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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
July 25, 2012
(Bloomberg) Sanford “Sandy” Weill, who ushered in the era of supermarket banks with the creation of Citigroup Inc. (C) a decade before the financial crisis, said U.S. lenders should be broken up to protect taxpayers.
“What we should probably do is go and split up investment banking from banking,” Weill, 79, said today in an interview on CNBC. “Have banks do something that’s not going to risk the taxpayer dollars, that’s not going to be too big to fail.”
Weill helped engineer the 1998 merger of Travelers Group Inc. and Citicorp, a deal that required the U.S. government to overturn the Glass-Steagall law that forced deposit-taking companies to be separate from riskier investment banks. The company became the biggest lender in the world before almost failing and taking a $45 billion taxpayer bailout.
“We can have size and scale but it doesn’t have to be connected to a deposit-taking institution,” Weill said. “Have banks be deposit-takers, have banks make commercial loans and real estate loans.” ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/former-citigroup-chairman-weill-says-banks-should-be-broken-up.html
Pioneer Bankster Sandy Weill says big banks should be broken up
(Bloomberg) Sanford “Sandy” Weill, who ushered in the era of supermarket banks with the creation of Citigroup Inc. (C) a decade before the financial crisis, said U.S. lenders should be broken up to protect taxpayers.
“What we should probably do is go and split up investment banking from banking,” Weill, 79, said today in an interview on CNBC. “Have banks do something that’s not going to risk the taxpayer dollars, that’s not going to be too big to fail.”
Weill helped engineer the 1998 merger of Travelers Group Inc. and Citicorp, a deal that required the U.S. government to overturn the Glass-Steagall law that forced deposit-taking companies to be separate from riskier investment banks. The company became the biggest lender in the world before almost failing and taking a $45 billion taxpayer bailout.
“We can have size and scale but it doesn’t have to be connected to a deposit-taking institution,” Weill said. “Have banks be deposit-takers, have banks make commercial loans and real estate loans.” ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/former-citigroup-chairman-weill-says-banks-should-be-broken-up.html
July 25, 2012
Noam Chomsky at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), on July 12.
Noam Chomsky on Austerity in Europe and United States
Noam Chomsky at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), on July 12.
July 25, 2012
Greenland's Extreme July Meltdown
WASHINGTON, DC, July 24, 2012 (ENS) - Virtually the entire ice sheet covering Greenland - from its coastal edges to its two-mile-thick center - experienced some degree of melting for several days this month, according to an analysis by NASA and university scientists based on measurements from three satellites.
An estimated 97 percent of the top layer of the Greenland ice sheet thawed at some point in July, the satellite data shows. This is the largest extent of surface melting observed in three decades of satellite observations.
One set of observations of the Greenland melt were made by an instrument called the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder aboard the satellite operated by the U.S. Air Force's Defense Meteorological Satellite Progam, DMSP.
Another set of satellite data of the Greenland melt was obtained from India's OceanSat-2. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2012/2012-07-24-02.html
Greenland's Extreme July Meltdown
Greenland's Extreme July Meltdown
WASHINGTON, DC, July 24, 2012 (ENS) - Virtually the entire ice sheet covering Greenland - from its coastal edges to its two-mile-thick center - experienced some degree of melting for several days this month, according to an analysis by NASA and university scientists based on measurements from three satellites.
An estimated 97 percent of the top layer of the Greenland ice sheet thawed at some point in July, the satellite data shows. This is the largest extent of surface melting observed in three decades of satellite observations.
One set of observations of the Greenland melt were made by an instrument called the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder aboard the satellite operated by the U.S. Air Force's Defense Meteorological Satellite Progam, DMSP.
Another set of satellite data of the Greenland melt was obtained from India's OceanSat-2. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2012/2012-07-24-02.html
July 25, 2012
from TomDispatch:
Destroying the Commons
How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta
By Noam Chomsky
Down the road only a few generations, the millennium of Magna Carta, one of the great events in the establishment of civil and human rights, will arrive. Whether it will be celebrated, mourned, or ignored is not at all clear.
That should be a matter of serious immediate concern. What we do right now, or fail to do, will determine what kind of world will greet that event. It is not an attractive prospect if present tendencies persist -- not least, because the Great Charter is being shredded before our eyes.
The first scholarly edition of Magna Carta was published by the eminent jurist William Blackstone. It was not an easy task. There was no good text available. As he wrote, “the body of the charter has been unfortunately gnawn by rats” -- a comment that carries grim symbolism today, as we take up the task the rats left unfinished.
Blackstone’s edition actually includes two charters. It was entitled The Great Charter and the Charter of the Forest. The first, the Charter of Liberties, is widely recognized to be the foundation of the fundamental rights of the English-speaking peoples -- or as Winston Churchill put it more expansively, “the charter of every self-respecting man at any time in any land.” Churchill was referring specifically to the reaffirmation of the Charter by Parliament in the Petition of Right, imploring King Charles to recognize that the law is sovereign, not the King. Charles agreed briefly, but soon violated his pledge, setting the stage for the murderous Civil War. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175571/tomgram%3A_noam_chomsky%2C_the_great_charter%2C_its_fate%2C_and_ours/#more
Noam Chomsky: Destroying the Commons
from TomDispatch:
Destroying the Commons
How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta
By Noam Chomsky
Down the road only a few generations, the millennium of Magna Carta, one of the great events in the establishment of civil and human rights, will arrive. Whether it will be celebrated, mourned, or ignored is not at all clear.
That should be a matter of serious immediate concern. What we do right now, or fail to do, will determine what kind of world will greet that event. It is not an attractive prospect if present tendencies persist -- not least, because the Great Charter is being shredded before our eyes.
The first scholarly edition of Magna Carta was published by the eminent jurist William Blackstone. It was not an easy task. There was no good text available. As he wrote, “the body of the charter has been unfortunately gnawn by rats” -- a comment that carries grim symbolism today, as we take up the task the rats left unfinished.
Blackstone’s edition actually includes two charters. It was entitled The Great Charter and the Charter of the Forest. The first, the Charter of Liberties, is widely recognized to be the foundation of the fundamental rights of the English-speaking peoples -- or as Winston Churchill put it more expansively, “the charter of every self-respecting man at any time in any land.” Churchill was referring specifically to the reaffirmation of the Charter by Parliament in the Petition of Right, imploring King Charles to recognize that the law is sovereign, not the King. Charles agreed briefly, but soon violated his pledge, setting the stage for the murderous Civil War. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175571/tomgram%3A_noam_chomsky%2C_the_great_charter%2C_its_fate%2C_and_ours/#more
July 24, 2012
Euro crisis brings world to brink of depression
Commentary: Parallels to 1930s’ missteps unmistakable
By Darrell Delamaide
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Europe is a tinderbox waiting for a spark.
The financial volatility in Europe may have created a situation that is now beyond the capacity of policy makers to control or curb.
When an accomplished fixer like Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization and the longtime chief of staff for former European Commission President Jacques Delors, describes the situation in Europe as “difficult, very difficult, very difficult, very difficult,” you know it is time to run for cover.
The crisis has now gone well beyond the prospect of breaking up the euro to the threat of a full-fledged financial and economic collapse in Europe that could plunge the world into a second Great Depression. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-crisis-brings-world-to-brink-of-depression-2012-07-24?dist=countdown
Euro crisis brings world to brink of depression
Euro crisis brings world to brink of depression
Commentary: Parallels to 1930s’ missteps unmistakable
By Darrell Delamaide
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Europe is a tinderbox waiting for a spark.
The financial volatility in Europe may have created a situation that is now beyond the capacity of policy makers to control or curb.
When an accomplished fixer like Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization and the longtime chief of staff for former European Commission President Jacques Delors, describes the situation in Europe as “difficult, very difficult, very difficult, very difficult,” you know it is time to run for cover.
The crisis has now gone well beyond the prospect of breaking up the euro to the threat of a full-fledged financial and economic collapse in Europe that could plunge the world into a second Great Depression. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-crisis-brings-world-to-brink-of-depression-2012-07-24?dist=countdown
July 24, 2012
Euro crisis brings world to brink of depression
Commentary: Parallels to 1930s’ missteps unmistakable
By Darrell Delamaide
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Europe is a tinderbox waiting for a spark.
The financial volatility in Europe may have created a situation that is now beyond the capacity of policy makers to control or curb.
When an accomplished fixer like Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization and the longtime chief of staff for former European Commission President Jacques Delors, describes the situation in Europe as “difficult, very difficult, very difficult, very difficult,” you know it is time to run for cover.
The crisis has now gone well beyond the prospect of breaking up the euro to the threat of a full-fledged financial and economic collapse in Europe that could plunge the world into a second Great Depression. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-crisis-brings-world-to-brink-of-depression-2012-07-24?dist=countdown
Euro crisis brings world to brink of depression
Euro crisis brings world to brink of depression
Commentary: Parallels to 1930s’ missteps unmistakable
By Darrell Delamaide
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Europe is a tinderbox waiting for a spark.
The financial volatility in Europe may have created a situation that is now beyond the capacity of policy makers to control or curb.
When an accomplished fixer like Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization and the longtime chief of staff for former European Commission President Jacques Delors, describes the situation in Europe as “difficult, very difficult, very difficult, very difficult,” you know it is time to run for cover.
The crisis has now gone well beyond the prospect of breaking up the euro to the threat of a full-fledged financial and economic collapse in Europe that could plunge the world into a second Great Depression. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-crisis-brings-world-to-brink-of-depression-2012-07-24?dist=countdown
July 24, 2012
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/1048173/%22it_was_on_purpose%3A%22_kids_attacked_by_cops_say%2C_while_cops_tried_to_purchase_cellphone_videos/
"It Was on Purpose:" Kids Attacked By Cops Say, While Cops Tried to Purchase Cellphone Videos
Yesterday we reported on the Anaheim, California police department opening fire and releasing dogs into a crowd of women and children.
Today we learn, via Firedoglake that the cops in question must have been aware how bad their actions were, as they were eager to cover their tracks:
Watch the footage below, in which children involved call out the cops, saying, "they said it was an accident but it was on purpose" as they describe the biting dogs and rubber bullets:
"It Was on Purpose:" Kids Attacked By Cops Say, While Cops Tried to Purchase Cellphone Videos
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/1048173/%22it_was_on_purpose%3A%22_kids_attacked_by_cops_say%2C_while_cops_tried_to_purchase_cellphone_videos/
"It Was on Purpose:" Kids Attacked By Cops Say, While Cops Tried to Purchase Cellphone Videos
Yesterday we reported on the Anaheim, California police department opening fire and releasing dogs into a crowd of women and children.
Today we learn, via Firedoglake that the cops in question must have been aware how bad their actions were, as they were eager to cover their tracks:
The segment ends with Jackson saying what I believe is the real story (and what I put in the headline). After police fired at innocent men, women and children, who were at most angry about a shooting in their community, the police went into damage control mode. They asked multiple people, who had been shooting video with their cell phones to let officers “buy” their footage so it would not be seen on the Internet.
KCAL’s segment on the shooting is the kind of reporting that should come from a local news outlet. It represents the truth of what was happening on the ground, but one will also notice it lacks an official statement from any police officials on what happened. Therefore, this is what was broadcast before police could propagandize the situation with their talking points.
KCAL’s segment on the shooting is the kind of reporting that should come from a local news outlet. It represents the truth of what was happening on the ground, but one will also notice it lacks an official statement from any police officials on what happened. Therefore, this is what was broadcast before police could propagandize the situation with their talking points.
Watch the footage below, in which children involved call out the cops, saying, "they said it was an accident but it was on purpose" as they describe the biting dogs and rubber bullets:
July 24, 2012
(Bloomberg) The rally in U.S. home-loan securities without government backing is accelerating as investors wager the housing bust is over and supply is sopped up by bond dealers emboldened by new capital rules.
Gains on subprime-mortgage bonds from 2005 through 2007, the years that produced the most defaults leading to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, have soared to 5.4 percent in July, bringing returns for the year through last week to 21.6 percent, according to Barclays Plc data. Securities backed by option adjustable-rate mortgages jumped over the past month by 7 percent to the highest level since May 2011.
Investors faced with benchmark interest rates at record lows are seeking mortgage securities after a 35 percent decline in home prices from the peak in 2006. Wall Street banks are also adding to inventories after regulatory changes in June. As Citigroup Inc. warns prices may drop if dealers can’t place the holdings, daily trading volumes surged almost 40 percent last week, reaching the highest this year by one measure.
“There’s been a lot of investors waiting on the sidelines until home prices stabilize and now that they have, they’re moving in,” said Adam Yarnold, managing director of securitized products trading in New York at Barclays’s investment-banking arm. In addition, “the absolute low level of rates out there is driving institutional investors like pension funds to put money into anything with” returns that can top 7.5 percent and so- called non-agency securities offer that potential, he said. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-24/subprime-rally-building-as-dealers-sop-up-supply-credit-markets.html
Subprime Stupidity Redux
(Bloomberg) The rally in U.S. home-loan securities without government backing is accelerating as investors wager the housing bust is over and supply is sopped up by bond dealers emboldened by new capital rules.
Gains on subprime-mortgage bonds from 2005 through 2007, the years that produced the most defaults leading to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, have soared to 5.4 percent in July, bringing returns for the year through last week to 21.6 percent, according to Barclays Plc data. Securities backed by option adjustable-rate mortgages jumped over the past month by 7 percent to the highest level since May 2011.
Investors faced with benchmark interest rates at record lows are seeking mortgage securities after a 35 percent decline in home prices from the peak in 2006. Wall Street banks are also adding to inventories after regulatory changes in June. As Citigroup Inc. warns prices may drop if dealers can’t place the holdings, daily trading volumes surged almost 40 percent last week, reaching the highest this year by one measure.
“There’s been a lot of investors waiting on the sidelines until home prices stabilize and now that they have, they’re moving in,” said Adam Yarnold, managing director of securitized products trading in New York at Barclays’s investment-banking arm. In addition, “the absolute low level of rates out there is driving institutional investors like pension funds to put money into anything with” returns that can top 7.5 percent and so- called non-agency securities offer that potential, he said. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-24/subprime-rally-building-as-dealers-sop-up-supply-credit-markets.html
July 24, 2012
from the Detroit Free Press:
Metro Detroit could run sleek, new rapid-transit buses along major roads like Woodward and Gratiot in as little as two years if state lawmakers approve a regional management agency to oversee -- and raise crucial funding for -- the new system, advocates told the Detroit City Council on Thursday.
"We will be in a position to move rapidly," Sean Libberton, a top planning official at the Federal Transit Administration, told the council just before a workshop on the proposal.
Legislation to create a regional transit authority to operate rapid-transit buses connecting downtown Detroit to key suburbs and Metro Airport has been stalled in Lansing over concerns from Detroit officials who worry the plan would take away too much control of transit from the city, and from suburban lawmakers leery of funding a bus system that they don't believe suburbanites will use.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $30-million grant to the Detroit Department of Transportation and the suburban SMART bus system to upgrade their fleets with new buses, though the number of new vehicles wasn't immediately clear. The money will pay to renovate facilities and purchase GPS equipment to better track bus locations and time its routes. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20120720/NEWS05/207200442/Rapid-transit-bus-system-could-be-ready-in-2-years-Detroit-City-Council-told
Rapid transit bus system could be ready in 2 years, Detroit City Council told
from the Detroit Free Press:
Metro Detroit could run sleek, new rapid-transit buses along major roads like Woodward and Gratiot in as little as two years if state lawmakers approve a regional management agency to oversee -- and raise crucial funding for -- the new system, advocates told the Detroit City Council on Thursday.
"We will be in a position to move rapidly," Sean Libberton, a top planning official at the Federal Transit Administration, told the council just before a workshop on the proposal.
Legislation to create a regional transit authority to operate rapid-transit buses connecting downtown Detroit to key suburbs and Metro Airport has been stalled in Lansing over concerns from Detroit officials who worry the plan would take away too much control of transit from the city, and from suburban lawmakers leery of funding a bus system that they don't believe suburbanites will use.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $30-million grant to the Detroit Department of Transportation and the suburban SMART bus system to upgrade their fleets with new buses, though the number of new vehicles wasn't immediately clear. The money will pay to renovate facilities and purchase GPS equipment to better track bus locations and time its routes. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20120720/NEWS05/207200442/Rapid-transit-bus-system-could-be-ready-in-2-years-Detroit-City-Council-told
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,106
