Moody’s To Downgrade US If No Deal To Cut Debt/GDP Ratio

English: US Federal Debt as a % of GDP from 1800 to 1999. Data from Niall Ferguson. Français : Dette publique fédérale américaine de 1800 à 1999 en % du produit intérieur brut. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the text of a statement Tuesday
by rating agency Moody’s:

Budget negotiations during the 2013 Congressional legislative
session will likely determine the direction of the US government’s Aaa
rating and negative outlook, says Moody’s Investors Service in the
report “Update of the Outlook for the US Government Debt Rating.”

If those negotiations lead to specific policies that produce a
stabilization and then downward trend in the ratio of federal debt to
GDP over the medium term, the rating will likely be affirmed and the
outlook returned to stable, says Moody’s.

If those negotiations fail to produce such policies, however,
Moody’s would expect to lower the rating, probably to Aa1.

Moody’s views the maintenance of the Aaa with a negative outlook

into 2014 as unlikely. The only scenario that would likely lead to its
temporary maintenance would be if the method adopted to achieve debt
stabilization involved a large, immediate fiscal shocksuch as would
occur if the so-called “fiscal cliff” actually materializedwhich could
lead to instability. Moody’s would then need evidence that the economy
could rebound from the shock before it would consider returning to a
stable outlook.

Moody’s notes that it is difficult to predict when during 2013
Congress will conclude negotiations that result in a budget package. The
Aaa rating, with its negative outlook, is likely to be maintained until
the outcome of those negotiations becomes clear.

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GVLN - Study: Majority Of File-Sharers Are Heavily Monitored

file sharing on the iPad (Photo credit: atmasphere)

LONDON (CBSDC)- A recent study found that those who participate in illegal file-sharing are not flying under the radar, but rather are closely monitored within hours of engaging in suspect activity.

The study, conducted at Birmingham University in the United Kingdom, used software created by computer scientists that emulated the file-sharing program BitTorrent and logged all interactions and connections made to it, the Korea IT Times reported.

Over the course of the three-year study, researchers reportedly saw monitoring firms tracking activity within three hours of a given download.

According to the tech website, those conducting the study were “surprised” at the diligent way in which such activity was monitored, and noted in their findings that there was no difference between frequent users and occasional downloaders.

“You don’t have to be a mass downloader. Someone who downloads a single movie will be logged as well,” research leader Dr. Tom Chothia was quoted as saying. “If the content was in the top 100 it was monitored within hours – someone will notice and it will be recorded.”

One distinction was allegedly made by monitoring firms, however – less popular content was not checked on nearly as frequently as more prominent or desirable items.

At least 10 different monitoring establishments reportedly logged downloaded content, the Korea IT Times learned.

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This is part of what we have been reporting on.  What bothers me is the monitoring of those involved in file sharing and not those who are hosting the illegal sites as well as those who are contributing to the illegal sites.  Those are the real targets.  May I remind you, the torrent sites are now very highly sophisticated as we have shown in our recent series on this subject and most people are not aware or even begin to understand intellectual property rights.

  We have several future stories already in the works that brings up even more disturbing questions and concerns along these lines.

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Gloucester, VA- The Fight To Control Your Mind - 911 Special Edition Launch

There is a massive media contest going on larger than at anytime in known history .  That fight is the fight to control your mind.  At every level, on every issue, with extreme amounts of data from more sides than you could ever imagine, how does one sort through all the confusion?  It used to take years to become an expert on just about any given subject.  Now one can compile a massive and impressive data file loaded with audio, video, e-books, PDF files and more within a matter of days.

  We have decided to take you on a journey through this fight and at times we will offer commentary that is within our own opinion, but respect the rights for you to form your opinions on the subject matter we publish here.  We are launching this series with a special 911 edition that is video footage shot by an independent film maker that resides in New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan, where the  main 911 incident took place.  Caution, the video can get boring very fast as you keep thinking to yourself, "I'm waiting for it, waiting for it?  Ugh, when is it going to get there?  Oh there it is!"

  The video is one hour and 44 plus minutes long so make sure you have plenty of time to view this piece.  We think it is worth your time as it is the best alternative and well researched piece we have seen to date on 911 possibly being an inside job.  We are not taking sides, we are presenting what is out there that you may not have seen and will never be able to see on the local or national news or newspapers and magazines.  View the video and make your own decisions.  This is the piece of history that has altered life both here in the United States and the world.

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GVLN - Are Torrents Destroying Hollywood? Part 5 and Final

English: improved version of http://commons.wikimedia.org/Sandy/Image:Bluray.png (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is the final part in our series of "Are Torrents Destroying Hollywood?".  This series has been very highly successful and so we are going to continue to explore various aspects of video downloads, burning, copyrights and so forth.  Each article in the future though will have it's own title and not be a part of an ongoing series.  In our final article here we have promised to discuss whether or not the disk is dead.  Arguments have been raging for several years now that the disk is dead.  That includes everything from music CD's, DVD movies, Blu Ray films, software and gaming disks.  The argument is that flash media, inexpensive mass storage hard drives, cloud storage, streaming media and instant downloads have changed the game.

  It has changed the game.  Sales on every type of media sold on disks is way down.  But does that mean that the disk is really dead?  We don't think so.  Here is why.  Let's look at the overall market force.  We are without question in some very tough financial times.  Sales on just about everything is down.  You can't site sales down in this area on a lack of interest.

  Another market pressure not usually considered in the sales numbers is the fact that the market is now flooded with all kinds of disks.  Retail marketing for disks of every sort is now available in more places and greater abundance.  Then there is the secondary market that is also very highly flooded.  Every thrift store, consignment shop, used or second hand store, pawn shop, flea market, yard sale and or garage sale has all kinds of disks for sale and now the prices are super cheap.  Local prices are between $2,00 to $4.00 per DVD title used.  CD's are now down to around $1.00 each.

  That's a lot of excess product out there.  There are a lot of people taking advantage of the lower prices on the secondary market that takes away from the primary retail market.  And the same with more retailers carrying more and more DVD titles.  Discounters have huge assortments to choose from these days and that includes movies, games, music and software.  Again, in the local market, if you don't want to pay the $10.00 price tag on a lower end jewel case game, wait until it is pulled off of Wal Mart's shelf and you can find it a week later at Ollie's Bargain store for only $3.99.

  Yet further considerations are the large amount of people without high speed Internet or even no Internet at all throughout rural and even suburban America.  All of these folks have no choice but to buy disks.

  Another area to consider is Blu Ray movies.  You do not want to play a hacked version of a Blu Ray movie on your Blu Ray player due to the fact that the next movie you buy may just shut the player down from playing that and all future Blu Ray movies again.  (Limited but becoming more common.  CLICK HERE for more information on this issue.

  We don't see the disk disappearing off the shelves for many years to come.  Also, compare the price of a 4 gig flash drive to a single layer DVD disk when transferring files and then giving the information to someone else.  A disk is still a much cheaper medium than a flash drive.

  One further issue.  When it comes to software, I would rather have the disk version than the download version any day of the week.  Re loading or setting up a new system and retiring an old system is much easier when you have the software disk.  Many downloaded software titles these days are not transferable to other computers even in the freeware arena.

  So no, the disk is not dead.  It's just fighting a highly saturated market force in a down economy.

We are ending this series with a nice freebie for everyone.  A Free downloadable video.  This is a legal video download and is in the MP4 format.  The title is Petticoat Junction - Herbie Get's Drafted.  This is an early 1960's sitcom.  It's in Black and White.  About 25 minutes in length and is around 111 mb's in size.
CLICK HERE for your free download.

  If you have problems with trying to figure out how to download the file. we have a link at the top of this site to one of our other sites that has full instructions there on how to get your copy.

Coming up next is a new series titled, "The Fight To Control Your Mind."

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GOVT WARNS OF 'ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Zombie Apocalypse (video game) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BY ALICIA A. CALDWELL 
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- "The zombies are coming!" the Homeland Security Department says.

Tongue firmly in cheek, the government urged citizens Thursday to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, part of a public health campaign to encourage better preparation for genuine disasters and emergencies. The theory: If you're prepared for a zombie attack, the same preparations will help during a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake or terrorist attack.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency hosted an online seminar for its Citizen Corps organization to help emergency planners better prepare their communities for disaster. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year first launched a zombie apocalypse social media campaign for the same purposes.

Emergency planners were encouraged to use the threat of zombies - the flesh-hungry, walking dead - to encourage citizens to prepare for disasters. Organizers also noted the relative proximity to Halloween.

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Owners Lose Possessions After Home Near Twentynine Palms Is Mistakenly Foreclosed

Wells Fargo Advisors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

TWENTYNINE PALMS (CBSLA.com) —  The owners of a modest home near Twentynine Palms lost their cherished possessions after a bank mistakenly foreclosed their residence.

A crew broke into Alvin and Pat Tjosaas’ desert home and took everything after being directed by Wells Fargo to secure the structure.

The couple, however, didn’t have a mortgage on the home.

Alvin said the deputy sheriff said, “Good news, we know who took (your possessions)…Wells Fargo. Bad news, your stuff is all gone.”

All the married couple has now are three generations of memories.

Alvin, a retired mason, built the home with his father when he was a teenager.

“I know every inch, every rock…my mom mixed all the cement by hand,” he said.

Alvin and his wife would later bring their six children to their desert oasis.

“My little kids (would) come out here and their dresses were the same color as the wildflowers,” said Alvin.

A spokesman for Wells Fargo released a statement apologizing to the couple.

“We are deeply sorry for the very personal losses the Tjosaas family suffered as a result of their home being mistakenly secured,” said Alfredo Padilla. “We are moving quickly to reach out to the family to resolve this unfortunate situation in an attempt to right this wrong.”

Alvin and Pat remain distraught.

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Anyone need a loan?

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Secret Service Arrests Charlotte Man For Twitter Death Threats Against Barack Obama

SEPTEMBER 6--A North Carolina man was arrested yesterday for threatening to kill President Barack Obama in a series of Twitter messages, one of which warned that, “Ima hit president Obama with that Lee Harvey Oswald swag,” The Smoking Gun has learned.

Donte Jamar Sims, 21, is charged in a felony criminal complaint accusing him of threatening the president’s life in five tweets published September 3. Sims, pictured in the adjacent mug shot, is locked up in advance of a federal detention hearing scheduled for next Tuesday.

In an interview with Secret Service agents yesterday at his Charlotte home, Sims admitted to posting the threats because “he hated President Obama,” according to a U.S. District Court filing. While Sims “asserted he was high on marijuana when he made the threats,” he acknowledged that he “understood what he was doing and that it was wrong,” investigators reported.

Sims’s tweets, which were discovered by a Secret Service intelligence specialist, were published over a 15-minute period early Monday morning. One post warned that, “Well Ima Assassinate president Obama this evening !...Gotta get this monkey off my chest while he's in town -_-.” Another message claimed that the Secret Service “is gonna be defenseless once I aim the Assault Rifle at Barack’s Forehead… F* the #DNC.”

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Watch out tablet-makers, Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablets are hot!

Kindle Fire HD 8.9-Inch 4G LTE Wireless Dolby Audio Dual-Band Wi-Fi 32 GB (Photo credit: Giftss)

BY Kevin C. Tofe

Tablet makers: Amazon just put you on notice with several new products, all of which are low in price and high in content. The new Kindle Fire HD line brings high-definition to Amazon’s tablets as well as an innovative, but limited, 4G LTE plan.

Did you hear a sound at approximately 1 p.m. PT on Thursday afternoon? That loud boom was Amazon’s Jeff Bezos taking shots at both Apple and Google as he introduced a new line of Kindle Fire tablets with improved hardware and services. And just to make matters worse, Bezos outed an improved e-ink Kindle reader while also cutting the price on both the old entry-level Kindle reader and Kindle Fire. The battle for consumer attention just got turned up a notch.

What did Amazon announce?

First a quick recap on the slew of new and updated devices:

• The entry-level Kindle drops in price from $79 to $69 and gains improved fonts and 15 percent faster page turns.
• A new Kindle Paperwhite reader will cost $119 with Wi-Fi or $179 with 3G and boasts improved contrast and 62 percent more pixels. The touchscreen is capacitive and has a patented LED lighting system for reading in the dark. I’ve already pre-ordered one to replace my Kindle Touch.
• Last year’s Kindle Fire tablet gets a minor refresh and a $40 price drop: For $159, the 7-inch tablet with 1024 x 600 display  and 8 GB of storage has a 40 percent faster processor, twice as much RAM, and longer battery life than the original model.
• A new 7-inch Kindle Fire HD costing $199 gets a 1280 x 800 high-definition screen, 16 GB of storage, 11-hour battery life and 1.2 GHz dual-core processor.
• A pair of 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD models are available. First, the $299 edition brings the screen resolution to an eye-popping 1920 x 1200 display, 16 GB of storage and uses a faster 1.5 GHz dual-core chip. Another $200 investment gets the same model but brings the total storage to 32 GB and includes a radio for AT&T’s 4G LTE network along with a corresponding $49.99 yearly LTE service. While this plan sounds good and cheap, you only get 250 MB of monthly LTE data, which will go quick. And AT&T currently has 60 LTE markets as compared to Verizon’s more than 300.

All of the new Kindle Fire HD models support dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz) as well as MIMO radio technology, so if your home wireless router uses MIMO to boost the signal throughput, these tablets can offer faster wireless performance over the current iPad and Nexus 7, for example.

On the software side, Amazon has improved its Kindle Fire operating system, which is still built upon Google Android; although Android is hidden by Amazon’s custom user interface. Whispersync applies not only to books, but also movies and games, so Amazon will keep track of where you leave off on content or in a game. Immersive reading is a new feature as well. Since Amazon owns Audible, it pairs the audiobook service with ebook content: You can have your book read to you while you read it on the screen. Amazon’s X-Ray technology now expands from books to both movies and textbooks, showing a glossary of information on command.

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GVLN - US Slips Down the Ranks of Global Competitiveness

Business Center (CNBC Asia) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By: Ansuya Harjani 
Assistant Producer, CNBC Asia

The United States has slipped further down a global ranking of the world's most competitive economies, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey released on Wednesday.

Photo: Jumper | Photodisc | Getty Images

New York City, financial capital of the United States

The world's largest economy, which was placed 5th last year, fell two positions to the 7th spot - marking its fourth year of decline.

A lack of macroeconomic stability, the business community’s continued mistrust of the government and concerns over its fiscal health were some of the reasons for the downgrade, according to the annual survey.

"A number of weaknesses are chipping away at its competitiveness...the U.S. fiscal imbalances and continued political deadlock over resolving these challenges," said Jennifer Blanke, Economist at the Geneva-based WEF.

Political deadlock over reducing the unsustainable federal government budget deficit – projected to hit $1.1 trillion this year – prompted Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the country’s credit rating by one notch to AA+ from AAA last August.

A mix of U.S. tax hikes and spending cuts – referred to as the "fiscal cliff" - are set to come into force in January unless lawmakers reach a compromise for avoiding them.

The survey, which has been conducted annually for over three decades, ranks the competitiveness of 144 countries based on 12 key indicators including infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, labor market efficiency and innovation. 

“If you look at competitiveness, what we are talking about is productivity. It’s countries that are productive that can support the sorts of rising living standards and high wages that everyone is looking for,” Blanke told CNBC.

Despite declining in the overall ranking, the forum highlighted that the U.S. remains one of the world’s top innovators – supported by an “excellent” university system - and continues to offer vast opportunities because of the sheer size of its domestic economy.

Switzerland and Singapore retained their positions as the most competitive economies, coming in 1st and 2nd, respectively.

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