"Obama has spent years denigrating revolving-door lobbyists and 'fat cats' from Wall Street, yet he has populated his administration with them. By all accounts, Jack Lew is a serious, smart hard worker. But his resume is everything Barack Obama ran against." Continue reading →
"The Observer's panel of stock-picking professionals has been undone in our 2012 investment challenge by a ginger feline called Orlando. While the professionals used their decades of investment knowledge and traditional stock-picking methods, the cat selected stocks by throwing his favourite toy mouse on a grid of numbers allocated to different companies. The challenge raised the question of whether the professionals, with their decades of knowledge, could outperform novice students of finance – or whether a random selection of stocks chosen by Orlando could perform just as well as experienced investors." Continue reading →
"Here’s some new polling data that seems very encouraging. Americans, by an overwhelming margin, think that Washington is causing serious harm to the nation. That same poll also found strong support for a limit on federal spending, which warms my heart since I’ve been trying to build support for a Swiss-style spending cap in America. I also was shocked to see another poll that found French and Italians were more supportive of spending cuts than Americans." Continue reading →
"With guns drawn in the home he's lived in for over 10 years, Estrada says agents realized after about five minutes they had the wrong guy. But he says he was kept in handcuffs for another 40 minutes to be fingerprinted. He says he was even asked for his green card. Carlos says he's done nothing but try to do what's right and obey the law. He's been a legal U.S. citizen since 1988. He was told he had been under surveillance by ICE agents for three years and was showed a picture of himself at his job in 2010." Continue reading →
"The City of Camden has agreed to pay $3.5 million in damages to 88 people whose convictions were overturned because of widespread corruption in the Camden Police Department. The settlement stems from a series of lawsuits filed against Camden Police in federal district court and state superior court over the last two years, after five officers were charged with a number of federal civil rights violations from conduct involving evidence planting, fabrication of reports and evidence, and perjury." Continue reading →
"City code enforcement officers and police will no longer target medical marijuana dispensaries under a directive issued Friday by Mayor Bob Filner. Filner, in letters to Kelly Broughton, director of the Development Services Department, which oversees code compliance, and San Diego police Chief William Landsdowne, also directed both of their departments 'to stop sending dispensary code enforcement cases to the City Attorney's Office for prosecution.'" Continue reading →
"He says it's his job to protect the people who elected him even if that means going against federal law. A Kentucky sheriff says he's gaining support from across the country for his stance on possible gun regulations. Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman says no one in his county will ever have to give up their guns. Sheriff Peyman received a round of applause from a group of almost one hundred gathered at Opal's restaurant this afternoon." Continue reading →
"Into whose pockets does this gargantuan parasitic skim flow? Hint: not the lower 90% of the American populace. The perfection of the Neoliberal order is a parasitic financial sector protected by the Central Bank and State. That is the U.S. Status Quo in a nutshell." Continue reading →
"US auto giant General Motors said that its sales in China, the world’s biggest car market, hit a record 2.84 million vehicles last year, despite the country’s slowing economy. GM’s China sales grew 11.3 percent in 2012 from 2011, which recorded the previous record of around 2.55 million vehicles, the company said in a statement. GM’s sales growth outpaced China as a whole. A Chinese industry group said Friday that China’s auto sales rose only 4.3 percent year-on-year to 19.31 million vehicles in 2012." Continue reading →
"German activists are attempting to destroy security cameras in anticipation of the European Police Congress in Berlin in February, according to Michael Ebeling, an opponent of public surveillance writing for France 24′s The Observers. The group organizing the actions, CAMOVER, believe such cameras lead police to discriminate and use stereotypes in search of criminals and criminal activity. They are encouraging people to participate in the 'game' until Feb. 19, when the congress convenes. The country’s Interior Ministry claims the cameras have been shown to reduce crime by almost 20 percent." Continue reading →