Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Sickening Boondoggle: The New and Improved Marine One Chopper
October 26th, 2010Via: Wired: In this, the first in an occasional series examining tech influence in politics using MAPLight’s nonpartisan political-finance–analysis tools, the trail leads to a mind boggling, 10-year campaign in which three key defense contractors have funneled more than $18 million to the pockets of federal lawmakers, to win various military contracts, including one for […]
Chinese Investment Soars in Brazil; Mainly Related to Oil
October 26th, 2010Via: AFP: Chinese investment in Brazil is expected to reach 30 billion dollars this year, according to observers — a sum aimed at securing access to the Latin American nation’s oil and other resources. The inflow has been sudden, and dramatic. “Up to the end of last year, the amount of Chinese investment in Brazil […]
U.S. Falls in Annual Corruption Survey
October 26th, 2010Via: New York Times: Perceptions of corruption in the United States have worsened over the past year, knocking it out of the top 20 in global rankings released Tuesday by the watchdog group Transparency International in Berlin. The top and bottom three countries on the list remain unchanged from 2009: Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore […]
“Transparency” and the Citigroup Bailout
October 25th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: The late Bloomberg News reporter Mark Pittman asked the U.S. Treasury in January 2009 to identify $301 billion of securities owned by Citigroup Inc. that the government had agreed to guarantee. He made the request on the grounds that taxpayers ought to know how their money was being used. More than 20 months […]
Colgate Tries to Patent Traditional Indian Herbal Toothpaste
October 25th, 2010Here’s one for your overstuffed Corporation as Public Menace file folder. Via: Herald Sun: A LEGAL dispute between the US and India over a herbal toothpaste is leaving a bitter aftertaste between the two countries, with Colgate Palmolive accused of filing a bogus patent. Colgate, the world’s largest producer of toothpaste, patented a toothcleaning powder […]
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano “Opts Out” of X-Ray Scan
October 23rd, 2010Via: New York Daily News: Airline passengers might want to consider a trip to the gym before heading to the airport now that high-tech body scanners have been unveiled at Kennedy Airport. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday hailed them as an important breakthrough for airport security and the fight against terrorism. Yet […]
$19 Billion Later, Pentagon’s Best Bomb-Detector Is a Dog
October 22nd, 2010Alternate title: The U.S. Military Is Putting the Dog Back in Boondoggle. Via: Wired: Drones, metal detectors, chemical sniffers, and super spycams — forget ‘em. The leader of the Pentagon’s multibillion military task force to stop improvised bombs says there’s nothing in the U.S. arsenal for bomb detection more powerful than a dog’s nose. Despite […]
Stimulus Swindle: Los Angeles Spent $70 Million in Stimulus Funds to Create 7.76 Jobs
October 21st, 2010Via: The Upshot: A new piece of evidence has emerged in the debate over the effectiveness of President Obama’s 2009 stimulus package, and it’s not good for Democrats. According to two newly released audits performed by the Los Angeles controller, L.A. spent enormous portions of the $594 million in stimulus funds it received on projects […]
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bailouts Could Hit $363 Billion
October 21st, 2010Via: Los Angeles Times: The taxpayer bailouts of housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost as much as $363 billion through 2013, according to government projections released Thursday. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has regulated the former government-sponsored enterprises since they were seized during the financial crisis in 2008, said the […]
Efforts to Prosecute Blackwater Are Collapsing
October 21st, 2010Via: New York Times: Nearly four years after the federal government began a string of investigations and criminal prosecutions against Blackwater Worldwide personnel accused of murder and other violent crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, the cases are beginning to fall apart, burdened by a legal obstacle of the government’s own making. Just a Couple of […]
