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Audi has released a promotional video for its Audi Space area on the Playstation Home network to the Internetz. It’s part Blade Runner, part Berlin discotheque and all e-Tron.

From where we sit, it could win a Truth in Advertising award since it lives exactly up to its billing. Besides, if you want to get some digs in Audi Town, this is the only way in. Follow the jump to check out the vid.

[Source: Audi]

Continue reading Video: Audi Space on Playstation Home network the place for spiky-haired sky drivers

Video: Audi Space on Playstation Home network the place for spiky-haired sky drivers originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the Ringling Bros. circus brought by a herd of animal activist groups, including the Fund for Animals (FFA), now a branch of the animal-rights “Humane Society” of the United States (HSUS). While the ruling was based on a legal technicality, the finer details indicate something sinister: a pay-to-play conspiracy involving HSUS executive Michael Markarian. Let’s take a look. [Click here for a copy of the ruling.]

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2000 and alleged wrongdoing by circus elephant trainers, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. It was based on information provided by a former Ringling elephant trainer named Tom Rider. After leaving his job in 2000, Rider was paid by animal rights groups to crisscross the country testifying about the supposedly “bad” treatment of circus elephants. One of those groups was the Fund for Animals, which Markarian took over in 2002.

The Fund for Animals merged with HSUS in 2005 and became the Humane Society Legislative Fund, which Markarian continued to lead; he also became HSUS’s Executive Vice President. (If you find this confusing, you’re not alone: The Court referred to Markarian’s changing group affiliations with the catch-all “FFA /HSUS”)

In his ruling, Judge Emmet Sullivan found that the Fund for Animals paid Tom Rider $4,400 through Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, the law firm litigating its case. The Fund also paid Rider $1,000 directly, and funneled an additional $11,500 to him through the “Wildlife Advocacy Project” (WAP), a nonprofit group founded by some of the law firm’s attorneys.

All told, the cabal of plaintiff animal rights groups paid Rider at least $190,000. And Judge Sullivan wrote that this was his "sole source of income" as the case made its way through the federal court system.

Markarian’s testimony tried to muddle the pay-for-play implications, but the Court found it dubious at best. In his ruling, Judge Sullivan writes:

Beginning in December 2001 and continuing until at least the beginning of 2008, the organizational plaintiffs made payments to WAP for the purpose of funding Mr. Rider. While FFA/HSUS (Mr. Markarian) testified that it was not certain whether WAP used its “donations” for other purposes as well, this testimony is undermined by the documents underlying FFA/HSUS’s “donations,” which indicate that the money was specifically for use in connection with this litigation. FFA/HSUS’s testimony also is questionable given that in 2003, plaintiffs’ counsel, Ms. Meyer, specifically sent an email to the representatives of the organizational plaintiffs, including Mr. Markarian, requesting funds to support Mr. Rider’s advocacy efforts regarding the elephants and the lawsuit, and expressly suggesting that the funds for Mr. Rider could be contributed to WAP so that they would be tax deductible.

HSUS also co-hosted a July 2005 fundraiser in California, along with the ASPCA and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), for the explicit purpose of raising money to “wage this battle on behalf of the elephants.” As Judge Sullivan notes, “proceeds from the fundraiser (more than $13,000.00) were provided by AWI to WAP, which in turn disbursed those funds to Mr. Rider.”

It appears that Michael Markarian and a stampede of other animal rights leaders engaged in a conspiracy to funnel money to a witness in federal court—including help from their lawyers, who used a tax-exempt charity as their favored “bag man.” But Judge Sullivan smelled the rat a mile away: “The Court finds that Mr. Rider is essentially a paid plaintiff and fact witness who is not credible, and therefore affords no weight to his testimony…. [T]he primary purpose [for the payments] is to keep Mr. Rider involved with the litigation…”

It remains to be seen whether the fallout from this stinging courtroom defeat will be significant. For starters, we’re recommending today that the IRS immediately suspend the Wildlife Advocacy Project’s tax-exempt status, and that HSUS suspend Markarian until it has made a full, public accounting of his use of funds from unsuspecting donors.

Over the last five or six years Sutton Tools has developed an extensive range of application-specific taps that offers greater life than the commodity-type taps used widely throughout industry. This has moved the focus from cost per tap to tooling cost per hole.

The new Synchro Series adds another factor in the calculation of cost per tapped hole……’shorter cycle times due to increased speeds’…leading to much greater savings in reducing the total cost of threading holes for the manufacturer.
The range consists of several geometries to provide the optimal solution in materials such as general purpose steel, heat treatable steel, aluminum, and copper alloys, as well as stainless steel. On stainless steel a recent case study showed the possibility to run at speeds of around 30 m/min!

For machines where thru-the-spindle coolant is possible, all of the above mentioned types are available with thru-the-tap (IK) coolant ducts from sizes M5 and above. This offers increased coolant flow, resulting in optimal cooling/lubrication at the cutting action & flushing chips out from the hole.

For more information, contact Sutton Tools.

Top 10 PS3 Games of 2010

A fantastic first-party lineup gives the PS3 a great start for 2010.

By 1UP Staff

Sony had a pretty rocking 2009 with games like Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, and inFamous, and 2010 already looks like another great year for first-party and/or exclusive PS3 titles. Anyone who complains that the PS3 doesn’t have enough games to justify its existence needs only to look at God of War 3, Heavy Rain, The Last Guardian, Gran Turismo 5, and even 3D Dot Game Heroes to see the error of their ways. We haven’t even touched on what possible surprises Sony and its friends might reveal later at E3 or somesuch. And again, if this list could be a little bigger, then we’d fit in games like Red Dead Redemption, Mafia II, and MAG.

<!– 10. –> Final Fantasy XIII

Dev: Square Enix | Pub: Square Enix

Currently locked in mortal combat with Mass Effect 2 for the title of “Biggest RPG of 2010,” the thirteenth numbered Final Fantasy looks very much like a return to the fan-favorite elements found in FFVII and FFX: Beautiful people with fashionable clothes engaged in a melodramatic story and lots of turn-based menu-driven combat. Even gamers who are growing a little weary of the Final Fantasy style are interested, just because the whole thing is so pretty. March is gonna be huge, but FFXIII is so big that it simply eclipses everything else that month.

<!– 10. –> God of War 3

Dev: SCEA Santa Monica | Pub: SCEA

If you finished God of War 2, you know exactly how God of War 3 begins — with you as Kratos climbing Gaia’s back on his way to getting revenge on the gods. Between letting players fight on the backs of giant Titans, attack with new weapons like the gauntlet-like Cestus, and use new abilities like the ability to fly vertically in wind tunnels, God of War 3 looks to push the series forward in many ways, but for many the appeal here is to see how it finishes off the trilogy from a story perspective.

<!– 10. –> Heavy Rain

Dev: Quantic Dream | Pub: SCEA

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Bravery and luck saved Northwest Flight 253 passengers

Homeland Security Department’s and Transportation Security Administration’s knee-jerk reaction to the terrorist who hoped to kill 250 people is like adding injury to insult [“TSA post mired in politics,” News, Dec. 29].

Just luck and brave passengers saved those air passengers; not any security element played a part.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have been the one going through pat-down security measures, not the traveling public inside the United States, after the fact.

Why doesn’t the TSA profile people who are possible terrorists before something happens, instead of afterward when they treat all passengers as would-be criminals?

Who have they ever caught?

Taking away nail clippers, too much hand lotion or toothpaste don’t count toward combating terrorists who mean to kill Americans.

Janet Napolitano, an amateur, should resign from secretary of Homeland Security Department because her leadership is really bad, and she doesn’t seem to have a clue how the organization should work.

— Jim Henderson, Walla Walla

Toenail clippers and mini scissors just don’t cut it

Homeland Security Department and Transportation Security Administration have again learned the wrong lesson from the latest airplane bomb threat.

One voice of reason was Ken Dunlap of the International Air Transportation Association: “We’ve spent eight years looking for little scissors and toenail clippers; perhaps the emphasis should be looking for bad people.”

Additional screening and explosives testing were not used on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab because they are reserved for “travelers who trigger added scrutiny.” How is it that a young Muslim male, traveling alone on a one-way ticket purchased with cash, whose father had warned of his son’s growing militancy, did not trigger added scrutiny?

I never get through the metal detector without a thorough pat-down — because I have an artificial hip — and my carry-on luggage is always tested for explosives.

Something is fundamentally wrong when rigid security procedures force agents to spend 10-15 minutes on innocent travelers and 10 seconds on people like Abdulmutallab.

Dunlap is right; start focusing on dangerous people. Until we do, we will be no safer and will continue to reinforce the terrorist’s goal of making us feel ever more harassed, threatened and fearful.

— Matt Brislawn, Newcastle

Proactive and innovative solutions to stop terrorists

We need proactive and innovative solutions — we are at war with terrorists [“Airliner plot raises fears about al-Qaida in Yemen,” News, Dec. 28].

Airport security is not entirely working in the U.S. Thorough screening was used by the British to stop the Nigerian man from traveling. Our passengers seem to be stopping terrorists more than our security devices.

For 30 years, Israel has used behavioral patterns and special techniques to deter terrorists. We can learn from their expertise.

Our Homeland Security is failing badly and needs improvement. Why don’t we track Americans who travel frequently to terrorist countries? Our intelligence system needs revamping and the various components need to communicate with each other.

— Mark Litchman, Olympia

How do you spell security?

Let me see if I have this right: A Northwest agent fails to do his/her job properly. The FBI, as usual, doesn’t do theirs [“Bomb plot exposes air security weaknesses,” page one, Dec. 28].

We will now spend more of our tax dollars on ridiculous new equipment and hours more in long lines at the airport.

Yes, America, this is the way we spell security.

— Dave Barber, Maple Valley

Fragile, handle with care

So inch by inch, we lose our freedom on airlines because someone or some people want to show the world how pathetic they are.

Seems to me they’re winning this propaganda war; every time something happens in an airplane or airport, we lose more freedom. More screens, more strip-downs, more of everything these so-called terrorists want to happen.

People need to stand up for the right of freedom, not just in speaking but in travel. We pay more every six months when the airlines raise prices, but we lose more of our freedom on the airlines.

Should we just tag ourselves with “Fragile, handle with care” and wait for the UPS man to show up?

— Justin Carroll, Fort Collins, Colo.

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Someone call Bruce Willis. Russia announced Wednesday that they are considering launching a spacecraft with the intention of altering its possibly earth-crushing trajectory to a less threatening one.

The asteroid, named Apophis, was first discovered in 2004, and is expected to fly by the Earth in 2029. Apophis is expected to pass close enough to the Earth that there would be a 1-in-37 chance of impact. Unlike Hollywood however, Russia isn’t planning on using a nuclear explosion to move the asteroid, but they haven’t revealed exactly what they have planned yet.

The leader of the Russian space program said that they would be inviting NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Chinese space agency to participate in the project. No word on if Aerosmith would be writing the soundtrack.

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“Baby, let’s blow this popsicle stand.” That’s the snappy dialogue you can expect to see in the screenplay I’m writing about a man who takes up Escape From Earth 2012’s offer. You see, there’s a company out called there EcsapeEarth2012 that’s offering you the chance to leave this dumb planet before everything explodes in an orgy of stardust and iPhone cases come December 21, 2012. So, you buy a ticket, then if the apocalypse does, in fact, arrive, you board the spaceship and it takes you to a brand new planet, one that’s fit for humans.

The offer is both real and a joke all at the same time. It’s real in that you can book a ticket right now, and it’s real in that the company will mail you a ticket (and travel package!) to board the USS Ark. The package costs $14.49, which is less than the price of a monthly MetroCard in New York. That must be one efficient spaceship~!

It’s a joke in that, if there really is an apocalypse and you don’t survive the plane trip over to New Earth then you get your money back.

So yes, you’re buying a novelty spaceship ticket for $15, so that’s sorta neat.

And let’s face it: if there’s an apocalypse, I sincerely doubt that the remnants of the United States of America will be too concerned with making sure the small claims courts are still up and running.

End of the world: the most interesting sci-fi scneario of them all, if done right. I’m looking at you, 2012.

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Climate-change legislation similarities

There’s a lot of similarity between the federal government’s $100 million subsidy of proposed Medicaid costs to Sen. Ben Nelson’s home state of Nebraska in exchange for his vote on health-care reform [“ ‘Cornhusker kickback’ bends federal law,” Opinion, editorial, Dec. 28], and some of the provisions of currently proposed climate-change legislation.

In addition to the cap-and-trade provisions, regulatory exemptions to pollution limits are being written into the bill for many of the industries doing the most polluting, as well as other favored operations.

Special considerations for the home states of various senators are playing a role in all manners of horse-trading — concessions in return for votes.

— Tom Camfield, Port Townsend

Vote still stands

The editorial regarding the special price extracted by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., failed to extrapolate one important result of the bribe offered by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to make the deal.

Even if we the people are fortunate enough to have the U.S. Supreme Court determine that the bribe is unconstitutional, and set aside the $100 million payment to Nebraska, the one vote Nelson cast to move the legislation forward in the Senate would still stand.

Reid wins the battle regardless of whether the method used to win the battle was ethical. He wins because he cannot lose after the vote is cast in his favor and he attains the 60 votes required to move the legislation forward.

This kind of deal-making is what is wrong with Congress. Until the deal makers in Congress are held to the same criminal standards as the business community, nothing will change. Blatant acts of bribery in the business community are illegal and they are prosecuted. Why are they considered deal-making in Congress?

— Gerry Bowlby, Lake Forest Park

Health-care editorial: nothing’s perfect

The editorial “Put health care aside and fix the economy” was one of the strangest I’ve ever read [Opinion, Dec. 20].

The Seattle Times has long been a supporter of universal coverage, but the bill isn’t perfect so 50 million Americans need to wait until an uncertain date for health insurance? When does the editorial board think that date is — after the just-say-no Republicans gain seats in Congress next year?

The editorial supported an idea but not an actual bill to achieve that goal. Name one major piece of legislation in U.S. history that was perfect and didn’t have to be revised later. It stated the top issue is the economy. What does that mean to ordinary people? If they lose their job and health coverage for their family, health care is not a major economic issue for them?

It’s presumptuous to say that senators who chose to participate in good faith in the yearlong health-reform debate don’t understand the bill.

— Deborah Mihm, Yakima

Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof’s book Half the Sky is an absorbing narrative of stories that are rarely heard: a New Jersey teenager is raising awareness about the status of girls in poor countries, an Afghan schoolteacher is leading a learning insurgency, and a former first lady of Somalia’s hospital is saving the lives of mothers in Somaliland. These and other vignettes bring to life the struggles and courage of unforgettable women who are, as the book’s subtitle suggests, turning oppression into opportunity. Half the Sky begins by outlining the most egregious ways in which human rights are violated: trafficking and slavery, prostitution, rape and honor killings, and maternal mortality. The authors do not flinch from describing experiences that are horrifying testimony to the deeply rooted gender inequality that persists around the globe. The book also explores the reasons for such discriminatory practices—including attitudes toward religion and traditional cultural beliefs—effectively stoking the reader’s growing sense of moral outrage. We learn, for example, that the world’s leaders are effectively ignoring the 500,000 women who die each year either giving birth or trying to cope with unplanned births, by relegating maternal mortality to a “women’s issue.” After convincing the reader that this…

In a sharp contrast to the way they were able to break in to the American market, Hyundai is now hoping to appeal to customers via stylish vehicles and visual appeal. Hyundai’s first car in the U.S. was the 1986 Excel which sold for $4,995; now the Korean automaker is selling vehicles in a similar price range to Toyota and Honda, as they hope to build on solid performance last year.

Through November of 2009, Hyundai’s U.S. market share is 4.3%, up from 3% a year previous. This is still a far cry, however, from the 11% and 16.8% that is enjoyed by Honda and Toyota, respectively.

With the introduction of the Genesis, and the styling on both the Tucson and the all-new Sonata, Hyundai is starting to sport a decidedly German-influenced look of luxury.

The new Sonata represents the real test for Hyundai, as analysts predict the car may boost Hyundai’s sales by as much as 15% next year. The slow ascension that Hyundai is making is reminiscent to those of Honda and Toyota, as both now offer low-end luxury vehicles and performance cars.

Earlier this year, Hyundai received the highest rank among nonluxury brands in J.D. Power & Associates’ initial quality survey, ahead of Honda and Toyota.

-By: Stephen Calogera

Source: BusinessWeek

This is Part 3.  Here is  Part 2   and  Part 1 

<<< CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO

Jim Rogers- World Wide Depression – CNBC interview with Maria Bartomoro – he is short term long the dollar – Youtube
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Wall Street’s 10 Greatest Lies of 2009 – By Nomi Prins – AlterNet 

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15 Huge Ideas That Flopped This Decade – Joe Weisenthal –  Nothing makes a person sound smarter than articulating some huge idea about how the world is going to change, or how they can change it, over the coming years. –  The Business Insider

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Next Decade Will Be Good One for Stock Investors: Matthew Lynn – Bloomberg  – … The answer? Good. A shortage of capital from any source other than the stock market; moderate but persistent inflation; and the probability that economic growth will be stronger than many economists expect means that “the 10s” will be a time when equities start to have some rocket fuel in their engine again … – BusinessWeek

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10 Rules for ETF Success in 2010 –  Carl T. Delfeld – Follow these 10 ETF investment rules and build a global portfolio that will beat the benchmarks: … has list … – Seeking Alpha

Krugman Predicts a Likely Economic Contraction in 2010 – Kimball Corson – Paul Krugman, our recent Nobel Laureate, has taken to the media to predict a high likelihood of a coming economic contraction. The question is, what is going on here? – Seeking Alpha 
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Pimco Sees Corporate Bonds Topping Treasurys in 2010 – By JOAN E. SOLSMAN – Pacific Investment Management Co.’s head of corporate-bond investment said the instruments are likely to outperform Treasurys next year, with certain financial-sector bonds particularly standing out from the pack. – Wall Street Journal

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Richard Russell: “We’re on the path for fireworks in 2010 – Posted by Prieur du Plessis – … a major concern, as quoted below:  “… federal deficits are running into the trillions of dollars. The roll-over of debt coming up in the next two years defies comprehension. For instance, in the next two years the US must roll over $2.5 trillion. Worldwide, banks during the coming two years will have to roll over $7 trillion. On top of that commercial real estate in the US has $750 billion to roll over. Whether all this debt can be successfully rolled over is doubtful, but one thing is clear – interest rates will go up. This will have an immediate impact on housing. Nobody can negotiate a mortgage now – and worse, nobody has the money to buy a house for cash.  “In the face of the deflationary events described above, the Fed will have to create a massive torrent of money. This should be highly inflationary … – Investment Postcards from Cape Town 

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Three key trends for investors and savers in 2010 – TOM PETRUNO – if Geithner is right … – LA Times

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READ THIS:  What’s in Store for 2010 – Bruce Krasting Blog  – This is great.  There is no question on where Bruce stands – he is very specific
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10 Predictions for 2010 – By Jason Hamlin – Gold Stock Bull

In a move announced today, the administration has said that they will provide an additional $3.8 billion in government aid to GMAC Financial Services, raising its stake in the company from 35% to 56%. GMAC has thus far been the recipient of $12.5 billion in government aid sonic December ‘08. The funds are said to help the company as they are faced with a balance sheet comprised of one third home loans.

A bondholder of the company’s who wishes to remain anonymous, has mentioned that GMAC would be wise to sell off their mortgage servicing business, which processes borrowers payments and has a value of about $3 billion. The company’s mortgage business lost about $600 million in the third quarter, while the auto finance operation made about $164 million after taxes.

Like GM, GMAC has undergone a top management change, as CEO Al de Molina resigned and was replaced by former Citigroup executive Michael Carpenter. The company has been unable to raise private capital after a government analysis determined that approximately $11.5 billion in funds were needed for the company to remain efficient.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Reuters

Filed under: GM, Earnings/Financials

When General Motors was on the verge of bankruptcy, cuts were made to salaried workers’ pay and benefits. The move was important to help preserve as much cash as possible while also showing the federal government and the United Auto Workers that everybody in the company was making a sacrifice. Some might even say that salaried employees sacrificed more than others, as thousands were given pink slips and all lost health care benefits after age 65.

After bankruptcy, The General restored the seven percent pay cuts, and now the company is reportedly restoring merit pay increases for 2010. The Detroit News reports that GM told employees before they left for Christmas break that merit pay was being restored; likely a nice bit of news at the end of a very depressing year.

Joe Phillippi of AutoTrends Consulting Inc. in Short Hills, NJ tells the DetNews that the move was necessary to help GM retain its best workers, adding “Given the number of departures they’ve had, particularly senior people taking retirements or buyouts, you run the risk of a lot of brain drain and losing institutional knowledge.”

[Source: The Detroit News]

Report: Merit pay returns to General Motors originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Conceptually, carbon credits are fine and could have potential, but their current application is horribly flawed.

Metal Miner highlights how Cap & Trade can be gamed whereby it destroys developed nation jobs and doesn’t protect the environment either.

The example of Corus’ Redcar plant is a case in point. The plant was closed because key clients reneged on long term contracts and the 3m ton facility was left without enough sales to cover its costs. European steel producers receive about 2 tons of carbon credits for every ton of steel produced. Closure of Redcar will mean Corus will reduce its carbon emission by the equivalent of 6m tons of carbon emissions.

But Tata, Corus’s owners, are rapidly expanding steel production in India where it could receive hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the Clean Development Fund by building new plants that are less polluting than existing Indian plants (not less polluting than Redcar you understand, just less polluting than older plants in India).

As we have written recently elsewhere, the Indian steel industry is set to more than double production to some 124 million tons a year by 2011-2012. Even environmentalists must see this is a disaster for the reduction of carbon emissions. It merely transfers production from western steel mills where steel is produced in a carbon constrained environment to a non constrained market

Thus carbon credits can be gamed so that they pay for companies to shut down factories in developed nations and simply rebuild them in developing ones. Even if the new factory isn’t more efficient than the one shut down back in the developed nation. It apparently just has to be more efficient than older local plants in the developing country.

Read the full article at Metal Miner

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• I Was In The Room When China Purposely Ruined Copenhagen To Humiliate Obama
• Copenhagen Was A Total Failure And It’s Barack Obama’s Fault
• Carbon Offset Futures Tank After Copenhagen Fiasco

click here for  >>>       PART 1       PART 2

What are We? – Stupid? – by Bruce Krasting –   I was disappointed with the Christmas Eve ditties from Treasury and FHFA re: the Agencies. To be honest, I was appalled. The two releases contained significant information. The timing was obviously an attempt to slip in some bad news while everyone is drinking eggnog.  Of course that backfired. The blogs, and yes, the MSM disintegrated those that sent the emails out on Christmas Eve. The smell that these announcements have created is not likely to go away anytime soon. – Zero Hedge
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Obama Terrified Of Another Leg Down In Housing, As Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Are Set To Go In Dramatic New Direction – Joe Weisenthal – … So basically, Fannie and Freddie will be called on to do everything humanly possible to prop up the housing market in the coming years. Mortgage purchases, principal reductions… everything. And as it goes nuts in its efforts, it will need a blank check so that its lenders don’t even get slightly nervous. … – The Business Insider

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Fannie Changes Clear Way for ‘Large-Scale’ Buyouts – By Jody Shenn – The U.S. government’s expanded capital backstops and portfolio limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increase “the prospect of large-scale” purchases by the companies of delinquent mortgages out of the securities they guarantee, according to Credit Suisse Group analysts. – Bloomberg
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares soar – By Tom Petruno – But a banking analyst is puzzled by the stock market’s reaction after the government in effect gave the mortgage giants blank checks of federal support. … But exactly how the government’s move makes a payoff for Fannie and Freddie shareholders more likely in the long run, rather than less likely, ought to puzzle most investors.  The stock market’s reaction mystifies veteran banking analyst Bert Ely at Ely & Co. in Alexandria, Va. “They’re not going to get anything back,” he says of any investors who have long-term faith in the mortgage giants’ shares. … –  LA Times

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The Mother Of All Money Pits – Gary Townsend – The government wants to give the GSEs unlimited support, yet key Democratic leaders have shown they don’t have a clue about the companies’ solvency. A look at the record.    – BankStocks.com

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Fed Watch: Why Christmas Eve? – Tim Duy – conclusion – … In short, there are plenty of ulterior motives for Treasury’s expansion of the Mae and Mac bailouts. My favorite is the desire to expand the ability of the GSEs to absorb principle reductions for housing modifications. But the simplest explanation is likely the correct one – the financial damage to the GSEs continues virtually unabated, and the Treasury simply needs to make explicit what was implicit: Mae and Mac are backed by the US government’s full faith and credit … – Economist’s View Blog

One of the 15 women looking for true love with a handsome pilot on the upcoming 14th season of The Bachelor reportedly became romantically-involved with a male member of the show’s staff instead.

Instead of Bachelor Jake Pavelka, an unidentified lovesick contestant on the famed dating reality series is accused of fooling around with a crew member from the show when the cameras weren’t rolling, according to reports. News of the rumored affair broke after ABC aired a promo with one of the women saying in a clip, “She’s been having an sexual affair with somebody else in the Bachelor House.”

Fan site fansofrealityTV.com has been snitching about the Bachelor affair scandal for weeks. The site claims to have inside info about a member of the show’s production crew and one of the contestants having sex on the set of The Bachelor: On The Wings of Love while the show was shooting last fall.

Reality shows are usually very strict about cast and crew fraternizing off camera. The most famous incident of a behind-the-scenes romance took place the first season of MTV’s The Real World in 1992, when the show’s director Bill “Corky” Richmond became involved with cast member Becky Blasband.