Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Western Banks Reaping Billions from Colombian Cocaine Trade
June 6th, 2012Via: Guardian: The vast profits made from drug production and trafficking are overwhelmingly reaped in rich “consuming” countries – principally across Europe and in the US – rather than war-torn “producing” nations such as Colombia and Mexico, new research has revealed. And its authors claim that financial regulators in the west are reluctant to go […]
Chinese Developer Clones Austrian Village
June 6th, 2012I beg you to listen to, Joe Frank’s, An Enterprising Man, before reading this. Via: Stuff: A US$940 million (NZ$1.2 billion) Chinese clone of one of Austria’s most picturesque villages, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hallstatt, recently opened its doors to visitors in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong amidst some controversy. In a nation known […]
Moody’s Downgrades Credit Ratings of Six German Banks
June 6th, 2012Via: BBC: Ratings agency Moody’s has cut the credit ratings of six German banks and three in Austria. The biggest bank affected was Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest lender, which was cut to A3 from A2. Moody’s delayed a decision on the rating of Germany’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank. “Today’s rating actions are driven by the increased […]
U.S. Army Increases Lithium Battery Power Density by 30%
June 6th, 2012“The primacy of new killing technologies and technologies of political control go hand in hand with the clean energy systems.” —Forget the Green Technology – The Hot Money Is in Guns Via: U.S. Army: Army scientists are squeezing more power from batteries by developing new methods and materials with incredible results. “Our battery group has […]
SpaceX Flight Opens Door for U.S. Military Payloads
June 6th, 2012Via: Reuters: Space Exploration Technologies’ unmanned Dragon capsule arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday following a test flight for NASA that could open the door to a long-desired and more elusive customer – the U.S. military. The cargo capsule blasted off May on 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida and three days […]
And Now… Unsourcing
June 6th, 201275.2 million people are on Facebook, pretending to grow vegetables and raise animals in their browser windows? … Has it really come to this? Getting ribbons for bragging rights in Facebook games? —The Future Where Soda Cans Have Screens Via: The Economist: Some of the biggest brands in software, consumer electronics and telecoms have now […]
Open Job At Boston Law Firm Pays Just $10,000 Per Year (Less Than Minimum Wage on Per Hour Basis), Gets 32 Applicants
June 6th, 2012Via: CBS News: The BBJ received an emailed tip this week from someone who says they’re an employed, Boston College Law School (BC Law) graduate. The tipster sent screen grabs of a job listing on BC Law’s career site. The post advertises a full-time associate position at a small Boston law firm, Gilbert & O’Bryan […]
Japan: Millions of Tons of Radioactive Rubble
June 5th, 2012Via: The Atlantic: Disposing the more than 20 million tons of rubble caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is proving to be a difficult problem for Japan, not least because much of the rubble has been irradiated by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The government’s plan — to destroy 4 million tons of potentially […]
Australia: Blaming Price Increases on Carbon Tax Could Result in Million Dollar Fine for Businesses
June 4th, 2012Via: The Telegraph: SHOPS and restaurants could face fines up to $1.1 million if waiters or sales staff wrongly blame the carbon tax for price rises or exaggerate the impact. … ACCC deputy chairman Dr Michael Schaper told the Herald Sun companies were entitled to increase their prices and did not have to justify or […]
AIG Chief Sees Retirement Age as High as 80 After Crisis
June 4th, 2012You keep working, and we’ll keep getting bailouts and bonuses. Mmmkay? Via: Bloomberg: American International Group Inc. (AIG) Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche said Europe’s debt crisis shows governments worldwide must accept that people will have to work more years as life expectancies increase. “Retirement ages will have to move to 70, 80 years old,” […]
