There’s a special treat for all of you this evening. I’ve had to take half the day off (longstanding engagement) and so DDay will be completing the Roundup for you. While items he sends for the Roundup are always included, I know many of you have missed his inimitable touch, so enjoy! See you tomorrow. [...]

Fatster had an eye appointment today, so I’m filling in! A few of her items from the past 24 hours are included. ❖ Senate Democrats managed to get an up-or-down vote on a federal judge without a filibuster, for the first time in I-can’t-remember. ❖ The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the government’s [...]

First things first:  Happy Mother’s Day to all you Nurturers out there!  Where would we be without you? And now to the news, pretty much a wrap-up of items from over the weekend as we prepare for a whole new week of the world’s goings-on. ❖Who is the London Whale, he of Fail Whale fame?  [...]

A couple programming notes. You may have noticed Scarecrow’s entry at News. He did several posts while I was on vacation, and he should be contributing here more often, I hope, particularly on the weekends. In addition, fatster was kind enough to do roundups while I was away. And I thought she did a fine [...]

Gotta go to Clooney’s house. OK, outside it. And stay tuned for some EXCITING ROUNDUP NEWS tomorrow. • Mega-banks are trying to drag President Obama’s Fed picks across the finish line, which tells you something about their quality. But David Vitter and the Republicans won’t budge on the selections, which shows you just how far [...]

I have to run out to President Obama’s mass-gay-wedding ceremony (can’t wait to see who they pair me up with), so I’ll leave you with this: • Spain partially nationalized its fourth-largest bank, known as Bankia, today. Speaking of nationalization, Japan will nationalize Tokyo Electric Power, the owner of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. • [...]

I’m sure Jon Walker will have updates tonight from primary elections in Indiana, North Carolina, Wisconsin and West Virginia. I will have this: • Looking forward to reports from tomorrow’s Bank of America shareholder meeting in Charlotte, which is being treated with all the security that would attend a papal visit. • Wow, this latest [...]

Let’s see if I remember how to do one of these. Big thanks to fatster for doing the roundups over my break, by the way. • I don’t have a lot to say about Eric Schneiderman’s segment with Chris Hayes from over the weekend, except to say that he appeared to walk back the promise [...]

Good evening!  Here are some of the more interesting items gleaned today from the Internets, beginning with the Middle East. ❖Saudi Arabia has shuttered its embassy and consulates in Egypt, due to angry protests by Egyptians.  What’s to be angry about?  An Egyptian human rights lawyer, Ahmed al-Gizawi, was in Saudi Arabia earlier this month [...]

❖ As if to ease any separation anxiety we might be experiencing during DDay’s well-deserved vacation, Berlusconi popped up in the news today. He’s making “a rare appearance at his trial in Milan for paying for sex with an underage girl called Ruby.” ❖ The “Jump Out Boys”, members of LA County Sheriff’s “elite gang [...]

That’s it for me. Have a great couple of weeks, and I’ll see you on the flip side. • UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon admits that Syria has not complied with the UN-prescribed peace plan or the cease-fire. • Yves Smith rounds up George Zornick’s Nation report on the securitization fraud task force, and how [...]