They weren’t murderers or anything; they had merely stolen more money than most people can rationally conceive of, from their own customers, in a few blinks of an eye. But then they went one step further. They came to Washington, took an oath before Congress, and lied about it.

Thanks to an extraordinary investigative effort by a Senate subcommittee that unilaterally decided to take up the burden the criminal justice system has repeatedly refused to shoulder, we now know exactly what Goldman Sachs executives like Lloyd Blankfein and Daniel Sparks lied about. We know exactly how they and other top Goldman executives, including David Viniar and Thomas Montag, defrauded their clients. America has been waiting for a case to bring against Wall Street. Here it is, and the evidence has been gift-wrapped and left at the doorstep of federal prosecutors, evidence that doesn’t leave much doubt: Goldman Sachs should stand trial.

The great and powerful Oz of Wall Street was not the only target of Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse, the 650-page report just released by the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan, alongside Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Their unusually […]

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Japan’s prime minister announced yesterday that further expansions of nuclear energy in the nation is now officially off the table, namely due to the ongoing disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was crippled in March by a massive tsunami wave.

The announcement means that an additional 14 nuclear plants will not be constructed as planned. There are already 54 nuclear reactors operating in the island nation, which supplies about 30 percent of Japan’s electricity. A prior plan called for nuclear sources to account for 50 percent of all power generated in the country.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the country’s new energy focus will be on creating renewable energy technology, with the long-term goal of generating most of the nation’s power from green sources.

‘I think it is necessary to move in the direction of promoting natural energy and renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass,’ he said, according to The Guardian.

In the wake of Japan’s nuclear disaster, Germany also said it would scale back its nuclear ambitions and focus more on renewable energy. Other nations, like China, India, the U.K. and the U.S., remain set on aggressive expansions of nuclear technology.

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AMSTERDAM, May 8, 2011 (Associated Press) – Denmark earns the biggest share of its national revenue from producing windmills and other clean technologies, and the United States is rapidly expanding its clean-technology sector. But no country can match China’s pace of growth, according to a new report.

China’s production of green technologies has grown a remarkable 77 per cent a year, according to the report, which was commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. The report was expected to be released Monday at an industry conference in Amsterdam.

‘The Chinese have made, on the political level, a conscious decision to capture this market and to develop this market aggressively,

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PRINCETON, NJ — Fifty-two percent of Americans believe the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job of representing the people that a third party is needed. Forty percent believe they do an adequate job. The percentage calling for a third party is down from August, when it tied its high of 58%.

Trend: In your view, do the Republican and Democratic parties do an adequate job of representing the American people, or do they do such a poor job that a third major party is needed?

Support for a third party has fluctuated since October 2003, when Gallup first asked this question. The majority of Americans thought a third party was not needed at that time. Since then, Americans have generally favored a third party, but twice there has been an even division of opinion — both of which occurred in the fall of an election year.

Majority of Republicans Back Third Party for First Time

Gallup has always found political independents to be most desirous of a third party, and 68% currently are. But right now there is also a significant party gap, with 52% of Republicans favoring a third party, compared with 33% of Democrats.

This is the first time Gallup […]

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More than 28 percent of U.S. homeowners with mortgages owed more than their properties were worth in the first quarter as values fell the most since 2008, Zillow Inc. said today.

Homeowners with negative equity increased from 22 percent a year earlier as home prices slumped 8.2 percent over the past 12 months, the Seattle-based company said. About 27 percent of homes with mortgages were ‘underwater

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