Midday open thread

post from Daily Kos on 22 July 2012 03:00:06 PM. © Daily Kos

Spiral Galaxy A new galaxy is found far, far away.

In the wake of the LIBOR scandal, the big banks are looking into a group settlement with regulators:
The sources told Reuters that none of the banks involved now want to be second in line for fear that they will get similarly hostile treatment from politicians and the public. Bank discussions about a group settlement initially took place before the Barclays agreement, and picked back up in the aftermath.
It is unclear which banks are involved in the potential settlement talks. More than a dozen banks are being investigated in the scandal, including Citigroup, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase. They all declined to comment.
They certainly aren't worried about hostile treatment from law enforcement. Theft. Graft. Fraud. Racketeering. It seems like nothing short of banks financing genocide is going to get the politicians to crack down on these guys.
Microsoft hires Mark Penn of all people, manager of the 2008 Clinton campaign, to help boost its Bing franchise.
A new spiral galaxy has been discovered:
A new observation has revealed a spiral galaxy about 10.7 billion light years away, the first unambiguous discovery of that type of galaxy from that cosmic era.
I wonder who is discovering the Milky Way right about now?
My favorite TV show from last season was Grimm. Here are a bunch of videos with some of the actors at Comic Con.
The Syrian regime appears to be on the ropes.
Our troops get to march in pride parades in uniform! Good news!
Unemployment may be going up because people seem to be returning to the job hunt.
Tom Purcell laments the dying art of cursive handwriting.