NightBlogger

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Securities regulators from several U.S. states raided the St. Louis headquarters of Wachovia Securities, part of Wachovia Corp, on Thursday as part of a broad investigation into questionable practices involving auction rate securities, Missouri officials said. Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s office said the “special inspection” at the Wachovia division, the former A.G. Edwards, concerned the $330 billion auction rate securities meltdown. It said regulators were looking for information about Wachovia Securities sales practices, internal evaluations of the auction rate securities market, and marketing strategies. In addition to securities regulators from Missouri, regulators from Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states were part of the team entering Wachovia Securities’ headquarters, the officials said. More
Also See: FBI investigates IndyMac for mortgage fraud
21 corporate fraud probes of investment banks

Source: Kstp.com
It’s been two months since we aired the Smiley Face Killer investigation and questions from people around the world keep coming. I’ve received news clippings, pictures and letters from people all over the country and emails from interested folks in Canada and Europe. The Canadian emails are actually quite frequent. There are many people there who have wondered about a string of drownings that have a lot in common with the U.S. cases. Because of the attention our investigation got in the States, many amateur sleuths are hard at work in Canada.

The FBI still, to my understanding, is not launching a new investigation into the drownings of 40 college male students. The parents of the drowning victims have teamed up and are circulating a petition. This has only been distributed by the families for the last week and one father has already collected over 8,000 signatures! Steve Jenkins in the Twin Cities has received several petitions signed by strangers sent to his house. The families plan to spend the summer collecting the signatures hoping a groundswell of support could sway the FBI.

A couple cases of interest:

TOMMY BOOTH:

He’s the young man who was found drowned in a creek behind a bar in Ridley Township, PA earlier this year. The Detectives working the case in PA feel his death may not be an accident. The Medical Examiner has done new tests to see if foul play was involved. His mother is anxiously waiting for results.

BRANDON SWANSON:

There is no reason to include him in this case except that so many of you have emailed me about his case. Since his body hasn’t been recovered and the Police aren’t sure what happened to him, his disappearance is still a mystery. Swanson went missing in western MN earlier this summer. Extensive searches have been done and there has been no sign of him. The searching is now focusing on a nearby creek.

Go here for more info on Smiley Face Killers

Gabor Steingart in Washington
Humiliation for Mr. Dollar: Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Bank, faces a general investigation by the International Monetary Fund. Just one more example of the Fed losing its power. The United States Federal Reserve Bank, or Fed, seems as much a part of America as Coca-Cola or Pizza Hut. But at least one difference has become apparent in recent days. While the pizza chain and soft-drink maker are likely to expand their scope of influence in the age of globalization, the US central bank is finding that its power is shrinking.

No Fed chief in US history has been forced to submit to the kind of humiliation that Ben Bernanke is facing. This is partly down to circumstances. Inflation is going up and up, and this year’s average will likely top 4 percent. But this time Mr. Dollar is also Mr. Powerless. He can raise interest rates in the fall, or he can pray, which would probably be the better choice. At least prayer would not prevent the US economy from growing, a highly likely outcome if interest rates go up.

After years of growth, the United States is now on the brink of a recession, one that is more likely to be deepened than softened by a tight money policy. Investments will automatically become more expensive, consumer spending will be curbed and economic growth will slow down, immediately affecting unemployment figures and wages. More

Photo dcJohn

William Fisher
IPSnews
In one of the more ironic episodes of the George W. Bush administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week raided the office and home of the senior official in charge of protecting federal whistleblowers on suspicion of whistleblower retaliation within his own agency — while he was investigating possible criminal acts within the White House.

Since 2005, Scott Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel, has been under investigation by the inspector general of the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM), at the behest of the President’s Office of Management and Budget.

OPM’s investigation centres on charges that Bloch retaliated against whistleblowers who complained they were transferred out of Washington for political reasons because they disagreed with Bloch’s policies. Read more