Submitted by Elaine Magliaro
Sometimes I come across a number of news stories that I’d like to write posts about—but, unfortunately, I lack the time to do in-depth articles about most of them. Here are links to some news reports that caught my attention recently. I thought readers of this blog might find some of them interesting reading.
SALON
Finally, Wall Street gets put on trial: We can still hold the 0.1 percent responsible for tanking the economy
Too Big To Fail bailouts let them get away with it. The amazing result of California fraud trial could change that (9/7/2014)
Excerpt:
As it happens, a trial just ended in Sacramento in which a jury was convinced that “executives intended to make fraudulent loans.” Here’s the thing, though: It wasn’t the government that made the case against the financiers; it was the defendants.
The case started as a routine mortgage-fraud prosecution, brought by none other than the aforementioned U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner. A group of eastern European immigrants had bought houses in California in 2006, in a real-estate market that was in the early stages of collapse. According to the indictment, filed in 2012, these people’s mortgage applications contained blank spots and wrong information; they were accused of getting the mortgages in order to sell the houses to one another at pumped-up prices in what is called a “straw buyer” scheme. Also, they defaulted on the loans.
However, members of the immigrants’ legal defense team—several of them appointed by the state—had read the newspapers over the years and were aware of the kinds of things that had gone on in real estate during the bubble. They knew, for example, that in the go-go days of the last decade, the mortgage origination industry routinely cranked out “stated income” loans—also known as “liar’s loans”—to people who were obviously unable to make the payments. The bankers back then almost never checked on whether the borrower was telling the truth about their income; they just wanted to make the loan. So the defense team in Sacramento came up with a novel strategy: How can the borrower have committed fraud on a mortgage application if the lender didn’t care whether their answers were truthful?
“There’s a hunger to deny that race matters”: The new segregation and white America/black America divide
Ferguson shows whites don’t want to see race. Blacks don’t have a choice. Here’s a new way of bridging the gap (9/7/2014)
Stop promoting idiot pundits: NBC revamps “Meet the Press” with always-wrong Joe Scarborough and Luke “Meritocracy” Russert
Everything about the new “Meet the Press” points to an even more disgusting celebration of D.C. insider culture (9/5/2014)
The 1 percent’s long con: Jim Cramer, the Tea Party’s roots, and Wall Street’s demented, decades-long scheme
Wall Street has the most to lose from real democracy. Which is why they posture as rebels and not The Man (8/31/2014)
Microsoft’s $29.6 billion scam: Tech giant leads the way in tax-avoiding innovation
More and more companies who enjoy huge benefits operating in the U.S. are trying to weasel their way out of taxes (8/28/2014)
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NEW YORK TIMES
Foreign Powers Buy Influence at Think Tanks (9/7/2014)
Excerpt:
More than a dozen prominent Washington research groups have received tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments in recent years while pushing United States government officials to adopt policies that often reflect the donors’ priorities, an investigation by The New York Times has found.
The money is increasingly transforming the once-staid think-tank world into a muscular arm of foreign governments’ lobbying in Washington. And it has set off troubling questions about intellectual freedom: Some scholars say they have been pressured to reach conclusions friendly to the government financing the research.
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TALKING POINTS MEMO
Ex-BuzzFeed Editor Fired For Plagiarism Gets Second Chance At Conservative National Review (9/5/2014)
Excerpt:
A little more than a month after he lost his job at BuzzFeed for widespread plagiarism, Benny Johnson has landed on his feet at National Review.
Politico’s Mike Allen reported Saturday that Johnson will begin his work as social media director at the conservative outlet next week.
The role and the venue both make sense for Johnson.
As the viral politics editor at BuzzFeed, Johnson was tasked with producing clicky posts on topics such as George H.W. Bush’s sock preferences and John McCain’s “adorable” first mention of Twitter on the Senate floor.
Before joining the viral media giant in late-2012, Johnson worked in conservative media, writing for the likes of The Blaze and Breitbart.
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TUSCON NEWS NOW
Armed border militia confronts conservationists counting bats (9/2/2014)
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HUFFINGTON POST/AP
Another Apple Supplier Accused Of Violating Pay, Safety Rules (9/4/2014)
Nicole Plyler Fisk
Gene Howington
FFS Guest Blogger
Joy of Fishes
Chuck Stanley
shortfinals
Terry Welshans
ann li-summers
wordcloud9
Flowers For Socrates 
As one who was part of the Border Watch in Texas with the now defunct MCDC, we simply hid ourselves and reported the numbers and route of illegals when we saw them. Our rules were to have NO contact at all with illegals or drug smugglers. We were armed, but it was restricted to concealed weapons only and NO rifles. The arms were only for self protection and nothing else. Those who were armed had to be licensed by the state and had to keep their weapons concealed. One poor guy in AZ violated the rules when he was on watch when a thirsty illegal came up to him during a daylight watch and was needing water. The volunteer gave him water, called HQ, and while waiting for the BP gave him a funny T-shirt that said, I crossed the border and all I got for it was this lousy T-shirt” He got tossed for doing that.
We had co-ordination with the BP at all times, and worked well with them and learned a lot. Towards the end of the group, we had roving patrols for S&R in AZ and rescued more than 300+ illegals. In order to be part of that, you had to be in great shape, and have EMT training and know how to ride and drive ATVs. The patrols were discontinued because of the radical increase in violence and armed violence and we could not afford the legal liability, so the MCDC was disbanded. The MCDC also had strict membership requirements, and you had to pay about $75 to simply apply so that they could do a criminal background check and submit to a lengthy interview process to weed out the nuts and KKKers. I was rather proud of the job we did and how we went about it and most of the people were quite good folks too.
Elaine,
Thanx. Due to certain issues here, at home, I’ve been unable to spend as much time on news as I would like. This was most helpful from a source I trust. 😉
Police intelligence targets cash
Reports on drivers, training by firm fueled law enforcement aggressiveness
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/07/police-intelligence-targets-cash/
Excerpt:
Operating in collaboration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal entities, Black Asphalt members exchanged tens of thousands of reports about American motorists, many of whom had not been charged with any crimes, according to a company official and hundreds of internal documents obtained by The Post. For years, it received no oversight by government, even though its reports contained law enforcement sensitive information about traffic stops and seizures, along with hunches and personal data about drivers, including Social Security numbers and identifying tattoos.
Black Asphalt also has served as a social hub for a new brand of highway interdictors, a group that one Desert Snow official has called “a brotherhood.” Among other things, the site hosts an annual competition to honor police who seize the most contraband and cash on the highways. As part of the contest, Desert Snow encouraged state and local patrol officers to post seizure data along with photos of themselves with stacks of currency and drugs. Some of the photos appear in a rousing hard-rock video that the Guthrie, Okla.-based Desert Snow uses to promote its training courses.
Annual winners receive Desert Snow’s top honorific: Royal Knight. The next Royal Knight will be named at a national conference hosted in Virginia Beach next year in collaboration with Virginia State Police.
In just one five-year stretch, Desert Snow-trained officers reported taking $427 million during highway encounters, according to company officials. A Post analysis found the training has helped fuel a rise in cash seizures in the Justice Department’s main asset forfeiture program.
randyjet wrote
The volunteer gave him water, called HQ, and while waiting for the BP gave him a funny T-shirt that said, I crossed the border and all I got for it was this lousy T-shirt” He got tossed for doing that.
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what got him in trouble, giving him the water, calling the border patrol, or giving him the t-shirt?
The thing that got him in trouble was having contact with the illegal, such as giving him water, and the T-shirt. After it became apparent that the illegals needed help, the policy was changed, and we started S&R patrols and saved over 300+ illegals who were in bad shape.
“In just one five-year stretch, Desert Snow-trained officers reported taking $427 million during highway encounters, according to company officials. A Post analysis found the training has helped fuel a rise in cash seizures in the Justice Department’s main asset forfeiture program.”
We now have legalization of “Highwayman” in America. Is this yet another sign that we are returning to feudalism?
Elaine, thanks for the links. I missed most of these stories!
Bettykath,
Welcome to Flowers for Socrates! I just wish I had the time to write posts about all the news stories that catch my attention.
bettykath,
I’m glad you found us. 😀