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FHA Is SOL By Ian Mathias 11/13/09 Baltimore, Maryland – Just as we forecast, the Federal Housing Administration revealed yesterday that it will likely need a government bailout. The results of an external audit (after being suddenly delayed for a week) showed the FHA’s capital cushion to be just 0.53% of its portfolio of insured mortgages. That’s way below the 2% mandated by Congress. In other words, the FHA has just $3.6 billion in reserves to back up a $679 billion book. That’s into the Fannie Mae stratosphere of leverage insanity, worse than anyone expected, and way, way beyond the...

The email: ======================================================== Craziest Action Alert You May Ever Receive Dear Fellow Tea Party Patriots, Thank you for your generous monetary donations this past week. We have raised over half of the funds for the Farmer Relief and Freedom Relay. That is enough to launch us. Once the checks are in, we may still send one more fund raising email out next week. In the meantime, this maybe the craziest email you have ever received. The work we did around the country and in DC yesterday was powerful and instrumental. There were over 50,000 of you in DC in less...

'In God We Trust' conspicuously absent at launch of Capitol Visitor Center,Yesterday, individuals across the country who were willing to stand up on behalf of our nation's religious heritage saw a major victory," announced U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., in a website statement this week. Last year, WND reported Forbes responded to concerns the Christian heritage of the United States had been scrubbed from the 580,000-square-foot facility. He worked with other members of Congress until the Committee on House Administration and the Senate Rules and Administration Committee agreed to include references to the nation's

Another two US banks have been closed by the federal regulator, taking the total number of American banking failures this year to 94. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which controls the banking sector, has shut Irwin Union Bank & Trust and Irwin Union Bank. The move comes after their parent firm - Irwin Financial - was unable to meet an FDIC demand to boost their capital. The failure of the two banks is likely to cost the FDIC $850m.

Where is Cecilia Ibru? By Ruona Agbroko August 21, 2009 01:56PMT For someone whose intimidating frame, trademark pearls and penchant for A-list events on Nigeria’s social circuit is legendary, Cecilia Ibru, the recently sacked managing director and chief executive officer of Oceanic Bank Plc, is doing an excellent job of going underground. On Friday August 14, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria announced her dismissal, alongside that of the CEOs and executive directors of Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank and Finbank. Declaring that the CEOs came under the axe for acting “in a manner detrimental to...

Wriston’s Law is named after the late Walter Wriston, a giant of banking and finance. In his 1992 book, The Twilight of Sovereignty, he predicted the rise of electronic networks and their chief economic effects. Wriston said capital (meaning both money and ideas), when freed to travel at the speed of light, “will go where it is wanted, stay where it is well-treated.” By applying Wriston’s Law of capital and talent flow, you can predict the fortunes of companies (and countries). All predictions about future performance must start with this most basic question: Do companies (and countries) attract money and...

It is hilarious listening to the propagandists try to “spin” the events in bond and currency markets to make it sound like the U.S. government is still operating from a position of strength.

A man who fatally stabbed a convenience store clerk during a robbery 23 years ago apologized repeatedly to her relatives and to his mother before he was executed Tuesday. "I know I hurt you very bad," Michael Lynn Riley said to his victim's relatives, including her two daughters and husband. "I want you to know I'm sorry." Brandy Oaks said she accepted Riley's apology and was pleased to hear it. She was 4 when her mother, Wynona Harris, was killed. "This is a difficult day and there are no winners on either side," Oaks said. "Her spirit will live on...

REUTERS A lawsuit charges hedge-funder Ezra Merkin "knew or should have known" that Madoff was a fraud, and seeks $500M from Merkin's funds. Merkin's Gabriel Capital Corp. received $tens of millions in fees from deals with Madoff. Stanley Chais of California was charged last Friday. Microsoft's wholly owned affiliate, Microsoft Licensing GP, one of the pioneers in the field of computerized stock trading, joined the Bankruptcy Court case against Madoff, but declined to discuss its claims against the swindler.

My Pictures from the Sacramento Tea Party http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaysterdotcom/sets/72157616839465318/show/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaysterdotcom/sets/72157616839465318/

A condemned Texas inmate who removed his only eye and ate it in a bizarre outburst several months ago on death row is “crazy,” yet sane under state law, a judge wrote in an appellate court ruling on Wednesday that rejected his appeals. Here’s the story, from the Associated Press. According to the story, Andre Thomas challenged his conviction and death sentence for the murder of his estranged wife’s 13-month-old daughter five years ago in Grayson County in North Texas. His wife and their 4-year-old son were killed in the same attack. The victims were stabbed and their hearts were...

Phillip Cherney has represented some notorious clients in his time, notably infamous Oakland drug czar Felix Mitchell Jr. in the mid '80s and Joel Radovcich, whom Fresno social climber Dana Ewell hired to murder his sister and wealthy parents in 1992. *** Cherney has the unenviable task of going before the California Supreme Court on Tuesday during oral arguments in San Francisco to plead for the ignominious death row inmate's life. Cherney knows he has his work cut out for him, noting in court papers that Davis, 54, is "one of the most reviled defendants" in recent California history, a...

Even amid the real-estate bust, waterfront property in the San Francisco Bay area is a luxury few can afford. That's why some California lawmakers want to sell San Quentin State Prison -- which houses more than 5,300 inmates on prime land with stunning views of the bay -- to developers who might pay as much as $2 billion. State Sen. Jeff Denham, who has sponsored a bill to sell the complex of historic buildings for private development, thinks the proceeds could help replenish California's recession-depleted coffers. "I believe maximum-security inmates shouldn't have waterfront property," said Mr. Denham, a Republican from...

District of Columbia when it became the nation's capital two centuries ago would be granted under legislation the Senate passed Thursday. Congress is "moving to right a centuries-old wrong," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shortly before the 61-37 vote. The House is expected to pass the measure with a strong majority next week and President Barack Obama, a co-sponsor when the bill failed to clear the Senate two years ago, has promised to sign it. The measure is likely to face a court challenge immediately after becoming law; opponents argue that it is unconstitutional because D.C. is not a...

Jeffrey Imm writes in with an AP report about the January 21 Inaugural prayer service to take place at the National Cathedral in Washington. Among those officiating will be Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). This is an outrage and should be stopped. What's ISNA? As I have written (here, for instance), the US government has identified ISNA as a Muslim Brotherhood front organization. Actually, the Muslim Brotherhood itself has identified ISNA as a Muslim Brotherhood front organization. And the Muslim Brotherhood is all about extending Islamic law globally--even in America. According to its 1991...

WASHINGTON – The US military plans to mobilize thousands of troops to protect Washington against potential terrorist attack during the inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama, a senior US military commander said Wednesday. They will fly combat air patrols and man air defenses, organize large scale medical support, and help local law enforcement provide security in the capital, said General Gene Renuart, head of the US Northern Command. "(It's) not because we see a specific threat, but because for an event this visible, this important and this historic, we ought to be prepared to respond if something does happen," he told...

For ancient Greek and Roman pagan authors, Jerusalem definitely was a Jewish city. This article draws on references to Jerusalem from nearly twenty different sources, dating from the third century BCE to the third century CE, which are included in the late Professor Menahem Stern's comprehensive anthology, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism. An examination of these texts indicates the unanimous agreement that Jerusalem was Jewish by virtue of the fact that its inhabitants were Jews, it was founded by Jews and the Temple, located in Jerusalem, was the center of the Jewish religion. In these sources, Jerusalem...

Senators: Use Federal Capital to Make LoansAmerican Banker By Stacy Kaper October 24, 2008 Several Senate Banking Committee members pressured the Treasury Department on Thursday to require banks that receive an emergency capital injection to use the funds for lending activities and foreclosure prevention. During a hearing on regulatory responses to the crisis, lawmakers said there are concerns that bankers will sit on the added cash. "Why did Treasury not attach a requirement to increase lending as a price for receiving government money?" asked Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the committee's senior Republican. Lawmakers also used the hearing to press...

It has been long understood that our federal government is going deeper into debt, consistently raising the debt ceiling and demonstrating no fiscal restraint. In recent years, debt ceiling increases have been placed in “must pass” legislation as a means to guarantee that Republicans as well as Democrats would vote for them when Congress was under Republican control. We also know our nation’s “negative savings rate” reflects the habits of private citizens, showing those habits to be not tremendously different than the habits of the public sector. Yet, the signs of decline are becoming ever more apparent. So apparent, in...

““SEC. 1338. Housing Trust Fund. “(a) Establishment and purpose.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this section referred to as the ‘Secretary’) shall establish and manage a Housing Trust Fund, which shall be funded with amounts allocated by the enterprises under section 1337 and any amounts as are or may be appropriated, transferred, or credited to such Housing Trust Fund under any other provisions of law. The purpose of the Housing Trust Fund under this section is to provide grants to States for use— “(1) to increase and preserve the supply of rental housing for extremely low- and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2008 – President Bush this week approved the death penalty for an Army private convicted of committing multiple murders and rapes in the late 1980s on Fort Bragg, N.C. Exercising the commander in chief’s final authority to approve capital punishment for a servicemember, Bush issued the order against Pvt. Ronald A. Gray on July 28, the first time such a presidential directive has been invoked in 51 years. Gray faces the death penalty after being convicted of two killings, one count of attempted murder and of raping all three victims, among other crimes he was found guilty...

'Baghdad-style' checkpoints in US capital By Tom Leonard Last Updated: 8:14PM BST 08/06/2008 Police in Washington DC have set up vehicle checkpoints in the American capital in a controversial measure aimed at tackling a wave of gun violence. In a move that critics have compared to the security clampdown in Baghdad, police are stopping motorists travelling through the main thoroughfare of Trinidad, a neighbourhood near the National Arboretum in the city's northeast section. Drivers' identification are checked and those who didn't have a "legitimate purpose" in the area, such as a church visit or doctor's appointment, are turned away. The...

...Kopelman presented a scenario for the rise of the "implicit" Internet. I'm simplifying, but he was referring to the vast web of personal data that until now has existed relatively undisturbed in different corners of the data world. For example, you may have made a reservation over the Internet one day, or bought a book from an online reseller on another. But that that data is going to get collected from heretofore separate "silos" as companies that figure out ways to break through the barriers and deliver information based on that implicit cyber data. That shouldn't strike anybody as a...

Paulson urges banks to raise more capital By Krishna Guha and James Politi in Washington Published: March 13 2008 15:42 | Last updated: March 13 2008 15:42 Hank Paulson on Thursday called on financial institutions to raise more capital and reduce their dividends in order to strengthen their balance sheets as he set out the US government’s regulatory response to the credit crisis. The US Treasury secretary backed plans to make it easier for banks to issue “covered bonds” to finance mortgages kept on their own books as an alternative to selling them on to investors as mortgage-backed securities. He...

Private equity firm the Carlyle Group came under renewed pressure to come to the rescue of its beleaguered investment fund, Carlyle Capital, which warned on Monday that creditors could liquidate up to $16 billion of assets. A spokeswoman for the Carlyle Group told Forbes.com that it was considering "all options" to maximize the interests of stakeholders in Carlyle Capital, adding that the Amsterdam-listed fund's troubles had not materially affected the parent company or its other 54 funds. So far it has provided an unsecured credit facility of $150 million to the fund, which it launched last July. The pressure was...

Insight: Financial system faces commodity-led crisis By Tim Bond Published: March 5 2008 16:58 | Last updated: March 5 2008 16:58 The global economy is facing twin shocks. Natural resource markets are delivering a supply shock of 1970s dimensions, while the financial system is delivering a shock comparable to the bank and thrift crises of the 1988-1993 period. The magnitude of each shock is very different. The financial markets require a recapitalisation of the banking system, with estimates ranging from $300bn to $1,000bn. By contrast, prospective capital requirements in the resource markets dwarf the current needs of the banking system....

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that some small U.S. banks might go under during the current stress prompted by housing market problems, but the U.S. bank system overall remained solid. "I expect there will be some failures," Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee, referring to smaller regional banks who became heavily invested in real estate. "Among the largest banks, the capital ratios remain good and I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large, internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system," he said in response to a...

U.S. financial institutions have to realise losses and raise capital quickly to stave off a credit crunch, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told the Nikkei business daily. "The worst thing is if they don't raise capital, if they shrink their balance sheet, and then restrain their lending," Paulson said in an interview with the Nikkei published on Saturday. "If there's any doubt that they will not have enough capital, they should go out and get capital where it is available," he said just before he left Washington for Tokyo to meet Group of Seven (G7) financial leaders. Paulson also said...

Foreign investors slashed their holdings of US securities by a record amount as the credit squeeze intensified, according to the latest Treasury figures. The Treasury International Capital report – known as the Tic – for August will be closely watched because it appears amid growing concerns about the weakness of the US dollar, which hit a record low recently against a basket of major currencies. “The bad news is that [the data] plainly show how vulnerable the dollar is to a continuation of the credit crunch-risk averse environment,” said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital. “There is...

'The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital . . . the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy." John F. Kennedy, 1963 When it comes to taxes, Barack Obama is no Jack Kennedy. The Illinois Senator recently announced that he wants to raise the capital gains tax to restore "fairness" That makes it a three-peat: All of the leading Democratic contenders for President have endorsed higher taxes on stock ownership. Hillary Clinton is the "moderate" in that...

Archaeologists uncover county’s ‘first capital’ By Sean O’Riordan21 August 2007 ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe they have discovered what may have been Cork’s ancient capital, built 3,200 years ago at a time when Rameses III was pharaoh of Egypt. A team of archaeologists from UCC, led by Professor William O’Brien, have carried out extensive research that sheds new light on what is the largest prehistoric monument in Co Cork and the oldest dated ringfort in the country. Their three-year project, funded by the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Royal Irish Academy, shows that huge wooden defence walls once...

Hanoi, Beijing Using Executions As “Smack Down” For Cultural History of Corruption By John E. Carey Peace and Freedom May 29, 2007China and Vietnam each sentenced people to be executed today.In China, the villain is the state’s former director of drug review and acceptance. He was found guilty of accepting bribes and approving a drug after almost no testing that ultimately killed ten people. Think of the U.S. Director of the Food and Drug Administration sentenced to death for accepting a bribe to wink at proper testing of a drug.The execution may also be a signal to the west that the...

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2007 – A chrome convoy of about 300,000 motorcycles driven by Vietnam veterans and their supporters blazed across the nation’s capital today in a deafening roar of solidarity. Spectators watch and show their support as motorcycle riders rumble by near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the 20th Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom, May 27, 2007. The bikers ride to raise awareness about prisoners of war, troops missing in action and veterans’ benefits. Defense Dept. photo by John J. Kruzel  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. On the 20th anniversary of Rolling Thunder Ride for...

A Shiite newspaper published in Baghdad reported Tuesday that Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani had turned down a 2-billion- US dollar offer from the Saudis in return for giving up demands to have Kurdish oil-rich of Kirkuk as the capital of Kurdistan. Al-Bianh al-Jadidah newspaper said that the Saudi offer was made to Barzani and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih when they visited Saudi Arabia last month. The Saudis asked for a 10-year freeze on the Kurdish demand to incorporate Kirkuk in the north of Iraq into Kurdistan autonomous region. The newspaper said that an Iraqi government source, who did...

Journalists caught a rare glimpse of Burma's military leader Than Shwe Burma's military rulers have been showing off their new capital for the first time to the outside world. The new city, called Naypyidaw, or Abode of Kings, is being built about 460km (300 miles) north of the old capital, Rangoon. Until now few outsiders were allowed to go there, but the foreign media has been invited to the capital to watch the huge Armed Forces Day parade. However, it is still not clear why the generals have moved here. The rutted and overcrowded roads of Burma suddenly give...

The most ant-Semitic political entity is the Palestinian Authority, says Haifa University's Prof. David Bukai at the Fourth Annual Jerusalem Conference. Acclaimed columnist Caroline Glick and anti-Semitism researcher Prof. Robert Westreich also spoke. Middle Eastern affairs expert Dr. David Bukai of Haifa University, speaking Monday at a Conference session on anti-Semitism in Europe and the Islamic world, said that anti-Semitism in Egypt and particularly in the Palestinian Authority is much more worrisome and significant than in Europe. Bukai compared the situation today with that of the Nazi days: "The world's indifference to the Iranian threats is exactly as it was...

Heavy shelling in Somali capital Dozens have been killed or injured in similar attacks this year Somali government forces and Ethiopian troops have shelled areas of Somalia's capital Mogadishu after their positions came under fire from insurgents. At least 12 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the exchanges - the heaviest since the government took Mogadishu from Islamists last year. Unknown gunmen launch almost daily attacks in the city. Some Islamists, who last year were controlled much of southern Somalia, have vowed to start a guerrilla war. The government blames the attacks on Islamist fighters and on Monday set up...

Within days of taking the oath of office for the second time, the Republican governor unveiled an audacious second-term agenda that includes health insurance for all Californians, new prisons, fuel standards to curb global warming and a second massive public-works bond package on top of the $43 billion approved by voters in the November election. “Yes, it's an ambitious agenda,” Schwarzenegger said Tuesday night in his State of the State address. “But we must be ambitious to get California to the future.” The governor's characterization of his agenda might be an understatement. “We may have to find a new word...

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HONG KONG--If you want to look for reasons why New York's status as the world's financial center is in serious jeopardy, you need only come here to gaze at this booming city and tour its markets. Increasingly, Hong Kong and London are the places where companies are finding it easier and cheaper to list their shares and raise capital. Last year, of the 25 largest initial public offerings in the world, only one took place in America. This year, Hong Kong is likely to end up as the No. 1 market for stock offerings world-wide. Perhaps the top culprit in...

California's Legislature faces the highest turnover in at least a decade this November, about 40 percent, as more than one-third of lawmakers are being forced out by term limits and others plan to leave. The number could soar even higher if some incumbents are unseated, resulting in a Legislature that will be one of the least experienced in years. "The Legislature that meets in December will have over one-third of its members having never served a day in state government," said Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento. "Therefore, no matter how good...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- Columbia, S.C., will remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and honor servicemembers past and present with a Freedom Walk Sept. 11, according to a news release from the city. The walk will begin at the State Capitol at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at City Memorial Park with a wreath-laying ceremony. Participants will include members of the general public, public service representatives, state and local government officials and representatives of all military services, the release said. Jenny Sanford, wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, is scheduled to...

Although most economists keep insisting that their discipline is all about peaceful competition, it’s increasingly clear that they need to do violence to language and logic when defending today’s U.S. globalization policies. The latest example: Arthur B. Laffer’s recent suggestion in a Wall Street Journal article that the term "trade deficit" is a misnomer. Instead, insisted the "Father of Supply-Side Economics" and former guru to President Reagan, Americans should call their country’s bloated excess of imports over exports a "capital surplus" – reflecting the borrowing from abroad needed to sustain it. Unfortunately for the United States, word games can’t possibly...

WASHINGTON (July 31) - City officials are moving up a nighttime curfew as they try to overcome a spike in crime that's been marked by a rise in juvenile arrests. Beginning Monday, most juveniles could be taken into police custody if they are found on the streets of the nation's capital between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The curfew used to begin at midnight. "Too often, young people are becoming involved in violent crimes," said Mayor Anthony A. Williams. "This earlier curfew hour is necessary in order to protect them from becoming victims of crime or from becoming involved in...

US capital introduces curfew after crime wave Fri Jul 21, 4:47 PM ETAFP/File Photo: Washington Mayor Anthony Williams, seen here in February 2006, announced that the US capital will... WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US capital will introduce a 10:00 pm curfew for teenagers and deploy more police officers following a crime wave that saw 15 murders at the start of the month, Washington Mayor Anthony Williams said. Washington DC's crime wave included the murder of a young British national, who was slashed to death in the throat on July 9 in the upscale tourist district of Georgetown. The US capital...

I attended a recent Investment in China and India Summit hosted by Financial Research Associates. I will use this forum to share some of insights that were given at this summit for the benefit of those hoping/thinking/planning on investing in an Asian country -- China, India, or Japan. Growth Capital- Dominant type of fund in Asia by number, especially in country-focused funds; focused on backing firms that are already established but are looking for capital to support strong growth. Buyouts- True control buyouts are a more recent phenomenon in Asia. Most funds focused on buyouts are larger Pan-Asian funds or...

Sequestered from the city's traffic and noise, the newly renovated course seems somewhat an anomaly. But 10 of New York City's 13 public courses are undergoing renovations costing $50 million - and all the funds are coming from private companies that have contracts with the Parks Department to operate the courses. The biggest player is the privately owned American Golf Corporation, which is putting $26 million in capital investment into six courses that it operates for the city. With the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and by extension taxpayers, chipping in no money at all, the much-improved...

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2006 – President Bush said today he was inspired to "visit the capital of a free and democratic Iraq" and spoke of his regard for new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Bush flew to Baghdad yesterday for a surprise visit with Maliki his Cabinet and with U.S. troops serving there. "It was a pleasure to meet face to face with the prime minister," Bush said in a White House Rose Garden news conference. "I thought it important to sit down with him and talk to him in person. I saw firsthand the strength of his character and...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2006 – The United Service Organizations of Metropolitan Washington and Joint Employment Transition Services will present their first Military Spouse Career Expo at the Sosa Recreation Center at Fort Belvoir, Va., June 17, USO officials announced. USO of Metropolitan Washington is a member of "America Supports You," a Defense Department program to showcase the nation's corporate and grassroots support to servicemembers and their families. The expo is designed to empower military spouses through information, motivation and skill development leading to sound career choices. It will include presentations on federal jobs, self-employment and alternative careers, officials said. Debbie...

Slaughter as gunmen fight to control Somalia's capital By Mike Pflanz, East Africa Correspondent (Filed: 11/05/2006) Somalia's lawless capital Mogadishu was engulfed in violence yesterday as fighting between rival factions brought terror to civilians. At least 14 people were killed in a fourth day of fighting between gunmen allied to conservative Islamic leaders and others loyal to a group of powerful businessmen. The bloodshed took the death toll to 96 since Sunday, with an estimated 200 people wounded. Most of the dead and injured were civilians. The two sides have used heavy machineguns, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery. A mortar round...