What Could Possibly Go Wrong

Fukushima appears to be leaking highly radioactive wastewater into ocean

"Members of the Nuclear Regulation Authority voiced frustration at Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), which has failed to identify the source and the cause of spiking readings of radioactive materials in groundwater. 'It is strongly suspected that highly concentrated contaminated waste water has leaked to the ground and has spread to the sea,' the authority said. The giant utility that services Tokyo and its surrounding regions has said groundwater samples taken at the battered Fukushima Daiichi plant on Tuesday showed levels of possibly cancer-causing caesium-134 were more than 110 times higher than they were on Friday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFukushima appears to be leaking highly radioactive wastewater into ocean

30,000 California inmates launch hunger strike against ‘state-sanctioned torture’

"At any one time, California holds about 12,000 inmates in extreme isolation, including some who have been in windowless boxes known as security housing units (SHUs) for decades. They are allowed out for an hour a day to exercise – some in a yard, others in a kennel-size cage. Supporters say the strike is a legitimate response to cruel and inhumane conditions. 'The use of prolonged solitary confinement is a form of torture,” said Laura Downton, director for US Policy and Program at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. California has an unusual policy of indefinitely putting suspected gang members in solitary until they identify fellow gang members." Continue reading →

Continue Reading30,000 California inmates launch hunger strike against ‘state-sanctioned torture’

Government Student Loan Program a Scam?

"If you think the federal student-loan program looks like a bad deal for taxpayers, imagine how it would look with honest accounting. And now you don't need to imagine thanks to a new [CBO] report that's receiving far too little attention. Turns out that the official 'savings' for taxpayers of $184 billion over the next decade really add up to $95 billion in losses.' The 'scam' is that Congress has enabled a huge subsidy for universities while claiming that student loans create huge tax savings, the editorial says. It can make that claim because a 1990 law 'requires a deliberate under-counting of the cost of defaults,' the editorial says." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment Student Loan Program a Scam?

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

1,700,000 Foreclosures Are in the Pipeline.

"A government report says that 1.7 million homeowners are 90 days or more late in their mortgage payments. Fannie Mae and HUD will wind up with these homes on their books, unless they decide to let the homeowners live rent-free. This is shadow inventory. It hangs like the sword of Damocles over the housing market. If the government does nothing, these homeowners will receive a huge subsidy: a tax-free grant equal to their mortgage payment, month after month, year after year. But if it forecloses, what will it do with these empty houses. Then the subsidy goes to operators of the squatters. Will the government kick the can? Probably." Continue reading →

Continue Reading1,700,000 Foreclosures Are in the Pipeline.

Private paramilitaries guard Wisconsin mining site from protesters

The company brought in the paramilitary forces after being confronted by a group of about 15 protesters in June. At least one of the demonstrators, a young woman, was hit with misdemeanor charges for trying to take a camera away from one of the company’s geologists. Gogebic claims they’ve since caught several people illegally camping on their property and did not want to take any chances. The company hired by Gogebic is Arizona-based Bulletproof Securities, which boasts that many of their employees are ex-military. A spokesperson for Gogebic told The Cap Times on Tuesday that they’re considering restricting their drilling sites from public access." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrivate paramilitaries guard Wisconsin mining site from protesters

Obama (Scut Farkus), Europe (Grover Dill), and Snowden (Ralphie)

"It is obvious that nobody in the highest levels of government thought through the implications of the bonehead decision of the advisor who decided that the government was going to get Edward Snowden off that plane. It never occurred to him that Snowden was not on the plane. It never occurred to him that toadies in Western Europe would resent the fact that they were exposed as toadies. Finally, he never figured out that this would enable two near-communists and the anti-American President of the number-four oil-exporting nation to the United States the opportunity to offer asylum to Snowden, when they had not had the courage to do this prior." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama (Scut Farkus), Europe (Grover Dill), and Snowden (Ralphie)

Former Federal Judge On Obama Suspending the Law

"President Obama's decision last week to suspend the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act may be welcome relief to businesses affected by this provision, but it raises grave concerns about his understanding of the role of the executive in our system of government. Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution states that the president 'shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.' This is a duty, not a discretionary power. While the president does have substantial discretion about how to enforce a law, he has no discretion about whether to do so. This matter—the limits of executive power—has deep historical roots." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Federal Judge On Obama Suspending the Law

U.S. considering speeding up Afghanistan pullout

"The United States is seriously considering speeding up the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan because of frustration with President Hamid Karzai, the New York Times reported. Obama’s relationship with Karzai has been deteriorating and suffered a big and new blow last month with an effort by the United States to open peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar. Karzai opposed the talks, and halted negotiations with the Americans on a long-term security deal needed to keep US forces in Afghanistan after 2014, the Times said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. considering speeding up Afghanistan pullout