Ex-Goldman Sachs Alleged Fraudster Fabrice Tourre to Teach at University of ChicagoIB Times – by Lianna Brinded

The former Goldman Sachs vice-president Fabrice Tourre, who was convicted on six counts of securities fraud six months ago, has landed a new job as an economics teacher at a prestigious university in the US.

Tourre, also known as “Fabulous Fab,” will teach a class called ‘Elements of Economic Analysis’ on Thursday afternoons, followed by a discussion on Monday.   Continue reading “Ex-Goldman Sachs Fraudster Fabrice Tourre to Teach Economics at University of Chicago”

Senator Barbara Boxer discusses the Affordable Care Act at Centro Medico Cathedral City on Friday, October 25, 2013 in Cathedral City.The Desert Sun – by Victoria Pelham

Sen. Barbara Boxer is pushing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate a polio-like condition in California that has left children paralyzed in their arms and legs.

“I was alarmed to learn that at least 20 children in California over the last 18 months have suffered from a rare polio-like disease that causes paralysis to one or more arms or legs,” the Rancho Mirage Democrat wrote Thursday in a letter to CDC Director Thomas Frieden. “We need answers to what is causing this devastating disease in children.”   Continue reading “Sen. Boxer urges CDC to investigate polio like condition”

Troops stand guard in Balaklava, Crimea, on Saturday, March 1. Ukraine suspects Russia of sending new troops into Crimea and provoking separatist tensions in the region. Crimea is an autonomous republic of Ukraine with an ethnic Russian majority. It's the last large bastion of opposition to Ukraine's new political leadership after President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster.CNN – by Laura Smith-Spark. Diana Magnay and Ingrid Formanek

Simferopol, Ukraine (CNN) — Russia’s upper house of parliament voted unanimously Saturday to approve sending Russian military forces into Ukraine, amid mounting tensions in the country’s Crimea region.

The vote followed a request from Russian President Vladimir Putin for approval to send Russian troops into Crimea to normalize the political situation there.   Continue reading “Russian upper house approves use of military force in Ukraine”

audit the fed Transcripts reveal a Fed hell bent on secrecy (but heres some info to act on)Birch Gold Group

Last week the Federal Reserve released transcripts of emergency meetings that they held during the peak of the 2008 financial crisis. Releases such as these are required by federal law, but by now the information is woefully out of date, so it’s unfortunately far too late for you to do anything meaningful with it.

Still, even these out-of-date releases make for fascinating reading, because they show the other side of the Fed’s duck-like behavior, as they paddle like mad underneath the surface.   Continue reading “Transcripts Reveal A Fed Hell-Bent On Secrecy (But Here’s Some Info To Act On)”

NBC San Diego – by Paul Kruger and Andie Adams

San Diego police confirm that a Vietnam veteran killed by police sergeant in a downtown stand-off was holding a plastic pellet gun.

John Edward Chesney, 62, was shot after about an hour-long standoff with police in the 900 block of Broadway.

The dead man’s friends told NBC 7 they do not blame officers for Wednesday’s deadly shooting, but still think that terrible outcome could have been avoided.   Continue reading “Man Killed by Police Had Rifle-Replica Pellet Gun”

Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in JerusalemYahoo News – by Matt Spetalnick and Jeffrey Heller

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – For years, Israeli leaders visiting Washington have been boosted by America’s main pro-Israel lobby, its influence on U.S. Middle East policy long accepted as a matter of conventional wisdom.

But when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses an annual convention of Israel’s U.S. supporters next week, he will find the group trying to show it has not lost its touch after the White House blocked its push for Congress to impose new Iran sanctions.   Continue reading “Main Israel lobby seeks to regain footing as Netanyahu visits U.S”

meteorIB Times – by Hannah Osborne

obamacare surchargeCNN Money – by Tami Luhby 

Several restaurants in a Florida chain are asking customers to help foot the bill for Obamacare.

Diners at eight Gator’s Dockside casual eateries are finding a 1% Affordable Care Act surcharge on their tabs, which comes to 15 cents on a typical $15 lunch tab. Signs on the door and at tables alert diners to the fee, which is also listed separately on the bill.   Continue reading “Now on your restaurant bill: Obamacare fee”

Flag T-shirts banned on Cinco de Mayo in Morgan HillMercury News – by Howard Mintz

Patriotism aside, a South Bay high school worried about campus safety was within its legal rights to order a group of students wearing American-flag adorned shirts to turn them inside out during a 2010 Cinco de Mayo celebration, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

In a unanimous three-judge decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Morgan Hill Unified School District, which had argued that a history of problems on the Mexican holiday justified the Live Oak High School administrators’ decision to act against the flag-wearing students.   Continue reading “American flag case: Court sides with Morgan Hill school in flap over students’ T-shirts”

California town shaken as police officers arrestedYahoo News

KING CITY, Calif. (AP) — Residents of a California farming town were grappling Wednesday with the feeling that their trust has been violated after learning the acting police chief and a handful of officers were charged with crimes including selling or giving away the impounded cars of poor Hispanic residents.

The misgivings had been building for some time. Investigators heard people — many unable to speak English — complain that police were taking their cars and money, and there was nothing they could do about it.   Continue reading “California town shaken as police officers arrested”

Bakers Green Acres -by Jill

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”   Continue reading “Bakers Green Acres: The results are in”

Activist Post – by Brandon Turbeville

In a state where it was once commonplace to carry a hunting rifle in the back window of one’s truck at all times, a man has been shot by York County, South Carolina deputies because Deputy Terrence Knox thought that the man was reaching for a rifle in the back of his truck.

The victim, 70-year-old Bobby Canipe, was, of course, not reaching for a rifle but for his cane which he kept in the bed of the truck.    Continue reading “Cop Shoots Elderly Man Reaching For Cane”

Journal Sentinel- by John Diedrich and Raquel Rutledge

ATF agents have lost track of dozens of government-issued guns, after stashing them under the front seats in their cars, in glove compartments or simply leaving them on top of their vehicles and driving away, according to internal reports from the past five years obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Agents left their guns behind in bathroom stalls, at a hospital, outside a movie theater and on a plane, according to the records, obtained Tuesday by the news organization under the federal Freedom of Information Act.   Continue reading “ATF agents lost track of dozens of their own guns, reports show”

Fox News

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced Wednesday she has vetoed a controversial bill that would have allowed religious beliefs as a defense for denying service to gays and others.

Brewer, who spent several days considering whether to sign the bill, said it had “the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve.It could divide Arizona in ways we cannot even imagine and no one would ever want.”   Continue reading “Arizona governor vetoes controversial bill allowing religious beliefs as defense for denying service”

dubai-streets-660.jpgFox News

Want to reduce traffic? Don’t let poor people drive.

That’s one scheme being considered by the Director General of Dubai, Hussain Lootah, as the Emirate looks for ways to ease increasing congestion on its roads, according to The National.

“This city is growing very fast and everyone is buying their own car,” he told the Abu Dhabi-based newspaper. “If we keep going in this direction we’ll just have roads and bridges everywhere.”   Continue reading “Dubai considers minimum salary requirement for car ownership”

border_patrol_072910Fox News

Residents of the southern Arizona town of Arivaca are monitoring a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint to see how many arrests and drug seizures are made in a bid to remove longstanding interior checkpoints on the roads leading into the town.

Arivaca residents say they are regularly subjected to delays, searches, harassment and racial profiling at the checkpoints. Six residents monitored the checkpoint Wednesday on Arivaca Road, 25 miles north of the Mexico border.   Continue reading “Residents in Arizona town push to remove ‘militaristic’ border checkpoint”