[Dawn] "Love Story" author Erich Segal, whose popular romantic drama coined the phrase "Love means never having to say you're sorry", has died of a heart attack at the age of 72, his daughter said.
Segal, who also wrote the screenplay for the Beatles' animated film "Yellow Submarine", died at his home in London on Sunday, his daughter Francesca Segal said. The author had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for many years, she said Tuesday.
The US-born writer was a classics professor at Yale University when he wrote the book "Love Story", which was made into a 1970 hit film starting Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw. The movie, which won an Oscar and was nominated for six others, tells the story of a wealthy young man, Oliver, who becomes estranged from his father when he marries Jennifer, a woman from a less privileged background. But the tale takes a tragic twist when Jennifer develops leukemia and eventually dies. Oliver's father has a change of heart when he hears what has happened and races to see him, telling his son he is sorry to hear the sad news. This is when Oliver replies: "Loves means never having to say you are sorry."
In a 2008 article for Granta magazine, the author's daughter said "Love Story", inspired by a true tale, captured her father's imagination and made him "a world-famous author".
"His agent begged him to put it aside, convinced it would ruin his reputation as a writer of macho action screenplays," she said.
"But it had poured from him in what felt like a single sitting and, although he could not have known to what extent, he knew it was worth fighting for."
"The two monoliths that dominated my father's identity - the peak and the trough of his life - were 'Love Story' and Parkinson's disease," she added.
Speaking at his funeral Tuesday, Francesca Segal paid tribute to her father's tenacity.
"That he fought to breathe, fought to live, every second of the last 30 years of illness with such mind-blowing obduracy, is a testament to the core of who he was," she told mourners.
Erich Segal was born in New York and was an honorary fellow of Wolfson College at Oxford University. He is survived by his wife, Karen James, and daughters Francesca, 29, and Miranda, 20.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
according to AlGore, he and Tipper were the inspiration for the love story. I read it on his Interwebs
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/21/2010 8:00 Comments ||
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#2
"Loves means never having to say you are sorry."
Pfeh.
Worst definition of love EVER.
Testament to those crappy times, I guess.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
01/21/2010 8:03 Comments ||
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#3
That damned movie indulged so many women who had feminine martyrdom complexes, who then about drove their husbands and boyfriends bonkers.
To start with, as the expression goes, "All women marry beneath their station", *especially* if they marry above their station. This is one common fantasy to excuse their disappointment in their husband.
Second, leukemia was not as well known back then. The movie first implies that the couple see a doctor because they are *infertile*. Being "barren" was a big psychological tweak back then, because of the social contortions of feminism. What is a housewife without children to do? She has no career, even though she is "educated".
Third, it turns out that the reason she is infertile, is implied to be a "female problem", rather than blood cancer. Here's where the martyrdom thing comes in. She suffers and dies because "she is a woman", (and that is what women do.)
Fourth, Ryan O'Neill did a world class job of suffering her loss, blowing tears and snot and being emotionally crushed. And *not* afraid to chew scenery to show it. No macho stoicism. No getting drunk and hitting on a bunch of coed cheerleader-bimbos. And no other girls waiting in the wings to marry the rich boy widower.
#7
"Loves means never having to say you are sorry."
No, that's sociopathy.
Posted by: ed ||
01/21/2010 11:13 Comments ||
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#8
That movie had one of the best scenes ever for me.
I saw it when I was 21. The scene was the car ride through Boston and over bridge where she is screaming about his driving and he answers "This is Boston, they all drive this way."
Never having been to Boston I thought this a humerous line. I move there a year later to finish school and found out that the line wasn't humerous at all.......it was absolutely true, if somewhat understated.
#10
Boston drivers prepared me for Paris. Love Story struck me as inane even as a teenager... even though I was a girl, and even though I read the book without ever watching the film.
As far as AlBore goes, he can blow it out his *ss. Segal himself said the BGores weren't the inspiration for the story.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/21/2010 19:24 Comments ||
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#13
RIP Erich. Now re the movie--Ali McGraw is a mind blowingly horrible actress in Love Story. It can only be viewed as camp today (although I still like the Harvard-Cornell hockey game).
[Bangla Daily Star] Police have identified 20 persons who wielded firearms and various sharp weapons during Monday's clashes between two factions of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal on Dhaka University campus.
Among them, the three arm-wielding men seen in newspaper photos and TV footages of the clashes were identified as former leaders of JCD, the student wing of BNP.
They are former JCD organising secretary Ahsan Uddin Shipon and assistant organising secretary Abdul Halim Khokan, and Khaleda Zia Mukti Parishad leader Saiduzzaman Pasha.
Apart from the mysterious inaction of law enforcers, the whole incident now seems even more mysterious as a number of leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League equipped with firearms and sharp weapons were found involved in the clashes.
Ramna Zone Additional Deputy Commissioner Nurul Islam told The Daily Star yesterday evening that they identified around 20 persons who were equipped with firearms and various sharp weapons during Monday's clashes.
Sources said a large number of the armed activists of both the JCD factions as well as BCL are outsiders. They also alleged that all the law enforcement and intelligence agencies were aware that the violence would occur.
A senior police official of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said most of the 20 identified persons are from the rival group of JCD President Sultan Salauddin Tuku, who was severely injured by his rivals. The rest were Tuku's supporters and BCL activists.
Hailing from Kotchandpur upazila of Jhenidah district, Saiduzzaman Pasha, wearing jeans and a black muffler as shown in newspaper photos and TV footages, is a third-year student of political science at Dhaka College.
After BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was arrested during the caretaker government's rule, Pasha put up posters at Dhaka College and surrounding area under the banner of "Khaleda Zia Mukti Parishad", of which he was the president.
Pasha is also accused in several cases filed with the city's New Market, Jatrabari and Demra police stations on charges of extortion and other criminal acts.
JCD Senior Vice-President Shahidul Islam Babul, who is one of the accused in a case filed by Shahbagh police in connection with the campus violence, told The Daily Star over phone, "I know Pasha was a leader of Khaleda Zia Mukti Parishad but he never held any post in Chhatra Dal."
Campus sources said Shipon, wearing a black leather jacket, was seen wielding a firearm in front of Surya Sen Hall. His assistant Khokan was also equipped with a firearm.
Masud, former general secretary of Jasim Uddin Hall unit JCD, was seen hurling bombs. A few witnesses said they also saw four JCD leaders wielding firearms and two others hurling bombs. The witnesses, however, could not mention their names.
Other witnesses and police sources said they saw several BCL leaders equipped with sharp weapons taking part in the clashes.
However, Dhaka University BCL unit President Sheikh Sohel Rana Tipu denied the allegations, saying none of his party men were involved in such activities.
According to campus sources, the BCL leaders and activists took part in the clashes between the JCD factions to take political advantages.
The role of law enforcers deployed on the campus also raised questions as they remained mysteriously inactive during the incident. Although the armed JCD and BCL activists clashed in front of them in broad daylight, they neither arrested anybody nor tried to stop the violence.
Asked about the allegations, DMP Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque told The Daily Star, "Police were busy ensuring security on the campus. It is not always possible to prevent entry of firearms into the huge campus area."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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There is only one functioning pier. It looks stable, but it is not. The Americans weren't happy that a French naval vessel, the Francis Garnier, had docked. They weren't being competitive. They were being cautious. The French ship and its cargo could have tipped the pier over like an empty paper cup. The civilian engineer for the Navy had made a pendulum out of a piece of string, a twig and a weight -- a half-full plastic eyedropper. He told a sailor to keep an eye on it.
#2
CNN reported this morning that physicians are still performing amputations without anesthesia. Most of the amputees are women, probably because they were home and inside when the quake hit.
#3
Everything in Haiti is in "bad shape." It has been and probably will always be in "bad shape." Ever ask yourself why the French pulled out? Ever read a US State Dept. travel advisory or thumb through a CIA Fact Book, or e-mail a missionary. Oh, you forgot to study the region prior to sending your wife, daughter, son, etc. Sorry about that. Please label 'Hotel Montana pancakes killing everybody' and file under westerners hiking in the Iranian mountains.
#6
I've got it Glemore. I just hate to see families of the victims go on teevee and blame the US Gov't, Army, Marines, etc. for not immediately rescuing their loved ones. I believe Pan said yesterday they had 50 of his people from SOCOM crawling around in the pancaked Hotel Montana when that big aftershock happened. Damn tough to lose loved ones, but don't BLAME the Marines or the Army, Navy etc. or try to say they "ignored" you kin. Nobody was marched to Haiti at the point of a bayonet.
#11
Beso, I agree distraught parents shouldn't blame the US military for not rescuing their children soon enough from the ruins. However, US foreign policy, often in conjunction with the UN, has impacted the Haitians.
Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. When sailing the coast of Hispanola it is remarkable to see the landscape change from lush forest to denuded hillside right at the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The damage was on the Haitian side of the island. The population of Haiti is about 9 million of which almost half live within a 15 mile radius of the earthquake epicenter.
We must look at the history of Haiti to understand how these situations came about. I had always been told that the Haitians cut down all the trees to make charcoal but that is not quite correct. After the slave revolt of 1810 the French blockaded Haiti and virtually shut off all imports and exports. This blockade lasted until 1825 when the Haitians agreed to pay France reparations in today's equivalent of $21 billion dollars. (In contrast the US bought the Louisiana Territory, an area 30 times as large as Haiti, for the equivalent of $70 billion.) At the same time France devalued Haitian imports by 50% below fair market price. In 1947, when the debt was eventually paid off, Haiti had paid more than $90 billion dollars in principle, interest and fees. The vast majority of the funds for those payments came from cutting the trees to sell to France and England.
Between 1980 and 2008 the population of metropolitan Port Au Prince doubled to almost 4 million people when the agricultural sector collapsed. Three primary factors contributed to the collapse. The first was environmental damaged caused by deforestation but the more immediate cause was trade policy. Not Haitian policy but ours. The primary agricultural products produced by Haiti are rice, sugarcane, bananas and coffee. Prior to 1980 Haiti produced almost 100% of its rice consumption. In the mid 80s the US, in the name of free trade forced Haiti to reduce the tariff on rice to 3%, about 1/3 the average for other Caribbean countries. US growers then flooded the country with imported rice. Without subsidies Haitian rice framers could not compete and rice production crashed. Unable to make a living the rice farmers moved to Port Au Prince in an attempt to find work. (The US Department of Agricultures subsidy to US rice farmers averages $1 billion per year.)They now buy foreign rice, mainly from Brazil, to subsist
on when most live on $1 per day.
At the same time, under pressure from the US sugar industry, the US cut Haitis sugar quota by 2/3 forcing several mills to close. (The quota for the Dominican Republic is 20 times that of Haiti.) Those farmers too moved to Port Au Prince. Also in the 1990s the EU, under pressure from the large Central American fruit companies, ended preferential treatment of Eastern Caribbean bananas. As a result of all of this Haitis agricultural sector has been devastated.
So keep in mind as you watch the news reports that it is not all a geological disaster but an economic one. Much of it caused by us.
#12
After LUMPY'S dissertation I wish to make the following statement:
You Americans are always blaming others for your problems, whining about unfair trade with us, complaining about the cost of housing our troops, supposed injustices done to you by our administration. Well it is quite clear to me that it is all your own fault.
#13
So keep in mind as you watch the news reports that it is not all a geological disaster but an economic one. Much of it caused by us. Posted by Lumpy
That's why I've learned to live with guilt, either real or imagined. Please pardon me while I finish this crème brulée and expresso.
#14
Suffice to say that there's plenty of blame to go around: American, French and Haitian. Apportion the blame as you wish.
Okay kids, now what?
Haiti needs to change its ways or else it will be a shithole for another century. But if you tell the Haitian people and leaders that they need to change their ways they'll tell you to go screw (see history lesson, above).
If we had a wise government with a long-term plan that could survive changes in administrations, I'd suggest a very quiet, gentle American oversight of Haiti. We'd respect their sovereignty; Haiti in turn would respect that in general, we know what we're doing. For a 20 to 50 year period we'd quietly advise the Haitians, and they'd listen. Both sides would officially pretend that nothing of the sort is going on.
We'd help them move their laws to common-law, their courts to be honest, and their bureaucracy to be only modestly corrupted. We'd help them again to be self-sufficient in food production. We'd help them get an education system. We'd push tourism, craftwork and agriculture. We'd work on basic sanitation, train the nurses, and pave the roads.
Maybe, maybe, maybe that would help change Haitian culture so that it would adopt some American ideas -- more business-like, more willing to take risks, more independent. All the while the Haitians would preserve the better parts of their culture (and they have better parts).
I don't know if it would work. There's all sorts of reasons why it would fail. But I'd try.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2010 13:43 Comments ||
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#15
I don't like to blame America for the world's problems but the world tends to equate UN/Progressive policies with the US in general. I am a conservative and will also gladly help the UN pack up and move to Dubai, if they can't be disbanded altogether. All their policies make people dependent upon aid, giving them power over them and still look to the US taxpayers to pay for their boondoggles. I was just pointing out more of the social meddling that seemed to begin in 1947-1948 and haunts us today. think Paleos.
#18
OK, my turn. I agree with just about all Steve says here. On a large scale it will be cheaper for us to help them grow into the second world, otherwise we will be back after a few years with billions of aid, again and again. We are doing the program Steve speaks of in some countries and with the bumps and bruises Steve's plan is a good one. The very first thing I would go after in an effort to rebuild is micro-economic ones. I would go after farmers, small manufacturing. Get USAID to rebuild highway one, the port, and small piers for villages to get to market by sea. Get the State to go to our large resort busineses and incentivise them to build destination resorts, dive resorts, etc... We could rally the NGO's to work the med clinics and schools.
This is all possible, we have done it in other countries with some levels of success.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/21/2010 22:23 Comments ||
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#19
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > US GETTING GUANTANAMO BAY READY FOR POSSIBLE INFLUX OF HAITIAN REFUGEES.
#20
For a 20 to 50 year period we'd quietly advise the Haitians, and they'd listen. Both sides would officially pretend that nothing of the sort is going on.
You're describing Francophone Africa, Steve. You goin' Frinch on us, or what?
Chilean president-elect Sebastián Piñera admitted that he is at odds with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, but said that during his administration he will seek to maintain the best relations with Venezuela.
"I disagree with the way public issues are handled in Venezuela," he said at a press conference with foreign correspondents, a day after he won the run-off election to ruling party presidential candidate Eduardo Frei, AFP reported.
"I want to say it clear, these discrepancies are profound and have to do with the way democracy is conceived and implemented, the way the model of economic development is carried out, and many more," he said. "Your system stinks!"
However, Piñera added that he believes in the "self-determination of the peoples and the non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries. Therefore, we will seek to improve relations with all Latin American countries, including Venezuela, for our mutual benefit."
President Michelle Bachelet said she had invited the president-elect to the Rio Group Summit to be held on February 21 in Cancun, Mexico.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Countdown to Chavez lashing out at him in 3...2...1...
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) urged Islamic countries to extend aid to earthquake-devastated Haiti, which was struck again by a 6.1-magnitude on Wednesday as rescuers pulled more than 100 survivors from the rubble.
OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu expressed "shock and sadness" over the January 12 quake which killed at least 75,000 people, injured another 250,000 and left more than a million homeless, according to a Haitian government toll.
Ihsanolglu "urged all OIC member states and civil society organizations to extend a helping hand to the Haitian population in this testing time of extreme hardship and sorrow," according to an OIC statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't bother helping, we've seen what happens when Islam interferes with anything .
US President Barack Obama will tonight propose new limits on the size of US banks after spending billions of tax-payer dollars to bail out "too-big-to-fail'' firms, a senior official says. Throttling back the Malefactors of Great Wealth? Busting the money trusts? Finally something I can agree with...
The measures would place sweeping new restrictions on a sector seen as responsible for sparking the largest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Oh. Wait a minute. Seems like during the Great Depression of the 1930s there were a load of restrictions put on the banks. Whatever happened to them?
"A couple of months ago the President began discussing with his economic team the need to include in financial reform more specific and stronger provisions to limit the size and scope of financial institutions'' the official said. If it's actually doing away with single points of failure it's an actual good idea. My suspicion is that it's not that simple...
The proposals aim "to cut down on excessive risk taking'' among the largest banks, after crises at a handful of the largest firms threatened to choke the flow of cash to the US economy. That statement kinda confirms my suspicion. Risk taking is what makes institutions thrive. Being over-conservative makes them hidebound. As Potemkin once said: "That which ceases to grow begins to rot." The trick is to have enough competition going so that when one bunch takes the wrong kind of risk it doesn't drag the entire country with it into oblivion.
''The President will announce a series of measures that address size and scope'' of the institutions the official said. That'll likely be tricky, but it could be something as simple is enforcing existing antitrust laws.
Mr Obama's first year in office was dominated by efforts to rescue banks that were exposed to massive loses on the sub-prime mortgage market. Large contributing banks, in fact...
The official, who asked not to be named, said the new measures would limit banks' ability to use their own cash to buy such financial instruments, so-called proprietary trading. "The proposal will include size and complexity limits specifically on proprietary trading,'' the source said. They'll come up with new instruments that skirt the regs. It's happened over and over again. Makes a lot more sense to impose restrictions on them gobbling each other up.
Facing widespread voter anger over state take-overs of the troubled firms, Mr Obama earlier this month proposed a tax on big banks and warned the banking industry not to block or water down his planned regulatory reforms. "It is both in the country's interests and ultimately in the financial industry's interest to have updated rules of the road to prevent abuse and excess.'' It'd be more in the country's interest to have a network of strong regionally based banks competing with each other, a function that's more and more being left to credit unions. Without strict enforcement of some pretty stringent liquidity requirements and anti-milking provisions we're going to see the banking industry continue grabbing the easy money.
The new measures will have to be approved by Congress before becoming law.
In 1911, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that John D. Rockefeller's evil, money making Standard Oil must be dissolved and split into 34 companies. Two of these companies were Jersey Standard ("Standard Oil Company of New Jersey"), which eventually became Exxon, and Socony ("Standard Oil Company of New York"), which eventually became Mobil. Rockefeller retained a piece of each Standard Oil spin-off company and quietly made billions more from each of them.
Over-lowering reserve s a systematic problem that just means large number of small banks will go bust (for exactly the same loss, but with less economies of scale).
#6
Mr Obama earlier this month proposed a tax on big banks and warned the banking industry not to block or water down his planned regulatory reforms.
Warned? Mr. Obama who's political coat tails have to be measured in nanometers, it going to get Congresscritter, the majority of whom are Donks with target on their back this 2010, to ignore their one solid source of campaign reelection funds. Yep, that's a plan.
#7
After wasting an entire year pushing cap-&-trade and health care, the failed Obama administration finally turns to a really pressing issue. Whether they'll do anything useful is still in question. Meanwhile those who were unemployed on Election Day 2008 are, for the most part, still without work.
#10
Risk taking is what makes institutions thrive. Excessive and stupid risk-taking is what got us into this fix. Moderation in all things is a worthwhile principle. The famed June 2003 photo of the Chairman of the Office of Thrift Supervision taking a chainsaw to a stack of federal regulations was a sign the government was jumping the shark. Banks are mere utilities like electric & water companies & should be regulated accordingly. They'll come up with new instruments that skirt the regs. It's happened over and over again. This line of reasoning is almost a tautology. There was no reason to have laws against fraud until someone invented fraud. It is now illegal to take out a life insurance policy on someone without their permission. Guess why? Legislatures meet periodically, and are capable (if often not willing) to deal with scams and other cunning evasions as they surface. On the executive side, for every Alan Greenspan, there's a Paul Volcker, for every Larry Summers, there's a Brooksley Born.
#12
I just caught a bit of The Once's speach. He sad taxpayers were forced to bail out the financial institutions. He got that right, but we all no that it was Congress doing the forcing.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/21/2010 12:10 Comments ||
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#13
If the 0 runs true to form, whatever regulations are carried out will have minimal if any effect on the real ailments & will serve only to paper over the cracks in the walls and assuage (or distract) the public outrage. Perhaps a financial aftershock will yet occur to bring the whole system down.
#14
In large part, the problem is individuals (traders) within the banks risking other peoples (stock holders and depositors) money for their own personal gain (very large bonuses).
Banning retail banks from proprietary trading is really the only solution.
#15
There's one huge overlooked problem, and that's Obama, who doesn't know how to run any profitible company, Especially Big Banks.
If you think that's not true, look NARD at the United States Government. (Wincing is permitted)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/21/2010 14:19 Comments ||
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#16
HARD Dammit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/21/2010 14:21 Comments ||
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#17
AlanC: small banks have much higher regulatory costs a percentage of their overall expenses. overall gross costs are probably lower but for the big banks, it is a marginally larger slice of a much much bigger pie
Posted by: abu do you love ||
01/21/2010 14:29 Comments ||
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#18
So, do his 2008 donors get off easy with this, or do they get hammered, too? Oblahblah got a nice chunk of change from those chumps.
If they don't get special consideration....how's that hopeychangey stuff working out for youse guys on Wall Street??? ;)
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion. The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations. It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats, who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation. Perhaps the Publican in the next presidential election can campaign on a promose to cease issuing debt.
It's hardly the debate Democrats want or need in the wake of Sen.-elect Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts. Arguing over the debt limit provides a forum for Republicans to blame Democrats for rising deficits and spiraling debt, even though responsibility for the government's financial straits can be shared by both political parties.
The measure came to the floor under rules requiring 60 votes to pass. That's an unprecedented step that could mean that every Democrat, no matter how politically endangered, may have to vote for it next week before Brown takes office and Democrats lose their 60-vote majority.
Democratic leaders are also worried that Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who opposed the debt limit increase approved last month, will vote against the measure.
The record increase in the so-called debt limit is required because the budget deficit has spiraled out of control in the wake of a recession that cut tax revenues, the Wall Street bailout, and increased spending by the Democratic-controlled Congress. Last year's deficit hit a phenomenal $1.4 trillion, and the current year's deficit promises to be as high or higher.
Congress has never failed to increase the borrowing limit.
"We have gone to the restaurant. We have eaten the meal. Now the only question is whether we will pay the check," said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. "We simply must do so."
A White House policy statement said the increase "is critically important to make sure that financing of federal government operations can continue without interruption and that the creditworthiness of the United States is not called into question."
Less than a decade ago, $1.9 trillion would have been enough to finance the operations and programs of the federal government for an entire year. Now, it's only enough to make sure Democrats can avoid another vote before Election Day.
Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota immediately offered an amendment to end the bank and Wall Street bailout, officially known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Thune would prohibit further expenditure of TARP funds and would require that all funds paid back be used to retire debt.
The latest increase comes on top of a stopgap $290 billion measure that cleared the Senate on Christmas Eve. Given the country's finances, that measure would last only about six weeks, lawmakers said, requiring the far larger measure that's pending.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Posted by: ed ||
01/21/2010 11:36 Comments ||
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#5
Please note, it's *only* enough so they won't have to do it again before election day. I assume they are hoping something will come along to distract the American public before then. This is utter madness.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Bank of America has posted a hefty loss of USD 5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, blaming the loss on its decision to repay the bailout money it owed to the US government.
The biggest US bank said on Wednesday that returning funds from the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) hurt profits by USD 4 billion in the fourth quarter.
Brian Moynihan, the bank's newly-appointed CEO, described the company's latest results as "disappointing," saying that the state of the US economy is a cause for concern.
"Economic conditions remain fragile and we expect high unemployment levels to continue, creating an ongoing drag on consumer spending and growth," he said in a statement carried by CNN.
The bank said it had repaid USD 25 billion in TARP funds in bailout funds in the fourth quarter.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, if they didn't have to pay the money back, then they'd have posted a profit! Why does the government hate capitalism?
#2
Yep, that's the way she works. Electricity, gas, water, sewer, mortgage, employees...all paid FIRST! Whatever is left over, that's the quarterly business profit.
#7
NOTE the real reason is NOT mentioned.
When you screw your customers, they leave, A short term gain and a long term loss.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/21/2010 14:24 Comments ||
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#8
The biggest US bank said on Wednesday that returning funds from the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) hurt profits by USD 4 billion in the fourth quarter.
TRANSLATION INTO PLAIN ENGLISH
We should be allowed to steal as much as we want to, but Dammit we had to pay it back.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/21/2010 14:28 Comments ||
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It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.... Please, fellow Rantburgers, I know it's hard at a time like this, but try to hold it together. Be a lady man, buck up, stiff upper lip and all that, don't cryyyy out loud/just keep it inside/and learn how to hide your feeeeelings....
Oh, hell with it. I can't hold back any longer.
Yeeaaaaahhhooooo! Cue the dancing girls! Break out the karaoke machine: "Cell-a-brate good times come on!"
... We are proud that Air America's mission lives on through the words and actions of so many former radio hosts who are active today in progressive causes and media nationwide. In the years ahead, as we look back, we should all be proud of our passionate determination to assure that our nation's progressive voice would be heard loud and clear. Through the hard work and dedication of current staff, and those who preceded you, a lasting legacy was forged which will now continue through other voices and venues.
Thank you. ...and STAY dead!
Posted by: Mike ||
01/21/2010 16:58 ||
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#1
Snort!
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/21/2010 17:11 Comments ||
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#10
In this climate, our painstaking search for new investors has come close several times right up into this week, but ultimately fell short of success.
#11
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business..
Translation: "We ran out of other peoples' money."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/21/2010 19:25 Comments ||
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#12
Deacon nails it.
The Left in a nutshell (with the emphasis on the "nuts").
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/21/2010 19:34 Comments ||
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she lacks the votes to quickly move the Senate's sweeping health overhaul bill through the House, a potentially devastating blow to President Barack Obama's signature issue.
Pelosi, D-Calif., made the comment to reporters after House Democrats held a closed-door meeting at which participants vented frustration with the Senate's massive version of the legislation.
Her concession meant there was little hope for a White House-backed plan to quickly push the Senate-approved health bill through the House, followed by a separate measure making changes sought by House members, such as easing the Senate's tax on higher-cost health plans. Such an approach would be "problematic," she said.
Posted by: ed ||
01/21/2010 12:30 ||
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#1
Thank you sweet Jesus!
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
01/21/2010 12:37 Comments ||
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#2
Rats abandon the Obama ship, Dems fail yet again, even with the majority in both houses. They cant even fins compromise among themselves.... What a joke.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/21/2010 12:40 Comments ||
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#3
Self-preservation instinct's awakening in US political class?
[The News (Pak)] Swiss investigating Magistrate Vincent Fournier, while closing the corruption case against Asif Ali Zardari and Jens Schlegelmilch on Pakistan's request, had done away with the freeze on accounts of the president that he had earlier served on, at least, five banks.
The banks included UBS SA, Bank Julius Bafr & Co Ltd, Barclays Bank (Switzerland) SA, BNP Paribag (Switzerland) SA and Banque Privee Edmond De Rothschild SA, a copy of the closely-guarded magistrate's order of April 9, 2008 available with The News, shows.
The frozen money was promptly withdrawn after the magistrate's order, according to an informed official. Apart from closing the international mutual assistance proceedings, launched on Pakistan's request 11 years back, the magistrate also "lifted all the attachments ordered in the name of the mutual assistance."
The two-page order of the magistrate spelt out several steps that he took during the lengthy judicial process, starting in 1997, in "Proceedings Nr CP/289/1997, Ref OFJ 107700BF, International Mutual Assistance Pakistan-Bhutto case" and also named various banks and companies having anything to do with the probe that he was carrying out.
Following is the English rendering of text of the interesting and self-explanatory order, available with the government as well as President Zardari, which was originally written in French language: "Republic and Canton of Geneva, Judicial Power, Examining Magistrate Office; Closing Order of the Mutual Assistance Proceedings; In view of Proceedings Nr CP/289/1997; In view of the request for mutual assistance of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Switzerland dated 8 and 20 of September as well as 3 October 1997 filed with the Federal Office of Justice (hereinafter [called] 'FOJ'); In view of the urgent provisional remedies directly ordered by the FOJ on 8 and 17 September as well as on 7 October 1997, consisting the freezing of bank accounts, provisional remedies having been notified to various banks in Geneva; In view of the orders of admission and execution of the investigating magistrate of 16 October 1997, confirming the aforesaid provisional remedies notified to the banks concerned; In view of the international rogatory letters dated 6 November 1997 issued by the Attorney General of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, forwarded by the FOJ to the investigating magistrate on 10 November 1997; In view of the partial closing orders issued in the mutual assistance proceedings, inter alia, the order of 23 February 2001 notified to Barclays Bank (Suisse SA) once Mariston Securities Inc, and Nassam Overseas Inc, which were appealed of; In view of the decisions of the Swiss Federal Court of 15 October 2001 dismissing the appeal lodged by Bomar Finance Inc, Mariston Securities Inc, and Nassam Overseas Inc;
"In view of the delivery of documents of 12 November 2001 through the FOJ to the requesting state; In view of the partial closing orders issued in the mutual assistance proceedings among which the order of 30 October 2001 notified to Banque Pasche concerning Benington Managmenet Inc, Dalwington Management Inc, and Tokerston Finance SA, as well as to Citibank (Switzerland), concerning in particular Bomar Finance Inc, and Marvil Associated Inc, which orders were appealed of, the appeal by the aforesaid companies to the Geneva Court of Appeal been dismissed on 7 March 2002;
"As a consequence, the delivery of documents took place on 13 August 2002 directly in the hands of the requesting state with the agreement of FOJ;
"In view of the authorization given in May 2002 to Banque Pasche to transfer the funds frozen into the books to Banque Privee Edmond De Rothschild SA; In view of the attachment of assets executed with UBS SA, Bank Julius Bafr & Co Ltd, Barclays Bank (Switzerland) SA, BNP Paribas (Switzeralnd) SA and Banque Privee Edmond De Rothschild SA;
"Whereas, by mail dated 10 March 2008, the requesting state, requested by the Attorney General of the Islamic Republic Pakistan, has withdrawn all its requests for mutual assistance; Whereas, therefore, the present proceedings should be purely and simply closed; Whereas in view of the execution of the freezing orders, the third parties deposition shall be notified by a copy of this order;
Further to what has been said, the investigating magistrate closes the mutual assistance proceedings; lifts all the attachments ordered in the frame of the mutual assistance; notified this order to UBS SA, Bank Julius Bafr & Co Ltd, Barclays Bank (Switzerland) SA, BNP Paribag (Switzerland) SA and Banque Privee Edmond De Rothschild SA' notifies this order to FOJ in its quality as monitoring authority disposing of right of appeal. Investigating Magistrate Vincent Fournier, (signature and seal)."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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#4
When I see one flying without a tether I might get interested. Note: Unless that thing has really great rearview mirrors it is a prime candidate for a collision from the top/rear by an overtaking AC.
#7
I think this is less, but a little more, than it appears. First of all, its only obvious purpose would be military, moving one individual in, or out, of very harsh terrain area quickly.
Oddly enough, I think the design is half-based on an individual submersible. Since it is limited by battery power, and lying in a prone position, to about 50 miles, likely one way.
#8
This is the major reason I love Science Fiction
Fact Follows Fiction, like Day follows Night.
If you want to see a single person Osprey Flying around, rent the movie "The Incredibles" An Animated straight Science Fiction Film, the Bad guy uses them to patrol his island.
Their flight characteristics are detailed showing flight, hovering, braking and landing.
PS the movie's been out a few years now
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/21/2010 14:43 Comments ||
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#9
It's a fun film, indeed. For a while after it came out a friend of ours, O-5 who looks just like Mr. Incredible, got mobbed by young kids wherever he went.
[Straits Times] THE Islamic police force in Indonesia's Aceh province should be disbanded after three officers were charged with gang-raping a woman in custody, rights activists said Wednesday.
Activists said the force did nothing but harass women about their clothes and humiliate young unmarried couples, and had now brought shame on the deeply religious province on the northern tip of Sumatra.
'This very shameful act has tarnished the implementation of sharia law in Aceh,' human rights activist Teuku Achmad Fuad said. 'We urge the Aceh government to disband the sharia police as they have failed to do anything useful.'
Women's rights activist Evi Narti Zein said: 'The sharia police's role so far only frightens people, especially women without Muslim headscarves or with tight clothes'.
The 20-year-old student was allegedly raped in a police cell in East Aceh earlier this month after being arrested with her boyfriend under local laws designed to enforce Islamic morals. Rights activists said the sharia police were not empowered to detain anyone, and could only issue warnings.
Provincial Deputy Governor Mohammad Nazar defended the force and said the rape was an isolated incident. Teungku Faisal Ali of the Aceh Ulemas Association, a top Islamic body, said the alleged rapists should be made an 'example' of how sharia law works in Aceh.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey, it's SHARIA! It's how Allah TOLD YOU TO LIVE. What don't you understand about this? And you don't like it? Since when does anyone have any right to question the word of Allah?
It's encouraging that everywhere they try to implement Sharia cops, they run into human nature as the scumbags love a little bit of power, and use it to lord over others in society. The worst part of human nature devoid of civilization.
What we need in America are more of these fine upstanding moral people in their colorful hats.
It isnt their fault, they are just "mis-understood". And whats so awful about Moslem police gang raping some hussy with lipstick and a disgusting tank top and high heels?
happens all the time when you have moral upstanding Moslems around. Its the lipstick. Disgusting.
I got news for you. The good people of Aceh province arent gonna do a damn thing. Disband?
Nah...those cops are standing there laughing at you. Tell it to Allah, chumps.
Posted by: Pompey the Great ||
01/21/2010 8:36 Comments ||
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#3
What should have happened is that after this incident, a bunch of these police should have been castrated by relatives of the assailed women. That would punch through their nasty, Islamist, male-pig brains.
[Straits Times] FUGITIVE former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Cambodia on Wednesday for his third trip as a controversial economic adviser to the country, said a government spokesman.
Thaksin, whose visits have stoked a diplomatic row between the Thai and Cambodian governments, landed in a private jet at Phnom Penh International Airport, spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP. 'He has arrived. He just landed,' Khieu Kanharith said. 'I don't know about his itinerary yet.'
Thailand and Cambodia recalled their ambassadors in November and expelled senior diplomats over Cambodian premier Hun Sen's appointment of Thaksin, who is living abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption in his home country.
Tensions between the neighbouring countries soared further when Phnom Penh then refused to extradite Thaksin during his first visit to Cambodia in his new role.
During his previous stays in Cambodia, Thaksin has addressed top government officials on how to boost investment, tourism and agriculture. He also met scores of his 'Red Shirt' supporters from Thailand, where he remains a hugely influential figure.
Before Thaksin's appointment as an adviser, relations between Thailand and Cambodia were already tense due to a string of deadly gunbattles at their disputed border, where troops have faced off since July 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] MALAYSIAN police said on Wednesday they have arrested eight people over the firebombing of a church earlier this month, the first in a spate of attacks that have escalated ethnic tensions.
Federal criminal investigation chief Bakri Zinin said police were investigating whether the eight people were also linked to the attacks on 10 other churches, which were pelted with Molotov cocktails, stones and paint.
The attacks on churches across predominantly Muslim Malaysia were triggered by a court ruling on Dec 31 that overturned a ban on non-Muslims using 'Allah' as a translation for 'God.'
The suspects were all Malays from 21 to 26 years old, according to a police statement. Police tracked them down after one of them sought treatment at a hospital for burn injuries, Mr Bakri said.
They could be charged with 'mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy' a place of worship, which is punishable by a maximum 20-year prison sentence and a fine. Police have obtained a court order to detain the men for at least a week pending further investigation.
'We believe we have solved this case,' Mr Bakri told a press conference on Wednesday. The attacks and the reaction by the majority Muslim Malay population have intensified concerns that Malaysia, traditionally a moderate Muslim country, is becoming more radical.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Over the past year, dozens of celebrities from Kristin Cavallari to Steve-O to Kim Zolciak have posed for the "NOH8" photo campaign in an effort to overturn Proposition 8 and legalize same sex marriage in California.
The latest high-profile figure to take part in the initiative is a little more surprising: Sen. John McCain's wife, Cindy.
"I couldn't be more proud of my mother for posing for the NOH8 campaign," daughter Meghan McCain tweeted on Wednesday morning. "I think more Republicans need to start taking a stand for and civil rights in this country and set the example that this is not a partisan issue."
Cindy McCain's position stands in contrast to her husband's, the former GOP presidential nominee, who opposes gay marriage.
Sen. McCain's office issued a statement Wednesday evening affirming his own stance on gay marriage without addressing the ad campaign directly.
"Senator McCain respects the views of members of his family," spokesperson Brooke Buchanan said. "The senator chaired the effort to successfully pass Arizona Proposition 102, the Marriage Protection Amendment, and his opposition to gay marriage remains the same. Senator McCain believes the sanctity of marriage is only defined as between one man and one woman."
The photo shoot took place in the desert outside of Los Angeles last week, Pop Tarts has learned. Cindy McCain's desire to participate took photographer Adam Bouska by surprise.
"I was shooting the cover for Meghan's tell-all political book that she's writing, and her mother just came along for support, and suddenly asked if it was okay if she lent her face for the cause," Bouska told Pop Tarts. "We were definitely surprised. We always knew where Meghan stood on the issue (she was one of the first to pose and show her support in June last year), but we weren't sure about Cindy. She said it shouldn't matter what political party you are part of, that shouldn't be the issue that divides you."
Bouska also said the response he has received since releasing Cindy's photo has been overwhelming.
"Many people feel that she is taking a more progressive stance on gay marriage than Obama," he added. "I hope this will help people see that it is okay to be gay and a Republican. There are so many bigger issues like war and health care we have to worry about; we shouldn't have to be wasting time on this. It is basic human rights."
#4
I don't really have a problem with gay marriage as gay marriage, either. It's only when it's used as an excuse for something else - like beating up on the military, for example - that I have a problem.
In my experience, however, most gays and lesbians aren't interested in that sort of thing: they just want to be legally married. Unfortunately, as with the global warming issue, their movement has a lot of people in it with other goals in mind.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion. The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations. It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats, who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation.
