Author: Admin

Bloomberg – by Christopher Condon and Jeff Kearns

On the eve of a Senate hearing today into whether the Federal Reserve has been “captured” by the institutions it is supposed to regulate, the Fed announced a broad review of its supervision of the largest banks, and a top official acknowledged there’s a danger that examiners could be too easy on them.

“We understand the risks of doing our job poorly and of becoming too close” to banks, New York Fed President William C. Dudley said in testimony prepared for delivery before a Senate panel. “We cannot catch or correct every error by a financial institution, and we sometimes make mistakes.”   Continue reading “Fed Reviews Bank Supervision as Senate Committee Begins Hearings”

Washington Post – by Carol Leonnig

A Michigan woman was arrested by Secret Service officers after she was seen walking along the White House’s north fence with a handgun at about 8 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Secret Service plainclothes officers noticed a woman with a holster near Pennsylvania Avenue around the perimeter of the fence and notified uniform division officers, who then arrested her for having an unregistered 9 mm handgun in her holster, said Ed Donovan, the spokesman for the Secret Service.   Continue reading “Woman with gun outside White House is arrested by Secret Service officers”

Reuters – by STEVE HOLLAND AND ROBERTA RAMPTON

President Barack Obama imposed the most sweeping immigration reform in a generation on Thursday, easing the threat of deportation for about 4.7 million undocumented immigrants and setting up a clash with Republicans.

In a White House speech, Obama rejected Republican critics who say his decision to bypass Congress and take executive action is tantamount to amnesty for illegal immigrants and urged them to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that the Republican-controled House of Representatives has blocked.   Continue reading “Obama announces action on sweeping U.S. immigration reform”

Reuters

Three students were shot and wounded when a gunman opened fire inside a Florida university library early on Thursday, and campus police shot the suspect dead, officials said.

Officers confronted the attacker outside Florida State University’s Strozier Library soon after midnight, ordered him to drop his weapon, then shot him when he fired on them, police said.

“This person for whatever reason produced a handgun and then began shooting students in the library,” Florida State University Police Chief David Perry told reporters at a morning news conference.   Continue reading “Three students shot in Florida university library, gunman killed”

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Huffington Post – by Marcy Gordon

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three big Wall Street banks that have owned commodities such as aluminum exposed themselves to risk and in some cases manipulated prices in a way that raised costs for consumers, a Senate investigation has found.

The heavy involvement of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley in the business of storing and moving commodities like oil, aluminum, uranium and copper also gives them unfair trading advantages in financial markets, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.   Continue reading “Wall Street Banks Manipulated Commodity Prices At Consumers’ Expense, Senate Report Finds”

Sent to us by a reader who said: Do they really think we are that stupid?

Android Central – by Chuong H Nguyen

The U.S. government is fighting back against new encryption technologies on smartphones made by Apple and those using Google’s latest version of Android. With a strongly worded argument, an official at the U.S. Department of Justice plainly stated that without access to a suspect’s phone, a child could die in cases such as kidnapping.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the tech giants and the DOJ are at a standoff on smartphone encryption:   Continue reading “Smartphone encryption could lead to death of a child, government claims”

CNBC – by John Harwood

President Barack Obama plans to announce an executive order in Las Vegas on Friday to address immigration reform, CNBC has confirmed.

Another source familiar with the situation told CNBC that Obama could yet give a broader outline on an immigration order on Thursday and add detail on Friday.   Continue reading “Obama to announce immigration order in Las Vegas on Friday”

Press TV

Israeli forces with armored vehicles attacked Palestinian cities of Ramallah, al-Bireh and Wadi al-Joz in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, leading to rising tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.   Continue reading “Israel attacks Palestinian cities following synagogue assault”

RT

The US Senate failed to fast-track the Keystone XL pipeline project, falling one vote short of breaking a filibuster against the bill, which would have allowed the transport of crude oil from Canada’s tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico.

The bill failed despite garnering 59 “Yes” votes to 41 “No” votes. All Republican senators voted “Yes,” and they were joined by 14 Democrats. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who co-sponsored the bill, needed one more vote to pass it but could not persuade another Democrat to go along.   Continue reading “Keystone XL pipeline bill fails to pass US Senate by 1 vote”

USA Today – by Susan Page

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s plan to sign an executive order on immigration, expected as early as this week, will meet more resistance than support, a new USA TODAY Poll finds. Close to half of those surveyed, 46%, say he should wait for the new Republican-controlled Congress to act, and another one in 10 are unconvinced either way.

Just 42% of Americans say he should take action now, findings that reflect a familiar partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans. The president is considering an order that would prevent as many as 5 million people from being deported.   Continue reading “Poll: Resistance to Obama order on immigration”

They are starting to eat their own.

ABC News – by Jim Litke, AP

Federal drug enforcement agents showed up unannounced Sunday to check at least three visiting NFL teams’ medical staffs as part of an investigation into former players’ claims that teams mishandled prescription drugs.

There were no arrests, Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Rusty Payne said Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers’ staff was checked at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, after they played the New York Giants. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ staff was checked at Baltimore-Washington International airport after playing the Redskins. The Seattle Seahawks, who played at Kansas City, confirmed via the team’s Twitter account that they were spot-checked as well.   Continue reading “DEA Agents Raid NFL Medical Staffs After Games”

Wall Street Journal – by William Mauldin

The Obama administration will fall well short of its goal of doubling exports in five years. But it is hoping to secure a longer-run victory on the trade front with sweeping new agreements in the next two years.

A weak global economy deserves some of the blame for the failure to double exports in the five years through 2014, a target first outlined in President Barack Obama’s 2010 State of the Union address. Concerns about global growth also could determine whether the U.S. and its trading partners step up to strike deals, or step back in the face of domestic political concerns and worries about jobs in sensitive industries.   Continue reading “Obama Looks to Jump-Start Export Push”

USA Today – by Adam Shell and Mike Snider

Halliburton (HAL), the second-largest U.S. oil services provider, said Monday it would acquire its smaller rival Baker Hughes (BHI) in a deal valued at $34.6 billion.

The two firms will combine forces in a stock-and-cash deal expected to close in the second half of 2015. The deal values each Baker Hughes share at $78.62.

Pre-market shares in Baker Hughes surged more than 16% to $69.61 on the news and were up 12% to $67.32 after the market opened — still shy of the price Halliburton offered to buy it for. Halliburton’s shares fell 9% to $50.01.   Continue reading “Halliburton to buy Baker Hughes for $35B”

 

Sent to us by Dave C. Johnson of Daily False Flag.

Yahoo News – by JONATHAN J. COOPER and NICHOLAS RICCARDI

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The fate of a little-noticed ballot measure in strongly Democratic Oregon serves as a warning to President Barack Obama and his party about the political perils of immigration policy.

Even as Oregon voters were legalizing recreational marijuana and expanding Democratic majorities in state government, they decided by a margin of 66-34 to cancel a new state law that would have provided driver’s licenses to people who are in the United States illegally.   Continue reading “Oregon immigration vote is a warning for Obama”