Links, 8/4/11

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As anticipated, the French have just opened an investigation into whether IMF Chief Christine Lagarde intervened in a settlement Bernard Tapie won with a state-owned bank during her tenure as Finance Minister. At the rate we’re going, the developing world might just get their demand for a President from one of their countries.

The government has joined on the side of big oil in an anti-fracking lawsuit initiated by Eric Schneiderman. Schneiderman says a project is going forward without required NEPA review; the government says the case is not yet ripe.

Salon says JSOC will be operating in 120 countries by the end of the year. That would mean the US’ transnational gang of illegal combatants would be active in 60% of the world’s countries. This is another case where we’re still insisting on our legal rights as a nation, while leading the push to undermine the nation-state with illegal transnational organizations.

A Boston tax lawyer has helped someone–no one knows whom–form and dissolve a corporation for the sole purpose of funneling $1 million into Mitt Romney’s Presidential race.

Chris Soghoian finally got DOJ to hand over numbers for how many emergency warrantless requests it submitted to ISPs in 2009. Whereas in 2008, they had asked for the information from 17 accounts, in 2009 they asked for communications content from 91 accounts.

The can, on the FAA shutdown, has been kicked. One month down the road.

SEC’s Inspector General has reported that one of the guys who missed the Madoff Ponzi scheme in 2005 and 2006 got an award in 2010. Effectively, it seems he got $1,200 extra for cleaning up the catastrophe he missed the first two times he reviewed it.

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13 replies
  1. rosalind says:

    and at his DNC b’day bash, Obama proves once and for all he is a callow dick:

    AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you!

    THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.) And it’s true that I turn 50 tomorrow — (applause) — which means that by the time I wake up, I’ll have an email from AARP — (laughter) — asking me to call President Obama and tell him to protect Medicare. (Laughter and applause.)

    http://m.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/03/remarks-president-dnc-event

  2. JohnT says:

    @rosalind:

    … And, cue the Republican commercial

    Blast email from the RNC this morning

    Reach Out And Touch Medicare
    For The Record…It Was Obama Who Offered To Cut Hundreds Of Billions In Medicare During The Debt Debate

    OBAMA AND DEMOCRATS PUT MEDICARE CUTS IN DEBT CEILING DEAL

    USA Today: “Cuts in Medicare and other entitlement programs are on the table.” (Susan Page and Fredreka Schouten, “Political Damage Even If A Debt Deal Is Done,” USA Today, 7/31/11)

    Obama Agreed To Medicare Cuts In Debt Ceiling Deal. “The deal announced on Sunday by Congressional leaders and the White House would make across-the-board cuts in military spending, education, transportation and Medicare payments to health care providers if Congress does not enact further deficit-cutting legislation by the end of the year.” (Robert Pear, “Congress Must Trim Deficit To Avoid Broader Cuts,” The New York Times, 7/31/11)

    […]

  7. MadDog says:

    Another interesting document to read comes via EFF:

    Mexican Newspaper Uncovers Systemic Monitoring Plans of Public Online Sources

    The interesting document is a Department of Homeland Security document and is called:

    Publicly Available Social Media Monitoring and Situational Awareness Initiative Update (23 page PDF)

    While the entire document is interesting, I found the Appendices of particular interest:

    On page 14, Appendix A – Social Media Web Sites Monitored by the NOC

    On page 19, Appendix B – Terms Used by the NOC When Monitoring Social Media Sites

    Note: NOC is an acronym for DHS’s National Operations Center.

  8. jo6pac says:

    Well the govt. comes out swinging for big oil now there’s a suprise. doj is the best law firm corp. $$$$ can buy.

  10. radiofreewill says:

    Today’s market plunge is a direct result of investors getting scared and losing confidence at the nearness of default. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock! Had we defaulted, they would have lost all their equities.

    So, with a sigh of relief and a vote of no-confidence they’re moving some capital to calmer waters.

    Irrational behavior, like threatening to default the entire system if you don’t get your way – by the very people who’s *Trust* is the only backing behind the Money – adds significant risk to the calculations of investors.

    The people who truly care about the markets should be getting assurances from all the key players in government that All legislative processes, but especially raising the debt ceiling, will no longer be played-out like episodes of 24.

  11. KWillow says:

    European countries have been struggling for some time, Greece, Ireland & Portugal were just the iceburg’s tip of their money problems.

    But Americans heard very little about what was going on there, particularly when our own Government 3-ring circus was in full swing.

  13. HotFlash says:

    Mr HotFlash points out that the Mitt’s Phantom Corporate Giver has created a (temporary) American citizen who can legally donate any amount of $$ to any candidate or cause. Since any US corp can now do that, what’s to hide? Nationality is one thing, criminality is another. So, how about Saudi Arabia? Al Qaeda?

    Could be anybody. Great way to launder money, too.

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