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REVENGE AGAINST WOODSHEDDER! Obama Snubs World Series Champs

Due to iBankCoin’s own @Woodshedder being both an ardent political conservative/libertarian and St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, President Obama has sought and carried out revenge. 

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Was President Barack Obama too busy watching the “Operation Repo” marathon or something else last Friday night?

When KMOX host Charlie Brennan asked now-retired St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa how the traditional call of congratulations from the White House went, La Russa suddenly realized that…it never happened.

“That’s a good point, I hadn’t really even thought about that,” replied a surprised-sounding La Russa, who can be forgiven for having a few other things on his mind over the past week.  “As we were getting into the World Series we had a call from the White House to make sure they had the correct number for my office.”

But as the wild, champagne-drenched celebration of the team’s 11th World Series title was going on in the locker room, that phone never rang.

“We never did get a call,” La Russa said.

And all this despite the fact that the First Lady, Michelle Obama, was in town for Game 1 of the World Series.

“Very impressive, too.” La Russa recalled of his meeting with the First Lady.

Obama didn’t immediately phone last year’s World Series champions, either. But the San Francisco Giants did hear from him eventually:

And the President also hosted the Giants at the White House this summer, where he congratulated them personally.

Whether or not President Obama picks up the phone, or invites him and his team to Washington, TLR doesn’t seem too worried about the apparent slip in postgame protocol.

He’s packing up his things and getting ready to “head west” for the next phase of his life.

La Russa will vacate his office at Busch Stadium as of Friday.

He’s contemplating his next step, which could be buying a minor league ballclub, writing his memoirs, or simply pursuing one of his passions…reading.

He’s currently checking out “The Affair” by Lee Child.

La Russa also said that if asked, he would come back to manage the National League squad during next summer’s All-Star Game, which he earned by guiding the Cardinals to the NL pennant.

SOURCE  

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Old Man Buffett’s Profit Falls on…wait for it…DERIVATIVES

Warren Buffett’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc reported a smaller third-quarter profit on Friday after losing more than $2 billion on derivatives related to stock market performance.

That was nearly three times what Berkshire lost on the same instruments a year ago. Buffett has sharply criticized derivatives in general, but has said these particular contracts were safe and would ultimately be lucrative.

But Berkshire was hurt, like many other insurance companies in particular, by sharp declines in a broad range of market values. In a quarterly report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire said the indexes covered by the contracts fell anywhere from 11 percent to 23 percent in the quarter.

“It’s a noneconomic event,” said David Rolfe, chief investment officer of Wedgewood Partners, which has about $900 million under management and has held Berkshire shares for about 13 years. “Operating (was) in-line to terrific, the derivatives always need explaining.”

Berkshire reported a net profit of $2.28 billion, or $1,380 per Class A share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $2.99 billion, or $1,814 per share.

Cash at the end of the quarter was $34.78 billion, down from $47.89 billion at the end of June. During the third quarter Berkshire funded the purchase of chemical maker Lubrizol and a $5 billion investment in Bank of America Corp, which accounted for the decline.

OPERATING PROFITS RISE

Operating income rose across segments, except for the company’s finance business, where it fell slightly.

Profits in the insurance business rose as a rebound in reinsurance results offset sharp declines at auto insurer Geico. The reinsurance unit benefited from a reduction in liabilities related to a contract with one unnamed company, while Geico’s profits fell on higher catastrophe losses.

Earnings were also nearly 10 percent higher at Berkshire’s next-biggest unit, the Burlington Northern railroad, as revenue per car rose by double digits.

Berkshire’s MidAmerican Energy utility business saw earnings rise more than 10 percent as well. Profits rose sharply in the manufacturing, service and retailing group due to growth at the industrial businesses of the mini-conglomerate Marmon, offsetting ongoing weakness in housing-related units.

Last month, Buffett said he expected record profits this year for Burlington Northern, MidAmerican, manufacturer Iscar and for the Marmon companies.

But at the same time he said Berkshire’s housing-related businesses were doing as poorly as at any point during the financial crisis.

Book value rose to $96,876 per Class A share. Berkshire recently launched a share buyback program, its first ever, with an upper price limit set at 110 percent of book value.

That would suggest a ceiling of roughly $106,560, whereas Class A shares closed at $115,806 on Friday. Berkshire indicated it bought back about $18 million in stock during the third quarter.

“I think Buffett could have spent more on Cherry Coke than he did on shares,” said Wedgewood’s Rolfe, in a nod to the 81-year-old investor’s favorite beverage.

SOURCE 

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Groupon Prices @ $20

The smallesy float, 30 million shares, to go public in many tears with 11 banks underwriting and syndicating the deal.

Full article

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AMERICAN CULTURE 2011: Vinny from Jersey Shore Is Now a Columbia Professor

Apparently Vinny Guadagnino, the big-dicked guido from Jersey Shore, the greatest sociological experiment of our time, was a guest speaker at a Columbia sociology class yesterday. And it sounds like the students weren’t too happy about it.

Vinny got up and spoke about bullying inProfessor Diane Vaughn’s “Mistake, Misconduct, and Disaster” class. I mean if it weren’t for those three things, there wouldn’t even be a Jersey Shore. Vinny was invited by a student of the class who’s also an intern at Do Something, the anti-bullying organization that Vinny works with on the regular. He speaks loudly and, uh, carries a big stick.

TMZ says one student asked, “What gives you, as a cast member of Jersey Shore, the right to interrupt this class and then lecture us on setting a good example?”

That’s a very good question, but I have an answer. Didn’t you hear that Jersey Shore is now a suitable topic for academic debate? Just ask the New York Times which covered the Jersey Shore Studies conference last Friday at the University of Chicago. Not only did I attend, but I presented as well. And I spent the entire day talking about Vinny, Snooki, Deena, and race, gender, class, and sexual politics. Pick up the Foucault, everyone, and throw it at your TV screen, because if you’re not applying it to Jersey Shore then you are not on the cutting edge of academia. That said, I have a whole academic presentation (which the Timescalled insightful and entertaining) all set to go entitled “Stereotype, Authenticity, and the Warped Reality of the Jersey Shore” and I’m willing to travel to Columbia or any other university that will have me. You’re not going to be the only one to get an honorary PhD out of this show, Vinny.

SOURCE 

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Flash: Obama Gets Subpeonaed

Showing a growing frustration with the the Obama administration, congressional Republicans on Thursday authorized their second subpoena this week, demanding White House documents related to failed solar technology company Solyndra.

By a 14-9 party-line vote the Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative subcommittee authorized issuing a subpoena for any White House documents related to Solyndra, which received renewable energy loan guarantees under President Obama’s stimulus program. The request for documents could include details of the president’s own travel and communications.

Democrats said it was “unprecedented” to subpoena documents from the president’s executive office like this, but Republicans said they’ve run out of patience with White House “stalling.”

“We simply cannot allow the executive branch at its highest levels to pick and choose what they will produce, or whether they will produce anything at all,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns, the Florida Republican who runs the investigative panel.

Thursday’s subpoena came just a day after the Judiciary Committee’s immigration subcommittee voted along party lines to authorize a subpoena for Homeland Security records related to illegal immigrants the department has declined to pursue deportation cases against.

**FILE** An auction sign is shown outside the Fremont, Calif., headquarters for bankrupt solar company Solyndra headquarters on Oct. 31, 2011, before the auction on the following day. Solyndra received a $500 million loan guarantee from the government before filing for bankruptcy in September. (Associated Press)**FILE** An auction sign is shown outside the Fremont, Calif., headquarters for bankrupt solar company Solyndra headquarters on Oct. 31, 2011, before the auction on the following day. Solyndra received a $500 million loan guarantee from the government before filing for bankruptcy in September. (Associated Press)

Together they mark an escalation as Republicans have become increasingly aggressive in pushing back against what they see as administration stonewalling of oversight by the new GOPmajority in the House.

In each case, the vote only authorizes a subpoena. It’s up to the chairmen of the full committees to actually issue them.

Democrats said both votes were premature. They pointed to ongoing discussions between Homeland Security and the Judiciary Committee on the one hand, and between theWhite House and the Energy and Commerce Committee on the other, as evidence the administration is acting in good faith.

“The White House repeatedly said they had turned over documents and they were willing to turn over more documents,” said Rep. Diana DeGette, the ranking Democrat on the investigations panel.

She also said the administration has already turned over tens of thousands of documents.

Each side now argues the other is acting in bad faith.

Republicans point to a lengthy effort to get documents, and said it is only when the committee begins to threaten subpoenas that things shake loose.

Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Republican and chairman of the full committee, said several new boxes of documents were released to the press Wednesday night even before they were turned over to thecommittee. Those documents reportedly show the Obama administration mulled bailing Solyndra out just days before the solar panel manufacturer collapsed.

Democrats said they support legitimate requests for information and back the House’s right to investigate the administration. But they said the request for all potential Solyndra communications was a broad fishing expedition, and accused the GOP of short-circuiting usual negotiations.

“Apparently what the committee really wants is a confrontation with the president,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the top Democrat on the full Energy and Commerce Committee.

READ THE REST HERE 

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BREAKING: Vets Injuries from Occupy Oakland Not Caused by Deputies

The Sheriff’s Department said an internal investigation unit is reviewing the incident, but it’s unlikely the identified deputies caused Olsen’s injury. Spokeswoman Eileen Hirst said 35 of the 37 Sheriff’s Department personnel on site for the raid were not carrying projectiles, and the two who were equipped with them did not fire.

Read the rest here.

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IPCC climate report was authored by kids

I think I busted a rib from laughing…

A scathing new expose on the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change — which sets the world’s agenda when it comes to the current state of the climate — claims that its reports have often been written by graduate students with little or no experience in their field of study and whose efforts normally might be barely enough to satisfy grad school requirements.

Grad students often co-author scientific papers to help with the laborious task of writing. Such papers are rarely the cornerstone for trillions of dollars worth of government climate funding, however — nor do they win Nobel Peace prizes.

“We’ve been told for the past two decades that ‘the Climate Bible’ was written by the world’s foremost experts,” Canadian journalist Donna Laframboise told FoxNews.com. “But the fact is, you are just not qualified without a doctorate. In academia you aren’t even on the radar at that point.”

The IPCC insists that the lead authors of individual sections of its climate report are indeed the pre-eminent experts in their field.

“These authors are nominated by governments and selected based on expertise,” a spokesman told FoxNews.com. “Author teams on IPCC chapters are a mix of individuals who have excelled in their fields of specialism.”

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