Links: 2009-05-14

Since I was off yesterday, I have a lot of links.  Here is the first batch.  I will try and post some more tonight.  Enjoy.

• Geithner enriches speculators in “sham” bank bail-outs – Telegraph

  The US Treasury’s effort to stabilise the banking system through the TARP programme is a hopelessly ill-conceived policy that enriches speculators at public expense, according to the buy-out firm supposed to be pioneering the joint public-private bank rescues.

• Migrating blue whales rediscover ‘forgotten’ waters – environment – New Scientist

  “Blue whales have begun reappearing in Pacific waters off the coast of Canada and Alaska for the first time since whaling ceased in 1965. Fifteen of the world’s largest creatures have visited the waters off British Columbia and Alaska since 1997, and four of them were individuals also photographed in Californian waters.”

• Jimmy Cayne Was Smoking Pot For Years And Years
• David Tice Says S&P Going To 400 – Business Insider

  “David Tice is the manager of the Prudent Bear fund, so we’re pretty sure we’ll never hear him go bullish, let alone get high on all this green shoots nonsense. In an interview with Bloomberg this morning, Tice called for the S&P 500 to go 400, saying quantitative easing is a failed idea and that our future is Japan. Enjoy.”

• Worst of Recession ‘Probably Over,’ Carlyle’s Rubenstein Says – Bloomberg.com

  “The worst is behind us,” Rubenstein, 59, said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Washington late yesterday. “By the end of this year we should see positive growth.”

• The credit crunch of 1294: Causes, consequences and the aftermath | vox

  “It is widely believed that the current credit squeeze, leading to bank failures, is a modern phenomenon arising from the interplay of a historically unique set of circumstances that could not have been foreseen. But a team of academics – a finance professor and two medieval historians – at the University of Reading’s ICMA Centre has documented a medieval credit crunch that bears remarkable parallels with the current crisis.”

• RGE Monitor – Green Shoots or Yellow Weeds?

  This is an all encompassing global look at the economy. Green Shoots? Take a look and find out.

• naked capitalism: Advanta, With 20% Uncollectable Debt, to Shut Off Lending

  I discussed this with Yves as a big event. Remember, one of my top ten predictions for 2009 is a major bankruptcy due to credit cards.

• Option ARMageddon » Recession Batters Social Security/Medicare

  This is Pete Petersen’s big bugaboo. If you see the numbers here, you will realize that cuts in benefits are probably the only way this situation is going to be rectified. It is much more problematic regarding healthcare than it is Social Security. Universal healthcare/socialized medicine would solve that problem, of course.

• Lifehacker – VLC 1.0 Release Candidate Now Available – Vlc

  This is my video player of choice. It has immense functionality. Do dowload it if you watch streaming media or dvds on your computer

• Top 30 Female Internet Entrepreneurs – The Next Web

  This is a good list and ode to the fact that many women are at the cutting edge in technology.

• Ex-Monster Worldwide chief guilty of options fraud | Reuters

  “James Treacy, the former CEO and president of job recruiter Monster Worldwide Inc (MWW.N), is guilty of securities fraud and conspiracy in a stock options backdating scheme, a U.S. jury ruled on Tuesday.”

• Judicial Watch Forces Release of Bank Bailout Documents | Judicial Watch

  “Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it forced the Obama administration to release documents about the October 13, 2008, Treasury Department meeting that coerced major banks to allow the government to take $250 billion equity stakes. Among the other news, the documents confirm former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson told the CEOs of nine major banks that they had no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in their institutions. The documents show Obama Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, FDIC Chairman Shelia Blair, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke co-hosted the meeting with Paulson. “

• The Pelosi factor – Julian E. Zelizer – POLITICO.com

  “Democrats control the White House and Congress. Pundits are talking about the crisis in the Republican Party, and Democrats are pushing forward a bold domestic agenda — including health care and the environment — that has the potential to rival the Great Society. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been instrumental to the reversal of Democratic fortunes even though most of the attention has been focused on President Barack Obama.”