Protesters occupy Charlotte intersection

There is talk of giving Manning the death sentence, if he is convicted of Treason.

Dozens of protesters on Tuesday shut down an intersection blocks from the Democratic National Convention here, drawing hundreds of police officers and curious onlookers as they chanted against corporate greed, drone missiles and all manner of political woes.

Officers armed with wooden bats, paintball guns and plastic handcuffs lined the perimeter of East Stonewall Street and South Caldwell Street while cheers of “Free Manning, Arrest Barack” and “You are the army of the rich” rose from men and women sitting and standing in the road. Bradley Manning is the Army private accused of leaking vast archives of classified U.S. documents to the Wikileaks whistleblower website in 2010.

Ed Hunt, a 59-year-old veteran from Freedom Plaza in Washington,D.C

OK my mouth is now hanging open.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe said that what the protesters were doing was illegal, but police were “not in any rush to do anything” as the protesters were just peacefully occupying the intersection. Many of the streets around the convention’s main site are already sealed off from most traffic.

US regulators close 3 small banks

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-regulators-close-3-small-apf-3026110925.html?x=0

Regulators on Friday shut down three small banks, pushing this year's tally of failed banks to 40.

One bank was in North Carolina, another in Georgia, and the third was in Kansas. The wave of bank failures is expected to continue throughout the year as the weak housing market and rising unemployment rate cause more borrowers to default on their loans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of Cooperative Bank of Wilmington, N.C., Southern Community Bank of Fayetteville, Ga., and First National Bank of Anthony in Anthony, Kan.

The FDIC agreed to have First Bank of Troy, N.C., take over Cooperative Bank's 24 branches and nearly all of its assets. Cooperative Bank had total assets of $970 million and total deposits of $774 million.

United Community Bank of Blairsville, Ga., will assume Southern Community bank's five branches, its $307 million in deposits, and nearly all of its $377 million in assets.

And Bank of Kansas of South Hutchinson, Kan., will acquire First National Bank of Anthony's six branches, its $142.5 million in deposits, and nearly all of its $156.9 million in assets.

The FDIC will retain the remaining unacquired assets of all three failed banks to sell later. And