Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Most Americans Accumulating Debt Faster Than They’re Saving for Retirement
October 25th, 2013Via: Washington Post: A majority of Americans with 401(k)-type savings accounts are accumulating debt faster than they are setting aside money for retirement, further undermining the nation’s troubled system for old-age saving, a new report has found. Three in five workers with defined contribution accounts are “debt savers,” according to the report released Thursday, meaning […]
Help Wanted in Fukushima: Low Pay, High Risks and Gangsters
October 25th, 2013Via: Reuters: Tetsuya Hayashi went to Fukushima to take a job at ground zero of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. He lasted less than two weeks. Hayashi, 41, says he was recruited for a job monitoring the radiation exposure of workers leaving the plant in the summer of 2012. Instead, when he turned up […]
Half of Nation’s Foreclosed Homes Still Occupied
October 24th, 2013Via: CNN: Foreclosure sounds like the end of the line, but actual eviction can take months or years — even after the bank has repossessed a home. RealtyTrac estimates that 47% of the nation’s foreclosed homes are currently occupied. The percentage actually tops 60% in some hot housing markets, like Miami and Los Angeles. Those […]
Bank of America Liable for Fraud
October 24th, 2013DOJ is seeking a penalty of under $1 billion. *pfft* Via: Forbes: Thought those mortgage lawsuits against banks were winding down? Think again. The Bank of America logo is seen at a branch i…Today a jury found Bank of America liable for defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when its Countrywide unit sold it bad […]
Afghanistan: U.S. Bought Diesel Fuel for $500 Per Gallon
October 24th, 2013Via: CNN: That was the exorbitant figure paid with U.S. tax dollars to a contractor building a hospital in rural Afghanistan, according to a report from the government watchdog tasked with investigating expenditures on Afghanistan’s reconstruction. In the report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the International Organization for Migration was found […]
“I met two otaku, who believe themselves to be in relationships with virtual girlfriends.”
October 23rd, 2013Via: BBC: Unless something happens to boost Japan’s birth rate, its population will shrink by a third between now and 2060. One reason for the lack of babies is the emergence of a new breed of Japanese men – the otaku, who love manga, anime and computers more than sex. Tokyo is the world’s largest […]
Not Round Up Ready: El Salvador Votes to Ban Glyphostate
October 23rd, 2013Via: GM Watch: El Salvador has voted to ban glyphosate, the pesticide that most GM crops are designed to be grown with, along with 52 other chemicals.
Saudi Arabia Set for Diplomatic Shift Away from U.S.
October 23rd, 2013Via: Guardian: Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief has said the kingdom will make a “major shift” in dealings with the US in protest at perceived American inaction over the Syria war and its overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday. The source said that Prince Bandar bin Sultan had told European […]
Meet CGI Federal, the Company Behind the Botched Launch of HealthCare.gov
October 23rd, 2013Via: Washington Post: Over the past few weeks, if you’ve been paying attention at all to the unfolding disaster of people trying and failing to sign up for Obamacare online, one name keeps coming up: CGI Federal, the IT contractor that has orchestrated most of the Healthcare.gov Web site. By most accounts, it’s been a […]
U.S. Dollar Tanks
October 22nd, 2013Via: Reuters: The dollar slid to a two-year low against the euro and a measure of global equity markets rose for a fifth session in a row on Tuesday after weak U.S. jobs data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will keep its easy-money policy intact into 2014.
