Video: Mrs. Doubtfire, recut

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Spain eyes $50 bn bank bailout this weekend

Of course, the $50 billion is only the beginning. Some rumors have suggested numbers closer to $500 billion but we're not there yet. Meanwhile, the much smaller problem (and delay) of Greece is still out there to be resolved. The Guardian:

A first indication would come by Monday, she said, with an International Monetary Fund report on Spain. That is expected to say that Spanish banks need a capital injection of €40bn (£32bn) and may be considered sufficient for a preliminary bailout request over the weekend, especially as the government has already seen the figures.

It remained unclear, however, when an announcement would come and how detailed it would be.

A Spanish bailout will almost certainly be targeted directly at its banks, avoiding a wider crisis that could prevent Spain borrowing on the markets to fund government spending.

Interestingly enough, the euro is in a holding pattern with the dollar, though that is likely to change as the eurozone problem unfolds. Read the rest of this post...

US banks continue to slip in customer charges, to tune of $29bn a year

Bankers being bankers. Wouldn't it be nice if anyone among the political class actually cared enough to step in? For the umpteenth time, the bankers have no problem slapping those who saved their precious lifestyle.

Instead, two new studies show, banks are charging more, hiding the fees deeper than ever and making it difficult to have charges reversed.

Fees in the latest year totaled $29 billion, according to Moebs Services. And the charges are rising again without customers' awareness, said the advocates.

Notice of pending charges are buried in bank account consumer disclosures that average 69 pages, said Pew Health Group in a report released Friday. For consumers who complain, the banks require “binding arbitration” through industry channels, not independent regulators, a practice that Pew said discourages customers from being reimbursed.

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Teaching a robot to run like a cockroach

I loathe cockroaches, and bugs in general. I'm not even so enamored of lady bugs anymore. But this is terribly cool.

Scientists have examined the way a cockroach is able to run along a ledge, then when it gets to the ledge immediately switch to running under the ledge - then they programed a mini-robot to do the same thing. It's hard to explain, but watch this quick video.

Now watch the same video from a side view, and note how the cockroach accomplishes the feat by hanging on with one foot.

What they've done is take the way the cockroach manages this feat and program a small robot to do the same thing. Watch this video of the robot hanging on by one foot to change direction.

Now, when they teach the robot to walk like an Egyptian, then we'll talk.



More on what they did with the robot. (H/t Gizmodo) Read the rest of this post...

Watch Netroots Nation online

Main player (General Session room and Ballroom A panels)




Player #1 (Ballroom B panels)




Player #2 (Ballroom D panels)




Player #3 (Room 552 panels)



Keynote schedule is here:

The schedule for Ballroom A is here

The schedule for Ballroom B is here

The schedule for Ballroom D is here

The schedule for Room 552 is here Read the rest of this post...

Mitt Romney thinks cops and firemen aren't American

Mitt Romney thinks the "message" of Scott Walker having survived a recall in Wisconsin is that America hates cops and firemen:

Romney said of Obama, “he wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”

Because firemen, cops and teachers aren't "American people"?

As Greg Sargent points out via the link above, there were a lot of messages from Wisconsin, and none of them were about cops and firemen being a waste of money:

This time, however, Romney deserves points for honesty: He has forthrightly declared that the class of government workers holding back other Americans does include cops, firefighters and teachers. And in so doing, he has singlehandedly reframed the debate from one over despised government bureaucrats to one over whether we should hire more cops, firefighters and teachers to get the economy going. This is a debate the White House will be happy to have.

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