What Adam Curry is reading

Financial crisis bodies are still surfacing
  Link to Article
  Source: Columbia Journalism Review
  Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:55
  If you think, going on six years after the onset of the financial crisis, that we've learned about all we're going to about wrongdoing in the run-up to the global financial crisis'... well, you might be a business editor.
  So a big tip of the Audit's green eye shade to that dwindling band of reporters that continues to fight to tell the story of the great financial crisis.
  An Audit GFC Hall of Fame would include a few dogged folks like Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story, Michael Hudson, Mark Pittman, and Bob Ivry'--all of whom (except Pittman, much to our regret) understand that there were still critically important stories to tell after 2009'--particularly in the absence of any meaningful consequence for the perpetrators.
  Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein would be in there too, of course, recipients of the only Pulitzer Prize yet awarded for reporting on the financial crisis (for work published in 2010, it's worth noting).
  And Eisinger reaffirms in a new ProPublica/New York Times piece why the Crisis Club reporters have been right to keep pushing.
  One of the most irritating narratives of the post-crisis has been the ''hoocoodanode?'' line, which says, essentially, that Wall Street was swept up in a mania and that no one knew a catastrophic reckoning was really possible, much less right around the corner. Morgenson recently caught Angelo Mozilo'--one of the architects of the housing bubble'--testifying that ''The cause of the problems of foreclosures is not created by Countrywide, nor M.B.I.A. This is all about an unprecedented, cataclysmic situation, unprecedented in the history of this country.''
  If you buy that false line, take a look at what Morgan Stanley's people were saying in March 2007 about a CDO they were trying to offload to foreign investors. They called it a ''Nuclear Holocaust,'' ''Shitbag,'' and ''Subprime Meltdown,'' according to a lawsuit Eisinger finds. That kind of, um, prescience belies the idea that Wall Street didn't know what it was doing. Really, a lot depends on how much you know about how the mortgages were made in the first place.
  And it's clear Morgan Stanley knew, from internal email from 2005 and 2006 that warns that its CDOs were being created out of fraudulent mortgages. This is a critical paragraph in Eisinger's piece (emphasis mine):
  Two of the employees who received those emails joined an internal hedge fund, headed by Howard Hubler, that was formed only the following month, in April 2006. As recounted in Michael Lewis's ''The Big Short,'' Mr. Hubler infamously bet against the subprime market on Morgan Stanley's behalf, a fact that Morgan Stanley's chief financial officer conceded in late 2007. Mr. Hubler's group was supposed to be separate from the rest of Morgan Stanley, but the two bankers continued to receive similar information about the underlying market, according to a person briefed on the matter.
  Why isn't this garden-variety fraud? Eisinger as much as asks. Good question.
  After realizing the subprime market is going to crater based on private information, the bank creates a half-billion-dollar CDO (thereby helping further inflate the bubble) so it can short it and sells what it knows is a time bomb to unsuspecting investors. Nobody will pay for this, except perhaps the company's shareholders.
  Did you really doubt that we hadn't fully investigated the financial crisis? The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission didn't find this. Neither, apparently, did the SEC or the Department of Justice.
  It took discovery by lawyers for a Taiwanese bank in a private lawsuit and the continued interest of a journalist like Eisinger.
  And this isn't some fly-by-night mortgage shop. It's Morgan Stanley.
  Ryan Chittum , a former Wall Street Journal reporter, is deputy editor of The Audit, CJR's business section. If you see notable business journalism, give him a heads-up at rc2538@columbia.edu.
World Bank approves $500 million loan for Tunisia
  Link to Article
  Source: The Daily Star >> Live News
  Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:52
  TUNIS: The World Bank has approved a $500 million loan to Tunisia to support its 2013 budget and help its economy after the first Arab Spring uprising that toppled its former ruler, a minister said on Thursday.
  Two years after the revolution that ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, increasing numbers of Tunisians are staging street protests to demand jobs and economic development.
  The new loan follows another of the same amount last November to support economic recovery by providing funds to improve the business and financial sectors and reform social services.
  "The World Bank approved a loan of $500 million to support Tunisia's budget in 2013," Riadh Bettaib, minister of investment and international cooperation, said.
  Tunisia, whose uprising sparked political changes across North Africa, said in November it is seeking a $2.5 billion loan from the IMF, and Fund officials said last Friday discussions were under way to establish what was needed.
  Tunisia's Islamist-led government has sought to revive the economy hit by a decline in trade with Europe and by policy disputes between secularists and hardline Salafi Islamists.
  Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, said on Wednesday in Tunis he was optimistic about the future of Tunisia though it needed painful reforms to revive its economy.
Britons urged to leave Benghazi
  Link to Article
  Source: BBC News - Middle East
  Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:51
  24 January 2013Last updated at08:45 ETBritish nationals should leave the Libyan city of Benghazi immediately "in response to a specific threat to Westerners", the Foreign Office says.
  It said the British Embassy in Tripoli had been in contact with British nationals whose details it had.
  It said it could not comment further on the nature of the threat, but said there was new travel advice for Libya.
  The Foreign Office has been advising against travel to Benghazi and most parts of Libya since September.
  In its updated travel advice, the Foreign Office said that after the recent French military intervention in Mali, there was the possibility of retaliatory attacks against Western interests.
  There is also the threat of kidnapping in Libya.
  On 11 September, US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died during an attack on the consulate in Benghazi.
  Burning buildingThe ambassador died of smoke inhalation when he was trapped inside as the building burned, after armed men had attacked the compound.
  On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified in hearings on Capitol Hill, during which she was questioned about the raid and said al-Qaeda was on the rise in the region.
  Last week, in neighbouring Algeria, militants took over a gas plant near In Amenas, taking hundreds hostage, possibly in revenge for events in Mali, where the French military have been acting against Islamist extremists.
  It is thought 37 foreigners - including six UK nationals - died during the four-day siege, which ended after Algerian special forces stormed the compound.
BBC News- Nigel Farage on Cameron's Europe speech (23Jan13)
  Link to Article
  Source: Uploads by ukipmedia
  Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:38
North Korea threatens to target US with nuclear test | World news | guardian.co.uk
  Link to Article
  Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:51
  North Korean soldiers stand guard in front of the Unha-3 rocket. Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images
  North Korea says it will carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "enemy".
  The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the United Nations Security Council agreed a US-backed resolution to censure and sanction the country for a rocket launch in December that breached UN rules.
  "We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are targeted at the United States," North Korea's national defence commission said, according to state news agency KCNA.
  North Korea is believed by South Korea and other observers to be "technically ready" for a third nuclear test, and the decision to go ahead rests with leader Kim Jong-un who pressed ahead with the December rocket launch in defiance of the UN sanctions.
  "Whether North Korea tests or not is up to North Korea," Glyn Davies, the top US envoy for North Korean diplomacy, said in the South Korean capital of Seoul as KCNA released its statement.
  "We hope they don't do it. We call on them not to do it," Davies said. "This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean peninsula."
  The North was banned from developing missile and nuclear technology under sanctions dating from its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.
  The concern now is that Pyongyang, whose only major diplomatic ally, China, endorsed the latest UN resolution, could undertake a third nuclear test using highly enriched uranium for the first time, opening a second path to a bomb.
  Its previous tests have been viewed as limited successes and used plutonium, of which the North has limited stocks.
  North Korea gave no time-frame for the coming test and often employs harsh rhetoric in response to UN and US actions.
  Its long-range rockets are not seen as capable of reaching the United States mainland and it is not believed to have the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.
  "The UNSC (Security Council) resolution masterminded by the US has brought its hostile policy towards the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) to its most dangerous stage," the commission was quoted as saying.
Clinton Hearing
  Challenger O ring
  "We don't have a strong presence on the African continent we're only beginning to build that up." - Hillary...
  "You can't say because they haven't done something, they won't" - Hillary Clinton Benghazi hearing
  Rand Paul on Inidan comedians
  Rand Paul weapons from Lybia to Turkey
  I'm glad in Hilary Clinton's hearing about American's being murdered in Benghazi she clarified that "...
    Link to Article
    Source: 101292674006572799842 - Google+ Posts
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:30
    I'm glad in Hilary Clinton's hearing about American's being murdered in Benghazi she clarified that "our department doesn't use instant messaging". I now feel so much better about the whole situation - glad she's sticking to the point of the hearing.
----
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSPQ71C7AAM
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Drum Major Instinct Pt. 1 - [VIDEO]
Much-criticized 'drum major' quote on Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial to be removed - U.S. News
Cornel West Explains Why It Bothers Him That Obama Will Be Taking The Oath With MLK's Bible - [VIDEO]
"The Drum Major Instinct"**
--------
VIDEO
  VIDEO-Five things we learned from the Benghazi hearings - MALI
    Link to Article
    Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:12
    STORY HIGHLIGHTS
    Hillary Clinton testifies for more than five hours before two congressional committeesClinton, at one point, grew exasperated with line of questioning over Benghazi responseSome Republican lawmakers say they are not satisfied with Clinton's answersFour Americans killed in September 11 attack, including U.S. ambassador to LibyaWashington (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday took on Republican congressional critics of her department's handling of the deadly September terrorist attack in Libya.
    Conservative GOP members challenged Clinton on the lack of security at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi as well as the erroneous account that the attack grew spontaneously from a protest over an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.
    At two hearings, which together totaled more than five hours, Clinton acknowledged a "systemic breakdown" cited by an independent review of issues leading up to the armed assault and said her department was taking additional steps to increase security at U.S. diplomatic facilities.
    Here are five things we learned from the hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees.
    Read more: Clinton takes on Benghazi critics
    1. What Clinton did the day of the Benghazi attack
    Clinton spent the better part of last September 11 trying to get a handle on security at several other U.S. embassies in the Middle East where anti-American protests were in full swing over an anti-Muslim film produced in the United States.
    She said the U.S. embassy was "under assault" by crowds trying to scale the wall. American embassies in Yemen and Tunisia were also facing a "serious threat. Clinton personally called the president of Tunisia, she said, to "beg him to send reinforcements, which he did, to finally save our embassy."
    By 4 p.m. that day, Clinton was notified about the Benghazi attack. In the coming hours, she was in meetings and spoke with staff, the American Embassy in Tripoli and other U.S. officials.
    Directing the U.S. response from the State Department, Clinton stayed in touch with officials across the administration and with the Libyan government.
    She instructed her staff to "consider every option, to just break down the doors of the Libyan officials to get as much security support as we possibly could."
    Clinton said in the hours and days following the attack in Benghazi, there were "no delays in decision-making. No denials of support from Washington or from our military," something an independent board established to review the matter cited in its report.
    #whatdifferencedoesitmake: Clinton quote goes viral on Twitter
    2. U.S. diplomatic posts in some 20 countries under threat
    Clinton said threats to U.S. diplomatic posts are ongoing.
    "Sitting here today, we probably have at least 20 other posts that are under a serious threat environment as I speak to you," she told senators. "We operate in places where we know that our facilities are being surveilled for potential attacks where we have a steady Intel stream of plotting."
    Clinton detailed what the State Department has done to begin implementing the 29 recommendations of the Accountability Review Board to improve security at diplomatic posts in high-threat areas, in addition to a few of her own.
    Specifically, Clinton has appointed a team, led by her deputy, to focus on tightening security, sent joint teams of military special forces and diplomatic security threat analysts to more than a dozen high-risk posts and appointed a senior official to focus exclusively on those areas.
    The State Department is also working to streamline requests for security so they make their way more quickly up the chain of leadership.
    Despite the threat, Clinton stressed the importance of U.S. leadership and diplomatic presence in the Middle East.
    "We've come a long way in the past four years, and we cannot afford to retreat now," Clinton told senators. "When America is absent, especially from unstable environments, there are consequences. Extremism takes root, our interests suffer, our security at home is threatened."
    Read more: Pentagon releases official timeline of Benghazi attack
    3. Clinton not shying away from a fight
    Clinton grew emotional and held back tears when talking about U.S. personnel killed in the Benghazi attack.
    "For me, this is not just a matter of policy, it's personal. I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews," Clinton said as she choked back tears. "I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, the sisters and brothers, the sons and daughters, and the wives left alone to raise their children."
    But she lost patience with the focus of Republican senators on talking points used by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on the next Sunday's talk shows that focused on a protest at the U.S. post in Benghazi, which turned out not to have taken place.
    When Sen. Ron Johnson pressed Clinton on why the State Department didn't call U.S. personnel who were evacuated from Benghazi to determine whether there was a protest, Clinton took him to task.
    "With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans," Clinton reminded Johnson as she banged her hand on the table.
    "Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening," she said.
    Photos: Hillary Clinton through the years
    4. Militants in Mali and Algeria have arms from Libya
    Clinton warned the security situation in northern Mali, where international forces are battling militants, has been exacerbated by flow of weapons from neighboring Libya following the fall of Moammar Gadhafi.
    She said there was "no doubt" such weapons were also used in an attack by militants on an Algerian natural gas plant last week.
    She noted the aftermath of the Arab spring has changed power dynamics and stretched security forces across the region thin.
    Calling the campaign struggle against the Islamic fighters a necessary response to "a very serious, ongoing threat," Clinton said the "United States cannot permit northern Mali to become a safe-haven for Islamist rebels that could eventually pose a more direct threat to U.S. interests."
    Nothing the increased strength of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the regional affiliate of the al Qaeda network fighting along side local Malians, Clinton warned that the United States must prepare for the possibility that groups like AQIM could threaten direct attacks on U.S. interests as they gain power.
    "You can't say because they haven't done something they're not going to do it," Clinton said. "This is not only a terrorist syndicate, it is a criminal enterprise. So make no mistake about it, we've got to have a better strategy."
    Read more: Clinton lays out daunting security challenges in North Africa
    5. Republicans still aren't buying it
    While their tone was generally respectful, several Republican senators made clear they were unsatisfied with Clinton's answers.
    Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), one of the administration's toughest critics since the Benghazi attack, took Clinton to task for what he considered lackluster attention to the growing threat in Benghazi.
    McCain wanted to know why Clinton hadn't read a cable from Ambassador Christopher Stevens warning that the mission in Benghazi could not survive a sustained assault.
    Sen. Rand Paul said it would have been an offense worthy of firing Clinton had he been president.
    McCain also blasted Clinton's answers to questions about the administration's claim that a protest had taken place in Benghazi.
    "The American people deserve to know answers, and they certainly don't deserve false answers," McCain told Clinton.
    Clinton was more diplomatic with her old friend, saying she respected his strong feelings for the incident given his own relationship with Stevens, but that they disagreed about what happened and when it happened with respect to explaining events.
    In addition to lessons the State Department learned about improving security at diplomatic posts, Clinton, who called the Benghazi attack an act of terrorism since Day One, suggested the administration might learn another lesson.
    "Just withhold. Don't say what you don't know for sure until it's finally decided."
    Read more: Polls on Clinton's side
  VIDEO-Andy Gets a Flu Shot - YouTube
    Link to Article
    Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:03
  VIDEO-Girl, 5, suspended from school for Hello Kitty 'terrorist' threat
    Link to Article
    Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:24
    Mount Carmel - A 5-year-old Pennsylvania girl was suspended from kindergarten after she allegedly threatened to shoot herself and a friend with a pink plastic Hello Kitty bubble gun.Officials at Mount Carmel Area Elementary School in Mount Carmel labeled the unnamed girl a "terrorist threat" over the January 10 incident, which occurred while she and a friend were waiting in line for a school bus, according to PennLive.Robin Ficker, an attorney for the girl's parents, said the girl told her friend, "I'm going to shoot you and I will shoot myself" with her Hello Kitty bubble gun, which she didn't even have with her.School officials then questioned both girls, grilling them for half an hour without their parents present. After the interrogation, the would-be 'shooter' was labeled a "terrorist threat" and suspended for 10 days. The school also ordered the kindergartner to be examined by a psychologist."This girl is the least terroristic person in Pennsylvania," Ficker told PennLive.Ficker asked the school principal to overturn the girl's suspension, but he refused. He did reduce the charge against her from terrorism to "threatening to harm another student." Her suspension was also shortened from 10 to 2 days.Still, the girl's parents, and Ficker, say that is not enough. They want her record expunged, and they want school officials to apologize."She's branded," Ficker said of the child. The incident will be on her permanent record unless the school takes action to remove it.Community residents reacted to the news with shock."It's just bubbles, it can't harm anybody," Kayla Nash of Shamokin told WNEP.Other parents were far more upset that the girl was interrogated without the presence of her parents."I would be very upset about that," Michele Krah of Mount Carmel told WNEP. "They should have called the mother right away. My son is 13. If he got called into the office I would want to know right away."
  Piers Morgan takes FLU Vaccine Shot, Gets Sick. Thanks Dr.Oz!!!
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by ARSONomics
    Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:40
  "I'd Like To Refer To Five Words... Iraqi Weapons Of Mass Destruction" Senator Durbin
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
    Thu, 24 Jan 2013 04:17
  "Frankly The Answers You've Given Today Are Unsatisfactory"
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
    Thu, 24 Jan 2013 04:17
  Man Who Is The Voice Of Charlie Brown Arrested
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
    Thu, 24 Jan 2013 04:16
  Sen Ron Johnson "This is A Failure Of Leadership Before During And After The Attack"
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
    Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:23
  Cops Leave Explosives On Passenger Plane After K9 Training Exercise
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:41
  Algerian PM Says A Canadian Coordinated The Al Qaeda Attack On Gas Plant
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:41
  What Are Barack Obama's Greatest Accomplishments In His First Term As POTUS
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:41
  The President & First Lady Enter Inaugural Luncheon
    Link to Article
    Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
    Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:04
  Giddy CNN Correspondent Feels He Needs to Pinch Himself at Obama's Second Inaugural Parade
    Link to Article
    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:01
    MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
    MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 325 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
    Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
  Clinton: 'I believe in transparency. I believe in taking responsibility'
    Link to Article
    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:34
    MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
    MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 325 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
    Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
  NBC's Andrea Mitchell Uses Hillary Clinton's Talking Points in Interview With Republican on Benghazi
    Link to Article
    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:34
    MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
    MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 325 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
    Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
  GOP Congressman To Hillary Clinton: 'I Wish You'd Have Won the Democratic Primary in 2008'
    Link to Article
    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:16
    MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
    MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 325 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
    Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
  NBC Laments 'Grueling Day' of Benghazi Testimony for 'Stellar' Clinton
    Link to Article
    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:21
    Wrapping up a report on Wednesday's NBC Today about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's upcoming congressional testimony on the Benghazi terrorist attack, chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea sympathetically observed: "It will be a grueling day, first in the Senate, then in the House. Not how the Secretary of State had planned to wind up what is widely viewed as a stellar term as the nation's top diplomat."
  Hillary: Benghazi Was a Terrorist Attack; 'Not Focused on Talking Points' Like The Obama Administration
    Link to Article
    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:21
    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed during the Benghazi hearing today that she did not select Ambassador Susan Rice to deliver the details to the public and she always thought the attack on the consulate was a terrorist attack.
    Clinton also said she was not focused on talking points after the attack like the Obama Administration.
  Secretary Clinton Goes Off On Sen. Johnson During Benghazi Hearing
    Link to Article
    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:15
    MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
    MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 325 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
    Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.