they're banning bacon-wrapped hotdogs in LA, the County Health board says street vendors can't cook bacon thoroughly enough on their carts

rest of us say "shove off"

wth is a weetabix?

The Treasury Department, which is overseeing the massive capital injection program along with the rest of the bailout, will pour $125 billion into nine of the country's largest banks, which account for 50 percent of all U.S. deposits. Anthony Ryan, Treasury's acting undersecretary for domestic finance, said the first payments went out Tuesday. An additional $125 billion will start flowing to other banks within days, he said.

"As these banks and institutions are reinforced and supported with taxpayer funds, they must meet their responsibility to lend, and support the American people and the U.S. economy," Ryan told the annual meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. "It is in a strengthened institution's best financial interest to increase lending once it has received government funding."

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, asked the banks getting the $125 billion to detail what they are paying their executives and employees, including bonuses.

"I question the appropriateness of depleting the capital that taxpayers just injected into the bank through the payment of billions of dollars in bonuses, especially after one of the financial industry's worst years on record," Waxman said.

The infusion of federal money is to rebuild banks' battered capital reserves so the institutions would feel comfortable resuming more normal lending practices. But that confidence was undercut somewhat when reports surfaced that bankers might use the money to buy other banks. Indeed, the government approved PNC Financial Services Group Inc. to receive $7.7 billion in return for company stock on Friday and, at the same time, PNC said it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion.

There is little federal officials can do about it. There is no language in the bailout bill that specifically obligates banks receiving money to increase their loans. Officials had argued that attaching strings to the capital-infusion program would discourage financial institutions from participating.

"The way that banks make money is by lending money," Perino said. "And so they have every incentive to move forward and start using this money."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081028/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

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Out-fricking-standing.  "Corporate welfare" is right, you earn it for breathing. 

"You a bank?"

"Yeah."

"Want some $$$$$$$$$$"

"Yeah"

"OK--you gonna lend that to main street right?"

"Nah--but tell you what, slap a fine on me, drive down the value of that stock you just bought. Bitch"

Hey waxman, "being too big to fail" means never having to say you're sorry.  They could buy Sudanese slaves to wash their feet in front of your committee, you gotta look the other way--RIGHT? letting banks fail is part of our discredited fringe wacko rightwing ideology.

Sources: Sarkozy views Obama stance on Iran as 'utterly immature' 

By Barak Ravid 

Tags: Israel News, Nicolas Sarkozy   

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel's government.

Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as "utterly immature" and comprised of "formulations empty of all content."

Obama visited Paris in July, and the Iranian issue was at the heart of his meeting with Sarkozy. At a joint press conference afterward, Obama urged Iran to accept the West's proposal on its nuclear program, saying that Iran was creating a serious situation that endangered both Israel and the West.
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According to the reports reaching Israel, Sarkozy told Obama at that meeting that if the new American president elected in November changed his country's policy toward Iran, that would be "very problematic."

Until now, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have tried to maintain a united front on Iran. But according to the senior Israeli source, Sarkozy fears that Obama might "arrogantly" ignore the other members of this front and open a direct dialogue with Iran without preconditions.

Following their July meeting, Sarkozy repeatedly expressed disappointment with Obama's positions on Iran, concluding that they were "not crystallized, and therefore many issues remain open," the Israeli source said. Advisors to the French president who held separate meetings with Obama's advisors came away with similar impressions and expressed similar disappointment. 
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031943.html

It's obama for 30 mins unfiltered.. that's bad

is he gonna pull this socialist 8 hour speeches wehn he's president

They were gonna put on white tuxedos and top hats and drive at Obama firing out the windows...
i'm kinda sorry they didn't go for it so we could shoot them to hell

eh bw remember when they tried to kil Bush in georgia with a hand grenade?  yeah nobody remembers that

looks back and realizes instead of leaping over Obi Wan he should have moved two handfuls of dirt under obi-wans foots and dropped HIM into a lava river

if you can't demonstrate how life is produced from a soup of primordial proteins...but feel sure it actually happened...and someday we'll know how...

how is that different from not personally having seen the Messiah walking around roman judea 2000 years ago...but feeling sure it happened...and that someday it will be demonstrated

one faith has different social impact but it is still gambling on eventual revelation of existing truth by means you can't demonstrate

i got the hat and trenchcoat...I should work on the mask!!

there's an animated version of it being made, my pal Vinse was watching it 2 yrs ago

...use the leg hole?  wtf kind of...OH they're wearing jockeys

too bad they didn't figure that out in time to save Czechoslovakia