Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Obama Announces Plan to Keep 9,800 U.S. Troops in Afghanistan After 2014
May 28th, 2014Are there not enough mercs to protect all of those opium poppies? Via: Guardian: President Obama announced Tuesday that he will leave 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan through much of next year and backed away from ending America’s longest war until at least his final year in office. Related: CIA Ghost Money
Brokers Use ‘Billions’ of Data Points to Profile Americans
May 27th, 2014Via: Washington Post: Data brokers that quietly gather billions of pieces of data on Americans should be required to operate more openly, so that those categorized as “financially challenged” or possibly suffering from serious medical conditions have the ability to check and challenge those characterizations, a federal report said Tuesday. The data broker industry, which […]
Oregon Counties Ban GM Crops
May 26th, 2014Via: IB Times: Voters in two Oregon counties approved ballot initiatives Tuesday banning the cultivation of genetically modified crops. The ballot measures add Jackson and Josephine, neighboring counties in southwestern Oregon, to the growing list of places around the world that have outlawed the highly controversial GMO crops from being grown within their borders. The […]
Doctor: Detroit Abortion Stats ‘Like Some Third World Country’
May 24th, 2014Via: Detroit News: Nearly one-third of all pregnancies in the city of Detroit end in abortion, a statistic public health officials blame on rising poverty and dwindling access to affordable contraception. Of an estimated 18,360 pregnancies among Detroit residents in 2012, the most recent year for which data are available, 5,693 ended in abortion, or […]
U.S. Faces Higher Food Price Inflation in 2014, Led by Meats
May 23rd, 2014Via: Reuters: The severe drought in California could have a lasting effect on U.S. fruit, dairy and egg prices, while prices for meats, especially beef, look likely to continue climbing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday. The agency said overall U.S. food price inflation for 2014, including food bought at grocery stores and […]
U.S. Officials Cut Estimate of Recoverable Monterey Shale Oil by 96%
May 22nd, 2014Via: Los Angeles Times: Federal energy authorities have slashed by 96% the estimated amount of recoverable oil buried in California’s vast Monterey Shale deposits, deflating its potential as a national “black gold mine” of petroleum. Just 600 million barrels of oil can be extracted with existing technology, far below the 13.7 billion barrels once thought […]
Facebook Wants to ‘Listen’ to Your Music and TV
May 22nd, 2014Via: BBC: Facebook is to release a new feature on its mobile app that “listens” to your music and TV shows. If the song or show is recognised by the app, users can publish the information on their profile or to selected friends. The service hopes to take advantage of the “second screen” trend, which […]
North Carolina GOP Pushes Unprecedented Bill to Jail Anyone Who Discloses Fracking Chemicals
May 21st, 2014Via: Mother Jones: As hydraulic fracturing ramps up around the country, so do concerns about its health impacts. These concerns have led 20 states to require the disclosure of industrial chemicals used in the fracking process. North Carolina isn’t on that list of states yet—and it may be hurtling in the opposite direction. On Thursday, […]
China and Russia Sign $400 Billion Gas Deal
May 21st, 2014Via: USA Today: China and Russia signed off on a huge gas deal worth as much as $400 billion Wednesday that heralds a pivot east for Russian business amid ongoing tensions with the West over Ukraine, though few details of the deal were made public. The 30-year gas-export contract, seen as a move by Russian […]
Inside Italy’s Secret Toxic Waste Crisis
May 21st, 2014Via: Journeyman Pictures:
