Thanks to Bernie Sanders and the new financial regulation passed by Congress, we’re learning more about the Federal Reserve’s $3.3 trillion bailout of Wall Street in 2008. It turns out the Fed lent money not just to the likes of Goldman Sachs (which desperately needed it) but also to companies such as Verizon and Toyota, as well as to foreign financial institutions. Essentially the Fed lent money at almost zero interest to, well, just about everybody. Bernie Sanders, take it away… —PZS The Washington Post: But the extent of the lending to major banks—and the generous terms of some of those deals—heighten the political peril for a central bank that is already under the gun for a wide range of actions, including a recent decision to try to stimulate the economy by buying $600 billion of U.S. bonds. “The American people are finally learning the incredible and jaw-dropping details of the Fed’s multitrillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street and corporate America,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime Fed critic whose provision in the Wall Street regulatory overhaul required the new disclosures. “Perhaps most surprising is the huge sum that went to bail out foreign private banks and corporations. As a result of this disclosure, other members of Congress and I will be taking a very extensive look at all aspects of how the Federal Reserve functions.” Read more Related Entries November 30, 2010 Unemployment Benefits Run Out November 29, 2010 Obama Wants to Put Federal Workers’ Wages on Ice
Continue reading …THE Trent900 engine that exploded over Indonesia on the Qantas Airbus A380 QF32 from Singapore to Sydney had a potential manufacturing defect with an oil tube connection, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has reported. In a statement issued…
Continue reading …They keep pulling us back in — Logitech’s latest Google TV ad takes a different, and yet still stalker related tack to sell users on the viability of search and web in their living room, focusing on the Kevin Bacon obsessed (and incredibly familiar looking) Ivan Cobenk. The main gist is that the Google TV is the key to easily finding your favorite video content, wherever it is… along with the slight danger of turning into Kevin Bacon. Give it a watch, while we’re still not totally sure the Revue belongs in every living room this bit is far more convincing than the old screaming anthromophized HDTV . Logitech, Google TV enlist Kevin Bacon (and his biggest fan) for a new ad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Some interesting tidbits appearing in my Twitter and RSS feeds today, not necessarily enough for a whole blog post, but still funny, interesting and worth sharing. Kicking off with the political-gone-insane, we have Republicans blocking repeal of the 1099 filing requirement in the health care law after whining about it so long and hard, while Kentucky citizens raised hell at the unemployment office . What would Rand do? Narcissism loses its place in the DSM . Being ignored drives narcissists crazy. Just ask Sarah Palin. Here’s a good overview of how Comcast’s evil blossomed, . Twitter i s being courted by several suitors including Facebook, or so the rumor goes. Google is readying a leap into e-books , adding value to eReaders worldwide. This last one is near and dear to me, after two tussles with my bike that left me on the side of the road hurt and bewildered. Falling off, and deciding whether to get back on — the battle rages on. As for me, I got back on and have managed not to fall off again for the last couple of months. But give me time. I’m sure I will. Getting back up and on the bike is the hardest part but like politics, I can’t give it up.
Continue reading …Okay, maybe not everybody , but the vast majority of the Android offerings from Archos are receiving some guilt-free sweet treats. Models 23 , 32 , 43 , 70 , and 101 (you know, these guys ) are all on the lucky receiving end of firmware updates that bring Android 2.2.1 to the table. That comes with improved performance, better battery life estimation, and support for external GPS adapters. All yours for the low, low price of free — well, assuming you’ve already bought the tablet, of course. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Archos Internet Tablets get firmware updates, everybody gets a Froyo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …There’s a face-off of holiday billboards on each end of the Lincoln Tunnel into New York City with an atheist billboard on the New Jersey side and a Catholic billboard on the New York side. (Dec. 1)
Continue reading …Click here to view this media Rep. Aaron Schock (IL-18) took his turn at spouting Republican talking points on Morning Joe , with the need to extend all the Bush Tax Cuts. When asked by Pat Buchanan on where Republicans could compromise to ensure that they reach a deal with Democrats before the Bush Tax Cuts expire at the end of the year, Schock’s answer — full extension for all of them — leaves both Buchanan and Eugene Robinson laughing out loud at the young congressman. And Schock does look a bit red-faced, of course, but he has no idea how foolish his response sounds to non-Republicans, because in Republican Land tax cuts always create prosperity and jobs (except for the dismal, almost no job creation during the Bush years). And that extending all the Bush tax cuts won’t add to the deficit because the tax cuts will magically spur the economy, in some fairytale Republicans tell themselves. And never mind that the national debt nearly doubled under George Bush with unfunded and misguided tax cuts, Medicaid Part D, two wars, etc. That’s yesterday’s news. Today it’s the Democrats who are the fiscally irresponsible ones, left trying to clean up after the Bush disaster. And this comes from supposedly one of the best and brightest of that crowd who’ll run the House in the new year. It boggles the mind. Whenever someone asks a straight-forward question from them they get a load of hogwash which should be greeted with scorn and ridicule, because their answers are ridiculous, but for whatever reasons they’re treated as serious people when all the evidence is to the contrary.
Continue reading …Authorities are investigating the first homicide ever in Celebration, Florida, the peaceful Disney-built communuty that’s just outside Disney World. It was built in the 1990′s. (Dec. 1)
Continue reading …By Stuart Hughes and Caroline Hawley BBC News Continue reading the main story Wikileaks Revelations Key issues Has Wikileaks cost lives? Bumpy ride ahead for US diplomats UK criticised in cables A confidential cable released by the whistle-blowing website, Wikileaks, and the Guardian newspaper appears to show that the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office kept quiet about a loophole that allows the US to continue storing cluster bombs on British territory, despite an international ban on the weapons. The message was sent in May 2009 from the US Embassy in London. Dropped from the air or fired from the ground, cluster munitions release small bomblets over a wide area….
Continue reading …