Archive for the 'Elite' Category
Profit ‘Not Satanic,’ Barclays Says, After Goldman Invokes Jesus
November 8th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer John Varley stood at the wooden lectern in St. Martin-in-the- Fields on London’s Trafalgar Square last night and told the packed pews of the church that “profit is not satanic.” The 53-year-old head of Britain’s second-biggest bank said banks are the “backbone” of the economy. Rewarding high- performing […]
Pentagon: A Third of U.S. Youth Too Fat, Sickly to Serve in the Military, Most of the Rest Are Too Dumb or Have Used Too Many Drugs
November 5th, 2009Oh well, they’re not too fat and sickly to go to private prisons. And this is sure to result in much more funding for the terminator robots. Good news all around for the criminals who run the show. Via: USA Today: More than a third of American youth of military age are unfit for service, […]
Delaware Beats Switzerland as Most Secretive Financial Center
November 2nd, 2009Via: Reuters: Move over Switzerland. The tiny state of Delaware beats the Alpine country in a contest for the most secretive financial jurisdiction, a tax justice rights group said on Saturday. The United States, led by the eastern seaboard state, took in $2.6 trillion in deposits from non-resident corporations and individuals in 2007, according to […]
International Tax Evasion Crackdowns Threaten Swiss Banks
November 1st, 2009Via: The Australian: WHILE the spotlight has been on the aggressive drive by the US government to flush tax dodgers out of Switzerland, bankers there are instead grappling with the loss of a much richer clientele: Europeans. Americans have made up no more than 5 per cent of Switzerland’s $US1.8 trillion ($1.97 trillion) offshore-banking business. […]
Dozens in Congress Face Inquiries About Defense Lobbying and Corporate Influence Peddling
October 30th, 2009Via: Washington Post: House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July. The report appears to have been inadvertently placed on a publicly accessible computer network, […]
More Than 40% of President Obama’s Top-Level Fundraisers Given Posts in His Administration
October 30th, 2009Via: USA Today: More than 40% of President Obama’s top-level fundraisers have secured posts in his administration, from key executive branch jobs to diplomatic postings in countries such as France, Spain and the Bahamas, a USA TODAY analysis finds. Twenty of the 47 fundraisers that Obama’s campaign identified as collecting more than $500,000 have been […]
Stimulus Money Going to Contractors That Are “The Most Egregious Offenders of State and Federal Laws”
October 29th, 2009Via: Washington Post: President Obama and members of Congress told federal agencies earlier this year to avoid awarding funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to contractors with troubled histories of work for the federal government. But that isn’t happening at numerous agencies, a Washington Post analysis shows. So far, 33 federal departments and […]
GMAC May Receive Third Bailout From U.S. Government
October 28th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: GMAC Inc., the lender that received two government bailouts totaling $13.5 billion, is in talks with the Treasury Department to receive a third lifeline, a person familiar with the matter said. The U.S. government may inject an additional $2.8 billion to $5.6 billion into GMAC, the person said, declining to be identified because […]
Gardasil Researcher Drops A Bombshell
October 28th, 2009Via: The Bulletin: Dr. Diane Harper, lead researcher in the development of two human papilloma virus vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, said the controversial drugs will do little to reduce cervical cancer rates and, even though they’re being recommended for girls as young as nine, there have been no efficacy trials in children under the age […]
FDA Fails to Pull Worthless Drugs from Marketplace
October 26th, 2009Via: AP: The Food and Drug Administration has allowed drugs for cancer and other diseases to stay on the market even when follow-up studies showed they didn’t extend patients’ lives, say congressional investigators. A report due out Monday from the Government Accountability Office also shows that the FDA has never pulled a drug off the […]
