter, which is 1.5 times above climatic norm.
The snowfall, which continued in and around the capital until the early hours of Tuesday, brought Moscow's traffic to a virtual standstill. The total length of traffic jams in the city reached 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles), which is equal to the distance between Moscow and Madrid.
The snowfall also caused the delay of 155 flights, while 56 planes had to seek alternative landing sites. Among them was that of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which had to land in St. Petersburg due to weather conditions.
RIA Novosti
Argentina Freezes Supermarket Prices To Halt Soaring Inflation; Chaos To Follow
Up until now, Argentina's descent into a hyperinflationary basket case, with a crashing currency and loss of outside funding was relatively moderate and controlled. All this is about to change. Today, in a futile attempt to halt inflation, the government of Cristina Kirchner announced a two-month price freeze on supermarket products. The price freeze applies to every product in all of the nation’s largest supermarkets — a group including Walmart, Carrefour, Coto, Jumbo, Disco and other large chains. The companies’ trade group, representing 70 percent of the Argentine supermarket sector, reached the accord with Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno, the government’s news agency Telam reported. As AP reports, "The commerce ministry wants consumers to keep receipts and complain to a hotline about any price hikes they see before April 1."
Perhaps they will. What consumers will certainly do is scramble into local stores to take advantage of artificially-controlled prices knowing very well they have two short months to stock up on perishable goods at today's prices, before the country's inflation comes soaring back, only this time many of the local stores will not be around as their profit margins implode and as owners, especially of foreign-based chains, make the prudent decision to get out of Dodge while the getting's good and before the next steps, including such measures as nationalization, in the escalation into a full out hyperinflationary collapse, are taken by Argentina's female ruler.
As such expect photos of empty shelves from Buenos Aires to start popping up in a few days, comparable to how threats of a gun and weapon ban by the US government did more for the top and bottom line of US arms dealers than any military conflict ever could.
Economist Soledad Perez Duhalde of the abeceb.com consulting firm predicted on Monday that the price freeze will have only a very short term effect, and noted that similar moves in Argentina had failed to control inflation. Consumers shouldn’t be surprised if the supermarkets are slow to restock their shelves and offer fewer products for sale, she added.
In other news Argentina, just like the rest of the "developed" world, appears to have a slight inflation tracking problem:
Polls show Argentines worry most about inflation, which private economists estimate could reach 30 percent this year. The government says it’s trying to hold the next union wage hikes to 20 percent, a figure that suggests how little anyone believes the official index that pegs annual inflation at just 10 percent.
The BLS has the solution: just exclude any product whose price is rising from your CPI calculation, and voila. For everything else there is a hedonic adjustment.
The ironic comparison to the US does not end there however:
A more effective way to contain inflation would be to “reduce government spending, which is financing an expansion of the money supply, and to have a credible price index.”
Wait, are they still talking about Argentina or the US?
The government announced the price freeze on the first business day after the International Monetary Fund formally censured Argentina for putting out inaccurate economic data. The IMF has given Argentina until September to bring its inflation and economic growth statistics up to international standards. If Argentina doesn’t comply, it could face expulsion from the world body in November.
Well good thing the US complies with the IMF's stringent "seasonally adjusted" data reporting quality control. Or else, the US may have been expelled from the IMF too. And then who would fund the creeping bailout of Europe (aside from Germany of course)?
The IMF censure “is not just a new error ... it’s also a clear example of the organization’s unequal treatment and double standards in regard to certain member countries,” Lorenzino said. “Argentina, just as it agreed with the IMF to do, will keep working to improve its statistical procedures in accordance with good international standards.”
So to summarize: first capital controls, then a currency crisis, then expectations of sovereign default, then a rise in military tensions, and finally - price controls, after which all out chaos usually follows.
Study this sequence well: it is coming to every "developed" country near you in the months and years ahead.
But, as with every other hyperinflationary implosion, there is a silver lining: the stock market is soaring...
... at least in Peso terms. When priced in USD, the 360% stock market "rise" is more like -9% in the past 21 years. But luckily, the general public has a gene that prevents it from grasping the difference between nominal and real - something Ben Bernanke is very well aware of.
Zero Hedge
Perhaps they will. What consumers will certainly do is scramble into local stores to take advantage of artificially-controlled prices knowing very well they have two short months to stock up on perishable goods at today's prices, before the country's inflation comes soaring back, only this time many of the local stores will not be around as their profit margins implode and as owners, especially of foreign-based chains, make the prudent decision to get out of Dodge while the getting's good and before the next steps, including such measures as nationalization, in the escalation into a full out hyperinflationary collapse, are taken by Argentina's female ruler.
As such expect photos of empty shelves from Buenos Aires to start popping up in a few days, comparable to how threats of a gun and weapon ban by the US government did more for the top and bottom line of US arms dealers than any military conflict ever could.
Economist Soledad Perez Duhalde of the abeceb.com consulting firm predicted on Monday that the price freeze will have only a very short term effect, and noted that similar moves in Argentina had failed to control inflation. Consumers shouldn’t be surprised if the supermarkets are slow to restock their shelves and offer fewer products for sale, she added.
In other news Argentina, just like the rest of the "developed" world, appears to have a slight inflation tracking problem:
Polls show Argentines worry most about inflation, which private economists estimate could reach 30 percent this year. The government says it’s trying to hold the next union wage hikes to 20 percent, a figure that suggests how little anyone believes the official index that pegs annual inflation at just 10 percent.
The BLS has the solution: just exclude any product whose price is rising from your CPI calculation, and voila. For everything else there is a hedonic adjustment.
The ironic comparison to the US does not end there however:
A more effective way to contain inflation would be to “reduce government spending, which is financing an expansion of the money supply, and to have a credible price index.”
Wait, are they still talking about Argentina or the US?
The government announced the price freeze on the first business day after the International Monetary Fund formally censured Argentina for putting out inaccurate economic data. The IMF has given Argentina until September to bring its inflation and economic growth statistics up to international standards. If Argentina doesn’t comply, it could face expulsion from the world body in November.
Well good thing the US complies with the IMF's stringent "seasonally adjusted" data reporting quality control. Or else, the US may have been expelled from the IMF too. And then who would fund the creeping bailout of Europe (aside from Germany of course)?
The IMF censure “is not just a new error ... it’s also a clear example of the organization’s unequal treatment and double standards in regard to certain member countries,” Lorenzino said. “Argentina, just as it agreed with the IMF to do, will keep working to improve its statistical procedures in accordance with good international standards.”
So to summarize: first capital controls, then a currency crisis, then expectations of sovereign default, then a rise in military tensions, and finally - price controls, after which all out chaos usually follows.
Study this sequence well: it is coming to every "developed" country near you in the months and years ahead.
But, as with every other hyperinflationary implosion, there is a silver lining: the stock market is soaring...
... at least in Peso terms. When priced in USD, the 360% stock market "rise" is more like -9% in the past 21 years. But luckily, the general public has a gene that prevents it from grasping the difference between nominal and real - something Ben Bernanke is very well aware of.
Zero Hedge
Netanyahu: It's Time to Stand Up to Hizbullah
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released a statement Tuesday after Bulgaria officially blamed Hizbullah for a terrorist bombing in the country that killed five Israelis and one Bulgarian last year.
Netanyahu called on the international community to recognize Hizbullah as a terrorist organization.
The Bulgarian government said Tuesday that two people with Canadian andAustralian passports linked to Hizbullah were behind the July bus bombing.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Canada “takes the reported involvement of a dual national living in Lebanon very seriously and is working with Bulgarian authorities.”
Both Canada and the United States urged the European Union to take a harsher approach to Hizbullah. Shortly after the Burgas bombing, the EU decided not to list Hizbullah as a terrorist group.
“We urge the European Union and all partners who have not already done so to list Hizbullah as a terrorist entity and prosecute terrorist acts committed by this inhuman organization to the fullest possible extent,” Baird said, according to AFP.
United States counter-terror advisor John Brennan said the attack exposed Hizbullah as “a terrorist group that is willing to recklessly attack innocent men, women and children, and that poses a real and growing threat not only to Europe, but to the rest of the world.”
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton appeared to agree, saying that there is “a need for reflection over the outcome of the investigation.”
“The implications of the investigation need to be assessed seriously as they relate to a terrorist attack on EU soil, which resulted in the killing and injury of innocent civilians,” she said.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Tuesday that his country is willing to cooperate in an investigation. “Lebanon trusts that the Bulgarian authorities will undertake a serious evaluation of the results of the investigation,” he said.
Israel National News
ObamaCare To Make Up 53% of Federal Spending
(CNSNews.com) – According to projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), entitlements and ObamaCare spending will comprise 53 percent of all federal spending over the coming decade, totaling $24.9 trillion.
In its updated Budget and Economic Outlook report released on Tuesday, the CBO projects that Social Security will account for $11.149 trillion in spending from 2014 to 2023 while federal health care entitlements, including Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare, will spend $13.85 trillion. (That total includes TRICARE, CHIP, and "other" spending listed by the CBO under healthcare.)
ObamaCare’s insurance subsidies, exchange costs, and other spending are expected to cost the government $949 billion over the next 10 years. Medicare is expected cost $8.1 trillion while Medicaid is expected to cost $4.4 trillion.
Combined, these two entitlement categories (Social Security and all health care programs) will comprise 52.9 percent of the projected $47.2 trillion in total federal outlays from 2014 to 2023.
(AP Photo)
The CBO notes that much of the spending for entitlement programs is off-set by dedicated revenue sources, such as the payroll tax. However, most of what the government calls “mandatory spending” – the catchall term for federal entitlements and other programs that are not paid for annually by Congress – will not be off-set.
For instance, of the $13.85 trillion in health care entitlement spending, $12.2 trillion of it is not paid for via dedicated taxation, meaning that it will have to come out of general tax revenue or be added to the deficit.
In fact, over the next decade, the federal government will collect only $2.6 trillion in dedicated revenues for its mandatory spending programs, as opposed to $31.6 trillion in spending.
While Social Security and health care entitlements will make up most of the mandatory spending, the category includes other types of automatic spending not typically thought of as entitlements.
Food stamps, for example, are projected to cost $760 billion between 2014 and 2023. Federal military and civilian retirement programs are expected to pay out $1.8 trillion; disability insurance is projected to spend $626 billion; and unemployment insurance is expected to pay out $492 billion.
Cns
In its updated Budget and Economic Outlook report released on Tuesday, the CBO projects that Social Security will account for $11.149 trillion in spending from 2014 to 2023 while federal health care entitlements, including Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare, will spend $13.85 trillion. (That total includes TRICARE, CHIP, and "other" spending listed by the CBO under healthcare.)
ObamaCare’s insurance subsidies, exchange costs, and other spending are expected to cost the government $949 billion over the next 10 years. Medicare is expected cost $8.1 trillion while Medicaid is expected to cost $4.4 trillion.
Combined, these two entitlement categories (Social Security and all health care programs) will comprise 52.9 percent of the projected $47.2 trillion in total federal outlays from 2014 to 2023.
(AP Photo)
The CBO notes that much of the spending for entitlement programs is off-set by dedicated revenue sources, such as the payroll tax. However, most of what the government calls “mandatory spending” – the catchall term for federal entitlements and other programs that are not paid for annually by Congress – will not be off-set.
For instance, of the $13.85 trillion in health care entitlement spending, $12.2 trillion of it is not paid for via dedicated taxation, meaning that it will have to come out of general tax revenue or be added to the deficit.
In fact, over the next decade, the federal government will collect only $2.6 trillion in dedicated revenues for its mandatory spending programs, as opposed to $31.6 trillion in spending.
While Social Security and health care entitlements will make up most of the mandatory spending, the category includes other types of automatic spending not typically thought of as entitlements.
Food stamps, for example, are projected to cost $760 billion between 2014 and 2023. Federal military and civilian retirement programs are expected to pay out $1.8 trillion; disability insurance is projected to spend $626 billion; and unemployment insurance is expected to pay out $492 billion.
Cns
Magnitude 8.0 quake struck at Salomon islands
Homes were damaged and at least five people have been reported dead after a tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake hit the Solomon Islands.
The quake, with a magnitude 8.0, struck at 01:12 GMT near the Santa Cruz islands, the US Geological Survey said.
A tsunami measuring 0.9m (3ft) then hit Lata on eastern Santa Cruz island, swamping the island's airport.
A tsunami warning was triggered for several Pacific nations, but was cancelled about two hours later.
Lata is the main town on Santa Cruz, also known as Nendo. It is the largest island in the Santa Cruz island chain, part of the Solomon Islands nation.
The worst of the damage was said to have been on the western coast of Santa Cruz, with one report putting the waves there at 1.5m.
Medical staff at Lata hospital said five people had been killed - four elderly people and one young boy.
But director of nursing Augustine Pilve told New Zealand television that number could rise.
"It's more likely that other villages along the coast of Santa Cruz may be affected," he said.
Robert Iroga, press secretary to the Solomons prime minister, told the BBC that the waves west of Lata had travelled some 500m inland, and that three villages had been damaged.
Many of the homes in the area were semi-permanent, he said, and were reported to have been flattened.
Police were travelling to the area, he said, and the priority was to ensure the local airport is functioning so aid and supplies can be flown in.
Another government spokesman, George Herming, said reports suggested that between 60 to 70 homes have been damaged in four villages on Santa Cruz Islands.
"At this stage, authorities are still trying to establish the exact number and extent of damage," he told AFP, adding that communications with the islands was difficult because of their remoteness.
Officials said many of the "semi-permanent" houses in the area may have been flattened' No threat'
Initial reports by the USGS said the quake had a shallow depth of 5.8km (3.6 miles) but it later revised the figure to 28.7km (17.8 miles).
Luke Taula, a fisheries officer in Lata, told Reuters news agency the wave came as several small tidal surges.
"We have small waves come in, then go out again, then come back in. The waves have reached the airport terminal," he told the news agency.
Tsunami warnings were issued for the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, and Wallis and Futuna islands.
But they were later cancelled. by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which warned that some coastal areas may still experience small changes in sea level.
The Solomon Islands form part of the Ring Of Fire, a zone of volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches encircling the Pacific basin.
The 8.0 earthquake was followed by several aftershocks, the largest measuring 6.6 magnitude.
The region has been experiencing a series of smaller quakes in recent days.
In 2007 an 8.1 magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed at least 52 people in the Solomons and left thousands homeless.
BBC
Egypt on the Edge
Amid the blaze of graffiti in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square — from hastily scribbled political slogans to elaborate portraits of the many martyrs of Egypt’s unfinished revolution — is an arresting image that encapsulates some of the rage engulfing the country right now. It shows the easily recognizable face of Mohamed Morsi, the embattled president and former Muslim Brotherhood official, pictured with the domed headress of Egypt’s Pharaohs.
No words are necessary; the message is unmistakable. There was a time in Egypt’s storied history when the Pharaohs were all-powerful, beloved and feared, ruling a vast and wealthy empire. Now, such unbridled authoritarianism is deeply hated, and as of this writing, Egypt hovers on the edge of a crisis that could undo the glorious gains of its 2011 revolution.
The inspiring images of young men and women occupying Tahrir Square two years ago, bravely resisting the thuggery of dictator Hosni Mubarak’s regime, have been replaced by angry rock throwers fed up with the slowness of reform and the absence of real change in their lives. The economy is in a freefall, with the Egyptian pound rapidly losing value and the Mubarak regime’s decades of disinvestment evident in crumbling buildings, unpaved roads and children who beg with abandon. Tourism is at 17% of what it was in 2010. Unemployment among educated young adults is endemic.
All this would argue against further American diplomatic and economic engagement. Why get involved in such an unpredictable environment? Why help out an Islamist government whose leader is known for ugly, anti-Israel statements, persistent human rights violations, and who resorts to blaming outside collaborators for fomenting street violence he himself cannot control?
That’s the sentiment among congressional Republicans, who have successfully held up $450 million in American aid to Egypt since Morsi’s election last year. But simply pulling back from Egypt would be a serious mistake, risking American influence in the region and inviting other, less friendly countries to write large checks and dictate the behavior of what, despite its current troubles, is still the most important player in the Arab Middle East.
Americans don’t need to rail against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood — Egyptians are already doing that, sometimes more violently than they should. The Morsi government has lost the faith of the largely liberal but fractured opposition and the more fundamentalist Salafists, who scored surprisingly well in the last election and who would pose a much more serious threat to our interests than would the generally middle class, market-oriented Brotherhood. The religious fervor in Morsi’s party may be less of a worry than its members’ inexperience — or even incompetence — in governing, as evidenced by the aggressive push to ratify a flawed constitution and the routine use of emergency decrees. Morsi isn’t likened to Pharaoh for nothing.
America can’t turn away. Nor can it send unconditional aid into such a risky, potentially explosive situation. Some sort of middle ground is needed. One possible blueprint comes from a bipartisan task force convened by the Washington Institute, which argued for continued American aid with conditions to strengthen the Morsi government’s commitment to growing Egypt’s democracy, and combating terrorism in the Sinai. “While Washington cannot convince or compel the Islamists governing Egypt to give up their deeply held ideology, the United States can use its leverage to affect Egyptian behavior,” the task force wrote in the report released this past November.
Following such a path requires skillful and delicate diplomacy, for exacting too heavy a price risks alienating the Egyptian government and allowing others to fill the vacuum. A failed Egyptian state would be a disaster for Israel, Jordan and the entire region. Surely the spirit of Tahrir Square can be kept alive with the right kind of American help.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/170432/egypt-on-the-edge/#ixzz2K4kgu2ol
Iran urges Egypt for united front in region
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for a strong alliance between Iran and Egypt in the region to counter enemy threats.
“If Iran and Egypt closed ranks, international enemies of humanity could not inflict any harm upon our nations,” Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on the sidelines of the 12th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Cairo on Tuesday.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to increase relations with Egypt in all sectors without any restrictions. The Iranian nation opens up its arms and the way for the development and progress of the Egyptian nation,” he added.
“From a historical standpoint, in case Iran and Egypt stay together, both will emerge winners and that would benefit not only the two nations, but also the entire region,” said Ahmadinejad.
The Iranian president noted that Iran and Egypt need to coordinate their positions and settle the ongoing crisis in Syria.
He also stated that Tehran and Cairo would be able to contribute to finding a resolution to the Palestinian issue.
Morsi, for his part, underscored the need for broader cooperation between Iran and Egypt, saying Tehran-Cairo relations are significant and influential both in the region and in the world.
He called for cooperation between Iran and Egypt to find a solution to the spiraling crisis in Syria.
“I believe that the Syrian problem could not be resolved without Iran and Iran’s efforts in this regard are prioritized,” Morsi added.
“...We have no doubt that Iran is sincerely endeavoring to resolve the problems in Syria and other nations. Hence, we stress cooperation with Iran in this field,” he added.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011.
“Iran and Egypt can expand their cooperation in different sectors and the world will definitely witness a new form of Iran-Egypt cooperation. Iran and Egypt have always sought peace, progress and security because we believe that our nations are entitled to progress,” the Egyptian leader said.
Ahmadinejad arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for the first visit by an Iranian president in nearly three decades, suggesting a thaw in frosty ties.
Iran severed ties with Egypt after Cairo signed the 1978 Camp David Accord with Israel and granted asylum to Iran's deposed monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Morsi visited Iran for the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in August 2012, which was the first trip by an Egyptian president to Tehran since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Press TV
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