Cantor describes Obama walking out of debt talks

"On Wednesday evening House Republican Leader Eric Cantor described to reporters* an abrupt end to debt ceiling talks at the White House. Cantor tells reporters that President Obama “walked out” and appeared 'very agitated, seemingly.'

Cantor also recounted Obama telling the assembled political leaders that, 'he ‘had sat here long enough, and that no other president — Ronald Reagan wouldn’t sit here like this.’' Cantor says he was taken aback when Obama warned him, 'Eric, don’t call my bluff. I’m going to the American people with this.'

'I’ll see you tomorrow,' Cantor recounts Obama saying, as he shoved back from the meeting table and left the room."



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The Indignant

"Demonstrations, marches, rallies. For months now hundreds of thousands of Europeans have been expressing their anger at government imposed austerity measures.

Recently those voices have been especially loud in Greece, where the administration is trying to implement a savage programme of spending cuts to avoid the country defaulting on its loans.

But it is in Spain that the protest movement has gained most traction. In mid-May demonstrations that started in the capital Madrid soon led to mass rallies in other major cities, in some cases occupying public squares for almost a month.

The "indignants" as they call themselves, dismantled their last camp in Madrid on June 12, but their commitment shows no sign of waning and many more marches and rallies are planned for the weeks ahead.

So what is driving them? And what do they hope to achieve? A team from Televisio de Catalunya filmed through the first weeks of the May protests in Madrid and Barcelona, and found people angry at their country's economic and political elites."



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Economic growth slows for China

"China's economic growth has slowed down in the second quarter this year after the government stepped up its battle against inflation.

Growth was 9.5 per cent in the three months to the end of June compared to a year earlier. That figure is down from 9.7 per cent in the previous quarter.

High house prices in China caused by high inflation
But it may not be good news for China, as inflation hit a three-year-high of 6.4 per cent last month, even though controlling prices is the top priority for the Chinese government.

The slowdown in growth comes amid concerns China is heading for a hard fall after manufacturing activity almost stalled in June, which could have a serious impact on countries struggling to recover from the financial crisis.

China's factory output grew by a better-than expected 15 per cent in June, while retail sales increased by 17.7 percent.

But the biggest concern for the Chinese economy is the fear of China's housing market bursting, between 2009 and 2010 there was a 41 per cent rise in housing constructions as prices soared." Read More

Lady Gaga Went Bankrupt Last Year...Without Even Knowing It

"Lady Gaga's last tour, The Monster Ball, is touted as one of the most successful promotional tours the world has ever seen. And anyone who has seen her perform, whether you were lucky enough to catch her live or you were one of the millions who tuned into her HBO special, knows that Gaga puts on an extraordinary show. In fact, the first leg of The Monster Ball was so successful that she decided to extend the length of the tour so that all of her Little Monsters had a chance to come see her, a decision that resulted in bankruptcy and $3 million in debt.

Lady Gaga has made it very clear that there is nothing she wouldn't do for her fans, including paying for every lavish redesign and revision of the tour – out of her own pocket. In an interview with The Financial Times' Stephen Fry, Gaga admits that she had no idea how bad thing had gotten financially until it was too late:


"I put everything in the show, and I actually went bankrupt after the first extension of The Monster Ball. And it was funny because I didn’t know! And I remember I called everybody and said, 'Why is every­one saying I have no money? This is ridiculous, I have five number one singles' – and they said, 'Well, you’re $3m in debt.'"

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American household wealth nearly $8 trillion less than before crash

"Why has Wall Street recovered so nicely yet it's still like this for the rest? Even worse, why did Congress and the White House go along with it? The GOP may lead the way with apologies for Wall Street but the Democrats have hardly been wallflowers either. The system needed to be saved but that did not mean forgetting about the losses of the majority while ignoring the responsibilities of the minority who caused the crash. It's hard to believe this is not the direct result of our dysfunctional campaign finance laws where those with the deepest pockets dictate the rules." Read Here