Archive for April, 2009
U.S. BUDGET DEFICIT TRIPLES TO $957 BILLION SO FAR THIS FISCAL YEAR
April 11th, 2009Via: MarketWatch: The U.S. federal budget deficit rose to a record $956.8 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year after the government stepped up spending to cope with a recession that has depressed tax receipts, the Treasury Department reported Friday. The deficit is well on its way to the $1.75 trillion — […]
Help, My Degree Is Underwater
April 11th, 2009This is another story about people who spent a lot of time and money getting graduate/professional degrees and are now screwed. Lawyers! Woops: I also heard from law school graduates with $200,000 in debt who wonder what they were thinking as firms downsize and implode. “It is a nightmare,” writes Benjamin, who got laid off […]
U.S. May Enlist Small Investors in Bank Bailout
April 11th, 2009Buy Obama’s Banker Bailout Bonds! Yes, we can! Via: New York Times: During World War I, Americans were exhorted to buy Liberty Bonds to help their soldiers on the front. Now, it seems, they will be asked to come to the aid of their banks — with the added inducement of possibly making some money […]
Fed Said to Order Banks to Keep Quiet on ‘Stress Test’ Results
April 11th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. Federal Reserve has told Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other banks to keep mum on the results of “stress tests” that will gauge their ability to weather the recession, people familiar with the matter said. The Fed wants to ensure that the report cards don’t leak during earnings conference […]
Ireland: Catholic Priests Abused Thousands of Youngsters from 1975 to 2004
April 10th, 20091975 to 2004? This must be the abridged version. Via: AP: The Archbishop of Dublin said Thursday that an upcoming report on child sexual abuse involving Catholic priests will likely reveal that thousands of youngsters were abused from 1975 to 2004. The report “will shock us all,” said Diarmuid Martin, during Mass at Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral. […]
Pentagon Preps for Economic Warfare
April 10th, 2009Via: Politico: The Pentagon sponsored a first-of-its-kind war game last month focused not on bullets and bombs — but on how hostile nations might seek to cripple the U.S. economy, a scenario made all the more real by the global financial crisis. The two-day event near Ft. Meade, Maryland, had all the earmarks of a […]
For Kiwis: Out of Our Own Back Yards
April 10th, 2009Out of Our Own Back Yards is an excellent social networking site for people who are growing their own food, interested in growing their own food, looking to buy/sell/trade locally produced food… in New Zealand. This Ning started in December 2008 and already has over 700 members.
More Squatters Are Calling Foreclosures Home
April 10th, 2009Via: New York Times: When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection. What she did not tell anyone was that she had no legal right to be in the home. […]
Former U.S. Lawmakers to Join Lobbyists
April 10th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Lobbying, scorned during the 2008 campaign, is an occupation of choice among former members of Congress looking for jobs. Barack Obama shunned political contributions from lobbyists and, on his second day as president, announced new ethics rules to reduce their influence. Republican nominee John McCain disdained lobbyists as “birds of prey.” Still, about […]
Las Vegas CityCenter
April 10th, 2009Via: Reuters: It was conceived as the centerpiece of a thriving Las Vegas — one of the world’s most expensive building projects that would bring back glamour to the Strip and cap an unprecedented three-year economic boom. Instead the $9 billion development named CityCenter — touted as the city’s most ambitious endeavor — has come […]
