December 24, 2011

This looks like a difficult and rewarding doc to watch, I just ordered it:

A Grin Without a Cat
(Le Fond de l'Air Est Rouge)

Filmmaker Chris Marker charts the tumultuous political upheaval and power struggles of the 1960s and '70s in this moving-picture essay that was first released in 1977, then restored and revised by Marker 15 years later. Segments focus on Vietnam, the Watergate hearings, Che Guevara's death, the overthrow of Salvador Allende and the Soviet invasion of Prague -- collectively described by Marker as "scenes of the Third World War."

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/A_Grin_Without_a_Cat/70113593?trkid=2965439

December 23, 2011

What is with all this "forced" using of only certain browsers on websites?

There are websites which only use Windows Explorer or the latest version of Firefox ( which 10. something) and you are out of luck if you use any other browser.
Audible.com is apparently one of the sites, tho, strangely, it is owned by Amazon and Amazon works fine with
my FF 3.6.
I just tried to redeem a Christmas present, a gift certificate, on Audible and the site will not respond to my FF 3.6.
The Help desk people ( in the Caribbean, btw) confirmed and tried VERY hard to get me to download Explorer.
They suggested Google Chrome "might" work, but not Opera, not anything but the latest version of FF.

I REALLY hate being pushed into limited choices of browsers, esp hate the hold that Explorer has on the internet.
It's not like the websites CAN'T allow other browsers to work.


Sheesh....complain....piss and moan.

December 22, 2011

Winn-Dixie Stores Sold to Bi-Lo for $560M

See, Southerners will know why this is an important story.
Tell me, do you think it will be a good or bad change for Winn Dixie?
Anyone had experience with HI-LO?

The supermarket chain Winn-Dixie is being sold in a deal valued at $560 million to Bi-Lo LLC, the companies said Monday, creating a huge grocery operator in the South.

Shares of Winn-Dixie, which has more than twice the number of stores of its buyer, jumped over 70 percent Monday. The company had struggled in the past, entering into bankruptcy protection in 2005, but has been revamping operations in recent years.

The combined company will have about 690 stores and 63,000 workers in eight states in the southern U.S. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. will become a privately held subsidiary and its ticker will be removed from the Nasdaq. Bi-Lo is a private company.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/winn-dixie-stores-sold-bi-lo-560m-15194841

cross posted in Alabama group

December 22, 2011

Is there an easy way to see how many host positions each person is currently holding?

December 22, 2011

BofA to pay $335m over loans bias claims

Bank of America will pay $335m to resolve US allegations that the lender discriminated against African-American and Hispanic borrowers, the latest in a series of legal and costly problems the bank has inherited from its troubled Countrywide unit.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c65efdb4-2c1e-11e1-b7df-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1hDYy406J

Buried in the story are a few other tidbits:
"The money will be distributed to aggrieved borrowers for an average amount of about $1,600. According to the complaint filed in federal court, some borrowers were allegedly overcharged by hundreds of dollars. Others paid thousands of dollars extra due to the alleged discrimination."

"Investors are trying to force BofA to swallow tens of billions of dollars in losses over allegedly defective home loan bonds, state and federal prosecutors are trying to extract billions of dollars from the bank for its alleged mistreatment of distressed borrowers, and other regulators are probing its lending and servicing activities."
AND
wayyy at the bottom, is the fact that Ilinois AG has settled with BAC in the above suit, also.

"The settlement resolves a separate lawsuit launched by Lisa Madigan, Illinois attorney-general, against BofA for allegedly discriminating against her state’s borrowers. Ms Madigan began her probe of Countrywide in 2008. At least $20m will be reserved for aggrieved borrowers in Illinois"

Gee, BOa has a LOT on its plate.

December 21, 2011

Beware if you decide to watch "Seven Days in Utopia"

The dvd is now out on Netflix.
I eagerly got it, cause I love Robert Duvall, and Lucas Black is a promising new actor from here in Ala,
plus it has the always wonderful Melissa Leo.
NOwhere does the movie warn you that while the first 1/2 was good, it then degenerates into a Christain lecture,
plus,
it not only stops abruptly and leaves the viewer hanging wondering how it ended,
the movie THEN scolls to direct the viewer to a web site which has a video ( and links to a STORE! )
where the author of the book, a "performance psychologist", tries to have you sign up to participate in as money making schemes as he can think of.
In order to find out how the movie ended, you have to play a video on the website, where the author,
reads to you all the biblical passages from the book that the movie was made from.
Then his website offers to let you to sign up with your name and email address for news letters, retreats, books, videos, and golf equipment! The golf putter free advertising in the movie.
Thus the movie is a nothing more than an advertising gimmick.
btw..the movie is set in Utopia, Texas, a real place.And no doubt soon to be a major tourist spot of true believers.

Here is a link to the site :
http://www.linksofutopia.com/cms/ministryhub.html

To be clear..I have nothing against people of faith.
I DO have plenty against being tricked into watching an advertisement for some guys books and golf supplies, and having to sit thru a sermon to find out how the movie ended.

December 20, 2011

Wheeeee...Investors Scrutinizing JPMorgan’s Mortgages

Lawyers representing investors that settled billions of dollars of mortgage bond claims with Bank of America last summer announced on Friday that they had opened investigations into $95 billion worth of mortgages held in JPMorgan Chase securities.

The investors are concerned that there were mortgages put inside those securities before the housing bubble burst that were subpar from the beginning, and they are investigating whether JPMorgan should repurchase those loans.

JPMorgan is among the banks with the most mortgage-related litigation and claims, having inherited much of its exposure from its acquisitions of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, which both ran into trouble partly because of troubled mortgages. Of the 243 mortgage bonds at JPMorgan that the investors are targeting, at least half were created by Bear Stearns or Washington Mutual.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/business/economy/investors-scrutinizing-jpmorgans-mortgage-bonds.html?partner=yahoofinance

December 20, 2011

Monday's Bank stock prices...

I don't invest at all, I just love to watch the cracks spreading in the banking edifice.

Bank of America Corporation Com
(NYSE: BAC )....................................................52wk Range: 4.92 - 15.31

Citigroup, Inc. New Common Stoc
(NYSE: C )........................................................52wk Range: 21.40 - 51.50

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The)
(NYSE: GS ).....................................................52wk Range: 84.27 - 175.34

JP Morgan Chase & Co. Common St
(NYSE: JPM )...................................................52wk Range: 27.85 - 48.36

Morgan Stanley Common Stock
(NYSE: MS )....................................................52wk Range: 11.58 - 31.04

Wells Fargo & Company Common St
(NYSE: WFC ).................................................52wk Range: 22.58 - 34.25

December 19, 2011

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction goes online!

http://sf-encyclopedia.com/

"After twenty years of hard work, the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction website has recently gone live.
It's an online database containing thousands of entries for all things Sci-fi, and a great place to read all about your favourite authors, characters, themes, and everything else."

December 19, 2011

MF Global trustee seizes investor's gold and silver boullion, too.

"The trustee overseeing the liquidation of the failed brokerage has proposed dumping all remaining customer assets—gold, silver, cash, options, futures and commodities—into a single pool that would pay customers only 72% of the value of their holdings. In other words, while traders already may have paid the full price for delivery of specific bars of gold or silver—and hold "warehouse receipts" to prove it—they'll have to forfeit 28% of the value."

Plus, owners could not sell their metals before the market for them went down
AND
they still have to pay storage fees!

The best link I have to this latest outrage is here:
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2011/12/attempt-to-seize-and-liquidate-customer.html

edited to add:

Denninger's comment is this:

"NO -- and I repeat NO -- property held allegedly for your benefit by any third party anywhere is safe under this "theory" of the bankruptcy trustee. Yes, this includes something so simple as the money on deposit in your bank account."

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=199356