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LONDON—The International Monetary Fund urged the U.K. government to counter the effects of its austerity program by raising spending on infrastructure projects to avoid long-term damage to the nation's growth prospects.
Launched in 2010, the austerity program is the government's cornerstone policy, and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has indicated he won't change course.
The IMF had been a backer of the plan, allowing Mr. Osborne to use the fund's approval to validate his measures to improve the country's public finances.
But the IMF now believes that without action to soften the impact of the program, businesses will be reluctant to invest, and that will hinder the U.K.'s ability to generate economic growth by becoming more competitive and raising exports.
"The key risk ...
The wooden and steel parts I need to build my untraceable AK-47 fit within a slender, 15-by-12-inch cardboard box. I first lay eyes on them one Saturday morning in the garage of an eggshell-white industrial complex near Los Angeles. Foldout tables ring the edges of the room, surrounding two orange shop presses. The walls, dusty and stained, are lined with shelves of tools. I'm with a dozen other guys, some sipping coffee, others making introductions over the buzz of an air compressor. Most of us are strangers, but we share a common bond: We are just eight hours away from having our very own AK-47—one the government will never know about.
The AK-47, perhaps the world's best-known gun, is so easy to make and so hard to break that the Soviet-designed original has spawned countless variants, up...
PeJo/ShutterstockOn March 14, 2009, 31 weeks into her pregnancy, Nina Buckhalter gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. She named the child Hayley Jade. Two months later, a grand jury in Lamar County, Mississippi, indicted Buckhalter for manslaughter, claiming that the then-29-year-old woman "did willfully, unlawfully, feloniously, kill Hayley Jade Buckhalter, a human being, by culpable negligence."
The district attorney argued that methamphetamine detected in Buckhalter's system caused Hayley Jade's death. The state Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on the case on April 2, is expected to rule soon on whether the prosecution can move forward.
If prosecutors prevail in this case, the state would be setting a "dangerous precedent" that "unintentional pregnancy loss can be treated as ...
In 2011, the IRS killed audits of five big-time donors. Inside the IRS mess you haven't heard about.—By Andy Kroll | Thu May. 23, 2013 3:00 AM PDTTea party members protest in front of the John Weld Peck Federal Building in Cincinnati, Ohio, during a nationwide protest at IRS offices on May 21, 2013. Ernest Coleman/ZUMAPRESS.comYou'd have to search long and hard to find a member of Congress not outraged that politics and partisanship crept into the work of the IRS, leading to the wrongful targeting of tea partiers and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. "The American people have a right to expect that the IRS will exercise its authority in a neutral, non-biased way," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said on Tuesday. "Sadly, there appears to have been more than a hint of political ...
"Today, there's a growing divide between the fortunes of corporate America and those of the majority of Americans. . . . The stock-market boom is real, but most Americans have been left on the outside looking in."
-- James Surowiecki, in his latest New Yorker"Financial Page," "Boom or Bubble?"
by KenSo what do you think, is this great stock-market boom really another in our recent series of stock-market bubbles?I confess I haven't given the matter much thought. I'm not even sure I was aware that there is a stock-market boom. I've had, um, stuff on my mind. A stock-market boom doesn't figure heavily in my stuff. A stock-market bubble, however, might force itself on my attention, judging by that recent history of market bubbles, which somehow came crashing down on those of us who thought we ...
Howie with a crackpot happily wearing attention-drawing accouterments, Pasadena, 2009
Many Republicans will tell you former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) invented the TEA Party-- Taxed Enough Already-- to help popularize the Republican scheme to eliminate progressive taxation, which they feel puts too much burden on the wealthy-- and replace it with a flat tax that would force the burden down the income scale. But, as Lee Fang points out in his new book, The Machine-- A Field Guide To The Resurgent Right, that's not exactly what happened. The tobacco industry's expensive p.r. firms and lobbyists came up with the idea, fumbled it and watched Armey grab the ball and run with it. It was never grassroots at any time, though-- and always strictly astroturf.
[T]he roots of the modern...
Anthony Weiner's announcement of his long-rumored mayoral campaign sparked a media frenzy, but he managed to avoid seeing his face plastered on the front pages of the two tabloid newspapers that relentlessly lampooned him during the 2011 Twitter photo scandal that ended his congressional career. By launching his bid via a video posted on his website around midnight Wednesday Weiner prevented the New York Daily News and New York Post from featuring him and lewd puns on their covers, leaving staffers at the papers convinced it was a deliberate dodge.
Update: May 22, 2013 5:32 PM
When Weiner's announcement video and revamped campaign site initially hit the web Tuesday night, they appeared to briefly be taken offline for many web users leading to speculation their release was premature...
Anthony Weiner talked to TPM Wednesday evening about his newly announced mayoral bid, his relationship with his wife's bosses, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the crowd of reporters camped out in front of his apartment.
In the video that kicked off his campaign Tuesday, Weiner emphasized his roots as a "middle class kid in Brooklyn" and vowed to work to make New York the "middle class capital of the world." He said that theme of fighting for the middle class will be a major focus of his run, as it has throughout his political career.
"I am who I am. You know, when I ran for mayor in 2005 and frankly just about everything I've done in my public life has been animated by the notion that, for those who are in the middle class and struggling to make it, things have gotten worse," Weiner...
By Agence France-PresseWednesday, May 22, 2013 21:27 EDT
Like Raw Story on FacebookTweetPolish doctors carried out the world’s first life-saving face transplant, the centre’s spokeswoman said Wednesday, weeks after a 33-year-old man was disfigured by a machine in a workplace accident.
“It is Poland’s first face transplant and also the first in the world done to save the patient’s life,” Anna Uryga, spokeswoman for the Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology in the southern city of Gliwice, told AFP.
The man, ...
By Agence France-PresseWednesday, May 22, 2013 21:29 EDT
Like Raw Story on FacebookTweetSeventy-five percent of the world’s tornadoes occur in the United States, yet few people who live in “Tornado Alley” bother with the trouble and expense of a proper shelter from the storms.
Mel Evridge, 69, a retired builder who experienced both Monday’s twister in this Oklahoma City suburb that killed 24 and a still deadlier one in May 1999, is a proud member of that minority.
Not only did he put a storm cellar in the sma...
By Eric W. DolanWednesday, May 22, 2013 22:59 EDT
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Citing biblical scripture from the Gospel of Mark, Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned those who sought to drive a wedge between atheists and believers.
“The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! ...
Allosaurus dinosaur chomped like a bird of prey, say scientists | The Raw Story
By The Christian Science MonitorWednesday, May 22, 2013 23:02 EDT
...
British ‘Tea Party’ UKIP surges, putting pressure on Tories and Cameron | The Raw Story
By The Christian Science MonitorWednesday, May 22, 2013 23:08 EDT
...
By Agence France-PresseWednesday, May 22, 2013 23:15 EDT
Like Raw Story on FacebookTweetPresident Barack Obama plans to resume transfers of inmates from Guantanamo Bay to other countries in a fresh bid to close the controversial US prison, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In the coming weeks, Obama will try to accelerate efforts to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo partly by lifting a long-running ban on sending Yemeni inmates to their home country, the newspaper said, citing unnamed US officials.
The Whi...
By Agence France-PresseWednesday, May 22, 2013 23:16 EDT
Like Raw Story on FacebookTweetInternet mogul Kim Dotcom said Thursday he was considering taking legal action against tech giants such as Twitter, Google and Facebook for infringing copyright on a security measure he invented.
Dotcom, who is on bail in New Zealand as US authorities seek his extradition in the world’s biggest copyright case, said he invented “two-factor authentication”, which many major sites have adopted as a security feature.
Twitter b...
By Agence France-PresseWednesday, May 22, 2013 23:18 EDT
Like Raw Story on FacebookTweetUS lawmakers agreed to a bill that would speed construction of a Canada-US oil pipeline and circumvent the need for President Barack Obama’s approval for the $5 billion project.
By a 241-175 vote, the House of Representatives passed the largely symbolic measure to end regulatory delays on the Keystone XL Pipeline, a project which House Speaker John Boehner noted is shown in polls to have the support of most Americans.
“The...
The impact of the electric car: infographic | The Raw Story
By CleanTechnicaWednesday, May 22, 2013 23:22 EDT
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By Eric W. DolanThursday, May 23, 2013 0:10 EDT
Like Raw Story on FacebookTweetOn his show Wednesday night, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart pointedly mocked a Senate hearing on Apple’s questionable tax practices.
The tech giant pays a lower corporate tax rate than Walmart and uses offshore tax havens to avoid paying tens of billions in taxes. Apple CEO Tim Cook testified to the Senate about the issue on Tuesday.
Stewart showed Cook was greeted with servile praise rather than outrage at the Senate hearing. One...
In April, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) refused to vote for the Senate’s bill to expand background checks on gun purchases, pushing a debunked conspiracy theory that the bill would create a national gun registry to justify his opposition. Now that anti-gun violence groups are targeting him along with other senators who voted against the failed legislation, Heller sent a letter to his constituents insisting on his support for increased gun control.
As 87 percent of Nevadans support background checks, the letter avoided any mention of Heller’s vote against the Manchin-Toomey background checks compromise. Instead, the senator touted his co-sponsorship of an NRA-supported bill that claimed to strengthen background checks but would actually make it easier for mentally ill people to get guns.
I have...
The Hollywood Reporter has a long interview with Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer for Netflix, and Cindy Holland, who is the company’s vice president for original programming. And one of the things that it makes clear is that, in addition to the company’s willingness to spend a lot of money—as Sarandos puts it, “I felt like what [a network like] Starz was doing earlier on [during the Party Down era] was just kind of putting their toe in the water and doing a lot of “see what sticks” and not spending too much money. For us, I wanted to know that if it didn’t work, it was because it was a bad idea.”—the real killer app for Netflix, as it’s pitching to creators and to audiences, is what you can do with narrative storytelling when viewers are watching a show like a novel, at a pace that...
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano (Credit: AP)The latest report from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog shows that Iran continues to process nuclear fuel, it is making sure to keep its total amount low enough to not cross Israel’s so-called “red-line.”
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, since its last report Iran has continued to disregard demands that it halt enrichment of uranium at its nuclear facilities, instead processing another 689 kilograms of the nuclear fuel to the 5 percent level. Of greater concern to the international community is the uranium Iran has processed to 20 percent, compromising an additional 44 kilograms since February.
Iran’s known enriched uranium stockpile is not currently usable in a nuclear weapon — for that it would need to be enriched to 90 perce...
There are still 29 states where a person can be fired for being gay, but Illinois is not one of them. Nevertheless, it seems that Exxon Mobil attempted to discriminate against a prospective employee in that state merely because the individual identified as gay, instead proactively pursuing a less qualified straight candidate for the same position. This was no mere circumstance, but an intentional experiment run by the organization Freedom to Work, which is now suing Exxon Mobil for violating the Illinois Human Rights Act.
According to the complaint, Freedom to Work began its testing after Exxon Mobil refused to adopt a nondiscrimination policy that included protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Despite the unfair treatment, a spokesman for the oil giant, Charles Engelmann...
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) this week said that prayers to God will ensure Obamacare’s repeal, after 37 House of Representatives attempts to do so.
“I think the President will ultimately be forced to repudiate his own signature piece of legislation because the American people will demand it,” she told an evangelical radio host Tuesday. “And I think before his second term is over, we’re going to see a miracle before our eyes, I believe God is going to answer our prayers and we’ll be freed from the yoke of Obamacare.”
She added, “I believe that’s going to happen and we saw step one last week with the repeal of Obamacare in the House. We have two more steps. We serve a mighty God and I believe it can happen.”
But this was not really “step one” for the House. At this point, House Republican...
The average CEO salary broke records in 2011 at $9.6 million — and now, that record high has been topped by 2012 salaries, which averaged out to $9.7 million. Health care and media CEOs enjoyed the highest pay, while utility CEOs had the lowest at $7.5 million. Sixty percent of CEOs got a raise last year.
Though CEO pay dropped slightly after the financial crisis, it quickly rebounded to reach new heights in 2010, 2011, and now 2012. Simultaneously, the pay gap between CEOs and workers has also broken records, as the average CEO in 2012 earned 354 times more than the average worker.
During the recession, some companies changed their compensation formulas to incorporate more stock as a way to tie executives’ salaries to the company’s performance. As the stock market enjoys all-time highs, C...
Credit: Associated Press
China is taking steps to tackle its huge carbon output. Today, the country announced the details of its first carbon trading program, which will begin in the city of Shenzhen next month. The southern city is one of seven cities and provinces, including Beijing, which will take part in the pilot program, set to be completely implemented by 2014.
And according to one local news source, China could implement an absolute, nation-wide cap on its carbon emissions by 2016. China’s 21st Century Business Herald reported this week that the country’s State Council still needs to approve the carbon cap proposal submitted by the National Development and Reform Commission, a government entity that controls much of the Chinese economy. The proposal, which the State Council is rep...
(Credit: AP)
Bishop E.W. Jackson, the Republican nominee to be the next Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, does not believe that victims of the Oklahoma tornado should receive any federal aid to help them rebuild their lives. In video from a previous campaign first posted by Right Wing Watch, Jackson claims that federal relief to disaster victims is unconstitutional:
JACKSON: I don’t think that the federal government has much of a role at all constitutionally, at all [in disaster relief]. Now, you may make an argument that it does. You might argue that it’s a national security issue you might argue that it weakens us in the event of some sort of national military emergency. So you can make an attenuated argument. But I think that as a constitutional matter the federal government doesn’t have...
(Credit: Newscom)After the immigration measure was approved by the Senate Committee on Tuesday night, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) told reporters, “I’ve never seen a more calculated, cold-blooded PR campaign managed to advance a piece of legislation than this one.” In actuality, the immigration bill considered bipartisan sensibilities to ensure some partisan amendments were dropped and others were begrudgingly accepted.
In a post-vote press conference, Sessions said, “The political consultants and pollsters and people (managing the bill) … anticipated everything that was going to occur…they planned on careful attacks to neutralize critics.” The crux of Sessions’ argument was that the Obama administration was not doing enough for border security. Yet, the bill would expand on enforcing a phot...
Reading through Forbes’ list of the 71 most powerful people in the world this afternoon, I was struck by something interesting. For all that we talk about the influence of culture on both society and individuals, there only two people involved in the production or distribution of culture or the arts on the list.
There are a lot of figures from tech companies, many of which are made more valuable by cultural content, on the list. Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page are tied for 20th on the list. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg comes in at 27th. Apple CEO Tim Cook is 35. Robin Li, who founded and runs Baidu, China’s largest search engine ranks 64th.
But in comparison to all of those tech titans, there are just two people involved in the production of entertainment or cultural content. Amazo...
The debate over Medicaid expansion has devolved into a GOP platform for grandstanding about the health reform law and the Obama administration. But an NPR article from Tuesday shines a light on what, exactly, most Republican governors’ refusal to expand Medicaid will mean for real Americans by examining poor communities in a state headed by one of Obamacare’s most ardent critics: Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX).
The piece centers on particularly destitute populations in southern Texas, where some uninsured residents are so poor, sick, and unable to cope with their medical bills that they resort to desperate measures such as crossing the border into Mexico for medications and even sharing their insulin shots:
[M]any of those who live here [in Brownsville] — including poor Latino immigrants, both le...
Maggie Gallagher, former frontwoman for the National Organization for Marriage, penned a short post Tuesday at the National Review noting that moral approval for both gay sex and unwed childbearing has increased in recent polling. She attributes the correlation to a change in societal attitudes, highlighting that the “Christian views of sex” that have been offered by Chris Broussard and Ben Carson are now considered “scandalous.” She then asserts that people should find ways to be pro-straight without being anti-gay:
I personally still cherish the hope that we can as a society eliminate cruel homophobia without jettisoning heteronormativity — which is the need for social norms and institutions to be oriented strongly around the problem and the blessing that sex between men and women makes ...
A survey of Pennsylvania voters showed 78% overall support for a national popular vote for President...
If you live in Kansas, get the F**K out of there and if you don't DO NOT MOVE THERE! What a shithole...
A survey of Pennsylvania voters showed 78% overall support for a national popular vote for President...
