Wal-Mart weighs role in U.S. H1N1 vaccination plans
• Reuters.comAgwunobi said 140 million people walk through the doors of its 4,000 U.S. stores each week.
Current News Headlines
These pages list the most recent news stories reported by the readers and editors of Freedom's Phoenix:
WSJ: FDIC to Split Failed Banks Hoping to Find Buyers
• CalculatedRiskblog.comThe strategy ... is aimed at selling the most distressed hunks of failed banks to private-equity firms and other types of investors who may be more willing than traditional banks to take a flier on bad assets.
Exploring The Secrets Of The Federal Reserve
• ZeroHedge.comAnd speaking of the Fed's balance sheet (and not the public side but the $9 trillion in off-balance sheet voodoo), here is some good reading, especially with certain politicians hell bent to prevent HR1207 from occurring...
Uh Oh.... (GDP Interpretation)
• Market-ticker.denninger.netIt appears to be that traders in the FX market (who by the way tend to be smarter than the average equity or bond trader) have deduced that the entire "improvement" in 2Q GDP came from government spending.
FDIC Malfeasance Continues: Why is Corus Bank Still Standing?
• Market-ticker.denninger.netWhy do we have Washington DC continuing to dissemble and BS while these firms implode one by one, taking down the FDIC's insurance fund - money that we should not lose as taxpayers if they would do their damn jobs!
Targeting Cancer with Nano Packages
• arcleinThe nanoparticles are made with a commercially available product known as "liposomes" -- small chemical spheres made of fatty molecules that can package drugs and other chemicals. Liposomes are a powerful emerging tool in medicine because they can be designed to carry many different drugs and manipulated to control how long they stay in the bloodstream
Meat of the Problem
• arcleinThat's not an oversight. Telling people to give up burgers doesn't poll well. Ben Adler, an urban policy writer, explored that in a December 2008 article for the American Prospect. He called environmental groups and asked them for their policy on meat consumption. "The Sierra Club isn't opposed to eating meat," was the clipped reply from a Sierra Club spokesman. "
Live EFF Web Event - Safe Technology for Dissidents
• Boing BoingTonight, Aug 3 - 7-9pm PDT. Iranians protesting the results of the recent election found an outlet and a means of organizing with the Internet, and showed that new digital media can help free speech and fight repression globally. But what happens now the headlines and the Twitter trends have died down?
Sharecropper Nation: House Passes Foreclosure Rental Bill
• HousingWire.comThe House of Representatives this week passed a bill that would authorize federally-insured depository institutions and banks to lease real estate-owned homes for a limited period of time — up to five years.
Ritholtz: Falling Imports versus Falling Exports (GDP = -2.38%)
• Ritholtz.com/blogIf it seems weird to you that the ratio of domestic and overseas shrinking economies and their reduced consumption somehow turned into a positive GDP contributor, well, welcome to the wonderful world of government statistics.
Restaurants: 22nd Consecutive Month of Traffic Declines in June
• CalculatedRiskblog.comThe restaurant business is still contracting, and although not contracting as fast as late last year, the pace of contraction has picked up over the last two months.
Corporate Media Gets You Ready for Your Forced Experimental Vaccination
• Infowars.comNorthcom has a plan “on the table” for “five regional military teams” to back up FEMA when the pandemic hits. Fox’s Brain Wilson reports the military will be involved in imposing “mass quarantines,” that is to say martial law.
Wall Street Is About To Rename The Bonus
• The Business InsiderAndrew Cuomo has once again turned the bright glare on Wall Street bonuses, giving everyone a fresh chance to jeer and offer their ideas about how compensation will be reformed. But the obsession with bonuses is a big distraction whichever side you're on. If there's something to be enraged about, it's not the bonuses, it's the profits in the banking sector. Because shareholders of companies like JPMorgan (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are perfectly happy fattening up their big earners.
California pensions next state financial crisis
• Reuters.com"Pensions will be a major issue, sooner more likely than later, because they're going to bankrupt many jurisdictions," said Bob Stern of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles.
Ancient Roman City Lost, Now Found
• spiegel.de/international/Altinum plays a major role in Venice's history -- it was one of the richest Roman settlements but inhabitants fled before the advance of the armies of Attila the Hun. Then as water levels rose, the abandoned city sank into the lagoon...
Birth of a Notion
• C4SS / Thomas L. KnappTo question the legitimacy of the governors is to question the legitimacy of the government — and to question the legitimacy of the government is to invite reconsideration of the legitimacy of government itself.
Housing Bottom? No, The Mother Of All Head Fakes
• BusinessInsider.com/Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners calls the May numbers "the mother of all head fakes." He--and the two analysts below--think house prices will resume their decline in the fall
The Bond Bubble’s Back
• Daily ReckoningJust when you thought the bond bubble was being saved for another day… The government managed to auction $39 billion worth of 5-year debt yesterday… barely. Wednesday’s debt sale drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.92, the lowest investor demand since September 2008. Low demand forced Uncle Sam to jack up interest rates at the last minute in two separate bond auctions this week — yesterday’s sale and Tuesday’s $42 billion auction of 2-year notes. So what’s an indebted government to do? Manipulate the market, of course.
Judge orders Afghan teen home after years at Guantanamo
• McClatchy NewsA young Guantanamo detainee appears likely to be sent home after a federal judge concluded he'd been held illegally and ordered him released after almost seven years.
"After this horrible, long, tortured history, I hope the government will succeed in getting him back home," U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle told Justice Department lawyers during a court hearing. "Enough has been imposed on this young man to date."
Pelosi and Blue Dog Dems Flooded W Healthcare Insurer Donations
• Flopping AcesU.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi ramped up her criticism of insurance companies, accusing them of unethical behavior and working to kill a plan to create a new government-run health plan. “It’s almost immoral what they are doing,” Pelosi said to reporters, referring to insurance companies. “Of course they’ve been immoral all along in how they have treated the people that they insure,” she said, adding, “They are the villains. They have been part of the problem in a major way. They are doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening.” oh, but…she’ll still take their money Pelosi Will Keep “Villains” Campaign Contributions
Bad bridges passed up for stimulus cash
• APTens of thousands of unsafe or decaying bridges carrying 100 million drivers a day must wait for repairs because states are spending stimulus money on spans that are already in good shape or on easier projects like repaving roads.
WALMART-VACCINE DISTRIBUTION CENTERS?
• ReutersWal-Mart Stores Inc is discussing with U.S. health officials the possibility of putting vaccination sites at some of its stores for an H1N1 swine flu inoculation campaign this fall, a company official said on Thursday.
Police in Parker-Broderick case arraigned in Ohio
• APTwo Ohio police chiefs accused of snooping on the surrogate mother for actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick were charged with several felonies. The men conspired to steal items from the woman's home to sell to celebrity photographers.
The Biggest Holders of US Government Debt
• CNBC.comThat’s right, the biggest holder of US government debt is the United States itself. The Federal Reserve system of banks and other US intragovernmental holdings account for a stunning $4.806 trillion in US Treasury debt.
What is GOOOH? A non-partisan plan to replace the politicians
• News LinkWhy should I join? Your country is calling! "If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." Samuel Adams, 1776
Foreign Cenbank Holdings of US Obligations Weekly Update to 29 July 2009
• HousingDoom.comTreasuries rose $4.289 billion, not much better than last week. With massive supply of T-bills coming down the pipe, this doesn’t provide much support.
Justin Raimondo: Obama’s Secret Police Spy on Antiwar Movement
• Antiwar.comFusing the civilian and the military, the local cop on the beat and the national security bureaucracy, the new apparatus of surveillance and repression is the virtual embodiment of government "work."
US GDP comes in at minus 1%
• NakedCapitalism.comHowever, the fly in the ointment is consumer demand. It is still weak. Look at non-durable spending. If we don't see a significant uptick come Q3, you should be worried.
Town Halls Gone Wild
• PoliticoWelcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress.
Potential Liabilities of Mysterious Insurance Company May Result in New Maneuvers to Protect Goldman
• Economic Policy JournalCustomer Asset Protection Company, a little-known insurer whose members include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs,, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, is becoming the focus of swirling questions as Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing puts it to the test. By some industry estimates reviewed by the insurance department, Capco could face nearly $11 billion in claims as a result of the Lehman bankruptcy but has only about $150 million with which to meet them, NYT writes. How do you say Ponzi, in insuranceeze?
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