Archive for the 'Elite' Category
Fraudclosure: ‘When you save broken companies from their own incompetence, this is what you get.’
October 29th, 2010Via: The Big Picture: The banks have gotten the Big Lie technique down to a science: State a lie so colossal that no one could believe anyone “has the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” In practice, adding factually accurate, but irrelevant or misleading color, helps push the lie on unsuspecting rubes. The banks […]
Halliburton Knew Cement it Mixed for BP’s Well Was Unstable
October 29th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: Halliburton Co. may face increased liability in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after the staff of a U.S. presidential panel said the contractor knew cement it mixed for BP Plc’s well was unstable. The staff of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill said documents provided by Halliburton showed […]
Private Prison Interests Behind Arizona Immigration Law
October 29th, 2010“I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.” —Fight Club Via: NPR: Last year, two men showed up in Benson, Ariz., a small desert town 60 miles from the Mexico border, offering a deal. Glenn Nichols, the Benson city manager, remembers the pitch. “The gentleman that’s the main thrust of this thing has a huge turquoise […]
Congressional Staffers as Stock Pickers
October 27th, 2010The point is that LOTS of people who aren’t corporate insiders know the news before the market does. They buy before the news comes out. This happens every day. —Insider Crimes, Funny Money and Options Rackets Via: Wall Street Journal: The Journal analysis showed that an aide to a Republican member of the Senate Banking […]
Glaxo to Pay $750 Million in Adulterated Drugs Case
October 27th, 2010Via: Reuters: GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to pay $750 million and plead guilty to manufacturing and distributing adulterated drugs from a now closed plant in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
