Friday, December 19, 2008

RIAA Stops Lawsuits, But Not the Threats

For years the RIAA has been filing lawsuits against thousands of individuals who allegedly shared copyrighted music. Following recent court setbacks, the lobby group has announced it will stop mass lawsuits. Instead, it will focus on cutting deals with ISPs to disconnect ‘IP-addresses’ that repeatedly share copyrighted music.

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Bernard Madoff Screwed Feds to the Tune of $17 billion in Ponzi Scheme

Even Uncle Sam may get burned by Bernard Madoff. Investors who lost their fortunes in Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme will end up paying far less in taxes and may even be eligible for refunds, according to accounting experts. By some estimates, the Internal Revenue Service could be out as much as $17 billion in lost tax revenue.

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Police Get The Wrong House In Galveston, Assault 12-Year old

As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three men jumped out rushing toward her. One of them grabbed her saying, "You're a prostitute. You're coming with me."

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Sac. Mayor Kevin Johnson announces goals to cut traffic congestion - Latest News - sacbee.com

Kevin Johnson Johnson - Latest News - sacbee.com: “Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson on Friday announced his intention to make transportation a top focus in the coming months -- including working with other agencies to find a way to cut congestion on the Capital City Freeway and eventually get 10,000 more people living along the region's light-rail line.

Johnson said it starts with a lobbying tour he and others from Sacramento will make next month to Washington, D.C., to win funds from an expected federal economic stimulus package for infrastructure projects.

"Next month, I plan a full-court press to make sure Sacramento gets its fair share for transportation projects," he said. "It's about jobs, its about improvement. It's about quality of life. It's about moving quickly."”

My friend from Cal days is making his mark and quickly. He's rightly going after the dollars needed to put Sacramento to work.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

AFL Suspends 2009 Season

AFL Suspends 2009 Season
By Dr Bill Chachkes-Managing Partner-Football Reporters Online

Sad but True: the AFL will not play in 2009. It seems that the economic downturn has hit even sports (except for baseball which is still paying grossly inflated salaries to marginal players-Maybe they will suspend operations for a year when people stop showing up to watch a poor product!). I have received several e-mails from AFL fans asking "What's the deal here? One went so far as to insinuate that someone must have embezzled some cash somewhere for this to happen. I can assure you to the best of my knowledge, no one has stolen any cash from The AFL. They simply need to "restructure" for the benefit of the players and the game to continue.

The question now is "Does the AFL return in 2010?" My Guess is Yes, but many of the players that made up the 2008 AFL will be gone. Most veteran players will find work playing in Canada, a few might get into the NFL next fall, some may head to AF2, which as of this moment is still in operation, still some more will turn to coaching at the High School and college level, or return to college as students.

F.R.O. Will do everything it can to bring you whatever we learn over the next few weeks...

Indianapolis Colts' Marvin Harrison has MRI, will sit Thursday game - ESPN

Marvin Harrison out for game: “NDIANAPOLIS -- Colts receiver Marvin Harrison did not travel to Jacksonville on Wednesday and will miss Thursday night's game against the Jaguars.”

ESPN - Minnesota Vikings go for division title with Tarvaris Jackson at QB

Tarvaris Jackson at QB: “EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson will make his second consecutive start Sunday against Atlanta in a move that might portend a permanent return to that role.”

Tom Engelhardt of The Nation Morns The Passing of Studs Terkel

Hard Times Without Studs: A heartfelt blog post. Tom Englehardt rightly points to radio host Laura Flanders mention of the Chicago Labor protest by over 200 workers and how President-Elect Barack Obama supported their efforts. It's a new day; a shock to a generation raised on the idea of union-busting without even knowing what unions are, let alone why they exist.

Matthew Devlin formerly with Lehman , others charged with insider trading | Reuters

Insider trading story | Reuters: “Former Lehman salesman Matthew Devlin was charged with participating in an insider trading scheme, a criminal complaint filed in District Court in Manhattan showed.

The complaint said Devlin should have known not to divulge confidential information his wife shared with him.

His wife is a partner in public relations firm Brunswick Group LLC. Brunswick said in a statement: "The husband of a Brunswick employee has been arrested by U.S. authorities for using information obtained illegally from her and without her knowledge, which has then passed to third parties."”

Chuck Todd Named White House Correspondent -- Political Wire

Chuck Todd To The White House -- Does this mean no more cool political board work? Todd's on camera numbers drawing on delegate counts was the hit on MSNBC.

Mary L. Schapiro, Gary Gensler and Daniel K. Tarullo, Obama Economic Appointees

Truthdig - Ear to the Ground - Tough Road Ahead for New Economic Appointees: “Mr. Obama named Mary L. Schapiro, 53, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has come under sharp criticism for its failure to detect signs that major Wall Street banks were in trouble before the financial crisis, as well as lax oversight of the New York financier Bernard Madoff, who the authorities say has confessed to running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

[...] Mr. Obama also announced the selection of two former Clinton administration economic officials, Gary Gensler and Daniel K. Tarullo, to leading economic posts.

Mr. Gensler, who will head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, was a Treasury official in the Clinton administration. He also worked as a senior adviser to former Sen. Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, who wrote legislation to increase oversight of the accounting industry and reform corporate governance.

Mr. Tarullo, a law professor at Georgetown University who was also an economic advisor to President Clinton, will fill an open seat on the Federal Reserve board in Washington. He is currently leading Mr. Obama’s transition team at the Treasury Department, and is considered an expert in international economic regulation.”

-- President-Elect Barack Obama is rounding out his economic team with the choice of Mary L. Schapiro, Gary Gensler and Daniel K. Tarullo. I have to note that it seems there are more women appointed to this cabinet than at any time in American History. I think the reason for this is these choices -- and women in general -- may have better "vetting" track records than their male counterparts. It's just a guess -- I have nothing other than experience to base this on.

Paul Weyrich Leader of Conservative Movement Passes On - The Swamp

The Swamp: “Paul Weyrich, one of the best-known leaders of the conservative movement, died this morning at age 66 from an undisclosed cause.

He was a co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, one of the most influential think tanks in the nation's capital.”

-- Oh, no. I'm not a conservative, but I am a political junkie.