Things to Know - 7 July

1.  This issue of Romney's wealth, and how it is protected from taxes that the rest of us pay, how it is all hidden, and the fact that he is hiding all of this so no one can nail him.....well, that keeps on coming up from the back to the front burner, and won't go away:

http://www.businessinsider.com/its-starting-to-look-like-romney-has-a-dirty-tax-secret-2012-7

2.  In a state where closed minds are an enduring tradition, the narrow view presents hazardous gotchas when bigoted laws result in unintended consequences:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/07/05/louisiana-republican-when-i-voted-for-state-funds-to-go-to-religious-schools-i-didnt-mean-muslim-ones/

3.  LIBOR - London Interbank Offered Rate.  You've heard of that lately?  You should know about it.  It's another banking rip-off scan even bigger than what was exposed a few years ago.  Just makes you wonder how bad the financial institutions make Capitalism look.  Capitalism, is a fine example of one good way to run an economic system.  The problem with Capitalism is that it involves people, and people get powerful and greedy. In doing so, they corrupt the whole system.  Read about how Robert Scheer describes LIBOR as the "crime of the century".  The only defense that has been offered by the banks is "well every one else was doing it".  Capitalism sucks:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/44152/

4.  Thom Hartmann has his news show for you to enjoy a few tidbits of information:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/10196-on-the-news-with-thom-hartmann-the-current-heat-wave-could-lead-to-a-food-crisis-and-more

5.  The Large Hadron Collider enabled scientists to find evidence that Higgs boson could be the "God particle".  Now, how do you expect this momentous news to be received on our campaign trail?  Gail Collins takes a humorous look:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/opinion/our-political-black-hole.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

6.  In reference to #3 above, Joe Nocera offers his story in LIBOR.   Between the two, maybe we can understand just exactly what was going on, and why it is necessary to heavily regulate the banking industry - think Glass-Steagall:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/opinion/libors-dirty-laundry.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

7.  I spent yesterday in San Pedro, California, which is now the home to the USS Iowa battle ship.  I really think it will revive the Ports of Call and the San Pedro downtown area, and hope it is a success.  Here is an article that looks at other cities that have attempted to boost their attractiveness to as a tourist destination; some with and some without success:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-iowa-20120705,0,974956,print.story

8.  Struggling Best Buy is going to axe the Geek Squad.  I have no idea what impact this has on the business, but I put it in here just because the business news after the 4th of July break is just plan slow, and I have a slot to fill:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-best-buy-geeks-20120707,0,5432554.story
--
Juan

"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely." 

       -- Auguste Rodin

"Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up." 
       -- G. K. Chesterton

"I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous - everyone hasn't met me yet." 
       -- Rodney Dangerfield

"It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man." 
       -- H. L. Mencken

"The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive." 
       -- John Sladek