Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Bloomberg.com: Exclusive

Bloomberg.com: Exclusive: Concerns about the big bank holding companies: "April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Bank holding companies including Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. have the thinnest safety cushion against losses in seven years. The margin may erode further in coming weeks. Credit ratings on $704 billion of bonds have been cut this year following the collapse of the U.S. housing market. Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said last week that the downgrades may compromise bank capital ratios enough that some of the largest institutions will no longer be considered well capitalized. Falling below a regulatory benchmark that is intended to maintain a minimum level of capital to protect depositors against losses would subject banks to more scrutiny from regulators than they have ever experienced. ``This is a nightmare for the country,'' said William Isaac, who was chairman of the FDIC from 1981 to 1985. Banks will ``raise what capital they can, then they'll slow down their growth and stop lending, and what should be a mild recession becomes a much more serious one.'' The biggest danger to the economy is that to preserve their ratios, banks will cut off the flow of credit, causing a decline in loans to companies and consumers."
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Can we panic yet?

MM08-11.pdf (application/pdf Object)

California Law Revision Commission comments on pending legislation
Here you will find CLRC's comments on AB 1921 and also the CID Bureau bill.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Comment from Brian Hebert, Executive Director of CLRC
Scroll or click down to where I posted a link to California A.B. 1921and go the comments, and you will find a lengthy comment from Brian Hebert in which he responds to some of Donie Vanitzian's main points. I appreciate Brian taking the time to do this. I will follow his suggestion and post a link to the version of the bill he recommends.

The Daily Times - www.delmarvanow.com - Salisbury, Md.

The Daily Times - www.delmarvanow.com - Salisbury, Md: Property manager pleads guilty.
OCEAN CITY — An Ocean City woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $19,000 from a homeowner's association she was hired to manage. Sixty-nine-year-old Marsha Renfrow was the manager and treasurer of the Sundowner Park Association from 1992-2006.
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Seems like the worse the economy gets the more property managers decide to rip off their clients.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Police: Woman Stabs Husband During Fight Over Hot Dogs For Dinner - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando

Police: Woman Stabs Husband During Fight Over Hot Dogs For Dinner - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando: "RANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A 28-year-old woman in Orange County stabbed her husband during a fight that sparked over having hot dogs for dinner, according to a sheriff's office report."
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I notice that this took place in Florida. Is there something in the water down there? Or maybe it's something in the hot dogs.

'Ruthlessness gene' discovered : Nature News

'Ruthlessness gene' discovered : Nature News: "Selfish dictators may owe their behaviour partly to their genes, according to a study that claims to have found a genetic link to ruthlessness. The study might help to explain the money-grabbing tendencies of those with a Machiavellian streak — from national dictators down to 'little Hitlers' found in workplaces the world over."
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I wonder what sorts of social roles these "little Hitlers" are attracted to? Probably positions where they can have power over people and can make their lives miserable, and where they have few if any checks on that power. Let's see...where might we find positions like that?

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop - New York Times

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop - New York Times: "A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment."
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Blogging for pay--the new indentured servitude. Apparently they are getting fat or skinny, can't sleep, have no social life, and drop dead from heart attacks. Could it be that living on Red Bull and Doritos and staring at a computer screen 20 hours every day is bad for you?