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Insurance Companies Own Fast Food Stock
The fast-food industry has long been under fire for selling high-fat, high-calorie meals that have been linked to weight gain and diabetes, but the financial health of the industry continues to attract investors — including some of the leading insurance companies in the U.S., a new study reports. According to Harvard Medical School researchers, 11 large companies that offer life, disability, or health insurance owned about $1.9 billion in stock in the five largest fast-food companies as of June 2009.

Geithner Pushes to Restrict, Not Ban Derivatives
In a letter to a ranking Senate Democrat, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for restrictions on derivatives—those financial instruments whose value is derived from other instruments—but stopped at an outright ban on the trading practices that helped lead to the current financial crisis. Geithner said that derivatives were “at the very center of the financial crisis,” though he did not endorse a proposal by Democrats to ban the derivative business entirely. Read Geithner’s letter in pdf form here. The Wall Street Journal: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday in a letter that tight restrictions on derivatives is “at the core” of a sweeping overhaul of financial rules but didn’t call for the outright ban on trading by banks that some Democrats are pushing. Mr. Geithner, in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), said new financial rules must create restrictions on how over-the-counter derivatives are traded “in order to curb abuses that were at the very center of the financial crisis.” But he notably stopped short of endorsing a proposal from Ms. Lincoln to force large banks to spin off derivatives trading businesses entirely. His letter is the latest in a forceful push by the Obama administration to counter a lobbying effort by financial companies to scale back the derivatives rules. Read more

In a letter to a ranking Senate Democrat, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for restrictions on derivatives—those financial instruments whose value is derived from other instruments—but stopped at an outright ban on the trading practices that helped lead to the current financial crisis.

Geithner said that derivatives were “at the very center of the financial crisis,” though he did not endorse a proposal by Democrats to ban the derivative business entirely.

Read Geithner’s letter in pdf form here.

The Wall Street Journal:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday in a letter that tight restrictions on derivatives is “at the core” of a sweeping overhaul of financial rules but didn’t call for the outright ban on trading by banks that some Democrats are pushing.

Mr. Geithner, in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), said new financial rules must create restrictions on how over-the-counter derivatives are traded “in order to curb abuses that were at the very center of the financial crisis.” But he notably stopped short of endorsing a proposal from Ms. Lincoln to force large banks to spin off derivatives trading businesses entirely.

His letter is the latest in a forceful push by the Obama administration to counter a lobbying effort by financial companies to scale back the derivatives rules.

Read more

Related Entries

• April 15, 2010 Live Chat: Robert Scheer on the Financial Crisis
• April 9, 2010 ‘Left, Right & Center’: Justice Stevens, Financial Hearings and Nukes

Gays Get Hospital Visitation Rights
Addressing an important rights issue, President Barack Obama has written a memo ordering hospitals in the U.S. to grant to gay and lesbian partners the same visitation privileges already enjoyed by married heterosexual couples. One caveat of the order is that those hospitals required to allow visitation must explicitly receive Medicare and Medicaid money. Private hospitals without government support are still free to be as homophobic as they want. The memo also requires that all documents for power of attorney and health care proxies be accepted and honored, regardless of the patient’s sexual orientation. —JCL Los Angeles Times: President Obama late Thursday ordered most hospitals in the country to grant the same visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners that they do to married heterosexual couples. In a memo to his Health and Human Services agency, Obama ordered the secretary to ensure that all hospitals getting Medicare and Medicaid money honor all patients’ advance directives, including those designating who gets family visitation privileges. The order also requires that documents granting power of attorney and healthcare proxies be honored, regardless of sexual orientation. The language could apply to unmarried heterosexual couples too. Read more

Addressing an important rights issue, President Barack Obama has written a memo ordering hospitals in the U.S. to grant to gay and lesbian partners the same visitation privileges already enjoyed by married heterosexual couples.

One caveat of the order is that those hospitals required to allow visitation must explicitly receive Medicare and Medicaid money. Private hospitals without government support are still free to be as homophobic as they want.

The memo also requires that all documents for power of attorney and health care proxies be accepted and honored, regardless of the patient’s sexual orientation. —JCL

Los Angeles Times:

President Obama late Thursday ordered most hospitals in the country to grant the same visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners that they do to married heterosexual couples.

In a memo to his Health and Human Services agency, Obama ordered the secretary to ensure that all hospitals getting Medicare and Medicaid money honor all patients’ advance directives, including those designating who gets family visitation privileges.

The order also requires that documents granting power of attorney and healthcare proxies be honored, regardless of sexual orientation. The language could apply to unmarried heterosexual couples too.

Read more

Related Entries

• April 15, 2010 Live Chat: Robert Scheer on the Financial Crisis
• April 9, 2010 ‘Left, Right & Center’: Justice Stevens, Financial Hearings and Nukes

Murray Hill Inc.: Justice John Paul Stevens: Corporate Persons Everywhere Salute You!
As the first corporation to run for federal office, Murray Hill Inc. took up the challenge as outlined by Justice Stevens and filed a voter registration with the Maryland Board of Elections.

Carl Pope: Back to the 90s
No, not the 1990s (Bill Clinton’s era). I’m talking about the 1890s, when William McKinley served as the 19th century’s last president. That’s where the…

Jerry Schweighart, Champaign Mayor: Obama Not An American (VIDEO)
Add Champaign mayor Jerry Schweighart to the short and oddball list of skeptics about Barack Obama’s birthplace. In a video shot by YouTube user illinoisgrads…

Right-wing media furious Obama “mock[ed]” tea partiers by correctly pointing out he lowered taxes

The right-wing media has attacked President Obama for “mocking average citizens”after he said “you’d think [the tea partiers] would be saying thank you,” because he has lowered taxes. Indeed, absent from the right-wing media’s outrage is the fact that Obama is correct; as the AP wrote, “[y]ou wouldn’t know it by the Tax Day rhetoric, but Americans are paying lower taxes this year.”

Right-wing media furious over Obama remarks that tea partiers should say “thank you” for lower taxes

Ace of Spades: “Obama: Ha ha…can you believe those anti-tax rubes?” Ace of Spades reported on April 15 that “taxes are at their lowest levels in 60 years, according to William Gale, co-director of the Tax Policy Center and director of the Retirement Security Project at the Brookings Institution.” CBS News further reported:

“The relation between what is said in the tax debate and what is true about tax policy is often quite tenuous,” Gale told Hotsheet. “The rise of the Tea Party at at time when taxes are literally at their lowest in decades is really hard to understand.”

Bruce Bartlett: “[F]ederal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president.” Bruce Bartlett, former adviser to President Reagan and Treasury Department economist under George H.W. Bush, wrote on March 19 that “federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president. And given the economic circumstances, it’s hard to imagine that a tax increase would have been enacted last year”:

As noted earlier, federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president. And given the economic circumstances, it’s hard to imagine that a tax increase would have been enacted last year. In fact, 40% of Obama’s stimulus package involved tax cuts. These include the Making Work Pay Credit, which reduces federal taxes for all taxpayers with incomes below $75,000 by between $400 and $800.

According to the JCT, last year’s $787 billion stimulus bill, enacted with no Republican support, reduced federal taxes by almost $100 billion in 2009 and another $222 billion this year. The Tax Policy Center, a private research group, estimates that close to 90% of all taxpayers got a tax cut last year and almost 100% of those in the $50,000 income range. For those making between $40,000 and $50,000, the average tax cut was $472; for those making between $50,000 and $75,000, the tax cut averaged $522. No taxpayer anywhere in the country had his or her taxes increased as a consequence of Obama’s policies.

AP: “You wouldn’t know it by the Tax Day rhetoric, but Americans are paying lower taxes this year.” The Associated Press reported on April 14, “You wouldn’t know it by the Tax Day rhetoric, but Americans are paying lower taxes this year, even with increases passed by many states to balance their budgets.” While noting that in future years, some taxes may increase for some Americans, the article said that “Tax Day rhetoric” does not match the reality of Americans’ tax burdens today. From the article:

Congress cut individuals’ federal taxes for this year by about $173 billion shortly after President Barack Obama took office, dwarfing the $28.6 billion in increases by states.

[…]

The massive economic recovery package enacted last year included about $300 billion in tax cuts over 10 years. About $232 billion was in cuts for individuals, nearly all in the first two years.

The most generous was Obama’s Making Work Pay credit, which gives individuals up to $400 and couples up to $800 for 2009 and 2010. The $1,000 child tax credit was expanded to more families, and the working poor can qualify for as much as $5,657 from the Earned Income Tax Credit.

There were also credits for qualified families who buy new homes or make energy improvements to existing ones, as well as tax breaks to help pay college tuition or buy new cars.

CBS: “Poll Reveals Most Americans Don’t Know They Got a Tax Cut.” A February 5-10 New York Times/CBS News poll found that only 12 percent of respondents “think the Obama Administration has … decreased taxes for most Americans.” CBS wrote that “[o]f people who support the grassroots, ‘Tea Party’ movement, only 2 percent think taxes have been decreased, 46 percent say taxes are the same, and a whopping 44 percent say they believe taxes have gone up.” Media Matters for America has noted that conservative media figures including Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal, Fox News contributor S.E. Cupp and Fox Forum columnist Peter Roff have denied that Obama cut taxes.

Materials: KURA Bed Tent, Solar System Set

Description: Using the KURA Bed Tent I attached planets from a solar system set my son had. I used a needle and thread to stitch the planets directly onto the tent. The planets glow in the dark so at night in the darkness of the tent, they look great.

~ Shannon, Florida

See more of Shannon’s KURA bed tent Planetarium

Lanny Davis Launches New Lobby Shop: ‘The Best Solution Is A … Bipartisan Solution’
Lanny Davis announced this week that he’ll launch his own law and lobbying shop, declaring: “In today’s Washington, there is usually no ‘Red’ solution or ‘Blue’ solution but almost always the best solution is a ‘purple’ or bipartisan solution.”

Koch Industries: We Don’t Fund Tea Parties (Except For The Tea Parties We Fund)
Koch Industries, a major backer of myriad right-wing causes, has never provided funding “specifically to support the tea parties,” said Koch spokeswoman Melissa Cohlmia in an unsolicited message that landed in our inbox last night in advance of Tax Day.

La firma checa está de enhorabuena. En lo que llevamos de año, Škoda ha vendido 178.901 unidades, lo que se traduce en un 25% más que en el mismo trimestre del año 2009. Pero es que entre esas cifras destacan las del mes pasado, porque los 72.900 coches que se comercializaron a nivel global en marzo suponen la mayor cantidad mensual en toda la historia de la marca.

Una gran parte de ese éxito se la debe agradecer al mercado chino, que cada vez demanda más sus productos. Así lo demuestran los 42.707 ejemplares que vendió en ese país asiático durante los tres primeros meses de 2010, y que representan un incremento del 122% respecto al equivalente periodo en el año anterior.

También subieron las unidades entregadas en Europa Occidental y Central en la misma proporción , un 13%. Aunque el país donde mejores resultados hubo fue Alemania, el que tuvo una crecida de ventas mayor fue Gran Bretaña, con un 72% en relación al primer trimestre del 2009. Por detrás de los británicos está España, con otro importante aumento del 71%, en el que colaboraron los lanzamientos del Superb Combi y el Yeti.

Del resto de modelos, el rey indiscutible sigue siendo el Octavia, con 77.192 unidades vendidas. Y el que ha percibido un mayor aumento de su éxito comercial ha sido el Superb, cuyos 20.514 ejemplares comercializados representan un 112% más que en 2009. El compacto Fabia, aunque es el segundo más popular con 52.700 unidades, ha sufrido un ligero descenso del 3% en este primer trimstre del 2010. Finalmente, de la anterior generación del Octavia con el apellido “Tour” se vendieron 8.414 ejemplares, y del Roomster 7.886.

Fuente | Škoda

Osama, where are you?
Excerpt: As President Obama escalates the war in Afghanistan, and anywhere between 24 and 53 percent of your federal tax $’s are spent on defense, let’s not forgot about one of the boogeymen that got us in this mess in the first place. Where’s Osama Bin Laden? Besides a tape that Bin Laden supposedly made a few […]

Simon Johnson: Wall Street’s Stranglehold on Our Democracy Must Be Broken
The progressive economist talks about the fight to reform Wall Street, what Robert Rubin should do with his money, and why Jamie Dimon is the most dangerous man in America.

The progressive economist talks about the fight to reform Wall Street, what Robert Rubin should do with his money, and why Jamie Dimon is the most dangerous man in America.

Arizona: ICE, Tea Parties Panic Immigrants
What immigration authorities called the nation’s single largest operation to fight human smuggling spread fear and panic among residents in Phoenix and Tucson neighborhoods.

What immigration authorities called the nation’s single largest operation to fight human smuggling spread fear and panic among residents in Phoenix and Tucson neighborhoods.

The Roots of Stalin in the Tea Party Movement
The Koch family, America’s biggest financial backers of the Tea Party, would not be the billionaires they are today were it not for the godless empire of the USSR.

The Koch family, America's biggest financial backers of the Tea Party, would not be the billionaires they are today were it not for the godless empire of the USSR.

Found under: Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10, Vivaz, ,

Sony Ericsson has finally posted a quarterly profit which also happens to be the first profitable period since Q2 2008. We were expecting for the giant cell phone manufacturer to finally revive its business and it looks like Sony Ericsson is on the right track. Whos responsible for the revival Well besides lots of layoffs which occurred in the previous years the company now has better handsets to offer its customers. Sony Ericsson posted a net profit of 21 million Euro for Q1 2

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The Week In Blog: End of Bipartisanship Edition

The latest edition of The Week In Blog is up at BloggingHeads.tv featuring Matt Lewis and myself on blog reaction to Wall Street reform, the Tea Party express and Elena Kagan possible Supreme Court nomination. Watch it below.

Norquist says Haley Barbour ?is not completely fluent in English.?
Politico reported today that Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) “is weighing the prospect of a 2012 White House bid” and recently discussed the possibility with his closest advisers. When asked about the discussions, Barbour himself didn’t downplay the possibility of running for president. “After the November election, we’ll sit down and see if there is anything […]

Politico reported today that Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) “is weighing the prospect of a 2012 White House bid” and recently discussed the possibility with his closest advisers. When asked about the discussions, Barbour himself didn’t downplay the possibility of running for president. “After the November election, we’ll sit down and see if there is anything to consider,” he said. Today on ABC’s Top Line, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist may have put a small blemish on Barbour’s prospects for consideration. Norquist ridiculed RNC chair Michael Steele because of his gaffe-prone TV appearances. “Sometimes it hurts,” he said, adding that Steele should take example from former RNC chair Barbour:

NORQUIST: Haley Barbour — because he’s not completely fluent in English — was not quite the spokesman that you might have thought, although he’s a brilliant guy, wonderful strategist. I don’t think you saw him going into ‘94 as the spokesman so much as an organizer and a fund-raiser. And he brought the Republicans and the House and Senate together and banged their heads together when necessary

Third-party groups join chorus clamoring for 2011 federal budget
For congressional Democrats hoping to avoid the political hits involved in writing a budget this year, not writing a budget is proving to be nearly as painful. All week, Republicans have been accusing Democratic leaders of shirking their duty to face up to the nation’s budget woes. On Friday, out…

Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist goes from shoo-in to political freefall
THE VILLAGES, FLA. — Republican Florida governor Charlie Crist, once regarded as a shoo-in to become Florida’s next senator, waded into a milling crowd. If his campaign had been going according to plan, his audience here on this night would have been perfect: an elderly, largely conservative Rep…

First-quarter fundraising winners and losers
First quarter fundraising winners and losers Yesterday was the official deadline for federal candidates to file their first quarter fundraising reports — detailing their donations and expenditures for the first three months of 2010. With so many reports flooding in and what’s contained in them l…

Massa gave $40,000 to aide before resigning as congressman
The day after Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) announced he was resigning amid a sexual harassment scandal, the congressman wrote a $40,000 check from a campaign account to his chief of staff, federal campaign records show.

CBS spreads Supreme Court rumor
The White House ripped CBS News on Thursday for publishing an online column by a blogger who made assertions about the sexual orientation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, widely viewed as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court.

Peugeot sigue desvelando la información sobre el Peugeot RCZ, estos días coincidiendo con su presentación han desvelado toda la información sobre precios para el mercado español, recordamos que el RCZ será el primer modelo de los denominados “fuera de serie” una nueva firma que agrupará a los Peugeot más exclusivos.

De momento ya conocemos los precios y las variantes que estarán disponibles bajo el capó, puesto que inicialmente sólo serán dos motores, el conocido 1.6 THP de 156 CV y el motor diesel de dos litros y 163 CV. Cuando se ponga a la venta, estará disponible el motor gasolina unido exclusivamente al cambio manual de seis relaciones.

Tras el verano llegará el esperado motor 1.6 THP de 200 CV, recordamos que estos motores gasolina son desarrollados en colaboración con BMW, y este de 200 CV también lo podremos ver en el DS3 R y no es más que una variante del motor más potente que también equipa el Mini John Cooper Works.

Los precios para la gama del Peugeot RCZ son los siguientes:

• RCZ 1.6 THP 156 CV 27.000 euros
• RCZ 2.0 HDI 163 CV 29.200 euros
• RCZ 1.6 THP 156 CV Aut. 28.000 euros
• RCZ 1.6 THP 200 CV 29.200 euros

El modelo tiene muy buena pinta y esperamos a corto plazo ponernos al volante de un RCZ para contaros como va el “fuera de serie” de la marca del león.

Fuente | Peugeot

Found under: HTC, Droid Incredible, Features, ,

The HTC Droid Incredible has been outed by Verizon last week and now we have the official specs and features of the device. We have talked about this Android device before and now we know its going to be one of the most important Android handsets in the USA at least until the HTC EVO 4G hits the market. The Droid Incredible is going to be a CDMA handset heading to Verizon so in case youre thinking about getting it outside of the USA then youd better get an HTC Desire instead. But he

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Google isn’t wasting too much time putting one of its latest acquisitions to work. The search giant bought Aardvark, an interesting Q&A service, a couple of months ago for a reported $50 million. It made it available shortly after in Google Labs, but no one expected to see too much happening around the startup for a while. Wh… (read more)

The Pocket Change Portfolio (PCP) was first introduced on September 13, 2008 as a real money dividend income portfolio funded by the “pocket change” earned from my various online endeavors. Each month I report on the portfolio’s progress and update its holdings.

March Dividends Received

Total dividends received were $120.51 for the month. It consisted of:

• $7.39 Vanguard Intermediate Bond ETF (BIV)
• $4.62 Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV)
• $16.66 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | Analysis
• $16.80 BP plc (BP)
• $8.71 Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) | Analysis
• $16.15 United Technologies Corp. (UTX) | Analysis
• $15.47 Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED)
• $18.70 McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) | Analysis
• $10.40 Harleysville Group Inc. (HGIC) | Analysis
• $5.61 Emerging Mkts Sovereign Debt (PCY)

The portfolio was up in February, for the year and since its inception. Online earnings in February surpassed the $6,000 mark for the first time. A large portion of the increase is a result of offering one-year subscription option for D4L-Premium Services. In addition to several new one-year subscriptions, many monthly subscribers moved to the annual plan. Traffic on Dividends Value was lower in February, compared to the January record volume.

March Dividend Stock Purchases

The following securities were purchased during the month:

• 24 shares Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV) providing $95.04 in annual dividend earnings
• 46 shares Abbott Laboratories (ABT) providing $80.96 in annual dividend earnings [Analysis]
• 100 shares Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (LEG) providing $104.00 in annual dividend earnings [Analysis]

Annualized Dividend Income

Including the above purchases, my annual PCP dividend income is now $1,320.94 at the current dividend rates. This is up $279.08 from last month’s $1,041.86 amount. The PCP has never had a monthly decline in annualized dividend income.

Portfolio Returns

• Month: 2.61%
• Year-to-date: 4.31%
• Life-to-date: 17.96% (annualized)

My PCP holdings are always available by selecting the Holdings option from the menu in the header. The next PCP update will be mid-May.

(Photo: sanja gjenero)

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Location services are all the rage right now, at least if you look at the kind of money some are willing to spend on them. Foursquare is the hottest locations service/game/mobile app of the day and, despite still being relatively small, it has under one million users right now, a couple of big venture capital firms want a piece of the action. Bu… (read more)