Free Republic

For all those who believed that it was only JP Morgan who is manipulating the Brent-WTI spread, we regretfully have to inform you that the squid is once again front and center, having now been caught red-handed by none other than the ICE exchange, aka the home of Brent trading. From a just disclosed complaint: "On 28 January 2011 the Exchange’s monitoring detected six notable “price spikes” in the April11 Brent/WTI spread, between 14:26 hours and 14:31 hours UK time. These were investigated and found to be the result of a limit order and several large market orders placed in...

Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel said Saturday it would be unpatriotic to resign rather than fight his pending ethics charges - despite a call that he do so to save the Democratic party. "Well, it wouldn't be the American thing to do \[to step aside\]. I think I owe it to the process to find out first what the investigative committee finds out," Rangel told reporters after speaking at Harlem Hospital. The 80-year-old legendary lawmaker is accused of failing to pay taxes, abusing rent-control rules and trading donations for favors. A public federal trial on Thursday will determine his fate after...

The CRU scandal has already ensnared Britain's leading climate "scientist" Phil Jones (whom one principled leftie says has only "a few days left in which to make an honourable exit") and his American counterpart Michael Mann (as in "Mann-made global warming"). Given that these two men and their respective institutions are the leading warm-mongers on the planet, and the guys who dominate the IPCC, Copenhagen et al, it would be most unlikely if the widespread data-raping were confined only to the United Kingdom and the United States. Here's an interesting snippet from my colleagues at Investigate magazine in New Zealand...

Congress moves to aid visa program's investors Last-minute amendments would give exemptions to those seeking residency By Walter F. Roche Jr. Sun Staff Originally published September 27, 2002 Acting at the last minute and without public notice, Congress is moving to give special exemptions to a small group of foreign investors who sought to gain permanent U.S. residency by participating in financial partnerships labeled "questionable" by a federal agency. The exemptions were included this week in amendments to a Justice Department spending bill. The amendments were passed Wednesday by a conference committee; and the House, in a 400-4 vote, approved...