·

sendero (1000+ posts)

Sat Feb-16-08 04:59 PM Original message

For those struggling to understand the subprime..

... crisis, this little cartoon does an excellent job of explaining it. Warning, there is some foul language here http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjs...

Room 641A- you need to know about this

...

underpants (1000+ posts)

Fri Feb-15-08 02:49 PM Response to Original message

57. Room 641A- you need to know about this

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/underpants/10... In 2003, Room 641A of a large telecommunications building in downtown San Francisco was filled with powerful data-mining equipment for a "special job" by the National Security Agency, according to a former AT&T technician. It was fed by fiber-optic cables that siphoned copies of e-mails and other online traffic from one of the largest Internet hubs in the United States, the former employee says in court filings. Neither AT&T nor the federal government has admitted even the existence of a secret room, and the Justice Department is arguing that the cases should be dismissed because their subject matter is a state secret. The communications company, meanwhile, says it is prevented from properly defending itself because of national security reasons and dismisses the employee who briefly saw the room and worked on supporting equipment as a "line technician who . . . never had access to the 'secret room' he purports to describe." <--- that is as scarey an excuse as it is laughable The allegations by Mark Klein, who worked for AT&T's WorldNet Service, underscore the government's dependence on major telecommunications providers to physically tap optic fibers that carry electronic signals around the globe. Some of the evidence also suggests that the NSA efforts were not limited to overseas e-mail communications and included the collection of purely domestic traffic. "I conclude that AT&T has constructed an extensive -- and expensive -- collection of infrastructure that collectively has all the capability necessary to conduct large-scale covert gathering of -based communications information, not only for communications to overseas locations, but for purely domestic communications as well," said Marcus, a veteran computer network executive who worked at GTE, Genuity and other companies before joining the FCC. James X. Dempsey, policy director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the evidence gleaned from the AT&T case appears to confirm that "there is a massive surveillance capability built into the network" by the federal government. But, Dempsey added, "the mere fact that the capability has been built and utilized still does not answer the fundamental question -- has it been exercised under constitutional parameters? That, in a way, is what these cases are trying to get to."

Ghost Dog (1000+ posts)

Fri Feb-15-08 11:08 PM Response to Reply #57

113. In this context, check out Miami-based Terremark Inc:

http://www.terremark.com/about/video-podcast.aspx http://www.terremark.com/industry-solutions/government.... "Terremark's Managed Routing Service (MRS) leverages the massive global network connectivity provided by the world's largest telecommunications companies located within our carrier-neutral facility. With direct access to the backbones of the world's leading carriers, we connect you directly to the heart of the Internet, consistently delivering the quality of service required for Streaming Multimedia, Voice over IP and other demanding applications. Our ultra secure and reliable facilities are complete with redundant systems and infrastructure. Our highly trained Network Management staff can proactively monitor your service, 24x7x365. In addition, our high-performance Network Analysis Modules (NAMs) offer proactive monitoring and quick troubleshooting that provides our engineers with visibility into all layers of the network. This enables us to analyze traffic flows for applications, hosts, conversations and network-based services such as Quality of Service (QoS) and Voice over IP (VoIP)."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x93692#93803

The Plosser Dip: potential for core inflation to remain elevated; signs the Fed's credibility is weakening; deeper rate cuts.

UpInArms (1000+ posts)

Wed Feb-06-08 09:22 PM Response to Original message

107. Dow ends day at psychologically important number 12,200 even

Dow 12,200.10 65.03 (0.53%) Nasdaq 2,278.75 30.82 (1.33%) S&P 500 1,326.45 10.19 (0.76%) 10-Yr Bond 3.614% 0.027 NYSE Volume 3,799,418,500 Nasdaq Volume 2,357,679,250 how handy!

Wed 6 Feb 2008 DU-SMW (briefing.com):

With the major indices closing near their worst levels of the day, then, Wednesday's session can indeed be labeled a disappointment by market bulls. Most media sources will attribute comments from Philadelphia Fed President Plosser as the catalyst for the downturn. The fact of the matter is that the market was already fading from its highs (the Dow +125; the Nasdaq +29; and the S&P +15) when comments from Mr. Plosser hit the wires around 13:30 ET.

In particular, Mr. Plosser expressed concerns about the potential for core inflation to remain elevated and conceded that there may be early signs the Fed's credibility is weakening. Soon after, though, he also noted that one can "never say never" about deeper rate cuts. In other words, it was a typical "on the one hand, on the other hand" type of delivery that usually characterizes Fed speeches.

The market, after Tuesday's sell-off, focused on the negative elements of his remarks, namely the inflation concerns, and continued sliding in the early afternoon. There was a brief upturn following the Plosser dip, which goes to show the market wasn't as rattled by the remarks as some contended, yet that rebound try also ran out of steam as growth concerns continued to prevail. Once again, the losses were fairly broad-based. The health care sector (+0.03%) eked out a slight gain and was the only sector to close the session with a gain. Strikingly, the utilities sector (-0.15%) and the consumer staples sector (-0.27%) exhibited relative strength, which fits with their defensive appeal in times of uncertainty and slower growth. The energy sector (-1.58%) suffered the biggest loss on Wednesday as a bearish inventory report sparked a 1.5% drop in crude futures to $87.09. Earlier in the day, the Dept. of Energy reported crude stockpiles rose 7.05 million barrels versus an expected build of 2.6 million barrels. The larger than expected build played into concerns about an economic slowdown. Many of the transportation stocks caught a bid, though, with the drop in oil prices and outperformed the market. Separately, the financial sector, which fell 1.06%, underperformed again with big losses in the exchange space taking a toll. Shares of CME Group (CME 485.25, -103.55) plummeted 17% in the wake of a report that the Dept. of Justice issued a comment letter suggesting the separation of clearing operations from the futures exchanges. Technology, down 1.4%, was another influential weak spot that weighed on the broader market. True to recent form, the big-cap technology issues were out of favor as evidenced by the 1.8% decline in the Nasdaq 100 that preceded Cisco's (CSCO 23.08, -0.18) earnings report after the close.

/... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3170603#3171482