dixiegrrrrl
dixiegrrrrl's JournalAt&T to buy Direct Tv.
Fewer and fewer choices left now in media.
“The deal is done,” the source said, adding that DirecTV CEO Mike White has already informed senior executives that the deal is finished and plans to give public confirmation Sunday.
Bloomberg and the New York Times have pegged the deal at $50 billion.
DirecTV is the largest satellite operator in the country, with about 20 million subscribers, and the deal would vastly expand the reach and leverage of AT&T negotiating for video content. The company’s U-verse digital TV service currently has fewer than 6 million subscribers.
Lime shortage attracting Mexican drug cartels.
The bad weather and the huanglongbing epidemic began to increase the cost of limes earlier this year. Then, the problem was made worse by the drug cartels. The Knights Templar is a powerful drug cartel in Mexico and has set its sights on the farmers in Michoacán, one of the favored locations for lime growth. The limes there were able to escape the bad weather and huanglongbing, making them more valuable than usual. Because prices for limes became so high, cartels like The Knights Templar began threatening farmers, seizing groves, and even hijacking trucks. Lime farmers how hire armed guards to transport their coveted citrus.
While the Mexican government is calling for a cease fire, farmers are still at odds with drug cartels. They have also deployed the military to deal with the issue directly. That's right, there are Mexican soldiers defending the right to bear limes.
FCC approves plan to allow for paid priority on Internet
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted in favor of advancing a proposal that would dramatically reshape the way consumers experience the Internet, opening the possibility of Internet service providers charging Web sites for higher-quality delivery of their content to American consumers.
The plan, approved in a three-to-two vote along party lines, could unleash a new economy on the Web where an Internet service provider such as Verizon would charge a Web site such as Netflix for the guarantee of flawless video streaming.
The proposal is not a final rule, but the three-to-two vote on Thursday is a significant step forward on a controversial idea that has invited fierce opposition from consumer advocates, Silicon Valley heavyweights, and Democratic lawmakers.
The next phase will be four months of public comments, after which the commissioners will vote again on redrafted rules that are meant to take into account public opinion. But the enactment of final rules faces significant challenges.
The proposal has sparked a massive fight between two of the most powerful industries in the country — on one side, Silicon Valley, and on the other, companies such as Verizon and AT&T that built the pipes delivering Web content to consumers’ homes. The telecom companies argue that without being able to charge tech firms for higher-speed connections, they will be unable to invest in faster connections for consumers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/05/15/fcc-approves-plan-to-allow-for-paid-priority-on-internet/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost
Bank of America getting sued ..AGAIN..over bad mortgages.
to ms. smiler....
ResCap filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2012 after investors who bought mortgage-backed bonds claimed they were loaded with faulty loans. It was liquidated to resolve more than $100 billion in potential lawsuits.
In lawsuits filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, ResCap said it’s seeking to recover “billions of dollars in liabilities and losses” over the “defective” loans. It wants the banks held responsible for more than 24 lawsuits alleging ResCap securitized bad loans, as well as for hundreds of claims, including securities fraud and breach of warranty, that it faced in bankruptcy.
Blog: Selling Subprime Loans to Wall Street Investors, This Time for Small Businesses
Bank of America (BAC:US) is a successor to First Republic Thrift & Loan and First Republic Savings Bank, which sold ResCap more than 240 mortgage loans with a principal of over $165 million, according to one of the filings.
I need a picture of the karma train....anyone????
Samsung offers 'deep apology' and compensation to workers who've contracted incurable diseases
In a public statement, Samsung Electronics CEO Kwon Oh-hyun said "several workers at our production facilities suffered from leukemia and other incurable diseases, which also lead to some deaths."
Kwon said Samsung would make "appropriate compensation to those who were affected and their families," after activist groups claimed hazardous working environments caused some employees to contract lethal diseases. "We should have settled the issue earlier, and we are deeply heartbroken that we failed to do so and express our deep apology."
Samsung is embroiled in a health controversy over its potentially dangerous work environments. In 2011, a Seoul administrative court said there was a high probability that Hwang Yu-mi, who died from leukemia in 2007, contracted the disease after coming in contact with dangerous chemicals at a Samsung plant in Suwon. Hwang was one of a number of employees who fell ill after working at a Samsung plant: a documentary released last month uncovered 56 cases of leukemia and other blood cancers among Samsung workers.
More:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/14/5716064/samsung-offers-apology-and-compensation-to-workers-who-got-leukemia
If you are paying a mortgage, or thinking of buying a home, you need to know this:
The Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill that obligates Servicers to Do Their Job went into effect on January 10th of this year, 2014.Here are links to resources you need to keep handy, just in case something comes up.
Freddie Mac New Mortgage Servicing Requirements
(Mortgage servicers, the people you pay the monthly mortgage to, are bound by these new laws)
http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/service/mortgage_servicing.html
You can also file a Fair Housing Complaint if you are part of the protected class of borrowers that believes they are being treated differently than the process has required.
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/complaint-process
Further, you can file a complaint with the CFPB, the new Federal Agency charged with regulating the financial industry.
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/so-how-do-i-submit-a-complaint/
This website is also very helpful to homeowners:
http://www.loansafe.org/actions-that-constitute-servicer-abuse-at-the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau
(if you find this helpful, pls. rec so others can see it)
What's with all these copy cat attacks?
Last week there was a suspected shooter at a Daly City hospital, in Ca.
Now there is report of one at SF General Hospital.
There was a stabbing with scissors at a school, followd by more incidents at other schools in the country.
there have been a rash of knife attacks in China, and in Britain.
Quite a few colleges have a successive series of reports of "armed man on campus".
I don't understand the copy cat mentality....
The End of Food
Has a tech entrepreneur come up with a product to replace our meals?
fascinating read, addressing the implications of climate change on food availability,
and the possible alternatives, wrapped around the story of a guy who invented a food replacement.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/12/140512fa_fact_widdicombe?currentPage=all
Website offers “Anonymous, safe, secure, crowdfunded assassinations.”
A Digital Citizens report did not reveal the name of the person with the $125,000 bounty on their head, but it is thought to be Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Apparently the funders and the site owner do not realize bitcoin transactions are so traceable.
Holder made me LOL this am.
Breaking News Headline:
Attorney General Eric Holder declares no banks are too big to be prosecuted if they engage in criminal activity - @politico
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Gender: FemaleHometown: Washington state, for half my life
Home country: USA
Current location: SW Alabama. for the rest of my life
Member since: Wed Feb 27, 2008, 02:09 PM
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