Legal problem after legal problem getting piled higher and deeper for Countrywide in the last couple of weeks...

Countrywide Chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo might just be in some very big trouble:

SEC Begins Formal Probe Of Countrywide
The Securities and Exchange Commission escalated its scrutiny of Countrywide Financial Corp. into a formal investigation, according to a regulatory filing by Bank of America Corp.

The document didn't specify what aspect of the lender the SEC's probe is focused on, although regulators launched an informal inquiry into Countrywide Chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo's stock trades last fall.

Representatives for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America and Countrywide declined to comment beyond the filing Friday.

Please note the privacy issue story at the end of this because Countrywide's legal troubles just keep getting piled higher and deeper:

Bumped again by Carol. Originally posted 2008-07-19 17:09:07 -0500; Originally promoted. -- GH

Stephen D reports on a Phil Gramm Friday night dump attributing Gramm's resignation from the McSame campaign to the "Americans are whiners!" comment. I think that is just cover for the more likely real reason:

UBS, LGT Helped Hide Assets, Evade Taxes, Senate Says

By David Voreacos and Carlyn Kolker

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG and Liechtenstein bank LGT Group aided rich U.S. clients who wanted to disguise ownership of accounts and evade taxes on hidden assets, a Senate subcommittee said.

UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, hid as much as $17.9 billion for 19,000 Americans who didn't declare assets to the Internal Revenue Service, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in a report released in Washington late yesterday. LGT, owned by Liechtenstein's ruling family, fostered a ``culture of secrecy and deception'' while assigning code names to U.S. clients, the panel said.

Remember that Phil Gram works for and lobbies for one arm of UBS in the USA. More below...

Given the hypocrisy of what these two wayward Republicans are up to:

Larry Craig and David Vitter — “two United States Senators implicated in extramarital sexual activity” — have named themselves as co-sponsors of S.J. Res. 43, the Marriage Protection Amendment. If passed, the bill would amend the Constitution to declare that marriage “shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.”

Just a quick reminder concerning AC Craig and DC Vitter below...

The following is reprinted with the permission of Melody Townsel and presented as a reminder for parents to talk to their children about how to react when approached by strangers.¹
_______________________________________________________

CRIMEWATCH! Today, Stranger Danger Hit Home!

by Melody Townsel. Originally posted on DailyKos on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 02:59:39 PM EST.

Hello, all:

Today, my tiny family of two got an up-close-and-personal look at stranger danger -- and I can't help but think that our story is worth a reminder to all of you who are parents.

This morning, my daughter and I awoke in great moods, getting ourselves around and ready to cover the five miles between here and Reunion Arena to go and see Barack Obama. As we were preparing to leave, a friend called, and while I was on the phone, my eight-year-old, Sadie, went out to the sidewalk in front of our house to bounce her new yellow ball.

Five minutes. That's all the time that lapsed while I chatted briefly with a friend.

Five minutes.

(originally brewed at drinking liberally in new milford)

The Canadian courts don't seem to think too highly of the American torture of prisoners:

The Federal Court of Canada Thursday struck down a refugee agreement [judgment, PDF] between Canada and the US, noting that the US does not meet international refugee protection requirements or respect international conventions against torture. Justice Michael Phelan essentially nullified the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement , which barred foreign refugees who first arrived in the US from seeking refugee status in Canada and vice versa. Phelan noted that the US has not been compliant with the Refugee Convention or the UN Convention Against Torture. The court also held that the agreement discriminates against refugees based on how they first arrived in Canada and thus violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The nullification of the agreement will likely result in Canada processing thousands more refugees each year. The US and Canadian governments have until January 14 to file an appeal. CTV News has more. [The National Post] has additional coverage.

AFP: Ex-CIA agent admits waterboarding, but calls it torture

Kiriakou said the method broke Zubaydah -- one of the first top Al-Qaeda suspects captured after the September 11, 2001 attacks -- in less than 35 seconds, according to ABC."

Here's the thing that nags: At this point any information released to the press by "ex-CIA" personnel of any stripe are extremely suspect (being kind). The only indisputable fact here is that waterboarding is torture, and is therefore illegal under domestic and international law.

ABC scores a direct miss. Another "Curveball" outside the zone.
:: :: ::

MSNBC/AP: Top Dem threatens to abandon budget talks

Obey said . . he would rip up the compromise bill and devise a new one using the strict spending ceiling set by Bush - but would reach it by whacking GOP priorities and stripping the measure of billions of dollars in pet projects for lawmakers in both parties

Not a good thing to piss off Obey-Wan. You'da thunk the Empire woulda figured that out by now.
:: :: ::