Home » March 24th, 2011
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Yuri Milner , founder of Moscow-based venture firm DST , has purchased quite a home in Silicon Valley, say multiple sources. The 25,000 square foot home, built just a few years ago sits on a tidy 11 acres. The price? $70 million. For personal reasons we aren’t going to print the address. But we’ve heard that Milner isn’t there much anyway and has no immediate plans to move to the U.S. Milner wouldn’t comment on the story, which isn’t surprising. He’s an intensely private person, as you can see from my interview with him earlier this year at the Crunchies, where he won Venture Capitalist of the Year. CrunchBase Information Yuri Milner Information provided by CrunchBase
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Robotics & Gadgets | Read More »
From Freddie Mac Bulletin : Eliminating the option to foreclose in the name of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. (MERS) (ht Soylent Green is People) We have updated the Guide to eliminate the option for the foreclosure counsel or trustee to conduct a foreclosure in the name of MERS. Effective for Mortgages registered with MERS that are referred to foreclosure on or after April 1, 2011, Servicers must prepare an assignment of the Security Instrument from MERS to the Servicer and instruct the foreclosure counsel or trustee to foreclose in the Servicer’s name and take title in Freddie Mac’s name. As required in Section 66.17, Foreclosing in the Servicer’s Name, Servicers must record the prepared assignment where required by State law. State mandated recording fees are not reimbursable by Freddie Mac, are not considered part of the Freddie Mac allowable attorney fees and must not be billed to the Borrower. Servicers should refer to updated Section 66.17 and Section 66.54, Vesting the Title and Avoiding Transfer Taxes, for additional information. This makes sense and avoids some legal battles. Some day all the MERS issues will be behind us (I don’t think there are any systemic risks).
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Economy | Read More »
The latest news and information from BigGovernment.com Barack Obama really knows how to pick them. It’s not often that one person plays key roles in two — count ‘em, two — trillion-dollar disasters but Jamie Gorelick is one. She helped to bring us 9/11 and the collapse of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Ms. [...]
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Breaking News,National | Read More »
The latest news and information from BigGovernment.com Barack Obama really knows how to pick them. It’s not often that one person plays key roles in two — count ‘em, two — trillion-dollar disasters but Jamie Gorelick is one. She helped to bring us 9/11 and the collapse of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Ms. [...]
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Breaking News,National | Read More »
By Elaine Wilson Elaine.wilson@dma.mil March 24, 2011 I wanted to pass on some information regarding health care benefits as well as some contact numbers for TRICARE military health plan beneficiaries affected by the situation in Japan. First, TRICARE Management Activity officials would like to reassure beneficiaries that their health care benefits remain intact, even if they
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Family Life | Read More »
The latest news and information from BigGovernment.com Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets , Brad Jackson is joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss Portugal’s need for a bail out, then Captain Neta Gerri of the Israeli Defense Force talks about the possibility of a new Gaza war, [...]
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Breaking News,National | Read More »
We know that the SEIU wants to convert millions of illegal aliens into U.S. citizens. We know the SEIU’s goal is to turn those illegal aliens-turned-U.S. citizens into a “ progressive voters .” We know that the SEIU’s membership consists of illegal aliens from whom they collect union dues because they say so—freely . We know that the SEIU does not want enforcement of immigration laws, be it in Arizona or elsewhere . Moreover, we know that the SEIU does not like losing its illegal dues-paying members because the SEIU wants ICE to target the “ crooked employers ” who illegally hire the illegal aliens (who aren’t SEIU members). Confused? You should be confused. You see, the SEIU’s double standard is confusing, especially when an ICE I-9 form audit reveals that one half of a unionized janitorial company’s workforce in Minnesota may be in the country illegally and the SEIU complains that ICE should really go after other employers . The janitors at Harvard Maintenance are represented by SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, local 26. Local president Javier Morillo says the audits of Harvard and ABM in 2009 don’t fit with ICE’s stated goal to “ focus on egregious employers who not only knowingly hire unlawful workers but also exploit and/or harbor them.” “ The janitors of the Twin Cities that are in the union , they’re not depressing wages for janitors. They’re the highest paid janitors,” said Morillo. “There are janitorial companies that pay much, much less that actually depress wages that are not being targeted for ICE audits.” The SEIU boss, Mr. Morillo further elaborates on his theory of enforcing the law, but not enforcing the law , by lashing out at his friends in the Obama administration : Under the leadership of Secretary Napolitano the federal government has become an employment agency for the country’s worst employers. With each I-9 audit, the government is systematically pushing hardworking people into the underground economy where they face exploitation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports targeting egregious employers that exploit workers – but it’s become increasingly obvious that this policy is nothing short of lip service. Let’s be clear: I-9 audits, by definition, do not go after egregious employers who break immigration laws because many of them do not use I-9 forms. Human traffickers do not ask their victims for their social security cards. Clearly, to this SEIU boss, the only way not to be a ‘human trafficker’ is if a company employs SEIU members who are illegal aliens, versus companies that hire illegal aliens who are not members. That sort of makes sense. After all, the SEIU gets its millions a year in union dues from the illegal aliens who work for the non-human trafficking employers versus nothing from the non-union human trafficking companies. As in the case above: According to SEIU Local 26′s 2009 financial reports on file with the Department of Labor, dues charged to workers are between $26 and $47.50 per month, or an average of $36.75 per month. It is safe to assume that the 240 illegals were paying mandatory union dues to the SEIU and, at $36.75, the SEIU was making nearly $9,000 per month–well over $100,000 per year–from these workers…until they were caught. In addition, since the SEIU has no legal obligation to check the citizen status of its members (from whom it collects money from), the union collects its millions (at the national level) virtually risk-free . That may not be human trafficking, per se, but it’s something. _________________ “I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776 X-posted .
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Politics | Read More »
Men who start the day with cereal are 19 percent less likely to have high blood pressure than people don’t have cereal for breakfast, according to a study presented this week at an American Heart Association meeting in Atlanta.
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Health | Read More »
From CNN Politics : CNN has exclusively learned that Rep. Michele Bachmann will form a presidential exploratory committee. The Minnesota Republican plans to file papers for the committee in early June, with an announcement likely around that same time. But a source close to the congresswoman said that Bachmann could form the exploratory committee even earlier than June so that she could participate in early Republican presidential debates. “She’s been telling everyone early summer,” the source told CNN regarding Bachmann’s planned June filing and announcement. But the source said that nothing is static. “If you [debate sponsors] come to us and say, ‘To be in our debates, you have to have an exploratory committee,’ then we’ll say, ‘Okay, fine…I’ll go file the forms.’” Three GOP presidential primary debates are planned before and during early June: The first one on May 2 at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California and another on May 5 in South Carolina. CNN plans a GOP presidential primary debate in New Hampshire in early June. Meanwhile, CNN has also learned that Iowa Republican state Sen. Kent Sorenson has been hired to be Bachmann’s political director for the state – and that Bachmann aides hope to have a complete team together for Iowa by this weekend. Read the whole thing here .
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Breaking News,National,Politics | Read More »
From Bloomberg: Portugal Said to Need as Much as $99 Billion in Bailout A bailout for Portugal may total as much as 70 billion euros ($99 billion), said two European officials with direct knowledge of the matter. A financial lifeline would be between 50 billion euros and 70 billion euros … Portugal has not yet asked for a bailout. It appears a bailout is inevitable and imminent. Here are the 2 year (6.7%), 5 year (8.2%) and 10 year (7.7%) yields on Portuguese government debt – all at new highs. Watch Ireland too – the Irish ten year yield is near 10%.
March 24th, 2011 | Posted in Economy | Read More »
