FBI agents raid home of radio host Barbara Alexander

A swarm of FBI agents descended on the home of businesswoman and radio host Barbra Alexander early Thursday, stirring curiosity and questions among neighbors in the upscale Monterey neighborhood.

Residents in the Alma Mesa area reported seeing up to 10 people wearing jackets emblazoned with the FBI logo entering and leaving the house from about 8:30 a.m. until about 3 p.m.

A Monterey police spokesman said the FBI notified the police department in advance of the raid, but said officers were not participating in the federal investigation.

Alexander, who owns mortgage and investment companies in Monterey and hosts the weekly financial radio show "MoneyDots" on KION-AM 1460, said the search and related investigation had no merit and were the result of a complaint from a disgruntled former employee.

She said the ex-employee was a former federal officer who may have ties to the FBI.

A local FBI office did not return a request for information late Thursday....more..

China businesswoman gets death sentence for fraud

BEIJING — A Chinese businesswoman was sentenced to death Friday for cheating investors out of $56 million — the latest case in the country's struggle against widespread corruption.

The 28-year-old Wu Ying started out a decade ago with a single beauty salon but eventually built up a holding group, Bense Holdings, that was known around the country, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

The report said Wu collected the $56 million from investors over two years and was arrested in 2007.

Video posted online of her sentencing had the petite, ponytailed Wu showing little emotion as she was led into the courtroom..........

Iraqi official: Iranians seized Iraqi oil well

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iranian troops crossed into Iraqi territory and seized an oil well that lies in a disputed area along the two countries' southern border, Iraq's deputy foreign minister said Friday.

The deputy minister, Mohammed Haj Mahmoud, said Iranian troops seized oil well No. 4 Thursday night in the al-Fakkah oil field, located in Maysan province about 200 miles (about 320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. The oil field is one of Iraq's largest.

Oil prices rose slightly after news of the incident.

The incursion by armed Iranians provided a dramatic display of the simmering border tensions between two nations, which have nonetheless grown close in recent years after a Shiite-led government rose to power in Iraq following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Iraq's national security council held an emergency meeting late Friday to discuss the oil well takeover, and the government accused Iran of violating its sovereignty.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the seizure showed anew the need for clearly defined borders between Iraq and Iran.........

Credit card's newest trick: 79.9% interest

NEW YORK — It's no mistake. This credit card's interest rate is 79.9%.

The bloated APR is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. It's a strategy other subprime card issuers could start adopting to get around the new rules.

Typically, the First Premier card comes with a minimum of $256 in fees in the first year for a credit line of $250. Starting in February, however, a new law will cap such fees at 25% of a card's credit line.

In a recent mailing for a preapproved card, First Premier lowers fees to just that limit — $75 in the first year for a credit line of $300. But the new law doesn't set a cap on interest rates. Hence the 79.9% APR, up from the previous 9.9%...........

Palin Cuts Vacation Short Over Blacked-Out Visor Flap

TPM

Sarah Palin released a statement yesterday announcing that she and husband Todd have cut their Hawaiian vacation short, after some controversy over a McCain campaign visor Palin wore with former running mate John McCain's name blacked out with a Sharpie.

After TMZ posted pictures of Palin wearing the visor, some speculation arose that this was another indication that Palin and McCain have been on bad terms since the campaign. Palin insisted that the visor was simply an attempt to "be incognito" on her trip.

Now, it seems, the controversy has caused Palin to end her Hawaii vacation early. In a statement, Palin said:

Todd and I have since cut our vacation short because the incognito attempts didn't work and fellow vacationers were bothered for the two days we spent in the sun. So much for trying to go incognito.

O’Reilly to Ingraham: ‘You are a blind ideologue’ and a ‘Kool-Aid drinker.’

THINK PROGRESS

Wednesday on Fox News, host Bill O’Reilly praised First Lady Michelle Obama, whom he had met at the White House holiday party the previous evening. “The President and First Lady were very gracious to me,” he said, adding that he was “impressed” with Michelle Obama. “She’s charismatic, articulate, and beautiful,” O’Reilly said of the First Lady. Last night on Fox, when right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham teased O’Reilly for “gushing” over Michelle Obama, O’Reilly called her a “blind ideologue“:

INGRAHAM: I’m gushing over your gushing last night about the Christmas party. I’m still trying to get over that.

O’REILLY: Wait, a minute. I’m going to call you — I’m calling you out on this. [...] I thought she was very nice at the party. [...] You are a blind ideologue who even if somebody’s nice to you, won’t admit it because you’re talking about a Kool-aid drinker. [...] You have an IV attached to your arm on the Kool-aid.

Watch it:

MoveOn Hits $1 Million Mark In Anti-Lieberman Campaign

Sam Stein

In less than two days time, the progressive action group MoveOn.org has raised more than $1 million for its campaign against Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.).

The five-million-member group launched a fundraising drive on Tuesday after the Connecticut independent successfully killed key provisions from the Senate's health care reform legislation.

The goal was set, initially, for $400,000. By 1:22 p.m. on Thursday they were past the $1 million mark and climbing. The money will go to an ad campaign against Lieberman and into a fund to oppose his re-election in 2012.

The massive and quick response to the plea reflects just how much progressive frustration there is about the man who, eight years ago, was the Democratic vice presidential nominee.................

Wikipedia Is A Pro-Obama, Tax-Exempt Scam, Senate Candidate Andy Martin Claims

Andy Martin, a U.S. senate candidate, has hit Wikipedia and Wikimedia with a fraud lawsuit, alleging the two foundations are running "a tax-exempt protosocialist scam that seeks to harass Republicans, conservatives and Obama opponents."

Martin, described as an "Internet Powerhouse" in the press release regarding his lawsuit, is seeking an injunction against the two online organizations, which he's labeled as "anti-conservative, anti-Republican and anti-Obama opponent smear operations."

Martin's press release, which notes that he will be attending a conference on Barack Obama's Missing Birth Certificate and College Records, reads: ...... more .....