Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Attempt to Deposit Fake Bonds in Vatican Bank
March 31st, 2014Via: Sydney Morning Herald: Vatican police have apprehended a US man and a Dutch man trying to deposit billions of euros and US dollars in fake bonds in the Vatican bank. The men were stopped by the police when they approached one of the guarded gates at the Vatican and asked to be let through […]
GCHQ and NSA Targeted Private German Companies
March 29th, 2014Shocker. Via: Spiegel: Documents show that Britain’s GCHQ intelligence service infiltrated German Internet firms and America’s NSA obtained a court order to spy on Germany and collected information about the chancellor in a special database.
The Shift From Low-Wage Worker to Robot Worker
March 27th, 2014Via: FiveThirtyEight: The minimum-wage occupations that Frey and Osborne think are most vulnerable include, not surprisingly, telemarketers, sales clerks and cashiers. But also included are occupations that employ a large share of the low-wage workforce, such as waiters and waitresses, food-preparation workers and cooks. If the computerization of these low-wage jobs becomes feasible, and if […]
Terra Tech Corp: Vegetables Today, Pot Once It’s Legal
March 27th, 2014Via: Alternet: State by state, the nation is beginning to chip away at marijuana prohibition. Especially since Colorado and Washington legalized the herb for recreational purposes last year, whispers of legalization and decriminalization are spreading like wildfire. But cultivation of the plant is still federally illegal, and often as states legalize either medically or recreationally, […]
Antigun Politician Charged with Gun Trafficking, Wire Fraud
March 27th, 2014There’s a doosey in here. One of the members of this criminal enterprise is, “Raymond ‘Shrimp Boy’ Chow, a longtime Chinatown gangster.” According to the piece, Chow is president of the Supreme Lodge of Chinese Freemasons of the world in San Francisco (see: Tiandihui). Via: San Francisco Weekly: State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) and […]
Eyes on Afghanistan as Next Lithium Motherlode
March 26th, 2014Via: oilprice.com As American troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, the US has handed over prized mineral data to Kabul, which is hoping it can provide enough security to lure investors to key mineral deposits that could turn the country into the Saudi Arabia of Lithium in the best-case scenario, or another conflict minerals venue like […]
Canada: Bill C-22, Nuclear Companies Win the Jackpot
March 26th, 2014Update: Current Liability Is Only $75 Million J sent this piece in from HazMat Management: The federal government has introduced legislation that will dramatically boost the civil liability ceiling for nuclear operators from $75 million to $1 billion. — Via: Huffington Post: Imagine you could go to Las Vegas, and it didn’t matter how much […]
Facebook Buys Virtual Reality Co. Oculus for $2 Billion
March 25th, 2014Reality 1440×900 by EranFolio on deviantART Via: AP: Facebook has agreed to buy Oculus for $2 billion, betting that its virtual reality technology may be a new way for people to communicate, learn or be entertained. “This is a long-term bet on the future of computing,” said Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg Tuesday on a […]
Sinkhole of Bureaucracy
March 24th, 2014Via: Washington Post: The trucks full of paperwork come every day, turning off a country road north of Pittsburgh and descending through a gateway into the earth. Underground, they stop at a metal door decorated with an American flag. Behind the door, a room opens up as big as a supermarket, full of five-drawer file […]
Apple and Google’s Wage-Fixing Cartel Involved Dozens More Companies, Over One Million Employees
March 23rd, 2014Via: Pando Daily: Back in January, I wrote about “The Techtopus” — an illegal agreement between seven tech giants, including Apple, Google, and Intel, to suppress wages for tens of thousands of tech employees. The agreement prompted a Department of Justice investigation, resulting in a settlement in which the companies agreed to curb their restricting […]
