Someone online asked:  "Where does Keith Olbermann get his 'talking points'?"  And immediately I thought:  Follow the money!

 

• Who writes his pay-checks and pockets the profit? MSNBC
• Who's the parent company?  General Electric
• What do they sell?  Appliances, nuclear electronics, rockets, "environmental" lightbulbs & biofuel, wind energy, and medical equipment.
• Who buys nuclear electronics, rockets, bio-fuel & "green energy", and medical equipment?  

 

Well, GE gets more federal contracts than any other company...but its not just about making "green" energy more cost effective:

 

"All parties will come together and project the Department of Defense's (DOD's) requirements [for military components].  GE will take the identified requirements and commence production."

http://www.dau.mil/pubs/pm/pmpdf99/taborja.pdf

 

Obama and the Voters vs. Hillary Clinton and the

Democratic Party

 

• Part 1:  Hillary Clinton's Michigan Power-Play

• Part 2:  Hillary Clinton Wins Michigan

• Part 3:  Hillary Clinton's Florida Power-Play

• Part 4:  Hillary and the Super-Delegates
• Part 5:  Obama wins Elections:  Hillary wants More Party Support  
  
• Part 6:  Hillary: Out of Options
• 
  

Shortly after Senators John Edwards and Barak Obama announced they would follow the national party line and withdraw from Michigan's unauthorized primary, Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic is reporting that a Hillary Clinton staffer is stating that she will NOT withdraw from the Michigan primary herself.  This afternoon's developments should leave no one questioning who holds the power in the Democratic party.  Second and third place front-runners Edwards and Obama have now all but given their concession speech.  While they continue to issue weak verbal attacks against Clinton, they appear to be dedicated to securing the nomination for her.

Obama and the Voters vs. Hillary Clinton and the

Democratic Party

• Part 1:  Hillary Clinton's Michigan Power-Play

• Part 2:  Hillary Clinton Wins Michigan
• Part 3:  Hillary Clinton's Florida Power-Play
• Part 4:  Hillary and the Super-Delegates
• Part 5:  Obama wins Elections:  Hillary wants More Party Support 
• Part 6:  Hillary: Out of Options

Top Democratic candidates John Edwards and Barak Obama have agreed not to participate in Michigan's January 15th primary election.  The national party leadership has been criticizing Michigan and Florida for scheduling early primaries, and today's announcement is the first of what will likely be multiple measures aimed to "punish" Michigan's Democratic party establishment in hopes of preventing the state from wielding early-primary influence.  

Some things don't change.  You can wish away history,

but that doesn't prevent you from re-living it.

As pointed out on the Energy Filter at the Financial Times , gas and energy interests complicate any potential international intervention in Burma/Myanmar.  Major stakeholders in the troubled nation's energy reserves include Chevron, Total (a French energy company), and more recently, Chinese and Indian energy groups.

The Energy Roundup at Wall Street Journal's blogs section has posted some new numbers on oil prices and consumption for 2006.  Although overall oil demand in the United States dropped in 2006, the reduction is miniscule compared to the increase in costs experienced during the year. 

On Wednesday night, a federal judge struck down certain provisions of the Patriot Act regarding updates to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  The full text of the judge's ruling can be read in the PDF document.  Last month, the ACLU was tracking the FISA modernization with great worry, but as Jason Pye states at The Liberty Papers, the constitution isn't just going to go away so far as the rights of the people are concerned.

There's been a lot of speculation about why Giuliani interrupted his own speech at the National Rifle Association to take a phone call.  Speculation on Giuliani's motives have ranged from outright egomania to an attempt to portray himself as a family man.  A review of the video and the Bill of Rights could dispel these theories, and show how massive of a controversy he actually avoided by taking the phone call.

In the first of what is likely to be several federal attempts to bail out the mortgage and financial sectors, the Fed announced this week it would be reducing interest rates by a surprising margin of 50 basis points.  Typically, lower interest rates are seen as a positive thing for Wall Street as it makes riskier stock based investments more attractive compared to debt based investments that will carry a fixed, low rate relative to the rate set by the Federal Reserve.  Although stocks may lose money in the long term, a good diversification strategy will easily beat 5% in a fixed account, bond, or t-bill.