The following is a rundown of the day’s news drawn from other media sources with topics curated just for Money and Markets readers: Personal security and freedom, business and finance, and the Obamas’ vacation.
Personal security and freedom
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CNN Poll: Support for Legal Marijuana Soaring
“Attitudes toward the effects of marijuana and whether it is morally wrong to smoke pot have changed dramatically over time,” said Holland. “That also means that marijuana use is just not all that important to Americans any longer.”
Has Fukushima’s Radioactive Wave Already Hit California?
Concerns that the federal government is preparing for some form of nuclear emergency have heightened after it was revealed that the Department of Health and Human Services has ordered 14 million doses of the compound that protects the body from radioactive poisoning.
Supreme Court Halts Utah Gay Marriages Pending Appeal
Until the “recurring” question of whether the U.S. Constitution requires recognition of same-sex marriages is resolved, Utah should not be forced to license, perform and recognize such marriages, it said.
Girl Falls Asleep up to 30 Times a Day After Getting Flu Shot
Australia’s News Limited reports Chloe Glasson began suffering from narcolepsy four months after being injected with Pandemrix, a vaccine to combat against swine flu, in November 2009. She is one of at least 100 people to suffer from the sleeping disorder after getting vaccinated with Pandemrix.
Parents Call Police for Help, Cops Show up And Kill Their 18-Year-Old Son
According to victim’s father, the young man was pinned on the ground by two of the officers when a third said, “we don’t have time for this,” and shot him. After her son was killed, the mother suffered a mental breakdown and was treated by medical staff.
Business and finance
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Yellen Confirmed as Fed Chief
Janet Yellen will join the ranks of the most powerful economic policy makers in the world next month, taking the helm of the Federal Reserve at a time when the central bank is assessing its unprecedented steps to buoy the U.S. economy.
Ron Paul: Yellen Is ‘Worse Than Average’
“She’s worse than average,” the former Texas congressman told The Daily Caller in a phone interview shortly after the Senate voted 56-26 to confirm Yellen’s nomination, “but I don’t dwell on that at all. It was never the chairman himself, herself that’s the problem,” Paul said. “It’s the whole system.”
‘An Interesting Sort of Coincidence’: Finance Reporter on Another Massive JPMorgan Settlement
Many analysts and pundits believe the snowstorm of settlements — which have not been levied against other similarly accused banks — is payback for CEO Jamie Dimon’s criticism of the Obama administration’s economic policies.
Gold’s Decline Eats Into Swiss Reserves
Swiss gold holdings fell in value last year, as the price of the precious metal skidded 28%.The loss was partially offset by the central bank’s profit on foreign currencies, saddling it with a $10 billion paper loss for 2013, forcing it to cancel dividends to shareholders for the first time since it was founded 107 years ago.
Slump in Trading Threatens a Wall Street Profit Engine
Executives have warned that lackluster markets could lead to year-over-year declines in fixed-income, commodities and currency trading revenue when banks begin reporting fourth-quarter results next week. That would mark the fourth consecutive drop and the 11th in the past 16 quarters.
Obama vacation
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Obama Blasted Republicans Who ‘Went Home for the Holidays’
In his weekly address released on Saturday, Jan. 4, President Obama had the audacity to slam Republicans for “going home for the holidays” and letting unemployment insurance benefits expire. The only problem is that Obama said this while still on his holiday vacation in Hawaii.
Taxpayers Foot the Bill for First Lady’s Extended Hawaiian Vacation
When President Obama suggested that his wife should spend extra time in paradise as an early birthday present, he was committing U.S. citizens to pay for the gift, whose costs will likely spiral into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Michelle Obama Celebrates 50th Birthday in Hawaii as U.S. Shivers
As her husband and daughters returned to a frigid Washington, Michelle Obama remained in far sunnier Hawaii as part of what the White House called part of a “birthday gift from the president.”
Michelle Obama Spending Extended Vacation at Oprah’s Maui Home
“Yesterday we saw bomb-sniffing dogs and Maui police in the bushes,” Heather Long, the manager of nearby Grandma’s Coffeehouse, told TheDC. “We’re very close to Oprah’s property. They’ll probably walk up and down the road.”
Candidate Ben Sasse Wants to Move Nation’s Capital to Nebraska
Though he understands it’s not a realistic goal to move our nation’s capital to the Cornhusker State, the “thought experiment” is meant to represent the average American’s frustration with Washington, regardless of which party is in power.
Best wishes,
The Money and Markets Team
