New Name, Same Game: Banker legally changes name and resurfaces as Congressional Lt. to Darryl Issa

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 18, 2011 · 1:54 PM PDT

2011/08/18 · 13:54

They will stoop to anything to interfere with regulation of Wall Street by our elected officials. All of the lobbying money, all of the interference, all of the threats, all of the loss of democracy isn't enough. A Wall Street player has been outed as having changed his identity, legally changing his name, after leaving his Vice President position at Goldman Sachs, and is now working as one of Congressman Darryl Issa's point persons on regulation of the gentlemen's former employer.

Words elude me.

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 29, 2011 · 8:27 PM PDT

2011/07/29 · 20:27

circa 1931:

The preacher nodded his head slowly. “Every kid got a turtle some time or other. Nobody can’t keep a turtle though. They work at it and work at it, and at last one day they get out and away they go—off somewhere. It’s like me. I wouldn’ take the good ol’ gospel that was just layin’ there to my hand. I got to be pickin’ at it an’ workin’ at it until I got it all tore down. Here I got the sperit sometimes an’ nothin’ to preach about. I got the call to lead the people, an’ no place to lead...

fast forward 80 years

Brett Porter, who farms 3,000 hectares, unrolls the last of his hay in front of a thirsty line of prime Angus cattle. With just 18 bales left, and at $200 (£123) a bale on the open market, when he runs out he will have to sell the cows.
"I already sold half my mamma cows and I sent my calves to market early," he says.

He has been working on the herd's DNA for 12 years. If no rain comes, he will sell the rest for hamburger meat before high summer.

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 28, 2011 · 7:05 PM PDT

2011/07/28 · 19:05

This is heavy; Strong words from strong progressive activist Harry Belafonte, words that will obviously sting the President.

Singer and activist Harry Belafonte says President Barack Obama and his "mission" have failed because of a lack of moral courage and vision.
The president is "not a stand-alone," Belafonte said Thursday. Regarding the debt-ceiling crisis, Belafonte said he would ask Congress, the president and other U.S. institutions of power "what happened to moral truth" and moral courage.

Belafonte made his remarks to the Television Critics Association while discussing "Sing Your Song," a documentary about him airing this fall on HBO. The 84-year-old singer, known as the King of Calypso, has pushed for political and social change since the U.S. civil rights movement.

He hopes the documentary will illuminate a time when Americans faced problems and found the resources to face them, Belafonte said. "Sing Your Song" debuts Oct. 17.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday July 09, 2011 · 10:29 AM PDT

2011/07/09 · 10:29

the U.S. economy is in a deeper hole than it could have been. July 8 was the last day of work for former FDIC chair Sheila Bair. The NY Times Magazine has an extended profile and interview with her; she agreed to the interview under the condition it not be published until after she finished her 5 year term.

The big takeaway I got from reading the piece is that had other "supposed" regulators in both the Bush and Obama Administration listened to her and acted on her advice, well, we could be seeing some blue sky right now in terms of the housing crisis and economic recovery. It's a shame, because millions of homeowners and borrowers continue to suffer at the hands of loan servicers who have zero incentive to work on anything other than the foreclosure process (if they can get proper paperwork together)...

full article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/...

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 07, 2011 · 10:40 AM PDT

2011/07/07 · 10:40

dis guy must want to be the first Jewish President....who is dis guy?

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating the legality of the National Football League’s lockout against players because of the impact on the state’s economy.
Hotels, restaurants, transportation systems and other companies will lose “substantial business” from the lockout, while retailers will lose merchandising sales and thousands of New Yorkers will lose jobs as ticket takers, parking attendants and concession stand workers, Assistant Attorney General Richard Schwartz said in a July 5 letter to the NFL.

http://www.bloomberg.com/...

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday July 03, 2011 · 7:03 PM PDT

2011/07/03 · 19:03

Not a fun video to watch, in the midst of a violent crackdown on protestors by loyalists to Bashar Al-Assad...from the Guardian:

Shocking video footage has emerged from the Syrian city of Homs in which a young man filming gunfire in the streets appears to be shot dead in cold blood by the sniper he zooms in on.
A clip circulating on YouTube begins with a male voice describing "someone shooting at citizens in Karm al-Sham on 1 July without any reason and no demonstrations."

The cameraman is filming from an upper floor against a background of slogans being chanted. Jerky images of the street and balconies are followed by a blurred glimpse of a man in olive green, standing in the shadows, carefully moving forward and raising and firing a weapon – followed by a single shot, moaning, and distraught voices pleading for help.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/...

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday June 25, 2011 · 3:06 AM PDT

2011/06/25 · 03:06

Last February 13th, a scant six weeks before Deepwater Horizon became a household name, a group of dedicated organizers and opponents of offshore drilling in Florida came together and formed a line in the sand. Hands Across the Sand attracted 10,000 participants on 90 beaches in Florida who

joined hands to protest the efforts by the Florida Legislature and the US Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling in the near and off shores of Florida. Florida’s Hands Across The Sand event was the largest gathering in the history of Florida united against expanding oil drilling into Florida’s waters. Events were held from Jacksonville to Miami Beach and Key West to Pensacola Beach

Today at noon we do it again, only this time we're global baby. You can find a beach with a protest near you here: www.handsacrossthesand.com

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday June 18, 2011 · 6:15 PM PDT

2011/06/18 · 18:15

Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, whose jovial onstage manner, soul-rooted style and brotherly relationship with Mr. Springsteen made him one of rock’s most beloved sidemen, died Saturday. He was 69.
The death, a week after Mr. Clemons had a stroke, was confirmed by a spokeswoman for Mr. Springsteen.
From the beginnings of the E Street Band in 1972, Mr. Clemons played a central part in Mr. Springsteen’s music, complementing the group’s electric guitar and driving rhythms in songs like “Born to Run” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” with muscular, melodic saxophone hooks that echoed doo-wop, soul and early rock ’n’ roll.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 17, 2011 · 9:36 AM PDT

2011/06/17 · 09:36

joined hands to protest the efforts by the Florida Legislature and the US Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling in the near and off shores of Florida. Florida’s Hands Across The Sand event was the largest gathering in the history of Florida united against expanding oil drilling into Florida’s waters. Events were held from Jacksonville to Miami Beach and Key West to Pensacola Beach.

Next Saturday at noon we do it again, only this time we're global baby. Get thee to the beach.

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 10, 2011 · 6:42 PM PDT

2011/06/10 · 18:42

Because Personal Responsibility only goes so far in Tea Party land, apparently:

The South Florida Tea Party secured billionaire Donald Trump for its April rally in Boca Raton, but the group still owes more than $6,000 for barricades and police security used during the event.
The Tea Party agreed to pay Bob's Barricades for barricades to block off Sanborn Square, but failed to do so before the rally, Assistant City Manager Mike Woika said.

“The police still needed those barricades for the demonstration, so we had them put up,” he said.

The city last month sent the Tea Party invoices for $3,052 for the barricades and $3,093 for police services, but the group has not paid those bills, Woika said.

“We’ve received the invoices and we’re working on paying them,” South Florida Tea Party Chairman Everett Wilkinson said.

Boca Raton will pay the $6,145 out of the city budget if the Tea Party doesn't come through, and the city probably won’t pursue legal action to recoup a loss, Woika said.

“However,” he said, “should they want to have another rally here, that would certainly be something we would look negatively upon, if they don’t pay the invoice.”

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/...

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 03, 2011 · 5:11 PM PDT

2011/06/03 · 17:11

If you are currently paying a mortgage. Period.

From the blog of the incomparable Yves Smith; read it and weep

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/...

One of my colleagues had a long conversation with the CEO of a major subprime lender that was later acquired by a larger bank that was a major residential mortgage player. This buddy went through his explanation of why he thought mortgage trusts were in trouble if more people wised up to how they had messed up with making sure they got the note. The former CEO was initially resistant, arguing that they had gotten opinions from top law firms. My contact was very familiar with those opinions, and told him how qualified they were, and did not cover the little problem of not complying with the terms of the pooling and servicing agreement. He also rebutted other objections of the CEO. They guy then laughed nervously and said, “Well, if you’re right, we’re fucked. We never transferred the paper. No one in the industry transferred the paper.”
And although the sample of non-Countrywide-originated notes in the Fortune study is small, the widespread use of allonges is a tell (an allonge is a separate piece of paper, which is supposed to be very firmly attached to the original note, to allow for more signatures to be added). They were simply unheard of prior to the mortgage meltdown and have this funny way of appearing and solving all the problems with the note conveyance. Quite a few have visible signs of being forgeries (signatures that are pixtillated and shrunk to fit when notes are required to have wet ink signatures).

So sports fans, this is looking to be as bad as it could be. As we said, the only reason for attorneys to be engaging in widespread document fabrications and forgeries was if they have a very bad fact set on their hands. Perversely, things have to get worse before they get better. The mortgage securitization system, which could have operated well if the industry had not gotten greedy and violated its own procedures, is hopelessly broken. The industry has engaged in a massive PR campaign to deny that fact but too much contrary information keeps coming forward. We can only hope that enough judges have become skeptical of banks to give the documentation a real look. Only when we admit the depth of failure can we have a chance of addressing the mortgage crisis and reconstituting our system of transferring residential real estate.

route66

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 01, 2011 · 3:55 AM PDT

2011/06/01 · 03:55

Quite surprised to see a front page Times article that includes some real old fashioned reporting, with a smoking gun "found" laptop computer containing legal documents regarding the SEC's puzzling focus on one particular player at Goldman Sachs...

At the height of the housing boom, the 26th floor of Goldman Sachs’s former headquarters on Broad Street in Lower Manhattan was the nerve center of Goldman’s fast-growing mortgage trading business.
Hundreds of employees worked closely in teams, devising mortgage-based securities — billions of dollars’ worth — that were examined by lawyers, approved by management, then sold to investors like hedge funds, commercial banks and insurance companies.

At one trading desk sat Fabrice Tourre, a midlevel 28-year-old Frenchman who was little known not just outside Goldman but even inside the firm. That changed three years later, in 2010, when he achieved the dubious distinction of becoming the only individual at Goldman and across Wall Street sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for helping to sell a mortgage-securities investment, in one of the hundreds of mortgage deals created during the bubble years.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

Newer
Older

RSS

New Name, Same Game: Banker legally changes name and resurfaces as Congressional Lt. to Darryl Issa

destined to repeat history: Grapes of Wrath revisited.

Day-O-bama: Belafonte calls out Prez as "failure"

Because they didn't listen to her...

NY AG Schneiderman vs. Wall Street ~&~ the NFL

shocking video: syrian blogger films his murder by sniper.

Join Hands Across the Sand Today

Update 2 / The Big Man has passed away, RIP Clarence Clemons

A Day at the Beach: Hands Across The Sand 2011

Tea Party stiffs Florida City for Allen West / Donald Trump Rally Costs

Fortune Magazine: You may never have a clear house title

Mystery Laptop has NY Times calling out SEC on Goldman Sachs mortgage fraud