Wall Street banks with $325 billion in margin calls

Ooops. The banks got themselves into this, let them pull themselves out of it, without a bailout.

Wall Street banks are facing a "systemic margin call" that may deplete banks of $325 billion of capital due to deteriorating subprime U.S. mortgages, JPMorgan Chase & Co , said in a report late on Friday.

JPMorgan, which sent a default notice to Thornburg Mortgage Inc. after the lender missed a $28 million margin call, said more default notices and margin calls were likely. The Carlyle Group's mortgage fund also failed to meet $37 million in margin calls this week.

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What do you do when mom or dad asks to be your "friend" on Facebook?

I love the idea behind this article. I had some of the extended Greek relatives find me on Facebook recently. Guess they know I'm gay now! It can be odd having family intrude on your public life that isn't so much private as it is not-family. Kind of like when my mom occasionally brings up something I've written on the blog and suddenly I'm hoping I didn't swear in that post. From the Washington Post:

When Matt Florian signed onto his Facebook account recently to check the status of his 400-plus friends, he had a friend request.

It was from his dad.

The junior at Sherwood High School in Montgomery County didn't panic. No. He simply took a deep breath and pondered his options.

He could accept it. He could ignore it. He could accept it, but limit the parts of his Facebook profile his dad could see. He pondered more. What were the social implications of "friending" your folks?

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Is There a Third Option for Obama?

NOTE FROM JOHN: I'm pleased and proud to welcome Jacki Schechner to our team here at AMERICAblog. Jacki, you may recall, is a long-time Internet reporter who most recently covered the blogs and the Internet for CNN. Jacki, has her own blog as well, but for us she'll be focusing a lot on the media, her specialty, but she'll also be covering politics across the board, just like the rest of us. Now on with the show...
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I should probably start by clarifying that I don't have a candidate just yet. There was that whole Senator Biden thing that snowballed into an excellent running joke that I like to revisit from time to time, but in regards to the current state of the race, I'm a registered Independent and content to watch events unfold with a journalist's eye for the time being.

Forgive me if this one's come up before, and I've just missed it along the way. But suppose Senator Obama wins the popular vote and the delegate count but for some reason the Democratic Party establishment feels he's been too damaged in the run-up to the convention (hammered on foreign policy experience or some other hot button topic) to be viable against Senator McCain. Suppose Senator Clinton clinches the nomination on superdelegates alone. That despite general indications to the contrary, superdelegates override the will of the people and go with the will of the party.

Could Obama run as an independent? Would he? Could he grab someone like Chuck Hagel or Colin Powell and form a third option come November?

I say this because it seems that the popular movement behind something new is so strong that it might be more viable than ever right now. Some might argue Obama would never betray the Democratic Party by forming a third party ticket. But if he were ahead in popular vote and delegate count and then not confirmed the nominee, wouldn't the party have then betrayed him first? Would he not be justified?

Others may argue a third party ticket would pull support away from Senator Clinton and then secure a win for McCain. But isn't it possible with a disenfranchised Democratic popular majority and a fair share of disgruntled Republicans, an independent moderate option might just be the winning ticket?

My hands are up. Don't shoot. I'm just asking. Read More......

POWs, families, former members of Congress criticize McCain for stymying POW/MIA investigation

Some compelling video criticizing John McCain for his handling of the POW/MIA investigation, or lack thereof. As an aside, I had no idea that McCain did a propaganda piece for the North Vietnamese while in captivity (these guys in the video allege that McCain did 32 such pieces). I looked online and confirmed that he did in fact do at least one.



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McCain: Baghdad as dangerous as an American city

Major hat tip to State of the Day blog for catching this. McCain said it, yesterday on CNN, then he tried to take it back. But he said it. McCain did this once before, remember? When he took a "safe" stroll in a Baghdad market... wearing body armor, flanked by 100 American soldiers, 3 Blackhawk helicopters, and 2 Apache gunships. And then said even in America leaders have to have security when walking around in markets. Watch the video of the latest evidence that McCain is either lying about Iraq, has no idea what's going on, or has simply forgotten the facts.

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Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Another week with lots of Democrats on the Sunday shows including, as to be expected, a number of surrogates for Clinton and Obama. Russert even has real guests today. Also, the Florida/Michigan controversy takes center stage.

Not too much space for McCain today. At some point, the shows should have panels of Republican Senators discuss McCain's infamous and irrational temper. Maybe a panel of medical and psychological experts to talk about whether McCain has the temperament to be President. It's a real issue.

The full lineup is after the break.

As always, if you're watching, provide the commentary:

ABC's "This Week" - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean; Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla.; Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" - Dean; Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and John Kerry, D-Mass.; Republican strategist Ed Rollins and Democratic strategist Joe Trippi.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" - Former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa.

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CNN's "Late Edition" - National Urban League President Marc Morial; Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Garry Kasparov, Russian opposition leader and former chess champion.

"Fox News Sunday" - Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell; Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Mike Pence, R-Ind.

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Weak dollar compounds problem of increasing food prices

The next time Bernanke or anyone else says the weak dollar means nothing at home, think again. Besides contributing to the runaway gas prices, it also means that food staples are even cheaper than before for export markets. As the economies of India and China increase, they have more cash to buy cheap American corn, wheat, beef, etc and that means competition. Competition means higher prices. Add to that the inflated gas prices for corporate farming and transport and you have price increases at the grocery store not seen since the 1970s. The odds of McCain or Republicans disrupting the system they built stand somewhere between slim and nil.

Rising food prices can be particularly corrosive to consumer confidence because people are so frequently exposed to the cost increases. "It's the biggest risk we face economically, and it might be the thing that does us in," said Rich Yamarone, director of economic research at Argus Research Corp. in New York. "There's nothing really worse than having a job, making money, and forking most of it over just so you can have the same amount of food. You're running in place, and it really weighs on you."

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US bombing of "known al Qaeda terrorist" in Somalia kills 3 cows, 1 calf

Did they think the Hamburglar was there or something? Why is George Bush trying to divert America's attention from his scandalous failures at home? Isn't that how their tired old story went during the Clinton years? Either way, the hyped attack was yet another flop.

The attack was the fourth known strike by the US inside Somalia since it backed Ethiopia's invasion of the country in December 2006. All have been aimed at men Washington believes to be responsible for terrorist attacks in East Africa. None has been successful.

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