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[Toby]

China says property prices fall in more cities

AFP - Home prices in most major Chinese cities fell in November from the previous month, according to official data, as government efforts to cool the red-hot property market prove effective.

The figures add to mounting evidence that the world's second largest economy is slowing and will fuel pressure on Beijing to ease monetary and fiscal policy to prevent a painful hard landing.

China says property prices fall in more cities - FRANCE 24

[Toby]

State-Sanctioned Theft
A Paradise for Car Thieves in Ukraine

In Ukraine, the government is allowed to sell or use cars that have been stolen in other countries. The law creates the perfect conditions for organized gangs who steal luxury cars to order in Western Europe. There are even allegations that the Ukrainian justice minister's official car was illegally appropriated in Germany.

State-Sanctioned Theft: A Paradise for Car Thieves in Ukraine - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

[Toby]

$2,000 diamond ring dropped in Salvation Army kettle

The holiday spirit is alive and well in Miami after an anonymous donor dropped a diamond ring into a Salvation Army kettle Friday.

Miami-Dade Salvation Army Capt. Linda Payton said her office received a call around 1 p.m. from a woman who wanted to remain anonymous.

U.S. News - $2,000 diamond ring dropped in Salvation Army kettle

[Toby]

Unemployment Benefits Extension: Some Would Lose Aid Under Senate's Payroll Tax Deal

WASHINGTON -- A breakthrough deal between the White House and party leaders in the U.S. Senate would preserve federal unemployment insurance programs through February. The agreement would prevent more than 1 million jobless from missing out on federal unemployment compensation in the first two months of 2012, but people in 11 states would nevertheless lose benefits during that time.

The deal would reauthorize two federal programs that provide benefits for people who use up the standard 26 weeks of benefits provided by most states. The first program, called Emergency Unemployment Compensation, lasts for 53 weeks. Then the Extended Benefits program adds in up to 20 additional weeks, but only in states where the unemployment rate has risen significantly over the past three years.

Even though the jobs situation is almost as dire as ever, it hasn't worsened much from three years ago, so Extended Benefits, even if it is reauthorized, would begin to phase out unless Congress changes the way the program is triggered. In November, Democrats in both chambers of Congress introduced bills that would have allowed states to change their "look back" periods to encompass four years instead of three. But as Republicans have pointed out, the White House supports letting the program shrivel up next year.

Due to the timing of increased joblessness, in January, the program will expire in Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine, Oregon and Indiana. In February, Extended Benefits will drop off in Wisconsin, Tennessee, South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Ohio, according to an analysis by worker advocacy group the National Employment Law Project.

Unemployment Benefits Extension: Some Would Lose Aid Under Senate's Payroll Tax Deal

[Toby]

For Families On Welfare, Few Protections From Theft And Fraud

On a fall day in October 2009, Evelyn Carpio's wallet never left her side.



Yet criminals somehow managed to steal $720 from the card Carpio's family uses to obtain cash welfare assistance from California.



This kind of remote financial crime -- a practice known as financial information "skimming" -- is a real problem in the United States, according to federal officials. In 2009 alone, criminals stole $443 million though a combination of skimming, identity theft, and other types of financial crime investigated by federal officials. But for victims like Carpio, whose money was stolen from an electronic benefits transfer card (EBT) rather than a credit or debit card, getting that money back has also proved difficult. In Carpio's case, nearly two years passed before the state returned her stolen welfare benefits.



When it comes to stolen credit or debit cards, the rules are straightforward: Federal law requires banks to rapidly return, refund or remove all but $50 of any unauthorized or fraudulent activity on any card reported lost or stolen. If fraudulent charges are made on a debit card that was never lost or physically stolen, banks cannot hold the customer responsible for a single dollar. No such protections exist for EBT card users, even as government agencies across the country are moving to distribute a growing share of public assistance on EBT and other cards.

For Families On Welfare, Few Protections From Theft And Fraud

[Toby]

Clashes erupt in Bahrain for third day

Police and pro-democracy protesters collide along Budaiya highway during a funeral for an activist killed last week.

Clashes erupt in Bahrain for third day - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

[Toby]

Violence mars opposition rally in Bangladesh

Crude bomb explosion kills one person, as opposition activists clash with police in the capital, Dhaka.

Violence mars opposition rally in Bangladesh - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English

[Toby]

Video: Syrian Tank Units Join Opposition

Video footage shows two Syrian tanks join opposition forces. Civil war lurks as dozens of loyalist soldiers are killed.

Video: Syrian Tank Units Join Opposition - Middle East - News - Israel National News

[Toby]

Sinai Terrorists Bomb Gas Pipeline a 10th Time

Saboteurs have once again blown up the pipeline that delivers natural gas to Israel and Jordan for a tenth time.

Sinai Terrorists Bomb Gas Pipeline, Again - Middle East - News - Israel National News

[Toby]

UPDATE! PG&E Tells City Board: ‘Customers Will Go Without Power Until A Smart Meter Is Reinstalled’
UPDATE! PG&E Tells City Board: ‘Customers Will Go Without Power Until A Smart Meter Is Reinstalled’ | The Gateway Pundit

The Smart Grid in the United States is an ongoing collaboration between the Federal Government and the Power Companies. As more and more people wake up to the threat to their privacy that the Smart Grid represents, people are doing the only thing they can and fighting it on a local level.

Earlier this week, I wrote an article describing how some PG&E customers, who removed their Smart Meter and replaced it with an analog by a liscensed professional electrician, have had their power shut off.

On December 13th in California, the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors grilled Wendy Sarsfield, a representative from the public utility PG&E, as to why they will not restore power to those customers who have had their PG&E Smart Meters replaced with an analog meter.

During the exchange, that resembled a combination of a dog chasing it’s tail and shooting fish in a barrel, Wendy kept insisting that saftey was the main issue for which power was not restored to the homeowners. Upon hearing this, Board Member after Board Member seemed to come up with a viable, workable solution, but it was always unacceptable to the PG&E Rep. After several minutes where the PG&E Rep began sounding like a broken record while refusing to come to any reasonable solution about restoring power to people’s homes (One of which was just to add people to the delay list and reinstall an analog meter until the California Public Utilites Commission-CPUC- finished creating an opt out program), one Board Member cut to the chase (Begins around the 5:00 Mark):

Board Member: “Are you telling us that house will be without electricity until the CPUC completes their opt out process?”

PG&E Rep: “That’s correct or if there is a Smart Meter that is replaced.”

Board Member: “And if the CPUC takes 6 months to complete their opt out process are you saying that PG&E is going to let that household go without power for 6 months?”

PG&E Rep: “It’s my understanding that we will not……..there needs to be a Smart Meter for us to reconnect the power.”

I suggest you watch the entire video and it will become all too clear that the issue isn’t about saftey as much as it’s about shoving Smart Meters down peoples’ throats.