Archive for September, 2009
It Happened in America: Katrina’s Secret Jail
September 20th, 2009Zeitoun by Dave Eggers Via: Buffalo News: When the storm hit, Zeitoun stayed, to protect his house, help friends and clients, and watch over properties he and Kathy owned: their office building and houses bought as investments. Kathy and their four children evacuated to Baton Rouge. Zeitoun weathered the storm’s harrowing landfall, and ended up […]
Putin Says U.S. Dollar Issuance ‘Uncontrolled’, Calls for Diversified Reserves
September 19th, 2009Via: The Canadian Press: Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday said other currencies besides the dollar should be used as global reserves to reduce the risks posed by swelling U.S. debt. Putin, who spoke at an international investment forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, chided the United States for “an uncontrolled issue […]
CNBC Poll: Should the Fed be Abolished?
September 19th, 2009Via: CNBC: “Nothing good can come from the Federal Reserve,” writes Texas Congressman Ron Paul in his latest book hitting shelves this week, titled “End the Fed.” “It is the biggest taxer of them all. Diluting the value of the dollar by increasing its supply is a vicious, sinister tax on the poor and middle […]
HERE WE GO AGAIN: U.S. AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATE $100 BILLION BOND SEIZURE IN ITALY
September 19th, 2009This isn’t the incident from June. This is a new one. Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. Secret Service is examining more than $100 billion of U.S. government bonds confiscated in northern Italy in August, just two months after $134 billion of allegedly fake securities were seized in a nearby town. The Secret Service is analyzing whether […]
U.S. Justice Department Investigates Former Secretary of the Interior’s Ties to Shell
September 19th, 2009Via: New York Times: The Justice Department is investigating whether a former secretary of the interior, Gale A. Norton, violated the law by granting valuable leases to Royal Dutch Shell around the time she was considering going to work for the company after she left office, officials said Thursday. The officials said investigators had recently […]
China’s “Cancer Villages” Bear Witness to Economic Boom
September 19th, 2009Becky runs a food buying co-op. Both of the “organic” product wholesalers she deals with only sell products like beans, sunflower seeds and peanuts from China. The non-Chinese rice costs 3x to 4x more than the Chinese rice. Obviously, we consume no food from China, regardless of the fact that it’s certified organic. Now, if […]
Police Detain Man at Center of Berlusconi Prostitution Scandal on Drug Charges
September 19th, 2009Via: Reuters: Italian police detained the businessman at the center of a prostitution scandal surrounding Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday, on charges related to drug dealing, judicial sources said. Gianpaolo Tarantini, an entrepreneur who reportedly told prosecutors in the southern city of Bari he supplied 30 escorts for parties hosted by Berlusconi, was detained […]
FDIC Friday: Two More Down
September 19th, 2009Via: AP: Regulators shut down two banking units of Irwin Financial Corp. Friday, marking the 93rd and 94th failures this year of federally insured banks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of Louisville, Ky.-based Irwin Union Bank FSB and Columbus, Ind.-based Irwin Union Bank and Trust Co. As of Aug. 31, Irwin Bank […]
FDIC Friday Warmup: Agency May Draw Funds from U.S. Treasury
September 18th, 2009Via: Reuters: U.S. bank regulators will meet at the end of the month to explore options, including some that are not well-known, to replenish the dwindling fund that safeguards bank deposits, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Friday. Chairman Sheila Bair said the agency would put out for public comment the […]
“Option” Mortgages to Explode
September 18th, 2009Via: Reuters: The federal government and states are girding themselves for the next foreclosure crisis in the country’s housing downturn: payment option adjustable rate mortgages that are beginning to reset. “Payment option ARMs are about to explode,” Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said after a Thursday meeting with members of President Barack Obama’s administration to […]
