Via the Treasury Department’s Debt to the Penny Calculator, here’s what the National Debt was on January 19, 2001: And here’s what it was on January 20, 2009: That’s an increase of  $ 5,005,369,081,097.44, or 87.39% in eight years. In other words, George W. Bush and the Repu...

Remember that 60 Minutes piece on bank failures I linked to earlier this week and how optimistic the Chairwoman of the FDIC sounded ? “We’ve been around for 75 years and nobody’s ever lost a penny of insured deposits,” FDIC head Sheila Bair told Pelley. “…which is why...

The Afghan Supreme Court upholds a criminal conviction for “blasphemy:” KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year sentence for an Afghan university student journalist accused of blasphemy in a case that has alarmed media and rights organizations in Afghani...

The French have rejoined NATO: PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Wednesday that France intends to become a full member of NATO, 43 years after Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the alliance’s military command and threw NATO, and American forces, out of the country. “Because it i...

Once again, we’re being subjected to the near-impossible task of trying to figure out what to believe about Iran’s nuclear weapons programs: Iran has not produced the highly enriched uranium necessary for a nuclear weapon and has not decided to do so, U.S. intelligence officials told Con...

Rolfe Winkler explains why spending yet more money we don’t have isn’t going to help, and will probably end up hurting us very badly: If I may offer just one reason this will all fail: rising interest rates. Interest rates need only revert to their historical median in order to hammer as...

File this one under the title A Fool And His Money Are Soon Parted: (AP) A New York man is suing a New Jersey psychic, claiming she defrauded him of nearly $250,000 he paid her to craft a golden statue that was supposed to ward off negativity. Charles Silveira, 38, of Seaford, Long Island, claims he...

Dateline Saudi Arabia: CAIRO (AP) — A 75-year-old widow in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 40 lashes and four months in jail for mingling with two young men who are not close relatives, drawing new criticism for the kingdom’s ultraconservative religious police and judiciary. (…) ...

Jim Rogers was on Larry Kudlow’s show last week talking about the economy and he was as blunt as ever: Similar Posts: Peter Schiff: Get Out Of The Dollar Scott Boras Has a Bad Week Larry “Bud” Melman, RIP Okay, This Country Is Officially Screwed Larry King Lands Paris Hilton...

North Korea gives Dear Leader another term in the legislature: SEOUL (AFP) — Leader Kim Jong-Il has been unanimously elected to a seat in North Korea’s parliament following a 100 percent turnout, state media said Monday. Sunday’s elections for the rubber-stamp Supreme People’s As...