Archive for the 'Elite' Category
UBS Faces $1 Billion+ Fine Over LIBOR Rate Rigging
December 17th, 2012$1.5 Billion Fine Via: BBC: Swiss banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $1.5bn (£940m) to US, UK and Swiss regulators for attempting to manipulate the Libor inter-bank lending rate. It becomes the second major bank to be fined over Libor after Barclays was ordered to pay $450m to UK and US authorities in the […]
NOT CONFIRMED: John Kerry to Be Nominated to Be Secretary of State
December 16th, 2012Via: ABC News: Sources tell ABC News that President Obama has decided that he will nominate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to be secretary of state. For a variety of reasons including the finalization of the process, other pending Cabinet decisions, and — more immediately — the national reaction to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook […]
Kurzweil Joins Google
December 15th, 2012Via: kurzweilai.net Ray Kurzweil confirmed today that he will be joining Google to work on new projects involving machine learning and language processing. “I’m excited to share that I’ll be joining Google as Director of Engineering this Monday, December 17,” said Kurzweil.
And Now… ‘Conservation Drones’
December 8th, 2012Via: Mother Jones: First things first: No, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is not using drones to vaporize poachers. But thanks to a five million dollar grant awarded by Google on Tuesday, the organization is expanding its use of unmanned aerial vehicles to track and deter criminals who illegally hunt endangered animal species around the […]
‘Clinton Vows to Thwart New Soviet Union’
December 7th, 2012Wow, Clinton vows to thwart new Soviet Union: The US is trying to prevent Russia from recreating a new version of the Soviet Union under the ruse of economic integration, Hillary Clinton warned on Thursday. “There is a move to re-Sovietise the region,” the US secretary of state told a news conference in Dublin hours […]
Apple Shifting Some Manufacturing Back to U.S. from China
December 6th, 2012iMacs? Via: Bloomberg: Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to spend more than $100 million next year on building Mac computers in the U.S., shifting a small portion of manufacturing away from China, the country that has handled assembly of its products for years. “Next year we’re going to bring some production to the U.S.,” Chief Executive […]
EU Imposes Record $1.9 Billion Cartel Fine on CRT Manufacturers
December 6th, 2012Via: Reuters: The European Commission imposed the biggest antitrust penalty in its history on Wednesday, fining six firms including Philips, LG Electronics and Panasonic a total of 1.47 billion euros ($1.92 billion) for running two cartels for nearly a decade. The Commission said executives from the European and Asian companies met until six years ago […]
ITU Approves Deep Packet Inspection Standard Behind Closed Doors, Ignores Huge Privacy Implications
December 5th, 2012Via: Techdirt: Techdirt has run a number of articles about the ITU’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) currently taking place in Dubai. One of the concerns is that decisions taken there may make the Internet less a medium that can be used to enhance personal freedom than a tool for state surveillance and oppression. […]
The Insourcing Boom
December 5th, 2012Consider clicking through to read this one all the way through. I’ve excerpted some nuggets below, but it’s worth reading the whole thing. This piece touches on a number of complex, interrelated issues. Parse it however you want, scoff at the Orwellian language that’s used to describe the crushing of labor unions, do the calculations […]
Private Prison Company Allegedly Partnered With Violent Gangs To Save Money
December 4th, 2012Via: Think Progress: A new lawsuit brought by eight inmates of the Idaho Correctional Center alleges that the company is cutting back on personnel costs by partnering with violent prison gangs to help control the facility. Court documents and an investigative report issued by the state’s Department of Corrections show how guards routinely looked the […]
