Saturday, January 17, 2009

24/7 Wall St.: Creditors Obstruct GM Rescue: Detroit Becomes Too Big To Fail

24/7 Wall St.: Creditors Obstruct GM Rescue: Detroit Becomes Too Big To Fail:

"The UAW has been dragging its feet, assuming that a Democrat-controlled federal government will not eat its own by abandoning labor. GM's creditors are making sure that the restructuring of the auto companies will fail. They are doing so by ignoring the mandate from Congress to take less than $1 for $1 on the debt obligations of The Big Three."



According to the FT, 'General Motors has signaled it might be unable to meet a key condition of the $13.4bn lifeline extended by the US Treasury requiring a two-thirds reduction in the carmaker’s unsecured debt.'

The intransigence of the UAW and GM bond-holders could put both the company and the new administration in a position to make good on their threat of throwing the corporations into bankruptcy court by violating their agreement to have cost cuts in place by the end of March. But,that won't happen."

Friday, January 16, 2009

Insurance giant to pay $350M in med bill case

Insurance giant to pay $350M in med bill case

"In the center of the alleged ripoff scheme is Ingenix, the largest billing information provider that sets "usual and customary" rates for medical procedures.

Instead of relying on market prices, Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary, gave lower reimbursement figures than what the patients paid. This allowed insurers to make smaller payments.

"It was a blatant fraud," Cuomo said. "It was an obvious fraud." "

Thursday, January 15, 2009

AIG Not on potential bankruptcy list of 24/7 Wall St.

They're not in the top ten anyway. I'll take that as a positive.

24/7 Wall St.: The 24/7 Wall St. Chapter 11 Watch (SIRI)(GM)(CHTR)(MNI)(F)(NYT)(BAC)(C)(MOT)(AMD)

Obama's Billionaires - Forbes.com

Good read. Ridiculous comments.



Obama's Billionaires - Forbes.com

ICE Emerges as Credit-Default Swap Clearinghouse Frontrunner

Bloomberg.com: News: "Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the second-largest U.S. futures market, is emerging as the leading candidate to run a clearinghouse for the $29 trillion market for credit-default swaps.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley and CreditSights Inc. said this week that Atlanta-based Intercontinental, also known as ICE, will likely be the industry choice to back the contracts because of its partnership with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,JPMorgan Chase & Co. and seven other banks that account for over 80 percent of the trading. A clearinghouse may earn as much as $400 million in annual revenue, according to Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc."

SEC Moves on Swaps Clearinghouse | Market Features | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com

SEC Moves on Swaps Clearinghouse | Market Features | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com: "Traded in a $60 trillion market that is unregulated and secretive, credit default swaps have come under scrutiny by Congress and federal regulators in the wake of the financial and credit crises that have plunged economies around the world into recession. The idea behind a system of central clearinghouses -- promoted by a White House advisory group of regulators -- is to bring transparency to the market, possibly reducing risks to the financial system."

An art hoax unites Europe in displeasure - International Herald Tribune

An art hoax unites Europe in displeasure - International Herald Tribune: "The piece, an enormous mosaic installed in the European Council building over the weekend, was meant to symbolize the glory of a unified Europe by reflecting something special about each country in the European Union.

But wait. Here is Bulgaria, represented as a series of crude, hole-in-the-floor toilets. Here is the Netherlands, subsumed by floods, with only a few minarets peeping out from the water. Luxembourg is depicted as a tiny lump of gold marked by a 'for sale' sign, while five Lithuanian soldiers are apparently urinating on Russia."

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Judge OKs streaming of music-swapping hearing

Judge OKs streaming of music-swapping hearing

"BOSTON -- A federal judge will allow online video streaming of oral arguments in a civil lawsuit that pits a Boston University graduate student against the music recording industry."

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Funniest Comment Ever

The comment section is usually the place for over the top ignorance and anger but this guy actually has some half decent sarcasm going on.



Obama has dinner with conservative columnists | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz: "Conservative columnists?
Submitted by jeetzwillager on January 13, 2009 - 8:51pm.

"Oh please, this is a who's who of droopy faces. I even think these guys need a personality makeover!

Do they even blink? The four lost brothers of Kathleen Sebelius?""

Obama Picks Digitally-Savvy Genachowski to Lead FCC | BNET Media Blog | BNET

Obama Picks Digitally-Savvy Genachowski to Lead FCC | BNET Media Blog | BNET: "According to The Wall Street Journal, Genachowski, who was an early Obama supporter, built technology positioning for Obama that included supporting Net neutrality, and increasing broadband access. He also helped construct Obama’s online campaign strategy, which was leagues ahead of the McCain team for both its scope and its understanding of how to use emerging media tools, such as Twitter.

What all this means for communications policy is somewhat hard to say, though Genachowski’s resume alone portends a marked departure for the FCC, and it may have not that much to do with politics. You could definitely see such a chairman pushing initiatives which lead to digital media for all, from universal WiFi to building a mobile infrastructure that would finally put America’s wireless networks on par with those in other countries, where mobile phones are as much media consumption devices as they are communications tools."

Monday, January 12, 2009

Scrapper Blackwell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scrapper Blackwell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blackwell returned to music in the late 1950s and was first recorded in June 1958 by Colin C. Pomroy (those recordings were released as late as 1967 on the Collector label). Soon afterwards he was recorded by Duncan P. Schiedt for Doug Dobell's 77 Records and Art Rosenbaum for the Prestige/Bluesville Records label.

He just appeared ready to restart his blues career when he was shot and killed during a mugging in an Indianapolis alley. He was 59 years old. Although the crime remains unsolved, police did arrest his neighbour at the time for the murder. Blackwell is buried in New Crown Cemetery, Indianapolis.

AOL Realigns as an Overseer of Niche Sites - NYTimes.com

AOL Realigns as an Overseer of Niche Sites - NYTimes.com:

"Point a Web browser to Engadget.com, TheBoot.com, or TMZ.com, and elaborate sites about technology, country music and celebrity gossip will appear on the screen. They could easily be mistaken for stand-alone brands.

But a small link to the owner, in a corner of the screen, shows otherwise. That owner is AOL, the long-suffering unit of Time Warner. And the subtle links are intentional."

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Required Viewing | ‘Get Carter’ - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

Required Viewing | ‘Get Carter’ - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

The movie is an old Micheal Caine flick called Get Carter.

Congress Urged To Postpone Nation's Switch To Digital TV - washingtonpost.com

Congress Urged To Postpone Nation's Switch To Digital TV - washingtonpost.com


A coupon is not needed to purchase a converter box. But with boxes costing $50 to $80 in retail stores, Congress allocated $1.34 billion to provide coupons to help offset the price. Consumers who have a newer digital television or who subscribe to cable or satellite service will not lose programming.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

24/7 Wall St.: The Next Corporate Crisis: Massive Pension Deficits

24/7 Wall St.: The Next Corporate Crisis: Massive Pension Deficits

Getting naked with DRM-free iTunes upgrades: the details

Getting naked with DRM-free iTunes upgrades: the details: "Evaluating your library



To get a better sense of what you're dealing with when upgrading, you can easily create a Smart Playlist as follows. Choose File > New Smart Playlist. Create a new playlist whose Kind Contains Protected, as shown below, and click OK. The members of this playlist represent the DRMed items in your library. The number of items listed (in my case, about 800 tracks) is likely quite different from what the upgrade bubble shows (18) and will give you a truer sense of what your upgrade may really cost when iTunes goes DRM-free in April.

Use a Smart Playlist to get a sense of what parts of your library are DRMed iTunes purchases

At this time, iTunes Plus costs $0.30 per track and $0.60 per music video to upgrade. Ars contacted Apple to see if this policy will continue under the new DRM-free store, but received no reply as of this writing. Assuming that the upgrade policy continues as it currently operates, here is what you can expect."

Saturday, January 03, 2009

William Kaufmann, 90; MIT political scientist reshaped Kennedy's defense strategy - The Boston Globe

But it was his series of four-hour presentations to military and civilian officials at the dawn of the Kennedy administration, complete with 54 charts, that made him one of the most influential figures on the use of nuclear weapons.

Before John F. Kennedy took office, the policy of the United States called for a complete and overwhelming nuclear response to any direct conflict with Soviet troops. The United States would immediately launch all of its 3,423 nuclear missiles; every major city and military facility in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China would be targets. Such a retaliation would kill 285 million people, studies estimated.

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles publicly described the approach as "massive retaliation" in 1954.

Dr. Kaufmann and many of his colleagues at the Rand Corporation think tank privately described the approach as insane, and possibly suicidal. "You're just signing your death warrant," Dr. Kaufmann later observed, "if you go through with this tremendous spasm attack."



William Kaufmann, 90; MIT political scientist reshaped Kennedy's defense strategy - The Boston Globe

Free voices on Internet new path to democracy in China_English_Xinhua

Free voices on Internet new path to democracy in China_English_Xinhua: "Local officials, on the other hand, are going a step further to write blogs and hold debates with netizens on hot issues.

Li Ou, vice mayor of Siping in the northeastern Jilin Province, has been hailed by netizens as being the most active mayor who uses his real name to debate with netizens on social affairs.

Li's blog was selected as one of the 'top 10 blogs of 2008' in a poll by the People's Daily based on the votes from millions of netizens.

Another local official, Liao Xinbo, deputy director of the Department of Public Health of the southern Guangdong Province, was also on the list. His blog was picked for pointing out the keyto China's new medical reform plan which is likely to be issued in January, reported the People's Daily.

Liao wrote on Dec. 25 that China should learn from other countries, such as Cuba, in drafting the long-delayed medical reform plan.

'The government is seeking new ways for the public to voice opinions,' said Yan."

Confederates Ready To Salute Barack Obama??

This is very strange. This picture ran in the Washington Post online on Dec. 31 with the caption: "Heads await positioning in a workroom at Hargrove Inc., in Lanham, Md., Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008, in preparation for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration January 20. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (Jacquelyn Martin - AP) ". Trouble is, those are the busts of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and they're not exactly the guys you would expect to see at the inauguration of the first black president of the US of A. So what gives? Thanks to my brother in law Bob for pointing this out. He saw it in the Boston Globe where the caption described these guys as former presidents.media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/12/31...