Weekly Economic Update | LAEDC

THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES:

• First Quarter GDP: Moderate Growth
• California Housing Market: Inventory Dips Below 3-Month Supply
• Global Economy
• Events of Interest
  • May 15, 2013: LAEDC International Trade Outlook

Weekly Economic Update | LAEDC

THIS WEEk:

California’s Budget Position in March

HEADLINES:

• Retail Sales Weaken in March
• Wholesale Prices Retreat by 0.6% in March
• Events of Interest
  • April 23, 2013: Economic Outlook for the San Gabriel Valley
  • May 15, 2013: LAEDC International Trade Outlook

How to Know If You’re Involved in The Petraeus Scandal | Andy Borowitz

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In response to a high volume of panicked phone calls from the general public, the C.I.A. has published a new informational brochure entitled “How to Tell if You’re Involved in the Petraeus Scandal.”

The C.I.A. rushed to produce the brochure after it became clear that as many as one in three Americans may have some involvement in the Petraeus affair.

And with the scandal widening every day, “a lot of average folks out there are worried that they might somehow be involved in it without knowing,” says Carol Foyler, director of the C.I.A.’s public-information office. “This booklet should clear up a lot misunderstandings.”

The booklet includes a “simple, user-friendly checklist” that should help people determine whether they are at risk for being implicated in the scandal, she says.

“Have you ever met David Petraeus? Have you ever received and/or sent shirtless photos of an F.B.I. agent? Have you ever exchanged e-mails with Jill Kelley? Under five thousand pages of e-mails and you’re probably O.K., but anywhere between ten thousand and fifteen thousand pages of e-mails could potentially mean you’re involved in some way,” she says.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today that he expected the Petraeus scandal to wind down by early 2015 but would not commit to an official timetable.

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BofA Says Libor Probe Draws U.S. Subpoenas on Submissions | Businessweek

Regulators have queried at least a dozen banks worldwide about their roles in setting Libor, the most widely used benchmark for interest rates, affecting more than $360 trillion in financial products. U.S. prosecutors are preparing to file charges later this year against traders from banks involved in a bid-rigging scheme to manipulate Libor, a person with knowledge of the case has said.

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Distracted Walking Injuries Quadruple — Mobile Devices to Blame? | TechCrunch

The number of citizens wandering into ditches, on-coming cars, and each other while staring at electronics has “quadrupled”, according to the Associated Press

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Soak Wealth, Not Income? | ZeroHedge

The only alternative is a wealth tax. Anyone who has a net worth over $5m (or $20m, or chose a number) has to pay 1% (or 2%) of that amount, every year. It would be like a death tax, except you paid it while you were alive. Think – pre-paid estate taxes.

Warren Buffett is always complaining that he doesn’t pay enough in taxes. The guy has a net worth of about $40b. If there was a 2% wealth tax he would have to cough up an extra $800m a year. That would shut him up quick; it would also solve all the fiscal problems.

Bill Gates would be forced to come up with an extra $1.2B. The Walton family would have to pony up $1.6B. And the good old Koch brothers would toss in a $1b.

If a 2% wealth tax was applied to everyone who had a net worth in excess of $5m it would add up to about $700B a year. That’s just about the right amount to get the budget to where it starts to make sense. This tax increase would not come out of current income, therefore the consequences to the economy would be muted versus a similar sized income tax increase.

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Doesn’t Obama have that same expression that Princess Liea had at the end of ‘Star Wars’? – Ed.

Gender Balance on Social Networking Sites | informationisbeautiful.net

Back in 2010 we calculated there were 74 million more women on social networks than men. We’ve had a fresh look at the data. In the age of Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, do chicks still rule?

Read More-Do Chicks Rule?.

The secret handshake | Photographers Blog

To watch a “challenge coin” being passed from one person to

another is to witness the equivalent of “the secret handshake.” Starting and ending as quickly as a bullet, the ritual is performed out in plain sight and almost always in the presence of others.

Most “civilians” remain clueless as to what they witnessed even though it happened right in front of them – seeing nothing more than a stone-faced soldier or Marine at attention quietly facing a commanding officer, politician, or at best a nation’s President, before reaching out firmly to shake hands.

 Read Article.

An afterword from one of our readers:

Peter,

My daughter was in Navy ROTC at Notre Dame and she received the Secretary of Defense coin from Bob Gates when he officiated at the Navy ROTC Graduation last year. Among other things, that coin guarantees she does not have to buy drinks in a navy bar. The person with the highest ranking challenge coin, does not buy drinks. The only higher coin than hers is the Commander in Chief and they are not given out very often. Nice story…..

Thanks,

Tom Kay,  General Manager,  Outdoor Elegance Patio Center

LinkedIn’s Leaky Mobile App Has Access to Your Meeting Notes – NYTimes.com

LinkedIn mobile app subscribers may be surprised to learn that the calendar entries on their iPhones or iPads— which may include details about meeting locations, participants, dial-in information, passwords and sensitive meeting notes — are transmitted back to LinkedIn’s servers without their knowledge.

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Testosterone Pit – Home – China Puts The Screws To BMW

And he sketched the outline of a solution: BMW and its Chinese partner, Brilliance, will build a separate brand for New Energy Vehicles. However, these cars will not reflect the latest BMW technologies because it wants to give up as little as possible and protect its critical technologies long enough to where they’re no longer critical.

Read More.

Young entrepreneur squats at AOL office for 2 months to keep dream alive – CNN.com

Simons evaded security for two months — not to mention having to pay for an apartment, gym membership and more.He said that he spent a total of $30 over those weeks, splurging at Boston Market for his Thanksgiving feast but otherwise subsisting largely by “eating scraps.”

via Young entrepreneur squats at AOL office for 2 months to keep dream alive – CNN.com.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has an offer for bill-backing Republican – USATODAY.com

Creech said that in fiscal year 2012, the National Guard has been contacted by more than 24,800 individuals interested in joining because of the racing sponsorship. Of those, Creech said that 20 were qualified candidates and that none joined.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: That means a $26MM sponsorship had a $1.3MM per recruit cost. Way to go! – Ed.

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14 Photographs That Shatter Your Image of Famous People | Cracked.com

Mister Rogers appears to have really been wholesome all the way down, and here he’s leading a group of children in a song that has them counting off each finger in turn. When they get to the middle finger, Rogers cracks up …

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I don’t know about you, but I like Mr. Rogers even more now…- Ed.

An Insider’s Notes On The Shabby Death Of The Seattle SuperSonics

I usually arrived at work before most of the staff. On some days, I could wander across the office to get my coffee without seeing anyone. But strangely, that morning, the team’s communications guru, was already there. He pulled me aside. “Be prepared to have a terrible day,” he said. “I can’t tell you any more—you’ll know soon enough. But I’m telling you as a friend, this is going to be a really rough day.”

I went back to my desk trying to decipher what he meant. Soon, my phone rang. On the other end was a member of the operations team: “Jeremy, you need to do something for me. You need to grab the championship trophies. Polish them until they’re spotless and bring them to the Furtado Center [the team's training facility]. I can’t tell you why, you just need to do it now.”

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No-fly ‘glitch’ has toddler removed from plane – CNN.com

JetBlue Airways is apologizing for a “computer glitch” it blames for a family being told their 18-month-old daughter was on a government no-fly list.

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