Recession Seen Looming as Jobless Benefits End

The likely loss of unemployment benefits for 3.71 million Americans in a few months will only add to an economy edging ever closer to recession, according to analysis that puts the chances of another downturn at better than 1 in 3.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists say the ending of benefits for the so-called "99ers"—those who have exceeded their normal benefit allotment and are on an emergency compensation program through the end of the year—will slow the economy even further. The term comes from a previous extension to 99 weeks of eligibility for benefits.

When the long-term unemployed hit the same point several months ago, Congress stepped in with an extension. But that may not come now.

"We do not expect them to get extended," BofAML economist Joshua Dennerlein wrote in a note to clients. "This will act as a hit to income, hurting consumption growth in the first half of the year."

More importantly, this "hit" comes at a time when BofAML thinks the economy—already battered by rising unemployment and a Depression-level housing market—is very fragile. Another shock, the bank argues, could send it into recession .

Jeff Cox
Staff Writer
CNBC.com

In fact, chances of the U.S. economy entering another recession, the firm says, are now 35 percent, about double from a forecast it issued during the spring. Recession is often defined as two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product growth.

"It would take a modest worsening in financial conditions, falling oil prices and rising unemployment. None of these are extreme scenarios," economist Michelle Meyer writes in a separate note. "We argue that after a series of sucker punches earlier this year, the economy is only one shock away from falling into recession."

The good news is that the recession likely would be "mild since the economy already is very lean," specifically citing the 8.8 million jobs sliced during the previous recession and only 1.8 million rehires.

Ominously, though, a recession could trigger a number of unexpected events, with Meyer specifically citing "a muni crisis" where state and local governments, which have been cutting costs aggressively, would face more intense pressure from a new recession that could lead to bond defaults. This is in part the scenario put forth from banking analyst Meredith Whitney, who has been widely reviled for her forecast of a wave of muni defaults.

Meyer said her economic team's "baseline"—or most probable—forecast is no recession. But growth will remain slow and "still feel like a recession to many."

The forecast falls in line with others who believe a second full recession—rather than a double-dip—is on the way or in fact already here.

"It is evident that we will be going into another recession—I think at this point it's only a question of whether it has already begun—with the levels of output, employment and income all lower now than they were prior to the last contraction phase," Gluskin Sheff economist and strategist David Rosenberg said in a note.

Rosenberg said he has "pegged a U.S. recession as a virtual certainty" and warned investors to plan accordingly.

He recommends a mix of risk hedging—shorting low-quality and buying high-quality stocks —and using an income-equity distribution with low correlations to the stock market. He also backs high-yielding corporate debt from companies with solid balance sheet, gold and mining stocks, and commodities, particularly raw food and energy.

"The economy and risk assets typically hit a speed bump in a recession," he said. "That much is true, but investment ideas and opportunities within the market can still flourish even in a bear phase or a correction—cash should not have to be an option."

Investors were fleeing to safety during Thursday's market rout, pushing bond prices sharply higher and the stock market off more than 3 percent as talk spread of a looming recession. The Standard & Poor's 500 [.SPX 1200.07 --- UNCH ] officially entered correction phase of a 10 percent decline from its recent high, although it recovered somewhat later in the day.

"Price declines of 5 percent or more aren't reason enough to signal recession, as there have been eight times as many of these as there have been recessions since WW II," Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P, said in a note. "But unrelenting price declines that are accompanied by weaker-than-expected GDP, ISM (manufacturing) and jobs data add to existing concerns."

Those concerns are manifesting themselves in portfolios, where a return to diversification and stock picking is likely to occur after more than two years of a highly correlated market where asset classes and individual stocks all moved in unison.

"Our advice in the last couple of months has been really pushing the notion of diversification and rebalancing which sounds like plain old vanilla advice," Liz Ann Sonders, chief strategist at Charles Schwab, said in an interview. "Correlations are starting to come down. There's more differentiation now."

Sonders said she too worries about the economy but believes the U.S. is more likely to muddle through than hit an actual recession.

"On our most optimistic day we didn't see anything close to robust growth," said Sonders, who in previous interviews had speculated a return to a "Goldilocks" economy where growth was not too fast or not too slow. "No matter how you slice it, it's not a robust picture."

Malaysia fires tear gas at protest, arrests 1,667

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — At least 20,000 Malaysians defied government warnings by marching for electoral reforms Saturday, as police fired tear gas and detained more than 1,600 in the country's biggest political rally in four years.

The crackdown on the opposition-backed demonstration in Malaysia's main city, Kuala Lumpur, triggered criticism that Prime Minister Najib Razak's long-ruling coalition was unwilling to allow public dissent or make election laws fairer ahead of national polls widely expected by mid-2012.

Najib's administration declared the rally illegal and warned people repeatedly over the past month to avoid it. Officials insisted it was simply an opposition scheme to spark chaos and stir anti-government sentiment, while activists accused authorities of being afraid of a protest that could undermine their authority.

Authorities blocked roads, shut rail stations and deployed trucks with water cannons near the Independence Stadium in downtown Kuala Lumpur where activists sought to gather. More than 200 activists had been arrested over the past two weeks for promoting the rally.

The large number of demonstrators who showed up despite the threat of arrests and the disruptions in transport links bolstered claims by activists that the government had misjudged public opinion by not allowing what they insisted would have been a peaceful rally.

The crackdown "stirred a sense of outrage against the exhibition of raw power by our government," said Ambiga Sreenavasan, head of the Bersih coalition of civic groups that organized the rally.

"What is the necessity for a show of might against right? No matter what, right will always prevail," she said.

Police said in a statement that they detained 1,667 people Saturday in a clampdown called "Operation Erase Bersih." Those arrested included several senior opposition officials. Some were released after several hours, with police indicating that most would not be held overnight.

Thousands tried to reach the stadium from various parts of Kuala Lumpur, chanting "Long live the people" and carrying yellow balloons and flowers as they marched.

Police fired numerous rounds of tear gas and chemical-laced water in repeated attempts to disperse the crowds, causing demonstrators to scatter into nearby buildings and alleys before they regrouped. Police helicopters flew overhead as a brief downpour failed to deter the protesters.

Witnesses said riot police armed with batons charged at some protesters and dragged them into trucks. Some were seen bleeding, but police could not confirm any injuries.

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's top opposition figure, was being treated at a hospital for a "minor injury" he said he received when his group was hit by tear gas. The Malaysiakini news website said he had a knee injury.

"We were attacked from both corners but what was horrifying is that the police shot directly at the protesters, some of them clearly aimed at me personally, so my security assistants had to cover me and one was badly injured because the canister was shot direct, he is badly injured," Anwar told Associated Press Television News. "This is a simple portrayal of the extent of desperation of brutal action approved by the Prime Minister Najib."

The demonstrators dispersed after a five-hour standoff with police. Only several hundred reached the stadium.

Prime Minister Najib insisted Saturday the protesters only represent a minority, and that most Malaysians support his administration.

"If there are people who want to hold the illegal rally, there are even more who are against their plan," the prime minister was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.

Organizers said 50,000 took part in the rally, but police claimed there were only up to 6,000. Other observers and participants said the total was between 20,000 and 30,000, noting that it was highly unlikely that police could have arrested a quarter of the demonstrators. An accurate count was impossible because they were scattered in various areas.

The rally has galvanized the opposition and has been credited for a surge in political awareness among the public in recent weeks.

Opposition leaders accuse Najib's National Front coalition of relying on fraud to preserve its 54-year grip on power, which has been eroded in recent years amid mounting complaints about corruption and racial discrimination. The government insists the current electoral policies are evenhanded.

The activists' demands include an overhaul of voter registration lists, tougher measures to curb fraud and fairer opportunities for opposition politicians to campaign in government-linked media. The National Front's mandate expires in mid-2013 but many analysts expect elections to be called by next year.

Supporters of the Bersih coalition were also planning solidarity marches over the weekend in foreign cities, including in Australia, Britain, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and the United States.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. has been communicating to Malaysia the importance of respecting human rights, including freedom of expression and assembly.

"We consider it incumbent on all sides to refrain from violence," she told a news conference Friday.

Malaysia police fire tear gas, arrest 1,600 at protest

Lai Seng Sin / AP

Malaysian activists cover themselves with towels as they run away from tear gas fired by police during a rally calling for electoral reforms in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

msnbc.com news services

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Police fired repeated rounds of tear gas and detained more than 1,600 people in the capital on Saturday as thousands of activists evaded roadblocks and barbed wire to hold a street protest against Prime Minister Najib Razak's government.

At least a dozen people were hurt in the demonstration for electoral reform in downtown Kuala Lumpur. There were no reports of serious injuries but some analysts said the police action was excessive and would dent Najib's image.

"We are not criminals, we are just asking for free and fair elections," opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, told reporters after her father was knocked down and hurt in a melee when he and his supporters were tear gassed.

"Many innocent people were injured. We condemn this act of cruelty by UMNO and Barisan Nasional," she said, referring to Najib's opposition party and the ruling coalition.

Video: Protesters, police wage war in Malaysia (on this page)

Street protests are rare in this Southeast Asian nation, but foreign investors are worried that any groundswell of anti-government sentiment could delay economic reforms seen as essential to draw investment.

If he is put under popular pressure, Najib may reconsider plans for a snap election and hold back on reforms such as cutting fuel subsidies or unwinding an affirmative action program for the country's Malay majority.

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Polls are not due until 2013 but analysts have said Najib could seek an early mandate after economic growth accelerated to a 10-year high in 2010.

"From Najib's perspective, holding elections anytime soon would be a mistake because of the damage that has been done today," said Bridget Welsh, Malaysia specialist at Singapore Management University.

"The fact that such a large crowd turned up despite a crackdown shows that voter anger is deep and this is going to push a lot of people who are in the middle toward the opposition."

Vincent Thian / AP

Malaysian riot police officers are covered by smoke of tear gas

Authorities took extraordinary security measures to deter Saturday's rally by sealing off roads, closing train stations and deploying trucks with water cannons near the Independence Stadium where activists sought to gather.

Reuters witnesses saw tear gas shells lobbed repeatedly at groups of protesters in downtown Kuala Lumpur as the crowds chanted "Long Live the People" and "Reformasi, reformasi," the Malay word for reform.

Several people were seen bleeding after the tear gas was fired, but police gave no details of any injuries. Crowds around the city's main bus station were also sprayed with water cannon.

Ibrahim, Malaysia's top opposition figure, said on Twitter that he sustained a "minor injury" when his group was hit by tear gas. The Malaysiakini news website said he had a knee injury.

The crackdown "stirred a sense of outrage against the exhibition of raw power by our government," opposition coalition leader Ambiga Sreenavasan told reporters.

"What is the necessity for a show of might against right? No matter what, right will always prevail," she said, minutes before police detained her and other officials as they walked to the stadium.

Police said in a statement that they detained 1,667 people. Those arrested included several senior opposition officials. Some were released after several hours, with police indicating that most would not be held overnight.

The demonstrators dispersed after a five-hour standoff with police. Only several hundred reached the stadium.

"We have made our point that we want free and fair elections," said Chan Mei Yin, a 32-year old accountant who joined the protest.

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"The police are just showing that they are brutal to Malaysians. I will not vote for this government."

Not Thailand
While Malaysia is far from being divided by political strife like its northern neighbour Thailand, the opposition has been steadily growing more vocal.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets at a November 2007 rally, which analysts said galvanised support for the opposition ahead of record gains in a 2008 general election.

Analysts said the turnout of protesters on Saturday was more than 10,000, around the same as in 2007. Police put the number at 5,000-6,000, while protest organisers claimed 50,000 attended.

"Malaysian civil society is showing the government that intimidation will not work," said Ooi Kee Beng, a political analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of Singapore.

"We're seeing a lack of will on the part of the government to try to negotiate and to defuse the situation. It's all going to look very bad outside Malaysia."

After Malaysia's constitutional monarch tried to defuse the situation, the government initially offered Bersih (Clean), the group that called the protest, the use of a stadium to hold its demonstration.

But it balked at allowing the group to use the main stadium in downtown Kuala Lumpur, at which point Bersih said it would defy the ban.

From midnight, police locked down the central shopping district of the city of 1.6 million people, setting up roadblocks and barring taxis and buses from the area. Suburban trains, however, continued to operate and other areas of the city were not affected.

Bersih has vowed to bring together tens of thousands of supporters to the protest but it fell short. Still, some analysts said the government faced a problem.

"Just looking at the crowd there were many 'first timers', young people from the Facebook generation who just wanted to have a peaceful life," said Ibrahim Suffian, director of the independent opinion polling outfit Merdeka Center.

"This is trouble for Najib as it will polarise traditionally non-political segments of society like the young even further away from him."

Najib took power in 2009, and inherited a divided ruling coalition which had been weakened by historic losses in the 2008 polls. He has promised to restructure government and economy and introduced an inclusive brand of politics aimed at uniting the country's different races.

Najib's approval ratings have risen from 45 percent to 69 percent in February, according to independent polling outfit Merdeka Center. But analysts said recent ethnic and religious differences have undermined his popularity.

Thousands protest against Malaysia government

Malaysian police face off against thousands of protesters during a mass rally calling for electoral reform in Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of demonstrators to prevent them from assembling to rally for electoral reform on Saturday. Almost 1,700 people were arrested for defying the government ban in a street protest against Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government.

The police on Sunday said all the detained had been released.

Bersih, the rally organisers, insisted the protests were peaceful in a statement saying: “The only violence witnessed was perpetrated by the police, who unleashed immense amounts of tear gas and chemical laced water on innocent members of the public.”

Some demonstrators sat in front of a police blockade outside of the Tung Shin Hospital. But the authorities eventually fired water into the crowd, scattering the protesters. Some took refuge in a church compound but a group of officers marched in and headed for people wearing yellow t-shirts, the uniform of the rally.

“I don’t know why they are arresting me,” said Muhammad Ismadi bin Haji Abdul Kadir, who works for the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic party, as he was being taken away.

The police had warned the public that they would detain anyone who was participating in or promoting the rally and Kuala Lumpur was placed under a 22-hour lockdown with access to all major roads blocked and some public transport suspended.

Activists and opposition parties argued that was their right to march against the electoral system, which they say is plagued with fraud. This is denied by Mr Najib who accused opposition parties of exploiting the rally to gain political momentum ahead of the next election.

The opposition won an unprecedented number of seats in the last general election following restrictions imposed by the police during a similar demonstration in 2007.

Saturday’s demonstration was billed as a call for free and fair elections. But some had seen it more as a test of Mr Najib, who has built an image as a leader of reform.

Calling for a more transparent electoral system drew Allan Leong, 45, to brave the rain and participate in his first demonstration.

“Malaysia is controlled by one party. It’s not fair. It doesn’t really reflect a true democracy,” he said.

Demonstrators managed to avoid clashing with pro-government groups, who were also out in the hundreds.

The city was eerily quiet, except for the sound of helicopters circling. In the shopping district of Bukit Bintang some shops opened their doors, only to close up a few hours later.

Ms Hao at the Swiss Polo shop, which sells luggage and trinkets to tourists, said she underestimated how much the road blocks would affect her business.

“Malaysia is a very peaceful country to live in. I didn’t think it would get this complicated,” she said.

Source : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/06d80d3c-aa50-11e0-94a6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Rojg08Yh

Malaysia nips an hibiscus uprising

KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Najib Razak's government is on the defensive after Malaysia's biggest opposition-aligned protest in almost four years was put down forcefully on Saturday by riot police, water-cannons and teargas in the national capital.

Over 1,600 people were arrested in the crackdown, including opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the leadership of the protest organizers, Bersih 2.0, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seeking reform of the country's electoral system.

As the dust settled and Malaysians assessed the longer-term impact of the rally, Najib praised the police's firm response to what he deemed an "illegal" gathering, while Anwar warned of a "hibiscus revolution" - referring to Malaysia's national flower - unless the electoral system is overhauled and broader reforms

undertaken. Protesters said that one man died from a heart attack after fleeing teargas, a claim disputed by police who say the fatality was unrelated to the protest.

Bersih organizers and independent analysts believe Malaysia's electoral system is skewed in favor of the United Malays Nasional Organization (UMNO), which heads the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and has held power uninterrupted since Malaysia achieved independence in 1957. In particular, Bersih has called for a cleaning up of electoral rolls and equal access to state media for opposition parties. The UMNO-led government dominates Malaysia's mainstream media, which predictably took the government's side in reporting on Saturday's protest and crackdown.



A similar protest in 2007 elicited a similar heavy-handed government response, including the arrest of several demonstrators. Some analysts believe that crackdown helped turn popular opinion in favor of the three-party People's Alliance opposition, comprised of Anwar's reformist Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the Islamist PAS and the secular Chinese-led Democratic Action Party (DAP).

The opposition made significant gains at the 2008 general elections, denying UMNO the two-thirds parliamentary majority its coalition traditionally has held. The result was a massive blow to UMNO, denting its aura of invincibility and suggesting that an alternative government was possible.

The opposition won 47% of the popular vote and took control of five of the country's 13 states at those polls and soon after aimed to bring down the government through parliamentary defections. Those defections never materialized and the BN has won in various by-elections held since 2008.

The Anwar-led opposition has lost some traction due to infighting, including over issues such as sharia law, and Anwar's new legal troubles on sodomy charges. Sodomy is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Anwar has denied the charges, which have successfully shifted public attention away from earlier opposition-led reform debates.

Yet the weekend's protest and government crackdown are expected to give the People's Alliance a new lift ahead of general elections that some analysts believe Najib will call within this year to pre-empt an expected slowdown in the economy next year. Some say the crackdown has underscored UMNO's authoritarian roots, despite policies implemented by Najib in recent years to soften its public image.

In the days leading up to July 9, police arrested over 250 Bersih supporters, claiming that they were "waging war against the king". That did not deter the country's monarch, known officially as the "Yang di Pertuan Agong", or "Agong", from making a rare political intervention by meeting with Bersih leader Ambiga Sreenevasan. Taken by some as a tacit acknowledgement of Bersih's agenda by the Agong, the protesters changed their original plan to march though Kuala Lumpur and agreed instead to rally at the Merdeka Stadium.



The government flip-flopped its earlier position and along with police sought to move the rally outside the city to blunt its impact. Kuala Lumpur was under police lockdown by Friday afternoon, with roadblocks on all main routes into the city and close to landmark locations where protesters were expected to congregate.

By Friday evening, streets across the city were eerily quiet and on Saturday morning the tourist magnet Bukit Bintang area was almost empty, with incessant fire alarms lending a post-apocalypse feel to the usually-bustling city.

By noon on Saturday at the Negara and Jamek mosques, where the rally organizers hoped to commence a march to the Merdeka Stadium, media initially seemed to outnumber protesters with police making random searches and arrests of people in a nearby bazaar.

Looking on from the train station across from the Jamek mosque, a man giving his name as Azhar said that "we will pray first and then we will demonstrate". Asked where all the protesters were, he said that "we are around, you will see us later when we have enough numbers to march".

At 1:30 pm, a group of around 2,000 supporters of the Malaysian Islamist opposition party PAS emerged onto the streets about a half-kilometer away from the Jamek mosque. They were marching toward Merdeka Square, which was blocked off by police, and chanting "Reformasi" and "Down with Najib".

The group was stopped by a volley of teargas rounds fired by riot police within two minutes of turning the corner toward the square. Squaring with protestor allegations that police fired teargas directly at the crowd, the protesters were given little or no warning before it was fired, with the canisters landing in the middle of the throng.



As witnessed by Asia Times Online, the main protest area then moved to the Central Market area and adjacent streets of the city, where the numbers swelled throughout the afternoon despite repeated tear gas and water cannon attacks by riot police, some of whom ran toward the protesters to arrest people wearing yellow t-shirts or anything resembling the proscribed attire of the Bersih 2.0 coalition.

Pools of blue-green tinted water sloshed around on the streets after police fired water-cannons at the demonstrators, who claimed that the water fired from the police cannons was laced with chemicals.

According to the police, no more than 6,000 people took part in the protest, while Bersih 2.0 claims that 50,000 people turned out. Asia Times Online observations estimated the protester numbers were higher than the implausibly-low official figure, while other independent assessments put the figure at between 10,000 and 20,000.

Significantly, the protesters were racially mixed, including ethnic Malays, Chinese-Malaysians and Indian-Malaysians, the three main ethnic groups in a country where politics are often played on racial lines.

It was unclear how many of the protesters were members or supporters of opposition parties and how many were unaffiliated citizens disaffected with the electoral system. According to Sivarasa Rasiah, an opposition member of parliament and vice president of Anwar's PKR who was arrested on Saturday, the rally "was a spirited multiracial and peaceful crowd who came and went in peace for the cause of bringing about free and fair elections".

By this correspondent's observations, the rally was mainly peaceful, save for a few incidents of protesters lobbing water bottles at riot police trucks. The government's harsh response to a demonstration that on the surface at least merely sought electoral reforms comes down to the ruling party's fears of a "Malaysian Spring", according to Ooi Kee Beng, a Singapore-based Malaysian scholar at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies.

"Memories of how the first Bersih demonstration in 2007, which created the impetus that almost dethroned the Barisan Nasional, must still rankle deeply in the psyche of the government," he said.



On the eve of the rally, with commuters hurrying home as the city went quiet, a Chinese-Malaysian government employee interviewed near the University of Malaya said that he disagreed with the Bersih rally. Refusing to give his name, the man - who said he was a DAP voter - said that the rally "seems to be directed by the opposition and looks like a distraction from Anwar's trial".

The BN leadership has pushed a similar line, mixing claims about the cultural inappropriateness of street demonstrations with allegations that Bersih's electoral reform agenda was driven by opposition politics. Najib told reporters that "We dislike chaos. We like peace. We like a country where the people live in harmony." They were lines that could have come from Malaysia's long-time former authoritarian premier, Mahathir Mohamad.

According to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, the protest was a front for the parliamentary opposition rather than a citizen-driven demand for electoral reform. "They [protesters] shouted 'Reformasi' and wreaked havoc," he claimed afterwards.

That the demonstration took place at all was a testimony to the protesters' determination in the face of a police lockdown, though whether it proves to be a game-changer in Malaysia's politics remains to be seen. According to Choong Pui Yee, a research analyst from the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, the rally "caused more harm to Najib's administration and has shown how defiant the people are".



Taking to the streets might therefore be seen as a viable unifying political strategy ahead of the next elections, which must be held by 2013. Greg Lopez, a regular commentator on Malaysian politics for the New Mandala blog, told Asia Times Online that Malaysian opposition groups are now "willing to go to the wire in the face of threat" and warned of a "Thai-situation" with PAS saying that it will continue demonstrations until reforms are carried out.

Najib has since called on a "silent majority" to continue to support the BN, and claims that he could stage a far bigger rally than anything the opposition could mount - though presumably a BN rally would not be declared illegal in advance or stymied by police action. Najib's approval ratings have risen since 2008, according to some opinion polls, driving speculation he could call polls later this year.

Analyst Choong Pui Yee says that the July 9 rally "does not necessarily mean the opposition will win in the next general election, but the BN government will definitely face much stronger opposition voices from opposition parties and the civil society".


Source :http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MG12Ae01.html

Sarah Palin On Paul Revere Ride: I Didn't Get History Wrong (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON (AP/The Huffington Post) -- Sarah Palin says she didn't mess up her history on Paul Revere.

The potential 2012 presidential candidate was in Boston on Thursday as part of her bus tour when she was asked about the Revolutionary War hero.

Palin said Revere "warned the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms."

Palin, a paid Fox News contributor, told "Fox News Sunday" that she was correct. She says there were British soldiers in the area for years before Revere's legendary ride, and that he was warning them, as well as his fellow colonists.

"Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there that 'hey, you're not going to take American arms, you are not going to beat our own well-armed persons individual private militia that we have.'"

She blamed her previous answer on the media, saying it was a "gotcha question."

The Paul Revere House's website says that on April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren instructed Revere to ride to Lexington, Mass., to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them.

Watch Palin speak about Revere at the Old North Church in Boston:

Yemen Presidential Palace Shelled During Fighting

SANAA, June 3 (Reuters) - The Yemeni presidential palace was hit by at least two shells on Friday as street fighting in the civil-war-threatened country widened to more parts of the capital.

Battles in Sanaa have killed at least 155 people over the last 10 days, marking an escalation in the uprising to end President Ali Abdullah Saleh's three-decade long rule of the impoverished state which started in January. About 370 people have been killed in total.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam; Editing by Jon Herskovitz)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Source :http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/yemen-presidential-palace_n_870767.html

Seth Meyers White House Correspondents' Dinner Speech: Comedian Takes On Trump, Obama, GOP Hopefuls

'Saturday Night Live' Weekend Update host Seth Meyers delivered a fiery speech Saturday at the White House Correspondents' dinner, ripping everyone from Washington players like President Barack Obama and members of Congress to media mavens like Katie Couric and Michael Bloomberg.

Donald Trump served as perhaps Meyers' biggest victim of the night. The comedian taunted him for his potential presidential candidacy, saying, "Donald Trump has said he's running for president as a Republican -- which is surprising because I thought he was running as a joke." He also teased Trump for his involvement with the Miss USA pageant, sneaking in a subtle jab at Sarah Palin: "Donald Trump owns the Miss USA pageant, which is great for Republicans because it will streamline their search for a vice president." Trump, needless to say, did not appear to crack a smile.

While complimenting the First Lady on her dashing looks, Meyers blasted the president for appearing to age quickly over the past two years. "If your hair gets any whiter, the Tea Party is going to endorse it," he quipped. Seizing on Obama's sinking approval ratings, Meyers added, "I'll tell you who could beat you: 2008 Barack Obama. You would have loved him."

For more Seth snark, check out the full video of his speech below (via Washington Post).

Source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/01/seth-meyers-white-house-correspondents-dinner-speech-video_n_855946.html