President Barack Obama has proclaimed that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stayed in his post longer than he should have, which has raised speculation that the bank chief may soon be on his way out.

In an interview with Charlie Rose, the president hinted that he would not renominate Bernanke when his current term expires on January 31. The 59-year-old bank chief is currently in his second four-year term at the Federal Reserve.

“I think Ben Bernanke’s done an outstanding job,” Obama told Rose in a PBS interview that aired Monday. “Ben Bernanke’s a little bit like Bob Mueller, the head of the FBI – where he’s already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to.”

The president refused to directly answer a question about whether or not he would reappoint Bernanke, and waved off Rose's question by praising the bank chief for his service.

“He has been an outstanding partner, along with the White House, in helping us recover much stronger than, for example, our European partners, from what could have been an economic crisis of epic proportions,” the president said.

Obama met with Bernanke in February, and at his last news conference the Federal Reserve chairman admitted he had spoken about his future with the president.

"I don't think that I'm the only person in the world who can manage the exit," Bernanke said at the Washington conference.

Bernanke has held the job since former President George W. Bush nominated him in 2006. When asked at a congressional hearing last month if he would accept another term, he said he is “not prepared to answer that question now.” But speculations about an impending retirement have surfaced on multiple occasions over the past few months. Last October, the New York Times spoke with friends of the chairman, who revealed that he would most likely step down in 2014.



If Bernanke retires in January, there are a number of potential replacements whose names have circulated over the past several months. Fed vice chairwoman Janet Yellen is widely seen as a top contender. In a Wall Street Journal survey published in April, only 29 percent of economists believe Bernanke will stay for a third term, and 46 percent believe Obama will nominate Yellen as the central bankÂ’s first female chair.

Former economic advisers Timothy Geither, Lawrence Summers and Christina Romer and former vice chairmen Donald Kohn, Roger Ferguson, and Alan Blinder are also perceived as having a chance.

If Obama chooses to nominate a new chairman, an announcement could come as early as this fall, in order to provide time for a Senate confirmation of the decision.

The next Federal Reserve chairman would face the daunting task of unraveling the central bankÂ’s $3 trillion balance sheet to avoid inflation. Federal officials have also been debating how to handle their Treasuries purchases.

“It’s really hard to believe the next chairman would change the course of monetary policy,” Robert Perli, a partner at Cornerstone Marco LP and fomer economist at the Fed, told Bloomberg News. At the same time, “it doesn’t help make the Fed’s communications easier if Obama is talking about Bernanke in the past tense.”

Obama hints that Bernanke is on the way out — RT USA

Propaganda is a documentary made from the perspective of the North Korean government and serves as a critique against the hyper capitalist structure, political manipulation, and consumerism that characterizes the western world. Abby Martin interviews the filmmaker:

NORFOLK

A 911 dispatcher's Facebook post about a deadly police shooting last month has sparked a complaint to the city.

A number of people who saw the post spoke about it last week when a group gathered at City Hall to confront the council about the shooting at the Wells Fargo at 21st Street and Colonial Avenue in Ghent.

The May 21 post by dispatcher Jessica Camarillo read: "I think the officers should sue the family for putting the officers lives in danger, making detectives work past the time they were suppose to get off, the gas it took for them to get to the scene, the bullets used, the hospital bills, the equipments needed for forensics, and making me work the channel instead of reading my hot sexy book...LOL."

Diane Hayes, who lives in Park Place, mentioned Camarillo's comment to the council at its meeting last Tuesday.

"I felt that it was hurtful, and it showed the mindset of a lot of things that should have changed," she said in an interview. "If that's what you really believe, you really don't have our best interests at heart."

Celena Luccioni, a student at Old Dominion University, also was among the group at City Hall. She said a friend showed her the post.

"It's really heartbreaking to read and hear about something like that. She works for the city. Her priority should be the safety of the citizens, period," Luccioni said. "That's your first point of contact when you need help is that 911 dispatcher."

Camarillo works under the city's Department of Emergency Preparedness & Response and was hired in April 2009, according to city records. She made the post on the Facebook page of retired Norfolk police Officer Terry Busby, who posted a link to a news story about the shooting.

Attempts to reach Camarillo via phone and email were unsuccessful.

City spokesman Bob Batcher said officials could not comment on any potential disciplinary action. The city of Norfolk does not have a social media policy for employees, he added.

Mike McKenna, a former Norfolk police officer and a national representative of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, said Camarillo called him about the post.

"She didn't think anybody would see it," he said. She said she believed "it was a private communication between her and Busby, or so she thought."

Jim Redick, Norfolk's director of emergency preparedness and response, said he could not comment on a specific personnel issue but emailed a statement about the post: "The primary mission for our Division of Emergency Communications (911) is to answer the call from our community and provide timely, accurate, and critical 24-hour communications with all field public safety units. Anything which detracts from our mission is addressed without hesitation."

Some municipal agencies in other cities have social media policies that caution employees to be careful about what they post online.

Chris Amos, the spokesman for Norfolk police, said the department doesn't have a policy, but recruits are given training in social media and told to be cautious.

"You think that you can do that in a vacuum, but you just can't," Amos said.

Johnson was shot May 20 after he tried to present a stolen check at the bank drive-through. Police said an officer approached on foot near the rear of Johnson's vehicle while another officer parked in front of the car to block it. Johnson backed up, police said, hitting the officer to his rear and prompting the officer in front to fear for his partner's safety and open fire.

Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Underwood will review findings of a police investigation and make a determination on whether the use of deadly force was justified. Underwood's spokeswoman said the office is waiting on results of forensic reports. It was unclear how much time Underwood would need to make a finding.

911 dispatcher’s Facebook post sparks controversy | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

In a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll, most Americans say the NSA leaker should be prosecuted, but two-thirds don't like the idea the U.S. government is collecting their own communication records.

WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans say the person responsible for leaking top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance of phone and Internet records should be criminally prosecuted, a new USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll finds, even as views are closely divided about the wisdom of the programs themselves.

The poll, taken Wednesday through Sunday, shows a nation riven by cross-currents about the unauthorized disclosures by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, of sweeping surveillance programs that can collect information about millions of Americans and foreigners.

By 54%-38%, those surveyed say he should be prosecuted. Most Americans say the programs have helped prevent terrorist attacks, by 53%-41%, a point pressed by top administration officials including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

There is an almost even split on the most fundamental question. By 48%-47%, Americans divide over whether they approve or disapprove of the programs as part of the effort to fight terrorism. By another narrow margin, 49%-44%, they say the release of classified information serves rather than harms the public interest.

The mix of views, some of them conflicting, underscores the complications of public opinion on the issue. Previous polls have shown divergent results when asked about the programs. That may help explain why both President Obama and Snowden publicly were making their arguments for and against the programs in interviews published and aired Monday.

"The more people learn about this, it could affect their final judgment on whether the government was right or wrong to do what it's been doing," says Michael Dimmock, director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. "What I think you're seeing in a lot of the surveys is that the public isn't particularly happy about this program, particularly in the realm of civil liberties and privacy, but a lot of people are willing to give the government a certain amount of leeway in fighting against terrorism."

The apparent ambivalence is no surprise, he says. "The struggle to find the balance between civil liberties and security is one of the toughest struggles Americans face because we hold both of those principles dearly."

By now, nearly everyone is aware of the issue. In the USA TODAY/Pew Research Center poll, 51% say they had heard a lot about it; 35% said they had heard a little.

A 54% majority of Americans assume that the government probably has collected data about their own communication — and most aren't happy about it. Nearly two-thirds, 63%, say they would feel their personal privacy had been violated if that happened.

Poll: Americans say Snowden should be prosecuted for NSA leaks, but views are complicated

Ryan Cormier, Edmonton Journal
Published:*Thursday, March 21
An Edmonton man who terrorized, insulted, stalked and threatened his neighbours for years was sentenced to 18 months of probation Wednesday.
Robert Joseph Girard, 48, carried out a bizarre, aggressive feud with his neighbours in the Griesbach neighbourhood for more than four years, according to an agreed statement of facts.
Girard piled snow on yards adjacent to his home, pointed to neighbours randomly and gave them the middle finger, made sexual gestures toward them, took photos of them when they went outside and pressed his underwear-clad body against the inside of his windows for them to see. Girard also followed neighbours to their workplaces and filed complaints against them to their bosses. He yelled "Child abuser" and "Coward" at them in public. He threatened to punt a neighbour's dog like a football.


Girard also wore a cow costume and made "mooing" sounds at a female neighbour when she stepped outside her home. At times, he was seen putting his hands down his pants and touching himself in full view of the neighbourhood.
"It would be better if you walked on the other side of the street," Girard told one neighbour. "Yours is coming, yours is coming. I'm going to get you."
Girard's behaviour was aimed at both adults and children who lived nearby, court heard.
Neighbour William Brown, a city firefighter, told court his family didn't use their front yard or porch because they were afraid. When shovelling snow, Brown was careful not to turn his back to Girard's property.
"We lost that part of our home," Brown said. "He left our family in fear ... For years, all we asked for was that Robert Girard leave us alone."
Sheila Brown said she drove home from work each day with a pounding heart and a death-grip on her steering wheel, scared that Girard would be outside before she could pull into her garage.
"He has tormented our family," she wrote in a statement to court.
The Browns had to coach their children to walk away from Girard should he ever approach them.
William Brown told court that Girard filed so many complaints against him to the fire department that his superiors began to worry for his safety.
Eventually, in September 2011, Girard was arrested at the fire department's headquarters.
In addition to the 18 months' probation, in which he cannot contact his neighbours in any way, Girard spent three weeks in jail before he was granted bail.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal harassment.
He was also ordered to remain fully clothed near his windows, submit a DNA sample, abstain from alcohol and drugs and not own any pets.
Girard was also barred from contacting William Brown's boss in the fire department.
Girard, a divorced father, spent 21 years in the military before being given a medical discharge in 2003 for posttraumatic stress disorder, his lawyer Ajaje Yaggey said.
The lawyer also told court his client has a thyroid condition.
"Under this condition, erratic behaviour is not unusual," Yaggey said.
Court heard that Girard's vendetta against the neighbourhood began with a minor dispute between him and Brown in 2007.


"I'm sorry for all that happened," Girard told court. "I just felt that people were picking on me and I picked back."
Court heard that Girard has put his home up for sale.
Provincial court Judge Larry Anderson told Girard he was "putting him on notice" that there would be legal consequences if he broke his conditions and contacted his neighbours in any way.


"You have to put these resentments behind you," Anderson said.
"It's time to move forward in a constructive way. I hope you've come to a realization about the horrible impact you've had on your neighbourhood."
rcormier@edmontonjournal. com

Man's bizarre behaviour terrorized neighbourhood for years
© Edmonton Journal 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3456217.html



A Mississippi woman has been charged in a second death related to giving buttocks-enhancing injections without being trained or licensed.

The state attorney general's office says 53-year-old Tracey Lynn Garner of Jackson, formerly known as Morris Garner, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of depraved heart murder. Conviction carries a potential life sentence.

The release says Garner injected "a silicone substance" into Marilyn Hale of Selma, Ala., on Jan. 13, 2010, and Hale later died.

Records show Garner was in the Hinds County Detention Center on Monday. Her attorney, John Colette, was not immediately available.

Garner had been on house arrest awaiting trial in a similar case in the 2012 death of an Atlanta woman.

A Mississippi woman has been charged in a second death related to giving buttocks-enhancing injections without being trained or licensed.

The state attorney general's office says 53-year-old Tracey Lynn Garner of Jackson, formerly known as Morris Garner, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of depraved heart murder. Conviction carries a potential life sentence.

The release says Garner injected "a silicone substance" into Marilyn Hale of Selma, Ala., on Jan. 13, 2010, and Hale later died.

Records show Garner was in the Hinds County Detention Center on Monday. Her attorney, John Colette, was not immediately available.

Garner had been on house arrest awaiting trial in a similar case in the 2012 death of an Atlanta woman.

Brazil sees largest protests in decades as unrest hits second week — RT News

A Westerville child-care operator regularly gave six children medication-laced goodies to make them drowsy, and she bragged about the schemeÂ’s effectiveness to a friend, police say.

Westerville police said Tammy E. Eppley shot video on her phone of catatonic children on her couch, saying in text messages that sheÂ’d nearly been found out once.

“In some of the texts, Tammy jokes about one of the children almost discovering her actions by remarking that the sprinkles on some cupcakes tasted funny,” police wrote in their reports.

Eppley, 37, of 89 Fairdale Ave., is charged with six misdemeanor counts of endangering children — including her own 2-year-old daughter — at her Caterpillar Clubhouse, which she ran out of her home. All the children were 5 years old or younger, police said.

Eppley is to appear in Franklin County Municipal Court next month. She did not return a phone message left yesterday on the day careÂ’s voice mail.

Westerville police Lt. Paul Scowden said Eppley’s drugging of the children was “a regular thing” that started around Valentine’s Day, though it’s unclear how long she’d watched the children.

Police learned of the practice from Franklin County Children Services, which had been tipped off by EppleyÂ’s friend after their relationship had soured. The former friend eventually alerted EppleyÂ’s ex-husband, who also went to police.

Police said Eppley prepared food for the children containing melatonin and Benadryl, an antihistamine allergy medicine. The investigation revealed that Eppley mixed the sleep-inducing ingredients into batter for pancakes and other snacks that she fed to the children.

She also might have spiked some of the drinks in their sippy cups with Benadryl, he said.

None of the children required medical treatment, Scowden said. Their parents didnÂ’t know that Eppley was administering the sleep aids to their children and hadnÂ’t given her permission to do so, he said.

Police said the video depicted several of the children under the influence.

“Tammy was bragging about how they were all perfectly still and being quiet or asleep,” a police report states. Scowden said Eppley wrote in the texts of varying the doses depending on the size of the children.

Eppley told WBNS-TV (Channel 10) that she occasionally gave some of the children Benadryl, but only with their parentsÂ’ consent.

She said she had a few “problem children that were a little more hyperactive,” and had joked in text messages to her friend that she wanted to drug them “because they were driving me bananas,” but said she never did.

“My whole heart feels good when I’m with them,” Eppley told WNBS about watching children.

Bruce Cadwallader, a spokesman for Children Services, said his agency is no longer investigating Eppley and does not have custody of her daughter.

“It’s become a police matter,” he said.

Eppley was not required to have a child-care license because she was caring for only six children at her home, including one of her own. Police are asking anyone who has additional information to call detectives at 614-882-7444.

Day-care operator charged with drugging kids | The Columbus Dispatch

Video: Allen Iverson/Hullinger | Video | 11alive.com

Source: Allen Iverson denies abducting children | 11alive.com