Archive for the 'Books' Category
Why Are U.S. Corporate Profits So High? Because Wages Are So Low
January 27th, 2014Automation is the key, but this piece doesn’t mention it. The companies have, “Still managed to boost profits beyond anything ever seen before because they’ve got away with employing as few workers as possible at as low a rate as possible.” I’ve got news for Jamie McGeever at Reuters: Companies only ever employ as few […]
Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road from Debt to Freedom
January 21st, 2014A buddy of mine did damn near the same thing, except he slept in his lab at the university, as well as his vehicle. He had a Toyota pickup with a shell on the back. This was at a university with a very heavy cop presence. They would have definitely busted someone in a van. […]
U.S. Military on Path to Become Google’s Single Largest Customer
January 10th, 2014Via: DailyCaller: Google CEO Larry Page has rapidly positioned Google to become an indispensable U.S. military contractor. Google recently purchased Boston Dynamics, a robotics pioneer that produces amazing humanoid robots for the U.S. Defense Department. This development invites attention to Google’s broader military contracting ambitions — especially since Boston Dynamics is the eighth robotics company […]
IBM Sued for Cooperating with NSA Spy Program
December 16th, 2013IBM knows a thing or two about colluding with fascists: IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation by Edwin Black Via: Reuters: IBM Corp has been sued by a shareholder who accused it of concealing how its ties to what became a major U.S. spying scandal reduced […]
Narcotrafficking, Murder and Toxic Soup
November 27th, 2013Betrayal: Toxic Exposure of U.S. Marines, Murder and Government Cover-up by Robert O’Dowd and Tim King Via: MCAS El Toro Superfund Site: As was his custom when expecting a visitor, Marine Colonel Jim Sabow placed his television on mute, arose from his easy chair, and left his house through the patio door. He walked the […]
Britain: £150 Cosy Cob Home
November 26th, 2013If this sort of thing calls to you, see: The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage by Ianto Evans. Via: Daily Mail: Smallholder Michael Buck spent eight months constructing the house using the ancient technique of cob – building with a mixture of sand, clay, straw, water and earth. […]
Americans’ Personal Data Shared with CIA, IRS, Others in Security Probe
November 14th, 2013Via: McClatchy: U.S. agencies collected and shared the personal information of thousands of Americans in an attempt to root out untrustworthy federal workers that ended up scrutinizing people who had no direct ties to the U.S. government and simply had purchased certain books. Federal officials gathered the information from the customer records of two men […]
Los Angeles: Citywide Gigabit Access for Homes and Businesses
November 5th, 2013People living in shipping containers with fiber optic links to the Metaverse? *chortle* Via: Arstechnica: Los Angeles is about to unleash one of the most ambitious city-led broadband projects to date, with the goal of bringing fiber to all of its 3.5 million residents and all businesses. Next month, the city plans to issue an […]
Say Hello to Rick Ross
September 26th, 2013Via: Esquire: Back in the day, Ross would offer the same deal with crack cocaine — to start you out, he’d give you $100 worth for free and you could sell it for $300. Between 1982 and 1989, federal prosecutors estimated, Ross bought and resold three tons of cocaine. In 1980 dollars, his gross earnings […]
China’s Education Plan … From Finland’s Playbook
September 17th, 2013Via: CNBC: If you think the business competition from China is hard now, brace yourself. It will likely get tougher in about 20 years or so. And how is China doing it? By borrowing a page from Finland. At first blush, though, it would appear that China is simply lightening up. “The Ministry of Education […]
