Rising US Senator Elizabeth Warren criticizes Eric Cantor's new private sector role and the politics of special interest

Yahoo Interview 

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a rising star in the Democratic Party has criticized Eric Cantor's new role and says it typifies the "revolving door mentality" that has become all too prevalent on Capitol Hill.

In an interview with Katie Couric, Yahoo's Global News Anchor, she (Warren) bemoans a climate of inordinacy (in Washington) that encourages the selling of access to special interests, to the detriment of the middle-class and ordinary working Americans.

Senator Warren also delved into the ISIS crisis and much like Senator Dianne Feinstein, believes America's main objective should be the ultimate destruction of the Islamic State militants wherever they exist.

See the full interview below.....

France halts warship delivery to bellicose Russia

US President Barack Obama

CC Global News

French President Francois Hollande has made a u-turn and effectively halted the delivery of the first of two Mistral navy assault ships to an increasingly aggressive Russia.

France had until now resisted pressure from the European Union and the United States to suspend or flat-out cancel the delivery.

The  Vladivostok, the first of the two helicopter carriers, was scheduled to be delivered to Russia by late October (2014) while the Sevastopol (aka Sebastopol), a sister ship was scheduled to be delivered next year.

This development is further evidence that Putin's strategy with regard to Ukraine, may be back-firing on all key fronts and regardless of his careless rants about Russia's nuclear might, his (Putin's) continued intransigence may end up exerting a heavy toll on Russia, both economically and militarily.

The United States and its European allies obviously no longer see Russia as an ally of NATO with its increasing acts of aggression (through Russian supported rebel groups) in Eastern Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc countries.

This change of heart by the French marks to date, the most significant stance by the West against Russia's aggression, on the eve of NATO's summit in Wales.

The Mistral assault ships can reportedly carry close to 16 helicopters, as well as armored vehicles and land troops.

France and the NATO alliance are obviously wary of being the purveyors of a move that would have significantly improved Russia's amphibious capabilities.

It remains to be seen what Putin's next move will be, as he has seemingly always had an answer (no matter how obtuse) for every decision taking by the West thus far.

Nigerian woman gives birth to completely "white" baby.....

Catherine and her "white" son

CC News

When the midwife presented Catherine Howarth with her new baby, she was convinced she’d been given the wrong child. The little boy was completely white – whereas new mum Catherine has the dark black skin of her Nigerian heritage. For even though baby Jonah has a white father, doctors say the chances of him being white too were an incredible one in a million.

And it wasn't only the “miracle” baby’s mum who was stunned. “The midwife looked at me and looked back down at Jonah and then at me again and couldn't believe it,” said Catherine, 32. “The doctors confirmed it was extremely rare.” Her husband Richard, 34, a medical recruitment consultant, was equally astonished. He had expected his son, who was born at Milton Keynes Hospital on June 1, to have darker skin.

He said: “When I first set eyes on my baby boy Jonah, it was a feeling of pure delight and relief that he was healthy and strong. His complexion was very pale due to the umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck when he was being delivered. “After a few hours his color came to his cheeks. Catherine and I noticed his complexion was very similar to mine and were surprised it was as light. The midwives and doctors told us he’ll most likely remain this color.”

Financial analyst Catherine said: “Some children get darker after a few weeks when the skin color they will have for life starts to become obvious. But you can see from the color at the tips of their ears what that will be. We saw straight away that Jonah was fully white.” Doctors have said he is not an albino. “We have been told that I must have been carrying a recessive gene,” said Catherine.

“My parents were from Nigeria and, for as far back as anyone can remember, my family have all been black. “But at some point there must have been a white gene in my family that has remained dormant for years and years – until now. 

“The doctors said they had researched the chances of this happening and discovered that it was very, very rare. “They had only found two similar cases, both in America, that had been reported in recent times.” 

Catherine and Richard, from Milton Keynes, plan to have more children but have been told the chances of them also being born white are highly unlikely. 

Jonah’s remarkable color follows the birth in 2010 of Nmachi Ihegboro, who is white despite having two black parents. Nine years ago, mixed-race couple Kylie Hodgson, 27, and Remi Horder, 25, from Nottingham, became parents to twin daughters – one white and one black. 

Delighted Catherine said “Despite the initial shock, Richard and I couldn't be happier. Jonah is a beautiful, happy and smiling son, and I adore him.” And Richard said: “The color of his skin is of no concern – Jonah being a healthy and happy baby is what matters."

Still clueless on real economic initiatives, Obama presses US Congress for minimum wage hike.....

President Obama seems tone deaf to political realities

By Deji Komolafe

President Barack Obama has said he will continue to press Congress to raise the federal minimum wage as the US recovers from recession.

In a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, President Obama said the economy and workers were now better off than when he took office in 2009.

"America deserves a raise," he said. 

His speech comes ahead of mid-term elections in November which will see a close race between Democrats and Republicans for control of the Senate.

"By almost every measure, the American economy and American workers are better off than when I took office," Obama said to an audience of union members.

He also pledged to protect the right for equal pay for women.

Obama was speaking after recent economic figures showed a one percent decrease in the national unemployment rate and a 4.2% growth in GDP in the second quarter of this year.

He said these improvements were due to decisions he had made during his first term in office, which included an effort to bail out the US auto industry.

He also said introducing new healthcare legislation had made life better for American workers.

"America is stronger because of decisions we made to rescue our economy and rebuild it on a new foundation asking the simple question: is this good for ordinary Americans?" he said.

Despite the recent economic improvements, figures show America's long-term jobless rate remains high and real hourly wages have stagnated.

It would seem that rather than professing real economic initiatives (to include corporate and R&D tax incentives to stimulate the still "soft" economy), Obama is bent on doubling down on the class warfare he has been fighting since he took office, almost six years ago.

The American people will sure have a say this November and the Democrats may not like the outcome.

The top 10 'loser' moments by professional athletes

CC Realtime

The Zinedine Zidane headbutt still takes the cake for me. I actually wanted him to decapitate that Italian hissicuff but just wished it did not have to cost that French team the FIFA World Cup™.

Here are the top 10 "what where they thinking" moments in professional sports.

Floyd as only Mayweather can do.....

CC Videorama

In this video (below) Floyd Mayweather gets into it with former ESPN personality Brian Kenny. The latter seemed to get under Mayweather's skin a few times and in typical Floyd fashion, he (Floyd) got personal and continually stressed (as we have all come to know) that he made more money than Brian Kenny.



Still along the lines of Mayweather's penchant for the obtuse and downright petty (although always entertaining), he responded to rapper 50 Cent's challenge that he (50 Cent) would donate $750,000 to the charity of Mayweather's choice if the champ could read a single page of a Harry Potter book without struggling.

Those surely were fighting words from the rap mogul as shown (below) by the response from 'Money' (via Instagram) to the challenge.

“Read this $72,276,000.00,” Mayweather wrote. “God bless.”

floydmayweather

1 day ago

138862 likes

26558 comments

Seems rather obvious Mayweather's sense of self-worth is wholly predicated on his wealth. He had better not lose it then and even more important, he may want to ensure he pays his taxes as I do not see any Federal or State withholding on both checks.

Tesla to extend warranty for model S sedan to shore up customer loyalty

By Editor-in-Chief

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors has decided to increase the warranty for the Model S sedan to 8 years, regardless of mileage. Hence, the usual "3 years or 30,000 miles" language common with most traditional car manufacturers will not apply to the owners of the Tesla S sedan.

There is however one caveat. The "extended warranty" applies to vehicles that have already been sold and the warranty is also transferable.

Although such a gesture may invariably have a negative impact on the company's bottom-line, Tesla believes that it will come out at the positive end of this in the long-run, as the gesture is unprecedented and may end up engendering brand loyalty.

In the future, the California-based company also plans to expand its line of vehicles (as early as 2016) to include a possible "fighter line" called the Model 3 Electric Sedan to compete with the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes Benz C-Class.

The Model 3 is expected to be developed based upon a different (original) platform from the Model S and will go primarily against the very popular BMW 3 Series.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, also intimated that the cost of the Model X Electric Crossover (fall 2015 targeted delivery for new reservations) will essentially be commensurate with that of the Model S.

Tesla Model X Electric Crossover

The Model X will however incur a $10,000 additional charge that will affect the installation of a full drive and one motor.

Hence, at a price of just around $80,000, look for the Model X Electric Crossover to give the big players in the SUV target market a sure run for the money.

The Model X is designed from the ground up to provide the best of an SUV with a tinge of a minivan. Look for the soccer dads to now find it sexy to take their kids to those championship games they have avoided in the past (can't blame them).

Should be an exciting fall for Tesla and its customers.

Opinion: Barack Obama's hollow Africa summit

Obama's US-Africa summit was indeed a head-scratcher

By Adekeye Adebajo

Barack Hussein Obama, a Kenyan-American and the first "black" president of the United States (U.S.), hosted 45 African leaders in Washington D.C. last week in the first ever U.S.-Africa summit.

This empty summit embarrassingly exposed the widespread myth across Africa that Obama's 2008 election would help transform Africa's political and economic fortunes. 

Amidst cheap flattery about "Rising Africa" and empty slogans about "good governance", this summit was effectively a talking shop unlikely to produce concrete results.

By hosting this summit, the U.S. is merely catching up with China, Japan, France, and the European Union (EU) which have all hosted periodic meetings with African leaders. There is a sense that Washington is particularly concerned about Beijing's growing presence on the continent, which has made it Africa's largest bilateral trading partner at over $200 billion. 

The U.S.-Africa summit focused on investment; peace and regional stability; and governance. A U.S.-Africa Business Forum was also convened. Other sideline events included fora with youth, faith-based groups, and civil society; and sessions on trade, women, health, food security, and wild-life trafficking.

As the presidential motorcades swept down Pennsylvania Avenue and Africa's flamboyant "First Ladies" paraded their haute couture, this summit was dogged by controversy. There were damaging allegations of Obama treating African leaders like supplicant "tribal chiefs" being summoned to Washington to pay obeisance to America's "Commander-in-Chief."

Unlike other African summits with Japan and China, Obama refused to have any bilateral meetings with the 45 African leaders. Following much criticism, his Vice-President, Joe Biden, met with the leaders of South Africa and Nigeria.

In a further breach of protocol, American cabinet ministers were asked to host African leaders to private dinners without Obama's presence. Leaders from Zimbabwe, Sudan, Eritrea, Central African Republic (CAR), and Guinea-Bissau were excluded from the summit for not being in "good standing" with Washington, even as autocrats from Gambia, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Congo-Brazzaville, and Chad made the guest list. The presidents of Liberia and Sierra Leone cancelled the trip to deal with the Ebola crisis.

There were other discordant notes that put Obama's diplomatic orchestra out of tune. 

Senegal's Mackie Sall and Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete criticised the American media for continuing to stereotype Africa; Sudanese billionaire, Mo Ibrahim, berated U.S. companies for dodging taxes in their African operations; while hundreds of demonstrators protested against the leaders of Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 

The dinner that Obama hosted for his African guests was not at the level of an official state dinner. The presidents were served grilled beef with coconut milk and cappuccino fudge cake with vanilla-scented papaya which must have left many of them feeling home sick!

One cannot assess this summit without providing the broader context of Obama's African policy over the last six years. The president has continued several of the truculent George W. Bush's most egregious policies. About 1,500 American soldiers remain in Djibouti to track terrorists. 

U.S. drones continue to be used in Somalia and Mali. Despite the killing of about 1,000 Muslim Brotherhood protesters, and the organizing of sham presidential elections by the Pharaonic military strongman, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Washington has continued to supply arms to the regime and condoned its human rights abuses.

Rather than challenging French neo-colonial interventionist policies in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, and the Central African Republic, Obama has instead legitimized the continuing treatment of parts of Africa as a Gallic "sphere of influence." In the critical area of health, Washington drastically cut AIDS funding to Africa by $200 million in 2012. About 75 per cent of American imports from Africa still consist of oil.

Part of the problem of past African summits with external powers like China is that the continent's leaders have often failed to define their own interests clearly, and have consequently had plans which lack "ownership" foisted on them by external powers. 

This Washington summit followed a similar ignominious pattern. This gathering saw pledges of $14 billion from America's private sector. Obama's "Power Africa" also unconvincingly promised to provide electricity to 20 million Africans two years after he has left office. The proof of such promises is, however, in their delivery. 

As with any such bazaars, Africans should sensibly adopt the mantra "Buyer beware!" as much of these investments are unlikely to materialize. They should instead insist on the American saying: "Show me the money!"

As Obama leaves the White House in two years, his foreign policy towards his ancestral homeland has mirrored the tradition of "malign neglect" of the continent of his presidential predecessors. 

The fact that no substantive final document was produced from this Washington summit is the clearest sign, if any were needed, that this "photo-op" gathering represented a triumph of symbolism over substance.

Did Michael Brown attempt to 'bum rush' officer Wilson?

AG Eric Holder has been dispatched to Ferguson

CC Insight

While the usual suspects such as Al Sharpton have rushed to the scene in Ferguson, MO and wholly immersed themselves in the dirty politics of the 'race industry' (one that has made Sharpton quite wealthy and more of a national figure), it would seem that the facts of this case may indeed shock many who have already jumped to the obvious conclusion.

A Michael Brown shooting crime scene video going viral on YouTube may lend credence to the “bum rush” theory an alleged friend of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson has voiced. 

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Ferguson riots and looting initially prompted Governor Jay Nixon to call in the Missouri State Highway Patrol to attempt to restore calm to the city. Over the weekend the Ferguson protests once again prompted criminal activity and the National Guard has now been called into enhance security patrols in the St. Louis suburb. Captain Ron Johnson remains on the scene urging residents to protest peacefully and legally. 

The second wave of rioting began in the late evening hours on Friday after Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson released a media packet containing images of a man identified as Michael Brown, robbing a local convenience store. Brown and a pal who spoke on camera to the media after the shooting, allegedly participated in a strong arm robbery – garnering about $50 worth of Swisher Sweets cigarillos.

Michael Brown shooting witnesses have uttered conflicting stories of how the shooting of the unarmed black man by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson unfolded. Some witnesses claimed the teenager was running away from Wilson, others told police and reporters that that Brown was facing the Ferguson police officer with his hands in the air surrendering. Leaked details of the Michael Brown autopsy indicate the young man was shot six times, all from the front, and not from point blank range.

The viral video of the Michael Brown shooting captured background conversations which may support the bum rush claims by a Ferguson police officer. At about the 6:30 mark in the Brown shooting video, residents gathered around police tape staring at the body on the street, indicate that the teenager may have rushed Darren Wilson.

Transcript from the Brown shooting video as published by multiple media outlets:

• #1 How’d he get from there to there?

• #2 Because he ran, the police was still in the truck – cause he was like over the truck

{crosstalk}

• #2 But him and the police was both in the truck, then he ran – the police got out and ran after him

{crosstalk}

• #2 Then the next thing I know he doubled back toward him cus – the police had his gun drawn already on him –

• #1. Oh, the police got his gun

• #2 The police kept dumpin’ on him, and I’m thinking the police kept missing – he like – be like – but he kept coming toward him

{crosstalk}

• #2 Police fired shots – the next thing I know – the police was missing

• #1 The Police?

• #2 The Police shot him

• #1 Police?

• #2 The next thing I know … I’m thinking … the dude started running … (garbled something about “he took it from him”)

An individual claiming to be a friend of Darren Wilson called into Dana Loesch’s radio show program on Friday and said that the Ferguson police officer has been attacked multiple times by Michael Brown before the shooting. “Brown just started bum rushing Wilson. He just started coming at him full speed. And, so Wilson just started shooting,” the supposed Wilson friend said.

Video discussing allegations that Michael Brown charged the police with excerpts of the audio from the removed YouTube Video:

Nigeria’s renewal: Delivering inclusive growth

Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

McKinsey Global Institute

As global investors and business leaders look to Africa as the next region of transformative economic growth, they are paying increasing attention to Nigeria. With about 170 million inhabitants, the country has long been the most populous in Africa, but it is only now being recognized as the continent’s largest economy. 

In April 2014, the government began to release “rebased” data that showed a gross domestic product of $510 billion in 2013, compared with $354 billion for South Africa. The rebased data also revealed an economy that was far more diverse than previously understood and that, with the right reforms and investments, could become one of the world’s leading economies by 2030. 

A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), Nigeria’s renewal: Delivering inclusive growth in Africa’s largest economy, examines how the country can live up to its economic potential while making growth more inclusive, thus bringing more Nigerians out of poverty.

Progress and productivity

Nigeria’s troubled history and its ongoing struggles with terrorism and poverty are well known. Yet the country has made solid economic progress since 2000, averaging annual GDP growth of 8.6 percent under civilian rule from 1999 to 2010, according to pre-rebased data, compared with just 1.5 percent a year under military rule (1983–99). And the new data show Nigeria is no longer just a petro-economy. While oil and gas remain critical sources of government income and of exports, the country’s entire resource sector today accounts for just 14 percent of GDP. Agriculture and trade are larger and faster growing. In addition, it is not generally recognized that Nigeria’s productivity, albeit low, has been growing recently and now contributes more to GDP growth than the country’s expanding population.

Yet the results of Nigeria’s economic progress have not been spread evenly. More than 40 percent of Nigerians live below the official poverty line. Seventy-four percent (around 130 million people) live below the MGI Empowerment Line,¹ a level of consumption that constitutes a decent, “economically empowered” standard of living, which we calculate for Nigeria as $1,016 per person a year in cities and $758 in rural areas. The primary reasons for this persistent poverty include low farm productivity and an urbanization process that has largely failed to raise incomes and living standards.

While crop yields have improved in recent years, they remain far below those of peer nations, as Nigerian farmers have limited access to productivity-improving inputs, such as fertilizer and mechanized tools. In addition, between high postharvest losses and an inefficient market system, farmers receive a small share of the value their work creates. Urban poverty is driven by poor employment options and low productivity: in Nigeria, workers in urban-oriented industries such as manufacturing actually have lower productivity than farm workers. This is the opposite of what normally happens as economies develop and urbanize—productivity and incomes are supposed to rise in tandem as people move off the farm and take up work in the city.

Opportunities for growth

We believe that Nigeria can build on the momentum of the past decade and, if all goes well, achieve 7.1 percent annual GDP growth through 2030 (exhibit). The country is well positioned to benefit from trends such as rising demand from emerging economies, growing global demand for resources, and the spread of the digital economy. Nigeria also has a young and rapidly growing population and an advantageous geographic location in West Africa, which enables trade within the continent, as well as with Europe and North and South America.

Exhibit

Should Nigeria reach its full potential, annual GDP could exceed $1.6 trillion in 2030 and the country could be a top-20 economy.

Our forecast is based on a bottom-up analysis of the potential for five major sectors of Nigeria’s economy:

• Trade. Given the expansion of the consumer class, we project that consumption could more than triple, rising to almost $1.4 trillion a year in 2030, an annual increase of about 8 percent. This would make trade the largest sector of the economy and provide a particularly good opportunity for makers of packaged foods and fast-moving consumer items such as paper goods, categories that could grow by more than 10 percent a year.
• Agriculture. Improvements on several fronts could help raise both the volume and the value of Nigeria’s agricultural production in the next 15 years. The economic value of agriculture, already the largest sector of the economy, at 22 percent of GDP, could more than double, from $112 billion a year in 2013 to $263 billion by 2030.
• Infrastructure. On average, the value of a nation’s core infrastructure—roads, railways, ports, airports, and the electrical system—represents about 68 percent of GDP, but in Nigeria it is only about 39 percent. Between core infrastructure and real estate, total infrastructure investments in Nigeria could reach $1.5 trillion from 2014 to 2030. This would make building infrastructure not only a major contributor to GDP but also an enabler of growth across the economy.
• Manufacturing. Though growing rapidly, manufacturing in Nigeria contributed just $35 billion to the economy in 2013, or about 7 percent of GDP. If Nigeria could match the performance of nations such as Malaysia and Thailand when their manufacturing sectors were expanding rapidly, output could reach $144 billion a year in 2030.
• Oil and gas. While the oil-and-gas sector is expected to grow by 2.3 percent a year at best, its success is still vital to Nigeria’s economy. With the right reforms, we estimate that liquids production could increase from an estimated 2.35 million barrels a day, on average, in 2013 to a new high of 3.13 million by 2030. Oil and gas would then contribute $108 billion annually to the economy, compared with $73 billion in 2013. However, this estimate of potential output assumes renewed investment to reverse the production declines of recent years.

If Nigeria can achieve the upside economic-growth scenario, it could lift 70 million people out of poverty and bring as many as 120 million above the MGI Empowerment Line. To tie growth to rising living standards across the economy, the country will have to raise farm incomes and create more formal urban jobs. 

Meanwhile, the government will have to take such steps as reconsidering tariffs that raise the cost of imported food and the spending needed to reach economic empowerment. The most important step that government can take, in our analysis, is to improve its delivery of programs and services. A critical initiative for Nigeria, then, will be to adopt the best practices that have been well established around the world for doing just that.

About the authors

Acha Leke is a director in McKinsey’s Johannesburg office; Reinaldo Fiorini is a director in the Lagos office; Richard Dobbs is a director of the McKinsey Global Institute, where Fraser Thompson is a senior fellow; Aliyu Suleiman is an associate principal in the London office; and David Wright is a consultant in the New York office.

About McKinsey Global Institute

The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the business and economics research arm of McKinsey, was established in 1990 to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving global economy. Our goal is to provide leaders in the commercial, public, and social sectors with the facts and insights on which to base management and policy decisions.