June 25, 2016

Another financial crisis pirate walks away scot free !

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/business/countrywide-mortgage-devastation-lingers-as-ex-chief-moves-on.html?ref=business

Angelo Mozilo can finally get on with his life.

This month the Justice Department told Mr. Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, once the nation’s largest subprime mortgage lender, that he was no longer under investigation in connection with civil mortgage fraud. The government’s criminal inquiry into Mr. Mozilo’s role in the financial crisis was dropped previously, so he is now in the clear.

At least that’s the view from Washington. On Main Street, where the pain of Countrywide’s reckless lending and abusive foreclosure practices still throbs, it’s safe to say that Mr. Mozilo is still identified as a major figure in the mortgage crisis.

Countrywide, a freewheeling mortgage machine co-founded by Mr. Mozilo and based in Southern California, was at the epicenter of the mortgage meltdown that in 2008 brought the nation’s economy to its knees. Perennially tanned and fond of flashy suits, Mr. Mozilo personified the home-lending good times that ultimately went bad. The decision by the government to close the book on Mr. Mozilo is something of a milestone and a moment to revisit the deeds of the company he co-founded.

So, Angelo avoids civil as well as criminal liability for mortgage fraud. (thanks DOJ)

Omitted from this story: any mention of the "friends of Angelo" in the Senate and Congress who got preferential mortgages in exchange for legislative favours.

June 13, 2016

Family of policeman taken hostage near Paris

Source: News.com.au

A MAN was shot dead during a dramatic police operation in the Paris suburbs, hours after he had stabbed a top police officer to death and then killed his wife, authorities said.

A woman’s body was found in the house in Magnanville, northwest of Paris, where the man had been holed up for hours, interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said.

A three-year-old boy was found in the house “in shock but unharmed,” a prosecutor added.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve expressed his “infinite sadness” at the death of the police officer and his partner.
The motives behind the attack are unclear but according to witnesses the suspect, who is the neighbour of the victims, reportedly shouted “Allah Akbar”, reported Le Parisien.

The slain police officer was stabbed nine times in the abdomen outside the property as he returned home.
Le Parisien reported that the attacker tweeted he had killed the woman, prompting the police raid.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/family-of-policeman-taken-hostage-near-paris/news-story/197318f8a99eb1ac0a6d3320fcaacb3e

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Ugly. Just Ugly.

Another bizarre instance where the killer was tweeting (or phoning) while he was doing his murders.

June 7, 2016

Hillary Clinton wore a $12,495 Armani jacket during a speech about inequality

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/06/hillary-clinton-wore-an-armani-jacket-during-a-speech-about-inequality.html

as they would say in France: gauche caviar

June 7, 2016

Clinton Tops Trump In Connecticut Race Of The Unloved, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds;

Source: Quinnipac Pollsters

Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Republican Donald Trump 45 - 38 percent in a Connecticut presidential race in which there is little love for either candidate, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

When third-party candidates are added to the mix, Clinton gets 41 percent, with 36 percent for Trump, 6 percent for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson and 3 percent for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont tops Trump 54 - 35 percent.

A total of 37 percent of Connecticut voters have a "strongly favorable" or "somewhat favorable" opinion of Clinton, while 55 percent have a "somewhat unfavorable" or "strongly unfavorable" opinion.

Trump gets 33 percent "strongly favorable" or "somewhat unfavorable" and 61 percent "somewhat unfavorable" or "very unfavorable."


Read more: http://www.qu.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/connecticut/release-detail?ReleaseID=2355

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this is closer than it should be. I think the bad TV pictures of attacks at Trump rallies are helping Trump.

Michael Deaver always said that visuals always dominate text or statements by politicians.

June 2, 2016

UCLA Murder-Suicide Suspect Had ‘Kill List’; Woman on List Found Dead: LAPD Chief Beck

Source: KTLA

The man suspected in an apparent murder-suicide on the UCLA campus had a “kill list,” and a second victim named on that list has been found dead in Minnesota, Los Angeles Police Department Charlie Beck said Thursday.

Mainak Sarkar, a resident of Minnesota, is believed to have fatally shot UCLA Professor William Klug on the university's Westwood campus before turning the gun on himself Wednesday, according to LAPD.

Based on a note found at the crime scene, authorities performed a follow-up investigation at the former UCLA Ph.D student's residence and Minnesota, where they found an alleged "kill list" with multiple names on it, Beck told KTLA during an interview Thursday.

"Professor Klug's name was on that list, as was another UCLA professor who was alright,” Beck said.

Read more: http://ktla.com/2016/06/02/suspect-in-ucla-murder-suicide-had-kill-list-woman-on-list-found-dead-lapd-chief-beck/

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looks like more than just a grievance with a thesis advisor