| Scam artists avoid jail time, enjoy 'custody'
Certain kinds of crime stories elicit different kinds of reactions and emotions. The shooting in Turlock that left two robbers dead probably didn't generate much sympathy for anyone involved. After all, they were committing a crime, and it's hard to feel sorry for someone who pays the ultimate price for doing something so illegal. Most readers, I suspect, reacted with a nonplussed, "Oh, well ... ." At the other end of the spectrum is the case of Lonni Ashlock and Ronald Buhler, two men who last year pleaded no contest to six felony counts of ripping off troubled and vulnerable homeowners. This one is a blood-boiler. Sentenced in September to a year in the county jail, these con artists have spent no time behind bars. They haven't had to eat jail food or even pick up trash as part of a work crew.
Will O2 woes burst the iPhone's bubble?
I surfed without any difficulty at home and in the office, as well as in coffee shops, pubs and simply walking down the street. The trade-off of having to use Wi-Fi instead of 3G (which isn't supported by the iPhone) is made a little easier if you spend a lot of time near a hotspot operated by The Cloud, the wireless provider that has struck a deal with Apple and O2 to offer unlimited access to any iPhone customer. Most of us, however, will use the wireless access in a more limited way. Still, it's surprisingly good on battery life: even with heavy browsing, listening to music and making calls, the phone managed to come through the test period on just a few charges and without dying once. Here Apple has the chance to benefit from harnessing iPod behaviour such as the nightly docking ritual.
Guns-on-campus bill advances in Senate
Legislation that would allow people to carry guns on Arizona community-college or public-university campuses advanced Monday, 11 days after a gunman killed five people and himself in an Illinois university lecture hall. Members of the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee passed the legislation along a party-line 4-3 vote. Democratic senators Ken Cheuvront, Albert Hale and Richard Miranda voted no. Senate Bill 1214, which would allow concealed-weapons permit holders to carry a gun at community colleges and Arizona's three public universities, next heads to the Senate Rules Committee. .
Financial Sector Credit
Three-month Treasury bill rates fell 18 bps this week to an amazing 2.87%. Two-year government yields jumped 20 bps to 3.30%. Five-year T-Note yields rose 13 bps to 3.63%, and ten-year yields jumped 13 bps to 4.23%. Long-bond yields increased 9 bps to 4.66%. The 2yr/10yr spread ended the week at 97 bps. The implied yield on 3-month December '08 Eurodollars jumped 15.5 bps to 3.78%. Benchmark Fannie MBS yields rose 7 bps to 5.755%, this week under-performing Treasuries. The spread on Fannie's 5% 2017 note narrowed 10 to 50, and the spread on Freddie's 5% 2017 note narrowed 10 to 50. The 10-year dollar swap declined 3.6 bps to 68.4. Corporate bond spreads generally narrowed somewhat, with the spread on an index of junk bonds ending the week 7 bps narrower. Investment grade debt issuers included Wachovia $1.95bn, Great Atlantic & Pacific $380 million, and CSX $380 million.
EU to remove cost disparities in cross-border payments
Despite the introduction of the European common currency in 1999, cross-border payments have remained more expensive than equivalent domestic transactions. Tofill this gap, the European Commission in 2001adopted an immediately bindingregulation that eliminated cost unbalances for payment card transactions, withdrawals from cash machines and credit transfers. The result is that the same bank cannot apply higher fees if these operations are carried out by a customer in another EU member state. At the same time, EU institutions are moving towards harmonisation of payment rules across the European Union. In 2007 thePayment Services Directive was adopted with a view to entering into force by the end of 2009. Since January 2008, the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)hasbeen in operation.
Delegate Counting in Texas and Ohio
I agree with many of the posts here pointing out that Clinton's claim to "experience" is based primarily her husband's record instead of her own. I think that Democrats should be deeply concerned about this. In fact, I believe that this is the strongest argument AGAINST her candidacy -- because she is so closely allied with the politics of her husband, I fear that another Clinton running for president will only galvanize conservatives in November -- ensuring greater GOP voter turnouts and risking the potential that many independents will sway towards McCain. If we want to avoid another four years of a GOP White House, I think that Obama is the only sane choice. .
Blotter: Woman reports losing money in online repair deal
Police are investigating a report from a Virginia woman that a Denton business she found on the Internet defrauded her of more than $1,000. The woman said she found the business in the 3300 block of East University Drive and its Web site claimed it would replace a transmission for $1,097. In August, she spoke by telephone to someone at the business and gave that person her credit card number. She was instructed to take the car to a transmission business near her home in Martinsville, Va. Her credit card was debited $17 for an authorization fee and later $1,080. Then someone from the business told her she would have to pay an extra $250 for "hard parts," according to a police report. Later, she was told the job had not been completed and would not be completed until she paid a total $2,500 for the work.
Issues take back seat as Obama and Clinton tangle
We had 8 years of the Clinton lying, cheating, twisting of truth, spineless response to initial attacks from Mid-east. Hillary is NOT a uniter and her husband makes it virtually impossible to be so. Do this county a favor and vote for ANYONE but the Clintons! .
Bankruptcy Trustee Suits Cause Increasing Concern for Law Firms
John will tell you that the plans to go ahead with the exchange offer and raise capital without solving the cash problem will represent serious securities fraud," Garfinkel wrote in the memo. "Our issues now are defrauding an FDIC-insured bank, which has federal law implications as well as serious civil liability issues. The board will become enormously exposed to the securities fraud implications. In John's own words -- 'We all go to jail' -- in my words, 'This is serious shit.'" Healy's words to Garfinkel proved prophetic. A few months later, DVI filed for bankruptcy, where it emerged that the Jamison, Pa.-based company, which reported $2.8 billion in assets at the time of its filing, had for years concealed its true financial condition. In March 2007, Garfinkel was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in the scandal, making him one of the first executives successfully prosecuted under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
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