SonicSpike writes “According to the AP, Ralph Nader could be poised for another presidential campaign. Nader will appear on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ tomorrow to announce whether he’ll launch another White House bid. Nader kicked off his 2004 presidential run on the show. Kevin Zeese, who was Nader’s spokesman during the 2004 presidential race said, ‘Obviously, I don’t think Meet the Press host Tim Russert would have him on for no reason.’”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Share This

Share This

A number of readers wrote in about the launch this morning of a Japanese H-2A rocket carrying a Kizuna (”Winds”) satellite into orbit. Kizuna is intended to provide “super high-speed data transmission” for Japan and Southeast Asia. The news stories on the launch, such as the AP’s linked here, are short on technical detail. For example they say the satellite successfully reached orbit 175 miles above the earth — hardly suitable for Internet communications to a specific area on the surface (remember Teledesic?). Reader nebulus4 provided a link to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency site with an illustration and a little more detail. Such as the fact that Kizuna is destined for geosync orbit, and that a 45-cm antenna will equip eventual users for 155 Mbps down / 6 Mbps up, whereas a 5-m antenna will grant enterprises and ISPs to tap into 1.2 Gbps down. Given the latency to geosync orbit, you probably wouldn’t want to use Kizuna to play an on the web shooter.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Share This

Share This

doconnor writes “JPL announced that Ulysses’ mission will be ending after 17 years. The power generated by the decay of a radioactive isotope has been slowly decreasing. To conserve power its main transmitter was shut off. Unfortunately due to a fault in its power supply it can’t be turned back on. The team plans to continue operating the spacecraft in its reduced capacity, using the alternate S-band transmitter, for as long as they have the ability to over the next few weeks.” Congratulations to all the geniuses involved in this one.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Share This

Share This

pha7boy writes “NASA has made a current award of 171 million dollars to Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia in order to assist the company in developing a feasible space cargo delivery service. ‘The U.S. space bureau intends to hold an open competition in the years ahead for actual space station cargo-delivery contracts, but Orbital of Dulles, Va., is one of two companies receiving financial help from NASA to develop their proposed systems. The other is Space Exploration Technologies of El Segundo, Calif.’”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Share This

Share This

Habitat begins Hispanic outreach
Memphis Commercial Appeal - The Memphis chapter of Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit organization that builds homes for the poor, plans its first outreach event this weekend for Spanish-speakers looking to escape low-quality housing. But Habitat still hasn’t decided how to

Pool 4th-Quarter Loss Widens on Expenses
CNN Money - NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Pool Corp., a distributor of swimming pool supplies, said Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened on higher expenses and the ongoing housing downturn. For the period ended Dec. 31, the company reported a loss of

Ridgefield to get $3.25M in state money for inexpensive housing
Danbury News-Times - RIDGEFIELD “” Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced $3.25 million in say funding this week to renovate 120 units of elderly and family housing. Rell stated the state Bond Commission is expected to approve the funding when it meets later this month. “Providing

Red-hot Red Deer more than Gasoline Alley
Calgary Herald - They’re issues, in fact, that sound eerily similar to those two more massive urban centres to his north and south: crime, homelessness, affordable housing and other pressures from the provincewide economic boom.

Policeman threatened with handgun
Guardian Unlimited - The pair, who were not in the automobile which had been pulled over, then shouted abuse at the officer before running off towards a nearby housing estate.

Leading Indicators in U.S. Probably Declined on Stocks, Housing
Bloomberg - Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) — The index of leading U.S. economic indicators probably fell in January for the fourth consecutive month, as deterioration in the stock and housing markets signaled weakening growth, a survey of economists showed before a report

With library sealed, SMU still has UP land deals to make
Dallas Morning News - It could be used for student housing, for instance, he said. “They’ve identified that area as part of their master plan for quite some time now,” Mr.

Summit County offers loans up to $30,000 to assist with housing down
Glenwood Springs Post Independent - SUMMIT COUNTY — A $30,000 boost from the Board of County Commissioners will help build a revolving down-payment assistance fund for affordable housing. The commissioners agreed at a meeting this week to commit about 10 percent of the county’s

Chamber Event Features Dodd
Hartford Courant - He is chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which oversees America’s financial institutions. He continues to serve as a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Stealth housing strategy pays dividends
Victoria Times Colonist - There’s one group that’s feeling a bit put out by the B.C. Liberals’ housing initiative. It’s the exotic dancers. The government has gone on a quiet shopping spree in the last year, buying a number of older hotels and rooming houses in an effort to

Cenla Government Scorecard
Alexandria Daily Town Speak - Adopted an ordinance providing for the creation of Consolidated School District No. 2. Called for a special election July 19 to authorize issuing bonds for Consolidated School District No. 2. Approved resolution specifying the manner in which the

Rudd Hopes to Meet Nelson Again on Indigenous Issues
The Epoch Times - While parliament was in an uproar this day over his absence, Mr Rudd and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin travelled to Walgett in northern NSW to look at Aboriginal housing.

Iraq: Rockets or Mortars Hit Green Zone
FOX News - Another struck Camp Victory, the main U.S. military headquarters, and an Iraqi housing complex on the capital’s southwestern outskirts on Monday, killing at least five people and wounding 16, including two U.S. soldiers.

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), Merrill Lynch (MER), Countrywide Financial (CFC), Housing, Recession

Former Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) Chief Executive Stan O’Neal, former Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) CEO Chuck Prince and former Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) Angelo Moziilo are due to testify before the U.S. Congress next week about executive pay. No, ladies and gentlemen, I am not making this up.

The poster kids of outrageous executive compensation will appear Thursday before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which recently delved into the touchy issue of whether Roger Clemens had performance-enhancing drugs injected into his rear end. The three should have plenty to speak about as CNN/Money.com notes.

Upon his departure from Citigroup in November, Prince left with approximately $68 million, while O’Neal collected about $161 million after he stepped down in October.

Countrywide’s Mozilo reportedly stood to collect a windfall of $115 million dollars after his firm concurred in January to a yet-to-be completed $4 billion sale to Bank of America. But after facing heavy criticism from lawmakers, Mozilo said he would forfeit $37.5 million in payments tied to the deal.

This should be a doozy. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), who has taken on numerous special interest groups including Big Tobacco, will have his hands full as his committee examines the link between executive pay and the mortgage crisis. He superior have an extra-large gavel handy because these witnesses didn’t think they were accountable to shareholders and sure don’t think they need to explain themselves to a bunch of politicians.

Share This

Share This