For more than two decades, Washington officials have expressed faith that financial markets were best left alone to regulate themselves. But that faith has been shaken by the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns, and a growing number of officials are calling for tougher government regulation. On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke joined the chorus.

Read more:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/43476.html

A major bailout… Rumors are that special terms include the Fed will provide guarantees on Countrywide’s loan portfolio.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080111/ap_on_bi_ge/countrywide;_ylt=AhARySvLuah3KGgzoZdY6A4DW7oF

Notice how the “convential wisdom” is totally wrong. Reagan and Bush have presided over the largest increases in government since WWII.

From IntelligentGuess.com

…Even though they only constitute 11% of the overall population.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21678030/

Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight Tuesday night.

The move comes two years to the day after The Times began the subscription program, TimesSelect, which has charged $49.95 a year, or $7.95 a month, for online access to the work of its columnists and to the newspaper’s archives. TimesSelect has been free to print subscribers to The Times and to some students and educators.

In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986, and some will be free.

Permalink:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/business/media/18times.html?ex=

In most other countries, Labor Day commemorates the rights and sacrifices of the regular working people.  What is not usually remembered is that it is usually marked on the calendar on May 1st, which was when in 1886, on the west side of Chicago (Randolph & Des Plaines streets), there was general strike for the 8-Hour Workday.  The saying was “8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep and 8 hours for what we will.”

These policies were fought for during what is now called the “Gilded Age” which lead to the development of so-called “Robber Barons” that were the “Captains of Industry”.  These included J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller.  For some reason, to even remember the struggles of regular people against these monopolists for some balance in their lives is dangerous to discuss today.

Nonetheless, reviewing the history of Labor Day can be greatly enlightening:  Wikipedia Article

As anyone with a student loan knows, once you take out a student loan, you are forever bound to repay. You literally have no escape, not for bankruptcy and not even for death in many cases.

The student loan companies have managed to pass legislation that gives them powers that no other lender has ever had in history. Including being exempted from “Truth in Lending” laws and statutes of limitations…. The best one is that once you “consolidate” your loans, you can never refinance them again — ever. You are forever bound to that one company at that one interest rate (even if prevailing rates are lower), that’s the law.

Pretty good if you’re one of the companies, right?

Read More at the L.A. Times

Sun Aug 19, 6:45 PM ET

Jim Cramer’s stock picks on his nightly CNBC show “Mad Money” haven’t beaten the market over the past two years, according to an article in the August 20 edition of Barron’s.

Over that period, Cramer’s stocks rose 12 percent, compared with a 22 percent rise in the Dow Jones industrial average and a 16 percent rise in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, Barron’s said.

The data is based on a record of 1,300 of the CNBC star’s buy recommendations compiled by YourMoneyWatch.com, a Web site run by a retired stock analyst and loyal Cramer-watcher, said the report.

The Barron’s article adds that it also looked at a database of Cramer’s “Mad Money” picks over the last six months, which is maintained by his Web site, TheStreet.com. The data showed his picks were flat to down in relation to the market, according to the Barron’s report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070819/tv_nm/cramer_barrons_dc;_ylt=AnSj5QiaYPIHOB8kW_lIG0EDW7oF

Paul Wolfowitz has been ousted from his presidency at the World Bank. After decades of supporting tyrants and despotic regimes throughout the world, from General Suharto in Indonesia to Saddam Hussein in the 1980’s, he’s finally out…

In the U.S., we are taught to revere such warmongering morons. “It is ridiculous to suggest that it would take more troops to provide security to Iraq than it would take to win on the battlefield.” He told the Senate in Feb. of 2002.

Wolfowitz was the “intellectual godfather” of regime change in Iraq, a country that was literally “floating on a sea of oil” he testified. So much so, that the oil would be used to pay for the reconstruction of the country. …This is the primary reason why the Navy Seals, 82nd Airborne, and other units were used to secure the oilfields of Iraq during “Shock and Awe” in March of 2003…. rather than protecting the country from the looters.

In 2002, everyone from Gen. Eric Shinseki (400 - 600k troops needed), to Tommy Franks (500k troops needed), to Colin Powell (450k troops needed), agreed with the general framework required to do what’s called Nation Building.

Paul Wolfowitz dismissed all of them with contempt and disdain.

Goodbye and Good Riddance.

Fall of the Neocons — Times of London

Big News: SAP AG has announce plans today to acquire Stamford-based OutlookSoft Corp (!!) :

Yahoo News