Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Greeks Turn to the Forests for Fuel as Winter Nears
December 9th, 2012Via: Guardian: It is early Sunday. The sun has barely risen above the chestnut forest that lies somewhere near the crest of Mount Pelion, but loggers’ pick-up trucks are already streaming through the muddy slush, their cargo bouncing in the back. Theirs are rich pickings, much in demand as winter envelopes the villages and towns […]
China: 700 Mountains to be Levelled to Make Way for New Town
December 9th, 2012Via: Telegraph: Chinese developers are planning to flatten 700 mountains to make way for a new town in the north-west of the country. The nation’s most ambitious “mountain moving” project is slated for a patch of desert the outskirts of Lanzhou in the Gansu province and is estimated to cost £2.2bn, according to the Guardian. […]
And Now… ‘Conservation Drones’
December 8th, 2012Via: Mother Jones: First things first: No, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is not using drones to vaporize poachers. But thanks to a five million dollar grant awarded by Google on Tuesday, the organization is expanding its use of unmanned aerial vehicles to track and deter criminals who illegally hunt endangered animal species around the […]
‘Clinton Vows to Thwart New Soviet Union’
December 7th, 2012Wow, Clinton vows to thwart new Soviet Union: The US is trying to prevent Russia from recreating a new version of the Soviet Union under the ruse of economic integration, Hillary Clinton warned on Thursday. “There is a move to re-Sovietise the region,” the US secretary of state told a news conference in Dublin hours […]
Apple Shifting Some Manufacturing Back to U.S. from China
December 6th, 2012iMacs? Via: Bloomberg: Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to spend more than $100 million next year on building Mac computers in the U.S., shifting a small portion of manufacturing away from China, the country that has handled assembly of its products for years. “Next year we’re going to bring some production to the U.S.,” Chief Executive […]
EU Imposes Record $1.9 Billion Cartel Fine on CRT Manufacturers
December 6th, 2012Via: Reuters: The European Commission imposed the biggest antitrust penalty in its history on Wednesday, fining six firms including Philips, LG Electronics and Panasonic a total of 1.47 billion euros ($1.92 billion) for running two cartels for nearly a decade. The Commission said executives from the European and Asian companies met until six years ago […]
New DVR Will Target Advertisements Based on Recordings of Users
December 5th, 2012USPTO: 20120304206 Via: Fierce Cable: Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has filed a patent application for targeting ads to viewers based on information collected from infrared cameras and microphones that would be able to detect conversations, people, objects and even animals that are near a TV. If the detection system determines that a couple is arguing, a […]
‘U.S. Ready to Offer Mercenaries $10 Billion for a Drug-War Air Force’
December 5th, 2012Kill the competition. Steal their drugs. Profit. Via: Wired: Unsure how your private security firm makes money as the U.S. war in Afghanistan winds down? One option: Go into the drug trade — more specifically, the lucrative business of fighting narcotics. The State Department needs a business partner to keep its fleet of drug-hunting helicopters […]
Kenya: Total Ban on Importation of Genetically Modified Food
December 5th, 2012Via: Nature: Scientists fear that Kenya’s recent banning of the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may be a significant blow to progress on biotechnology research and development in the country. A cabinet meeting chaired by Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, this month (8 November), directed the public health minister to ban GMO imports until the […]
The Insourcing Boom
December 5th, 2012Consider clicking through to read this one all the way through. I’ve excerpted some nuggets below, but it’s worth reading the whole thing. This piece touches on a number of complex, interrelated issues. Parse it however you want, scoff at the Orwellian language that’s used to describe the crushing of labor unions, do the calculations […]
