OK, I had to share these little tidbits.

First the good. Stupid criminals. Almost easy enough to catch, though this one gives the cops a chase.

http://www.covnews.com/show_story.php?storyID=5785

Now the bad. News about Wal-mart is usually bad news. This is no different. Wal-mart wants to opening an Industrial Loan Company, a type of financial institution that is almost, but not quite, like a bank. All it takes is a little nuzzle, and their ILC is no different from a bank.

Since the AJC requires you to sign up to read archived info, I’ve posted the contents here:

Skeptics assail Wal-Mart banking plans
Marilyn Geewax - Cox Washington Bureau
Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Washington — Mounting concern over Wal-Mart Stores’ plan to get into the banking business culminated in an unusual and fiery hearing Monday before federal regulators in which opponents questioned the retailer’s intentions.

Wal-Mart’s planned bank would be a “modern-day Trojan horse” that ultimately would kill off many small banks, said Terry Jorde, a spokeswoman for the Independent Community Bankers of America.

If Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, were to push into the banking business, “the community bank would not be able to survive,” Jorde testified at the hearing of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

But a company executive later countered that Wal-Mart has “absolutely no plans to open bank branches.” Instead, the retailer only wants an in-house bank to process its own debit, credit and electronic-check transactions, said Jane Thompson, president of Wal-Mart Financial Services.

Typically, the FDIC operates with little fanfare, but the agency held a public hearing because of the fierce opposition sparked by Wal-Mart’s application to open a special type of bank in Utah.

Federal law prohibits commercial companies from owning banks. But Wal-Mart is seeking to open a state-regulated business known as an industrial loan company, which is classified differently from a bank even though it can carry out payment transactions.

Dozens of other companies, including General Electric Co. and even Wal-Mart rival Target Corp., already have ILCs to lower their transaction costs. Wal-Mart says its ILC would not offer payment processing to other retailers, nor open bank branches for the public.

“We are single-mindedly seeking an industrial bank in order to provide greater efficiency, effectiveness and safety” in handling Wal-Mart transactions, Thompson said.

She said the company, based in Bentonville, Ark., has decided to sign long-term leases with local commercial banks, which now have branches inside many Wal-Mart stores.

“Our commitment not to branch, and our independent in-store branch strategy is not simply a promise; it is a very visible and rapidly growing reality, locked in by hundreds of long-term contracts,” she said.

Despite such promises, opponents fear Wal-Mart will use its bank charter as a back door to slip into retail banking. With annual revenues exceeding $300 billion, Wal-Mart could swamp any banking rivals, they say.

“It’s clear that Wal-Mart has both a demonstrated appetite to engage in full-servicing banking and has a recent and ongoing track record of expanding the retail banking services it offers,” Art Johnson, chairman of the American Bankers Association’s government relations council, testified at the hearing.

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) said she and scores of other lawmakers have “grave doubts” about Wal-Mart’s ability to comply with regulations and abide by its stated business plan, given that it is “one of the most heavily sued” companies for violating labor and environmental laws.

If the enormous company were to enter banking, it “would blow a hole in the wall separating banking and commerce, and move us inexorably toward a parallel banking system with different rules, regulations and characteristics than the banking system established by Congress,” Tubbs said.

Lawmakers have introduced legislation to clamp down on the creation of ILCs, but Tubbs said in an interview after her testimony that “not much is happening with this bill.”

Earlier this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke in support of such legislation, as did former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan shortly before he retired in January.

President Bush reportedly is preparing to name Sheila Bair, a former Treasury Department official, as chairwoman of the FDIC. Supporters of Wal-Mart’s bid want Bair and the other FDIC directors to judge Wal-Mart’s application by the usual standards, such as the applicant’s financial strength, the risk it brings to the federal deposit insurance fund and so forth.

But opponents, particularly union leaders, want the FDIC to consider Wal-Mart’s record as an employer and community member.

“Given Wal-Mart’s record of poor practices and misleading the American public, we have no reason to believe Wal-Mart would be responsible with its bank application and limit itself in any way,” said Paul Blank, campaign director of WakeUpWalMart.com, a union-backed group that organizes opposition to Wal-Mart’s business practices.

Dozens of groups wanted to testify, leading the FDIC to schedule three hearings to accommodate them. The second round will be held today at FDIC headquarters, while a third will be April 25 in Overland Park, Kan.

The ugly? Very Ugly. A boy, who dialed 911 like he was taught, was chastised for making a prank call. If only it were. His mother was found dead after a 911 operator finally sent a cop to the boy’s house to get him to stop making the calls.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-04-09-911-call_x.htm

This is my two cents. Yes, I know that 911 operators have to deal with an obscene number of crank calls. It’s not fair to them who are trying to make sure that people’s lives stay safe. But they should not, in any way shape or form, without any proof to the contrary, be allowed to make the judgement that the call is not a real one.