“Who could have known?”, etc. Perhaps the trail of dead bodies might have been a clue…

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I’m hoping things get to the point where my boss allows us to work from home, because even my relatively short commute is becoming very expensive:
As prices near — or in some places top — $4 a gallon, most Americans say they are cutting back on other household spending, seriously considering buying more fuel-efficient cars […]

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Link:
Jay Butler, who teaches real estate at Arizona State University, said of the builders, “They really weren’t building homes. They were building mortgages that they could put into mortgage-backed securities in order to sell them to investors in China and France.“

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If not your own town:
A major Wall Street firm agreed to return $37 million to 17 cities and towns in the state, as well as to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, after it allegedly misled them into buying investments they thought were as safe as cash.
UBS Financial Services Inc. reached an agreement with Attorney General Martha […]

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When even Republican evangelicals get it, why don’t our politicians?
This especially resonates with me today because I have to go to battle with my insurance company. I need an MRI on my ankle, which most likely has a protruding bone chip from when I sprained it in September. (It’s gotten to the point where I […]

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Sure sounds like we’re planning to stay a while, huh?
BAGHDAD - Forget the rocket attacks, concrete blast walls and lack of a sewer system. Now try to imagine luxury hotels, a shopping center and even condos in the heart of Baghdad.
That’s all part of a five-year development “dream list” — or what some dub […]

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And yet, people wonder why I don’t trust pharmaceutical companies:
Misleading research is often published in major medical journals and doctors are lending their names to it, the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association said on Tuesday.
Doctors, regulators, publishers and others are all taking money, information and small presents from pharmaceutical companies and […]

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More of that great Republican leadership we admire:
WASHINGTON — As the farm economy collapsed in the 1980s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was saddled with mountains of surplus cheese, corn and other foods that it socked away in warehouses and even caves.
As recently as 2003, the USDA had to buy so much powdered milk to […]

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Cymbalta.
You know, the usual pushback from the medical establishment on suicide stories is, “We were treating people for depression, and God knows how many people were saved by this drug.” But this drug wasn’t used for depression - it’s prescribed for urinary incontinence (something that’s often easily treated by Kegel exercises) and peripheral neuropathy. (You […]

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Of course, we always knew what humanitarians they are:
At a time when parts of the world are facing food riots, Big Agriculture is dealing with a different sort of challenge: huge profits.
On Tuesday, grain-processing giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. said its fiscal third-quarter profits jumped 42%, including a sevenfold increase in net income in its unit that […]

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People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.
- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
John Maxwell from the Jamaica Observer on where the world financial system has now focused their “expertise”:
The food supplies of […]

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Industry analysts predict it in a few years:
“Get ready for another economic shock of major proportions — a virtual doubling of prices at the gas pump to as much as $10 a gallon.
That’s the message from a couple of analytical energy industry trackers, both of whom, based on the surging oil prices, see considerably more […]

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They just can’t seem to help themselves:
WASHINGTON — The mortgage industry, facing the prospect of tougher regulations for its central role in the housing crisis, has begun an intensive campaign to fight back.
As the Federal Reserve completes work on rules to root out abuses by lenders, its plan has run into a buzz saw of […]

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Guess it’s time to find a new bank:
Wachovia(WB - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr) is being investigated by federal prosecutors as part of a larger probe of alleged laundering of drug money, according to a published media report.
The report, in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, cited people familiar with the matter.
It said Wachovia is talking to the […]

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I’m sorry to be inappropriate, but I find it hard not to laugh when someone uses the words “Bush” and “efficiency” in the same sentence:
Joseph Wassmann thought he had a secure position producing videos for the U.S. Military Academy, but not long ago he found his job on the line because of a Bush administration […]

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This is a BIG problem, I know. If we had universal healthcare, the incentives would be to treat, not to save money:
NEW YORK, Apr 19, 2008 (The Charlotte Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — – A leading group of occupational doctors is taking the unusual step of speaking out publicly against pressure from […]

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Wall St. Journal:
The next earnings nightmare for banks has begun.
Until now, losses at many banks have come from multibillion dollar write-downs on toxic debt. But analysts believe the costs of building bad-loan reserves could cause just as much pain — and for a lot more banks.
Banks establish bad-loan reserves as a cushion against expected losses […]

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So what happens next? (h/t Sarah at Corrente)
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration violated federal law last year when it restricted states’ ability to provide health insurance to children of middle-income families, and its new policy is therefore unenforceable, lawyers from the Government Accountability Office said Friday.
The ruling strengthens the hand of at least 22 states, […]

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What is wrong with this picture?
“There is a lot of Clinton fatigue in the party and in the country today, and many people are reacting to that,” said Tom Daschle, a former Democratic leader in the Senate, who is supporting Mr. Obama.
Tom Daschle is the national co-chairman of the Obama campaign. After his reelection defeat, […]

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Are you sure you want that last burger?
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the union that represents 6,000 federal food inspectors told a congressional committee Thursday that the Agriculture Department tried to intimidate him and other employees who reported violations of regulations, an allegation denied by the agency.
Union chief Stan Painter said that following a […]

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Good news for our side:
State regulators Thursday set the stage for the reinstatement of thousands of Californians who may have been wrongfully dropped from health care plans over the past four years.
In an extraordinary move, Cindy Ehnes, director of the California Department of Managed Health Care, ordered immediate reinstatement of more than two dozen patients […]

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How psychiatry is medicating a nation.

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Now how many of you believe Verizon has gotten few complaints? Because I have some mortgages I’d like to sell you:
TAMPA - Verizon’s largest labor union in Florida held a second protest early this morning at about a dozen company sites to protest what it calls poor customer service.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers represents […]

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Obama’s saying Social Security is “going to run out of money”? Still pushing that RW talking point, I’m afraid.
The time to push back on this important issue is now, not in the general election.*
By the way, Charles Gibson really, really blows goats. Truly the worst debate moderator EVAH. (He sure got animated talking about […]

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And taking with the other:
WASHINGTON — The Senate proclaimed a fierce bipartisan resolve two weeks ago to help American homeowners in danger of foreclosure. But while a bill that senators approved last week would take modest steps toward that goal, it would also provide billions of dollars in tax breaks — for automakers, airlines, alternative […]

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