October 17, 2013

The Republican Surrender, New York Times Editorial

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/17/opinion/the-republican-surrender.html?_r=0&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1382012302-E1EW6ChaVsygzRik3nbh8A


The Republican Party slunk away on Wednesday from its failed, ruinous strategy to get its way through the use of havoc. Hours away from an inevitable market crash, it approved a deal that could have been achieved months ago had a few more lawmakers set aside their animus. President Obama signed the bill reopening the government and lifting the debt ceiling early Thursday morning.

The health care reform law will not be defunded or delayed. No taxes will be cut, and the deal calls for no new cuts to federal spending or limits to social welfare programs. The only things Republicans achieved were billions of dollars in damage to the economy, harm to the nation’s reputation and a rock-bottom public approval rating.

“We fought the good fight. We just didn’t win,” Speaker John Boehner said, utterly failing to grasp the destruction his battle caused. It has hurt federal employees and needy people dependent on government programs, and it threatened to alter Washington’s balance permanently by giving a fringe group outsize power over the executive branch and the normal functions of government.

October 16, 2013

J P Morgan pays $100M, admits fault in London trades

Source: NBC News

J P Morgan Chase has agreed to pay $100 million and admit its traders engaged in reckless behavior to settle charges that it manipulated markets as part of its so-called London Whale trades on a specific day last year.

The fine and admission of questionable conduct are milestones for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which used new authorities granted under the Dodd-Frank Act to curb manipulative conduct. Among other things, the law allows the commission to crack down on those who "intentionally or recklessly" use "any manipulative device" or scheme to defraud other investers

The CFTC said that JPMorgan traders in London sold off $7 billion in derivatives tied to a price index of corporate bonds on Feb. 29, 2012 — including $4.6 billion worth in a three-hour span. Derivatives are investments whose value is based on some other investment, such as oil and currencies. JPMorgan was betting that the price of the index would drop. When the traders sold their derivatives, the price of the index plunged.

That was a "staggering volume" and the most ever traded by the bank in one day, according to the CFTC. The traders realized that the huge volume of the derivatives they had amassed could affect the market, and they decided to do so, the agency said.



Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/jpmorgan-pays-100m-admits-fault-london-trades-8C11401097

---

Well what do you know.....they are crooks...they admit they are crooks.............and this quote from another part of the story, says that it is not the first time that they have admitted that they are crooks.....

"Wednesday's settlement comes less than a month after JPMorgan agreed to pay $920 million and admit fault in a deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other U.S. and British regulators. "

October 16, 2013

Shoppers Being Ripped off By High Tech Scanners..Today.Com:

http://www.today.com/money/tiny-high-tech-cash-register-skimmers-ripping-credit-card-numbers-8C11396234

picture at link...unable to copy
One of the six skimmers found and removed from cash registers at the Nordstrom store in Aventura, Fla. According to a police report on the incident, "no one would have detected it unless there was a problem with the register."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

text...

Crooks who steal credit and debit card numbers have found a devious new way to snag this information. They’re using a small and relatively cheap piece of off-the-shelf technology to compromise computerized store cash registers.


We know about this because a band of brazen thieves was caught on security cameras installing these high-tech skimmers on cash registers at the Nordstrom store in Aventura, Fla., two weeks ago.

The skimmers are built into standard Ps2 cable connectors that plug into the back of a computer where customers can’t see them. They’re only about an inch long — and look so innocuous that even if employees saw them they might not suspect anything.

“It’s a little piece of plastic, usually purple, that fits into the port where your keyboard connects to your computer,” explained security analyst Brian Krebs, who first reported this story on his KrebsOnSecurity blog. “It intercepts any data that is sent on that communication channel, whether it’s keystrokes or somebody swiping a card through a terminal.”

October 16, 2013

Canter Blamed by Virginia Colleagues for Prolonging Government Shutdown

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/eric-cantor-government-shutdown_n_4101592.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON -- Two Virginia congressmen fumed Tuesday about the damage being done to their state by the ongoing government shutdown and laid the blame squarely on a fellow Virginian, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R), for preventing lawmakers from voting on a bill to immediately end it.

During a press conference, Democratic Reps. Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran said the shutdown has hurt Virginia more than any other state. They pointed out that more than 185,000 Virginia residents are federal employees and federal spending represents about one-third of the state's entire economy. In addition, Virginia is home to a large number of veterans who are now experiencing delays in receiving their benefits.

It has been more than two weeks since the Senate passed a "clean" funding bill to open the government, with no strings attached. Typically, any House member could call up that bill and request a vote. But on Sept. 30, on the eve of the shutdown, Republicans quietly changed the House rules so only one person can bring that bill up: Cantor.

Moran said the rules change was "unprecedented" and has left Virginians, along with every one else, at the hands of Cantor to end the shutdown, even though he refuses to do so. The Senate-passed bill already has the votes to pass in the House and would be signed into law by the president, if it were allowed to get a vote.

October 16, 2013

Booker will get more than 70 percent...People are very very mad. At the Republicans Party

They will take it out on the Republicans. Don't be surprised if he gets 75 percent. Far more than anyone could have ever expected..
Here is a chance to vote against the Republicans. It is clear and simple. Forget the polls. Many people who are Republicans will vote Democrat for the first time ever. Many Republicans will stay home. That is what I believe

October 14, 2013

Tennessee Man Playing with Gun Accidently Shoots Neighbor Downstairs.

Talking Points Memo:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tennessee-man-playing-around-with-gun-shoots-sleeping-woman-in-downstairs-apartment


A 22-year-old Nashville, Tenn. man accidentally shot his gun through the floor of his apartment about 11 p.m. on Sunday, hitting a downstairs neighbor who was sleeping in her bed, according to The Tennessean.


The woman was reportedly hit in the shoulder and was rushed to a hospital, where she was in stable condition on Monday morning.

The alleged shooter, David White, told police he was "playing around" with the firearm. He was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, marijuana possession and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hard to make this stuff up..also, hard to believe............How stupid can people be??? Or is that saying too much..It is more about the stupidity of it all, as opposed to the guns......

October 12, 2013

I think the "Republican" brand has officially turned s**t

No long explanation .My apologies to s**t, but the truth is the truth. The country now sees them for what they are:
selfish, self centered, narcissistic jerks who care only about themselves and their agenda for the rich. That is it. That is enough.

October 11, 2013

Poll: Republicans Badly Damaged by Shutdown Battle

Source: HuffPost, NBC/WSJ

The Republican Party has been "badly damaged" by the government shutdown, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday evening, which finds public opinion souring on the GOP and some of its core positions.

Americans blamed Republicans over President Barack Obama for the shutdown by a margin of 22 percentage points, with 53 percent saying the GOP deserved more blame, and 31 percent saying Obama did. Approval ratings for the Republican Party and the tea party were at 24 percent and 21 percent respectively -- both record lows as measured by NBC/WSJ.

Democrats aren't wildly popular either. Obama's approval rating is a marginally positive 47 percent, while the Democratic Party is at 39 percent, and congressional Democrats are at 36 percent.

A slim plurality of Americans say Obama should negotiate with Republicans, even before they agree to a deal that reopens the government or raises the debt ceiling. The president's approval has remained stable since the shutdown, and there are signs that Democrats may get a boost from the shutdown's political effects.

Here is a link to the story at the NBC website:
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/10/20903624-nbcwsj-poll-shutdown-debate-damages-gop?lite


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/poll-republican-shutdown_n_4080942.html

October 8, 2013

Carl Bernstien Slams Media 50/50 Coverage. "This is about the Republican Party.".

Talking Points Memo:



Longtime journalist Carl Bernstein on Tuesday called on the press to abandon the false equivalence that's colored much of the coverage of the government shutdown.

Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the man who helped break the Watergate scandal said that the current budget impasse is not a two-sided matter.

"This is about the Republican Party and what it's going to be," Bernstein said. "Is it going to conduct a fact-based, philosophical argument in our political system or is it going to be a nihilistic, hateful, asymmetrical in terms of facts and the truth part of the party, as in Joe McCarthy?"


And with that in mind, Bernstein said that the press should cover the story accordingly.

"This is about media as well. These poll numbers are about a totally different media culture than we've had in the past...we need to start covering this story not 50/50 — this much on this side, that on the other — we need to cover it factually," Bernstein said. "Because there are facts here that will show what this event is about. And where, in fact, is this anger, hatred of Obama coming from? What is the root of this?"




http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/carl-bernstein-slams-media-s-50-50-shutdown-coverage-this-is-about-the-republican-party

October 8, 2013

Anderson Cooper Takes Shot at GOP Rep..This isn't Fox News.

You can see how a journalist works. And he defines that for this puke.
Watch the whole thing and see. He does say, "This isn't Fox News" in this interview"
The puke denies everything Anderson brings up, but any thinking person will see thru this idiot.