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  • Full Transcript: First Presidential Debate|Barack Obama-John McCain|Oxford, MS, September 26, 2008
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• NFL Player Updates

  • Raiders bring back TE Madsen October 6, 2008
    The Raiders have brought back TE John Madsen to their 53-man roster. He took the spot of injured OL Seth Wand.
  • Croyle says he'll start Week 7 October 6, 2008
    The Kansas City Star reports that Chiefs QB Brodie Croyle said he will be the starting QB when K.C. hosts Tennessee in Week 7. "If I’m healthy, I’m going to go," Croyle said today. "I just have to make sure that over the next two weeks that everything keep going the way it’s supposed to be and we don’t have any setbacks. If that’s so, then we’ll be ready to go against Tennessee."
  • Cowboys' Williams out Week 6 October 6, 2008
    The Dallas Morning News reports that Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said Monday that SS Roy Williams (forearm) won't play against the Cardinals in Week 6.
  • Benson to get more touches in Cincy October 6, 2008
    Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said Monday that he will give newly-acquired RB Cedric Benson a bigger role in Week 6 and beyond.
  • Parker expected back Week 7 October 6, 2008
    Steelers RB Willie Parker, who has rushed for 1,200 or more yards the last three seasons, is expected to return from a two-game layoff with a sprained knee to play at Cincinnati on Oct. 19. The Steelers are on bye in Week 6.
  • Rodgers comes out of Week 5 OK October 6, 2008
    Packers QB Aaron Rodgers will miss practice time again this week but is expected to play at Seattle next Sunday. Head coach Mike McCarthy said Monday he plans to have Rodgers on the field against the Seahawks despite the sprained right shoulder that nearly sidelined him for the 27-24 loss to Atlanta. Rodgers played through pain against the Falcons, and played well, completing 25-of-37 passes for 313 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
  • Vikings' Henderson placed on IR October 6, 2008
    The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that Vikings LB E.J. Henderson has been placed on injured reserve. He was originally supposed to miss only a month with dislocated toes.
  • Vanden Bosch leaves with groin issue October 6, 2008
    The Tennessean reports that Titans DL Kyle Vanden Bosch left Tennessee's Week 5 game with a groin injury in the second quarter.
  • Gonzalez leaves win over Houston October 6, 2008
    The Indianapolis Star reports that Colts WR Anthony Gonzalez left Indianapolis' Week 5 win over the Texans in the second half with an unknown injury.
  • Dolphins bring back Billingsley October 6, 2008
    The South Florida SunSentinel reports that the Dolphins have brought back CB Will Billingsley to their practice squad.

Financial, Markets, Economy News Roundup

Do you call a day like today bad or just reality?

• Chaotic day with Dow down 3.8% - New York Times
• Dow below 10,000 for first time since 2004 - Bloomberg
• B of A cuts dividend, offers stock – Bloomberg
• Paulson looking for ways to unlock credit – Bloomberg

I think we just gave him 700 billion ways.

• Lehman managers portrayed as irresponsible – New York Times
• Fuld blames Lehman’s collapse on ‘rumors’ – Bloomberg

Fuld is obviously a hopeless jackass.

• Bond risk rises – Bloomberg
• Oil prices fall below $90 per bbl – New York Times
• Bailout’s limit on pay will be tough to realize – Wall Street Journal
• Jim Cramer: Time to get out of market – NBC
• Germany takes hot seat as Eurpope falls into the abyss – The Telegraph

  We face extreme danger. Unless there is immediate intervention on every front by all the major powers acting in concert, we risk a disintegration of global finance within days. Nobody will be spared, unless they own gold bars. — Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Credit Default Swaps and the Potential Cost of a Las Vegas Financial System

If you’ve been paying any attention to my posts and choice of content over the last two weeks, you know I’m not for the current $700 billion federal bailout of Wall Street which is underway thanks to the jackasses in Washington – and I’m talking all of them regardless of party.

Granted, I’m not a financial expert. But, I have tried to educate myself, and this bailout just seems to be rewarding bad behavior with worse public policy. One book I’m about done with is Kevin Phillips’ Bad Money. This book is currently ranked 63 on Amazon and I highly recommend it. At any rate, just when I was getting resigned to the fact the bailout is now a fact of life, and there’s nothing I can do about it, I got a little more education this weekend.

On Sunday morning, I heard the latest edition of This American Life. Part of the show dealt with the impending doom that is ‘credit default swaps.’ You should give this show a listen online. Ira Glass’s gang simply defines and exposes the scope of the risk out there with these ’swaps.’ Later in the day came this report by 60 Minutes. This is another great piece of journalism exposing the problem with these financial vehicles. So, what are they – and why should we care?

Let’s say I’m a hedge fund and I have $1 billion wrapped up in a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) – aka a bunch of mortgages bundled together, many of which are shit. Lehman Brothers or CitiGroup comes to me and says, “We will insure you against loss for 2% of what you paid for the CDO.” I’m a little worried about the underlying assets in the CDO, so I say, sure, and fork over $20 million. CitiGroup has now made $20 million for nothing. When banks, investment banks, and hedge funds were doing these deals, they were merely placing a bet that the CDOs they were “insuring” wouldn’t tank.

We know what’s been happening. There’s more junk in the CDOs than anyone realized or cared to admit. I believe part of the reason Lehman failed is that the folks they sold credit default swaps to began to come calling for their insurance payout. But wait, I’m talking about insurance, right? Why are they called ’swaps?’ Simply put, if they called it insurance, it would be regulated, ie. the Lehmans of the world would have to show capital, or a risk reserve fund, backing up their deals. That’s cash. They call them swaps so the whole transaction remains the unregulated, gambling pile of poo that it is.

So far, taxpayers, we’re on the hook for $700 billion. If you watch the 60 Minutes segment, you’ll find out that the estimated value of all the credit default swaps out there in the world’s markets is around $50 trillion. That’s a “T” and an “R” at the beginning of that “illion.” How many more of the “insured” are going to demand payment from the underwriters of these swaps? How many more banks, insurance companies, or investment houses are going under? Who is going to pay for that?

Today, October 6, Last Day to Register to Vote in Ohio!

So, get out there and register.  I was registered in Licking County and moved to Bexley two or three months ago.  I changed my voter registration today at the Franklin County Board of Elections, downtown Columbus on E. Broad.  In and out in ten minutes.  The people were friendly. There was parking in a lot on the east side of the building.

In Franklin County one can still register until 9 p.m. at the Board of Elections.

When Americans Are Forced to Ride Their Bikes to Work

This is hilarious and passed along to me by a friend.

This dude decides he’s going to ride his bike to work to save money on gas or whatever. Only, bicycle maintenance isn’t high on his priorities and he throws the bike chain on the way to work wiping out. Then he leaves this message for his boss:

I Need To Lay Down Click the Link

Elections & Politics News

• New Dispatch Poll: Obama lead widens – Columbus Dispatch
• Key to Ohio? Appalachia. – Cincinnati Enquirer
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: McCain’s MI departure makes it all the harder – Columbus Dispatch
• Endorsement: For Richard Cordray – Columbus Dispatch
• Endorsement: Cordray better choice for AG – The Plain Dealer
• Endorsement: No on Issue 6 – Columbus Dispatch
• Cordray says contract, contribution not linked – Dayton Daily News
• Many provisional ballots rejected; more help needed from poll workers – The Plain Dealer
• Many NE Ohio school districts to close on Election Day – The Plain Dealer
• Obama has Irish kin in Southern Ohio – The Plain Dealer
• Ohio’s payday lenders hope dimwits turn out on Election Day – The Plain Dealer
• Editorial: VP Debate – Expectations Fulfilled – Toledo Blade
• McCain, Obama on the issues – Dayton Daily News
• Which party will benefit from early voting in Ohio? – Dayton Daily News
• Op-Ed, Jonathan Riskind: Space goes out on a limb for bailout – Columbus Dispatch
• Casino’s effects mixed for town in Michigan – Columbus Dispatch
• Jobs, cash hard to turn down – Columbus Dispatch

Other News

• Job seekers look for flicker of hope in dim economy – Dayton Daily News
• Everything going wrong than can – Dayton Daily News
• How fast is too fast? – Columbus Dispatch

You know when a candidate is down, I mean really worried, when the negative, scary ads come out.  The Republican Party has ruled America for eight years now through a two-step process:

1. Instill fear
2. Slide another bad policy by us “because there’s no other alternative.”

The most recent example is the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.  The worst example is getting us mired in Iraq.  Their next big effort is getting John McCain elected president.

When you don’t have a winning record to run on — and you don’t have a plan that will benefit anyone but those already living high on the hog — you go negative.  Sarah Palin is in the game to re-ignite the culture war.  What else does she bring?  All the talk about taxing and spending? It’s totally bogus when you look at Sen. Barack Obama’s stated policy on taxes. 

In the latest installment of McCain’s campaign built on lies regarding Obama, a new McCain ad says Barack voted 94 times to raise taxes. 

The Obama campaign’s response is rather ingenious.  Let’s not get caught up in a “he said” conversation.  Let’s just take the same bullshit methodology to McCain’s own record.  What do we come up with?  McCain has voted to raise taxes 477 times. 

Justice is served in the video below:

(Source: WSAZ-TV)

“Good morning, this is Ohio Governor Ted Strickland.

Yesterday, we woke up to some tough news. Our economy lost another 159,000 jobs in September – our single biggest monthly job loss in more than five years.

That’s another 159,000 Americans wondering how they’ll find the courage to go home and give their families the news. Wondering how they’ll pay for the food, gas, and energy costs that are eating up more and more of their budget. Wondering how they’ll keep their home. Read more

Not Just Numbers …

Politics and Elections

• Strickland slams McCain’s economic policies – Bloomberg
• Dems radio address bashes McCain – Associated Press
• Ballots with missing check marks to be counted – The Plain Dealer
• Ohio early voting survives court challenge – Associated Press

• Analysis says Ohio casino figures vague – Associated Press
• State Analysis says Issue 6 language vague – Columbus Dispatch
• Hamburgers, soap can offer political lessons – Associated Press
• Op-Ed, Joe Frolik: GOP’s downs and ups – The Plain Dealer
• Cordray has cash lead in AG’s race – Columbus Dispatch
• Marc Dann: Threats forced use of campaign cash – Columbus Dispatch
• Mediation in AG Harassment case loses steam – Columbus Dispatch

Other News

• Ohio minimum wage to rise in 2009 – Toledo Blade
• Regional indicators point to slow Cleveland recovery – The Plain Dealer

Bush Signs Rescue Bill After House Passes - New York Times

How Your Member Voted - New York Times

House Approves $700 Billion Bailout - Washington Post

How Bailout Politics Changed - Washington Post

Bailout Pork - MSNBC

Apparently, the first Wall Street Bailout wasn’t big enough for the House Republicans and Democrats who voted against it on Monday. Congressional leaders from both parties are now saying heading into Friday’s planned vote that they’ll have the support they need to saddle the federal government with $700 billion in junk investments and billions more in tax breaks. What doesn’t appear to be in the bill, as passed by the Senate, is even the beginning of rulemaking or regulation to see that the investment class in New York and Washington doesn’t do this to the rest of us ever again.

It still seems ironic that all of the “free market” politicians in Congress are lining up behind what appears to be a huge social program for yachtsmen and polo players. The question tonight is will the action in Congress do anything at all constructive for an American economy that seems to be leading the world only due to the sheer size of an inefficient health care system and more imagination than value in our investment markets.

(Source: CNN)

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The vice presidential candidates, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden and Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are debating in St. Louis, Missouri, Thursday night. Gwen Ifill of PBS is the debate moderator. Here is a transcript of that debate: Read more

Palin - Biden Live Tonight all over the Tube at 9 p.m. Eastern.

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  • Ohio Sunday Papers – October 5, 2008

• AP Political Headlines

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• Interesting Places

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• Reuters International Feed

  • Iranian letter rejects pressure on nuclear issue
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• Columbus Dispatch - Local & State

  • Glouster woman sent to prison for throwing away fetus October 6, 2008
  • Bond set at $2 million for man accused of killing father October 6, 2008
  • Chief Jackson says getting name on police training academy led to settlement October 6, 2008
    Police Chief James G. Jackson was confident that he would win his defamation lawsuit against the city of Columbus but was willing to settle when the city offered to name the Police Training Academy after him, he said today.
  • Witness: Faked numbers hid risky investments on National Century's books October 6, 2008
  • Hearing for Dublin doctor under way October 6, 2008
    A State Medical Board hearing began today for a Dublin doctor accused of using patients for sexual gratification under the guise of giving therapeutic massages.
  • Chart: Numbers inside the numbers October 6, 2008
  • Chart: Numbers inside the numbers October 6, 2008
  • Chart: Casino breakdown October 6, 2008
  • The Hot Issue: Should Ohio allow casinos? October 6, 2008
  • News briefs October 6, 2008
    COLUMBUS Woman's body discovered at North Side apartments Police are trying to identify a woman whose body was found yesterday outside a North Side apartment complex.

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