Mainstream News

No criminal charges for Jon Corzine in MF Global probe

"It’s official. Jon Corzine will not be cuffed over MF Global’s improper handling of customers’ funds leading up to the commodity brokerage firm’s spectacular collapse in late 2011, The Post has learned. Federal investigators have found no evidence that the disgraced Wall Street titan broke the law. The Justice Department’s decision to drop the case is sure to come as a relief to Corzine, who has been widely blamed for MFG’s bankruptcy — as well as the misuse of some $1.6 billion in customers’ funds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNo criminal charges for Jon Corzine in MF Global probe

Spaniards Fight to Get $10.3 Billion In Savings Back From Bank Investment Schemes

"Today, Mr. López is one of about 300,000 Spaniards who, in the midst of a brutal recession, have seen their life savings virtually wiped out in what critics call a deceptive and possibly fraudulent sales campaign by banks that were threatened by the implosion of Spain’s property market. Many, like Mr. López, are older and lack formal education, and were easily misled when bank officials hit on the idea of raising capital and cleaning debts off their books by getting people with savings accounts to invest in their banks instead. oon, they came to understand that they had purchased complex financial products, originally designed for sophisticated investors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpaniards Fight to Get $10.3 Billion In Savings Back From Bank Investment Schemes

Senators push bill to replace Fannie, Freddie with national mortgage insurance

"The two firms, which back nearly half of all new U.S. home loans, were chartered by Congress to expand mortgage finance but operated as private, profit-making companies. Given the central role they played in the financial system, the government felt compelled to bail them out when they ran into trouble. The bill would require private entities to buy mortgages from lenders and issue them to investors as securities. Private equity would be required to absorb a 10 percent loss of the principal underlying those new mortgage-backed securities if the loans went bad. A new guarantor, called the Federal Mortgage Insurance Corp., would replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenators push bill to replace Fannie, Freddie with national mortgage insurance

OKC hospital posting surgery prices online, creating bidding war

"An Oklahoma City surgery center is offering a new kind of price transparency, posting guaranteed all-inclusive surgery prices online. The move is revolutionizing medical billing in Oklahoma and around the world. Dr. Keith Smith and Dr. Steven Lantier launched Surgery Center of Oklahoma 15 years ago, founded on the simple principle of price honesty. 'What we’ve discovered is health care really doesn’t cost that much,' Dr. Smith said. 'What people are being charged for is another matter altogether.' Surgery Center of Oklahoma started posting their prices online about four years ago. The prices are all-inclusive quotes and they are guaranteed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOKC hospital posting surgery prices online, creating bidding war

Over 700 arrested so far in North Carolina ‘Moral Monday’ protests

"Demonstrators rallied outside the Legislative Building in the first 'Moral Monday' protest since the state Senate approved an unexpected bill last week increasing restrictions on abortion providers. Janet Colm, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, was among 64 protesters who were arrested when the demonstration moved inside the building. Over the past two months, more than 700 people have been arrested in the weekly protests against the actions of the Republican-led General Assembly. In anticipation for Monday evening's arrests, the Wake County Magistrate's Office more than doubled its staff to help handle the influx of arrests." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOver 700 arrested so far in North Carolina ‘Moral Monday’ protests

Police videos draw disparate opinions in Oklahoma

"A court ruled in May that a dash-cam video made by Claremore police of a DUI arrest in 2011 contains facts concerning the arrest and is public under the state Open Records Act. The city of Claremore has petitioned the Oklahoma Supreme Court, asking it to review the decision. 'I'm not trying to be coy or provide a lack of transparency,' Claremore Police Chief Stan Brown said in a telephone interview. 'I base my administration on my mission statement, which includes accountability. I want us to be accountable. But I'm not just accountable to the people that request the information. I'm accountable to the people that I'm supposed to be protecting, too.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice videos draw disparate opinions in Oklahoma

Deputy in viral DUI checkpoint video has checkered past

"Channel 4 News has learned some new information about the Rutherford County sheriff's deputy who is seen in a viral video at a July 4 DUI checkpoint. Deputy AJ Ross has faced scrutiny in the past and has actually worked for the department on two different occasions. His personnel file shows Ross left the sheriff's department in 2004. He resigned instead of being terminated after failing to show up to testify in court on a day when he had dozens of criminal cases on the docket. He also missed a grand jury appearance, according to the file. On top of all that, Ross lied about having insurance when he rear-ended someone in his pickup truck, the file shows." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeputy in viral DUI checkpoint video has checkered past

Violence Rages in Baltimore Despite Governor O’Malley’s New Gun Control Laws

"It is important to note that before O'Malley signed new gun control laws in May, Maryland already had some of the strictest gun laws in the country and also some of the worst violence in its big cities. Baltimore was bad and now, it's getting worse. New laws require that anyone who wants to buy a firearm must be finger printed. Maryland turned law abiding citizens who simply want to exercise their Second Amendment rights, into crime suspects before they had done anything wrong. But guess what? That didn't work to reduce crime, either." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingViolence Rages in Baltimore Despite Governor O’Malley’s New Gun Control Laws

Russian lawmaker: Snowden agrees to Venezuela offer of asylum

"NSA leaker Edward Snowden has accepted Venezuela's offer of asylum, a key Russian lawmaker tweeted Tuesday. Alexei Pushkov, the chairman of Russian Duma's international affairs panel, tweeted that Snowden had accepted the offer from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. 'Predictably, Snowden has agreed to Maduro’s offer of political asylum,' Pushkov tweeted in Russian, according to Russia Today. 'Apparently, this option appeared most reliable to Snowden.' Pushkov later tweeted that his information came from a Russian newcast. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned Monday of consequences after Maduro made his offer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussian lawmaker: Snowden agrees to Venezuela offer of asylum