Saturday Afternoon Reading (June 26, 2010)

Same format as usual.  I am placing all the links in comments below.  They are in no particular order.

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Click HERE to see the articles (47 total)  >>

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Comments

[DailyBail]

Two Census Bureau managers fired for creating at least 10,000 bogus questionnaires to meet deadlines

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/06/26/2010-06-26_2_census_bigs_axed_for_fakin_it.html#ixzz0s02i3EBO

[DailyBail]

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/durbin-asks-obama-to-appoint-carp-czar.html

As concerns mount about the presence of Asian carp near Lake Michigan, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin today urged President Obama to appoint a carp czar to oversee efforts to keep the invasive species out of the Great Lakes.

"We need to have one person who coordinates the efforts of the federal, state and local agencies that are doing everything they can to keep the Asian carp out of Lake Michigan," Durbin said during a news conference at the Shedd Aquarium. "We believe it's absolutely essential."

[DailyBail]

The Feuding Fathers

Americans lament the partisan venom of today's politics, but for sheer verbal savagery, the country's founders were in a league of their own. Ron Chernow on the Revolutionary origins of divisive discourse.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704911704575326891123551892.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fxml%2Frss%2F3_7011+%28WSJ.com%3A+What%27s+News+US%29

[DailyBail]

Trading Shots With Donald Trump

On the golf course, he's a hyper-competitive psych-out artist. And yes—he can also play

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704911704575327070596489624.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_lifeStyle

[DailyBail]

Special Report: In the White House, economics is a contact sport

(Reuters) - Blunt, brash, brainy and occasionally self-mocking. Larry Summers, the White House economic adviser, is all of these things. In a career spanning academia, government and finance, he has rubbed some people the wrong way and infuriated others.

[DailyBail]

G20 Summit LIVE PROTESTS

http://live.reuters.com/Event/G20_Summit

[DailyBail]

William K. Black, Roosevelt Institute Braintruster and New Deal 2.0 contributor; Associate Professor of Economics and Law, University of Missouri - Kansas City:

The fundamental problem with the financial reform bill is that it would not have prevented the current crisis and it will not prevent future crises because it does not address the reason the world is suffering recurrent, intensifying crises. A witches’ brew of deregulation, desupervision, regulatory black holes and perverse executive and professional compensation has created an intensely criminogenic environment that produces epidemics of accounting control fraud that hyper-inflate financial bubbles and cause economic crises. The bill continues unlawful, unprincipled, and dangerous policy of allowing systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) to play by special rules even when they are insolvent. Indeed, the bill makes a variety of accounting control fraud lawful. The financial industry, with Bernanke’s support, already got Congress to extort FASB to gimmick the accounting rules so that insolvent banks could hide their losses and continue to pay the executives (already made rich by destroying “their” firms — that’s the meaning of Akerlof & Romer’s classic article: “Looting: Bankruptcy for Profit”) massive bonuses. All of this is made possible by huge, off budget subsidies to the SDIs via the Fed and Fannie and Freddie.

The idea that consumer protection should rest on the Fed’s tender mercies is a particularly sick joke. The Fed, institutionally, has never made “safety and soundness” regulation more than a tertiary concern. The Fed’s historic approach to consumer protection regulation is malign neglect.

http://www.newdeal20.org/2010/06/25/disappointing-and-inspiring-rooseveltians-react-to-finreg-13398/

[DailyBail]

Cramer - Why Obama Is Bad for Stocks

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10791405/1/cramer--why-obama-is-bad-for-stocks.html

I heard it five times this week, twice Tuesday in a Wall Street bar, two times during the day chatting with investors and then last night at dinner with a pal, an old pro trader from down the block. All said the same word, as if programmed, like pod people in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The word?

Malaise.

[DailyBail]

How Russell Simmons Out-Lobbied Big Banks

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_27/b4185021575111.htm

Unmentioned are the fees Simmons' company imposes for its card, including a $9.95 monthly charge, $3 for activation, $1 for every purchase if a PIN is used, $1 for online bill paying, and 50 cents to check your balance at an ATM. Direct deposits and online account management are free, as is a service that alerts customers when their balances are low. By comparison, check-cashing services can charge $50 to cash a $1,000 paycheck. Such fees have led some to ask whether Simmons is at least as interested in doing well as in doing good. Simmons is "marketing a product that is frankly exploitative of the poor and minorities," says Georgetown University law professor Adam Levitin, who specializes in banking issues. "He's no different than a bank."

[DailyBail]

Zagat Sovereign Risk Reviews

UNITED STATES: Locals claim to have "lost their taste" for this "mega-dining palace" but when rumors about the "cleanliness of certain European eateries" bubble up, the "bridge-and-tunnel crowd" flocks to US bonds and currency "like there's no tomorrow". "Prices have gotten cheaper" here for most entrees, but many diners are "waiting on the sidelines" for "even better values".

JAPAN: An "old standby" that has suffered "back-to-back lost decades", but the food is still said to be "dependable" by the currency crowd. The sushi joint's "demographics skew to the older side". "Proximity to Chinatown" and a reputation for "well-manufactured, technically-skilled" dishes make this "forgotten hangout" "a must".

http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2010/06/02/zagat-sovereign-risk-reviews/

[DailyBail]

Econ Gangs of New York

http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2010/06/24/econ-gangs-of-new-york/

Highly recommended...

[DailyBail]

Al Gore: A Joke on Late-Night Talk Shows Once Again

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/25/al-gore-a-joke-on-late-night-talk-shows-once-again/

[DailyBail]

Iran cancels plan to send ship to Gaza

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran will not be sending a blockade-busting ship to Gaza in defiance of Israeli warnings, an Iranian lawmaker said Saturday, citing Israeli "restrictions."

Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash told the semiofficial ISNA news agency that instead of sending a ship, an Iranian delegation of lawmakers would travel to Lebanon and sail on one of the aid ships expected to head to Gaza from there.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100626/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gaza_blockade_2

[DailyBail]

RUSTENBURG, South Africa – The United States was eliminated from the World Cup by Ghana for the second straight time as Asamoah Gyan scored 3 minutes into overtime, leading the Black Stars to a 2-1 second-round victory Saturday night

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100626/ap_on_sp_so_ne/soc_wcup_us_ghana

[DailyBail]

Tropical weather is new reason to worry in Gulf

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100626/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill

[DailyBail]

"We're still digging ourselves out of an economic crisis that happened largely because there wasn't strong enough oversight on Wall Street," Obama said in his weekly radio and online address. "We can't build a strong economy in America over the long-run without ending this status quo, and laying a new foundation for growth and prosperity."

He also pressed legislators to send him another proposal they omitted from the compromise financial package — a tax on big banks supporters say would recoup some of the billions taxpayers spent to bail out the ailing institutions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100626/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_financial_overhaul

[DailyBail]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arizona-law-20100626,0,2047818.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29

Obama administration poised to challenge Arizona immigration law

[DailyBail]

TURLOCK, Calif. – Sarah Palin leveled criticism at California's attorney general and others raising questions about her visit to a cash-strapped university, telling supporters that students had better things to do than dive through Dumpsters to find out how much she earns speaking.

The former Alaska governor's headline address Friday night at the 50th anniversary celebration at California State University, Stanislaus has drawn criticism and scrutiny since it was first announced. It also attracted sizable donations for the public school.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100626/ap_on_re_us/us_calif_palin_contract

[DailyBail]

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama, fresh from a win on a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulations, on Saturday urged Congress to take up his proposal for a $90 billion, 10-year tax on banks as the next step in reform.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65P0VP20100626

[DailyBail]

Obama’s golf game tees up image debate

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/105505-obamas-golf-game-tees-up-presidential-image-debate

[DailyBail]

Closing Guantánamo Fades as a Priority

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/us/politics/26gitmo.html?bl

[DailyBail]

Republican Brian Sandoval continues to hold a lead of more than 20 points over Democrat Rory Reid in Nevada’s race for governor.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/nevada/election_2010_nevada_governor

[DailyBail]

Tennis star escapes lifetime ban from Wimbledon tournament after being accused of SPITTING at crowd

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1289691/Wimbledon-2010-Tennis-star-Hanescu-escapes-lifetime-ban.html#ixzz0s08vMgdZ

[DailyBail]

Trapped drunk driver opens another beer as awaits rescue

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65M57Z20100623

[DailyBail]

Authorities seize $45 million of narcotics in California drug bust

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/06/26/california.drugs.seized/index.html?hpt=T2

[DailyBail]

Toronto Police can use sound cannons during the G20 summit with restrictions, a judge ruled Friday.

The decision by Ontario Superior Court Justice David Brown means officers can use the voice function of Long-Range Acoustical Devices, but not the ear-piercing alert function.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/g8-g20/police-can-use-sound-cannons-but-with-limits-judge/article1617752/

[DailyBail]

http://drawfortruth.wordpress.com/category/media-bias/

Really good political cartoons...great artwork...

[DailyBail]

What's Made It Into the Bill?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615104575328020013164184.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEADNewsCollection#project%3DFINREG100625%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

Excellent interactive feature...

[DailyBail]

Buzz Aldrin Is Not All That Impressed With Walking on the Moon

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2010/06/buzz-aldrin-is-not-all-that-impressed-with-walking-on-the-moon.html#ixzz0s0DHK2nM

[DailyBail]

Couple Tried to Sell Baby Outside Walmart for $25: Cops

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Couple-Tried-to-Sell-Baby-Outside-Walmart-for-25-Cops-97152394.html

[DailyBail]

The legal defense fund set up for Sarah Palin when she was governor of Alaska was illegal, an investigator for the state's personnel board announced today.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/state_investigator_palins_legal_defense_fund_was_i.php

[DailyBail]

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - April 22, 2010 -- The sunny side of the street will be a little cleaner -- thanks to solar trash cans.

Crews in Bloomington, Indiana, have installed 10 solar-powered trash compactors.

They're in the downtown area, where people walking past can toss their cups, candy wrappers and other trash.

The city sanitation department will check the cans via a computer link to know when it's time to empty them.

Each of the solar trash cans cost four-grand.

Federal stimulus money was used to pick up the tab.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/bizarre&id=7400328

[DailyBail]

Cash-strapped North Korea has demanded the United States pay almost $US65 trillion ($75 trillion) in compensation for six decades of hostility.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/24/2936414.htm

[DailyBail]

US: NKorean war damages claim 'preposterous'

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9GIFJ2G0&show_article=1

[DailyBail]

Here Are The Key Points You Need To Know About Today's Big Financial Regulation Agreement

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-dodd-frank-act-2010-6

[DailyBail]

Carried Interest Tax Dies (For Now)

http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/06/25/the-daily-start-up-carried-interest-tax-dies-for-now/

[DailyBail]

The Secret, 700-Million-Gallon Oil Fix That Worked — and Might Save the Gulf

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/gulf-oil-spill-supertankers-051310

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...

[DailyBail]

This morning, we learned of a huge compromise in regulatory reform. The expectation was that no one was happy with the bill, but the politicians, who all get to go home to the voters and say “Well, at least we passed something.”

Overall, I give this a C minus: There are simply too many Fs to give them a much higher grade. Let’s look at what was passed and grade each section of reform:

TOO BIG TO FAIL: Grade: F

The new regulation does not directly address either the repeal of Glass Steagall or TBTF. The crisis legacy is a financial services sector that is highly concentrated with dramatically reduced competition. The six largest financial firms — combined assets: $9.4 trillion — will still dominate the industry. Too-Big-to-Fail remains the law of the land.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/06/grading-financial-regulatory-reform/

[DailyBail]

The Simpson-Bowles Commission, just established by the president, will no doubt deliver an attack on Social Security and Medicare dressed up in the sanctimonious rhetoric of deficit reduction. (Back in his salad days, former Senator Alan Simpson was a regular schemer to cut Social Security.) The Obama spending freeze is another symbolic sacrifice to the deficit gods. Most observers believe neither will amount to much, and one can hope that they are right. But what would be the economic consequences if they did? The answer is that a big deficit-reduction program would destroy the economy, or what remains of it, two years into the Great Crisis.

http://www.thenation.com/article/defense-deficits

Galbraith is wrong but it helps to know what the other side is thinking...

[DailyBail]

Guest Contribution: Galbraith Defends Deficit Comments

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/05/19/guest-contribution-galbraith-defends-deficit-comments/?utm_source=feedburner

[DailyBail]

Crossbow arrest not related to G20: police
Car contained sticks, axe handle, gasoline, other suspicious materials

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/06/24/g20-security-threat-car.html#ixzz0s0GoF9kL

[DailyBail]

Gov. Schwarzenegger halts use of welfare debit cards at casinos

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100625/NEWS06/6250328/Gov.+Schwarzenegger+halts+use+of+welfare+debit+cards+at+casinos

[DailyBail]

New troubles at Al Gore's Current TV
Andrew Wallenstein
Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:04am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Al Gore, the world's pre-eminent environmentalist, has embarked on his toughest recycling challenge: his own cable channel.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65O0HA20100625

[DailyBail]

Petraeus to Modify Afghanistan Rules of Engagement, Source Says

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/25/petraeus-modify-afghanistan-rules-engagement-source-says/

[DailyBail]

Police Tasered an 86-year-old disabled grandma in her bed and stepped on her oxygen hose until she couldn't breathe, after her grandson called 911 seeking medical assistance, the woman and her grandson claim in Oklahoma City Federal Court. Though the grandson said, "Don't Taze my granny!" an El Reno police officer told another cop to "Taser her!" and wrote in his police report that he did so because the old woman "took a more aggressive posture in her bed," according to the complaint.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/06/24/28330.htm

[DailyBail]

Here is just a sample of the concerns and organizations — most perfectly respectful and a few that are potentially far from peaceful — that will raise their voices during the G20 and G8 summits.

• Black Bloc — Arguably the most notorious collection — a tactic rather than group — to threaten the summits. These self-described anarchists look for violence and destruction. They were seen during the Vancouver Winter Olympics, and before that during 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, using the tactic of blending in with non-violent groups — then lashing out.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/g20/2010/06/18/14442406.html

[DailyBail]

Don Martin: $1-billion in security buys a post-apocalyptic Toronto

Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/25/don-martin-1-billion-in-security-buys-a-post-apocalyptic-toronto/#ixzz0s0HpvoaF

[S. Gompers]

"Durbin today urged President Obama to appoint a carp czar to oversee efforts to keep the invasive species out of the Great Lakes."

Another gift from the orient...

Carp

Snake head fish

Zebra mollusk

Honeysuckle

Japanese beetle

And the list goes on about how globalism benefits us. Soon we will see a introduction of third world diseases take a firm grip of Amerika...

[S. Gompers]

"Cash-strapped North Korea has demanded the United States pay almost $US65 trillion ($75 trillion) in compensation for six decades of hostility."

Blow me, blow me very much. But we will do as we have for many administrations, send them food and heating oil this winter while they continue to plot against us.

[S. Gompers]

"Police Tasered an 86-year-old disabled grandma in her bed and stepped on her oxygen hose until she couldn't breathe, after her grandson called 911 seeking medical assistance, the woman and her grandson claim in Oklahoma City Federal Court. Though the grandson said, "Don't Taze my granny!" an El Reno police officer told another cop to "Taser her!" and wrote in his police report that he did so because the old woman "took a more aggressive posture in her bed," according to the complaint."

We had some jack boots here shoot a chihahua multiple times in the owners yard here because they were afraid for their lives, makes you wonder what will happen if they really meet a terrorist...