Link: http://www.housingwire.com/2010/02/16/the-federal-reserves-exit-strategy-unlegislated-bailout-of-fannie-and-freddie/

The Federal Reserve closes its positions in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities, the quantity of outstanding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac liabilities declines by as much as $1.5 trillion, thus allowing their remaining assets repay the remaining liabilities despite insolvency, and the outstanding quantity of U.S. Treasury debt expands by as much as $1.5 trillion in order to protect the lenders, while ordinary Americans continue to lose their homes and jobs.

Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02162010.html

The media has headlined good economic news: fourth quarter GDP growth of 5.7 percent ("the recession is over"), Jan. retail sales up, productivity up in 4th quarter, the dollar is gaining strength. Is any of it true? What does it mean?

Link: http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/50610.html

James Rourke was living out a parent’s worst nightmare when two Pennsylvania State Troopers arrived and promptly made matters much worse. A little after 6:00 p.m. on January 28, Rourke, a 59-year-old man widely respected among residents of Doylesburg for his generosity and service to others, learned of a car crash involving his 19-year-old son Freddy. James and his wife Betty rushed to the scene on Path Valley Road, where the car — which was driven by a family friend — had collided with a utility pole. Freddy and his friend, Chad O’Donel, were trapped inside, and live power lines snaked across the wreckage.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/02/2010216122918747518.html

African-American farmers have staged a massive protest in Washington DC calling on the US government to deliver on cash payments promised to the group years ago. In 1999, they won a landmark case that granted them a billion-dollar compensation settlement on the grounds of racial discrimination by US authorities.

Link: http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=12178

Junior Foreign Affairs minister Peter Kent is suggesting Canada stands ready to throw its full military weight behind Israel, telling a Toronto publication that “an attack on Israel would be considered an attack on Canada.”

Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50346

RANGOON, Feb 16, 2010 (IPS) - Fifteen-year-old Cho Cho Thet knows little about the world outside of the garments factory where she works. Thet works 14 hours each day – from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. – seven days a week, but receives a salary of only 35,000 kyat (35 U.S. dollars) a month. The factory owner provides free accommodation and meals that include rice and vegetables.

Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50352

GUATEMALA CITY, Feb 16, 2010 (IPS) - "I've been working in the streets since I was a girl. My parents didn't send me to school, so it's really hard for me to find a job," says Carol Orozco, 31, who forms part of the veritable army of vendors hawking their wares on the streets of Central America.

Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50325

Approximately 3,000 protesters of diverse backgrounds converged on Vancouver Friday afternoon, assembling for a peaceful yet boisterous rally and march through the downtown streets to the steps of BC Place, the site of the Games' opening ceremonies.

Link: http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=2866

NEW YORK, 16 Feb (IPS) - Fresh from a whirlwind tour of non-stop meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos and a U.N .investor summit on climate risk attended by George Soros, Al Gore, and 500 of the world's most powerful institutional and private investors, Mindy Lubber has a full plate.

Link: http://www.economyincrisis.org/content/employer-tax-credit-likely-create-few-jobs-high-cost

Desperate to bring down the historically high unemployment rate of 9.7 percent, lawmakers of both parties are actually working together to craft a bill that would provide incentives for jobs creation. However, according to Timothy J. Bartik of the Economic Policy Institute, the current proposal would be highly inefficient - creating very few jobs at a relatively high cost

Link: http://www.economyincrisis.org/content/country-serfs-ruled-oligarchs

The media has headlined good economic news: fourth quarter GDP growth of 5.7 percent ("the recession is over"), Jan. retail sales up, productivity up in 4th quarter, the dollar is gaining strength. Is any of it true? What does it mean?

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/nycb-f16.shtml

Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced plans to implement a series of cuts in order to close New York City’s $4.9 billion budget deficit, part of the growing wave of fiscal crises affecting state and local governments throughout the country. Bloomberg’s answer to this crisis is slashing the jobs and wages of municipal employees and cutting vital social services for the city’s residents.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/news/145685/pharma_giant_gets_cozy_with_congress%2C_spends_%24100_million_in_advertising_to_cash_in_on_health_reform

Last year PhRMA was employing 165 lobbyists, 137 of which were former employees of either the legislative or executive branches. More than a million spectators gathered before the Capitol on a frosty January afternoon to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama, who promised in his campaign to change Washington’s mercenary culture of lobbyists, special interest influence and backroom deals.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/guid-f16.shtml

The German government has now reclassified its military mission in Afghanistan as intervening in a civil war or, as they say in legal jargon, a “non-international armed conflict.” The recasting of the mission has far-reaching legal consequences.

Link: http://www.paltelegraph.com/world/middle-east/77-middle-east/4191-dubai-seeks-11-europeans-for-hamas-killing

Police in Dubai are to issue arrest warrants for 11 "agents with European passports" suspected of assassinating a top Hamas official last month.

Link: http://www.paltelegraph.com/columnists/peter-eyre/4185-once-again-clinton-hits-out-at-iran

In my current series I have written about the military aspects of any attack on Iran by the US and or Israel. I again repeat that Israel cannot carry out this attack without the help of the US.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/16/civilians-killed-afghanistan

Coalition forces continued to advance into Taliban-held areas in the violent southern Afghan province of Helmand yesterday on the third day of a major offensive aimed at breaking the insurgents' control over hundreds of thousands of local people.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/hait-f16.shtml

Haiti’s wealthy ruling elite and US corporations are looking forward to increased riches and big profits off of post-earthquake reconstruction as millions of working class and poor people face the threat of starvation and infectious epidemics.

Link: http://original.antiwar.com/eland/2010/02/15/american-arrogance/

The arrest of the 10-member church group trying to "rescue" 33 Haitian children from the aftermath of the earthquake by smuggling them across the border to the Dominican Republic has wider implications for U.S. foreign policy. The group’s besmirching of the substantial and laudable American humanitarian effort in Haiti is regrettable. But the arrogance of simply ignoring the rule of law in foreign countries is a rich American tradition, practiced by the U.S. government as well as missionaries such as these.