U.S. sues Bank of America over sale of $850 million in mortgage-backed securities

U.S. sues Bank of America over sale of $850 million in mortgage-backed securitiesThe U.S. government filed two civil lawsuits against Bank of America for… (Brendan McDermid/Reuters ) Traders at Bank of America willfully misled investors about the quality of the residential mortgages tucked into the securities the bank sold at the start of the financial crisis, according to separate lawsuits filed Tuesday by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Justice Department Fights Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding Unconstitutional Surveillance

Justice Department Fights Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding Unconstitutional SurveillanceIn the midst of revelations that the government has conducted extensive top-secret surveillance operations to collect domestic phone records and internet communications, the Justice Department was due to file a court motion Friday in its effort to keep secret an 86-page court opinion that determined that the government had violated the spirit of federal surveillance laws and engaged in unconstitutional spying.

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Borrowers can sue Wells Fargo over mortgage modifications

Borrowers can sue Wells Fargo over mortgage modificationsCredit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton A Wells Fargo sign is seen outside a banking branch in New York July 13, 2012. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wells Fargo was required under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program to offer loan modifications to borrowers who demonstrated their eligibility during a trial period.

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Snowden’s Asylum: ‘It’s the law, stupid’

Snowden’s Asylum: ‘It’s the law, stupid’The most influential media in the United States has lived up to its pro-government bias in the Snowden Affair in three major ways: firstly, by consistently referring to Snowden by the demeaning designation of ‘leaker’ rather than as ‘whistleblower’ or ‘surveillance dissident,’ both more respectful and accurate.

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Veteran civil rights leader: Snowden acted in tradition of civil disobedience

Veteran civil rights leader: Snowden acted in tradition of civil disobedienceJohn Lewis, one of America’s most revered civil rights leaders, says the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was continuing the tradition of civil disobedience by revealing details of classified US surveillance programs. Lewis, a 73-year-old congressman and one of the last surviving lieutenants of Martin Luther King, said Snowden could claim he was appealing to “a higher law” when he disclosed top secret documents showing the extent of NSA surveillance of both Americans and foreigners.

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IRS manual detailed DEA’s use of hidden intel evidence

Exclusive: IRS manual detailed DEA’s use of hidden intel evidenceCredit: Reuters/John Shiffman A slide from a presentation about a secretive information-sharing program run by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Special Operations Division (SOD) is seen in this undated photo. The practice of recreating the investigative trail, highly criticized by former prosecutors and defense lawyers after Reuters reported it this week, is now under review by the Justice Department.

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Bitcoin Clampdown Continues As Federal Judge Says It’s A Currency

Bitcoin Clampdown Continues As Federal Judge Says It’s A CurrencyWikipedia calls Bitcoin a cryptocurrency (a currency that relies on cryptography), but now it’s official. A federal judge in Texas has declared that Bitcoin is a currency and should therefore be regulated just like U.S. dollars or gold. The ruling represents yet another attempt to regulate Bitcoin transactions, threatening the original purpose of the currency.

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Occupy protester sues Portland police for notorious pepper-spray incident

Occupy protester sues Portland police for notorious pepper-spray incidentThe Occupy Portland protester who was photographed as police doused her with pepper spray is now in court seeking $155,000 for damages caused by alleged police brutality. The photograph became one of the most galvanizing images of the movement. Elizabeth Evon Nichols was just one of thousands demonstrators who gathered in Portland, Oregon to protest widespread housing foreclosures by major banks.

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Speed Camera Firms Move To Hide Evidence

DC, Maryland: Speed Camera Firms Move To Hide EvidenceRelated News Cop Sues Over DC Speed Camera Program Southern California Cities Further Reject Red Light Cameras View Main Topics: Maryland: Motorist Rights Group Sues Over Camera Data Third Maryland Jurisdiction Forced To Refund Illegal Tickets Back To Front Page Australia: Safety Official Seeks Refund Of 987 Speed Camera Tickets Subscribe via RSS or E-Mail DC, Maryland: Speed Camera Firms Move To Hide Evidence Afraid of refunds, Washington, DC and Salisbury, Maryland conceal evidence that could reveal camera inaccuracy.

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Justice Department Sues Bank of America Over Mortgages

Justice Department Sues Bank of America Over MortgagesBank of America Corp. was sued by the U.S. for allegedly hiding risks from investors in a 2008 deal for $850 million of bonds backed by residential mortgages. Government lawsuits filed today in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, lay out a pattern of intentional acts by bank officials to disguise the mortgages’ risks in disclosures to the U.S.

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Anti-Social Tendencies of Entrepreneurs Demonstrated

Anti-social tendencies of entrepreneurs demonstratedMedia reports about alleged anti-social and delinquent behavior of entrepreneurs are no rarity. Such reports direct the attention towards possibly ‘hidden’ anti-social tendencies in entrepreneurial types. Is it true then, that entrepreneurs are a particularly self-serving species with their own moral ideas and ethical principles?

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