Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Government Liabilities Rose $2 Trillion in FY 2010
December 22nd, 2010Via: Reuters: The U.S. government fell deeper into the red in fiscal 2010 with net liabilities swelling more than $2 trillion as commitments on government debt and federal benefits rose, a U.S. Treasury report showed on Tuesday. The Financial Report of the United States, which applies corporate-style accrual accounting methods to Washington, showed the government’s […]
Nearly 1 in 4 Students Too Stupid to Pass U.S. Army Entrance Exam
December 22nd, 2010It’s actually much worse than the headline indicates. Check out this sentence: Pentagon data shows that 75 percent of those aged 17 to 24 don’t even qualify to take the test because they are physically unfit, have a criminal record or didn’t graduate high school. Via: AP: Nearly one-fourth of the students who try to […]
27 Year Old Citigroup Banker Allegedly Jumped to Her Death from Trump Palace in New York City
December 22nd, 2010From Donald Trump Counting Sheep: As a reader wrote to me recently, “It’s the little things…” Via: The Hoya: Jessica Fashano (MSB ’05) shocked much of the New York financial world Saturday when she allegedly threw herself off of the Trump Palace in New York City. According to the New York Police Department, there is […]
State Budgets: The Day of Reckoning
December 20th, 2010Via: CBS News / 60 Minutes: By now, just about everyone in the country is aware of the federal deficit problem, but you should know that there is another financial crisis looming involving state and local governments. It has gotten much less attention because each state has a slightly different story. But in the two […]
Probable Carcinogen Hexavalent Chromium Found in Drinking Water of 31 U.S. Cities
December 20th, 2010Add it to the list: Can You Do This With Your Tap Water? Hundreds of Millions of Pounds of Pharmaceuticals LEGALLY Released Into Waterways That Provide Drinking Water Illegal Concentrations of Arsenic, Radioactive Substances like Uranium, Dangerous Bacteria Often Found in Sewage Via: Washington Post: An environmental group that analyzed the drinking water in 35 […]
Slumtube
December 19th, 2010Via: Inhabitat: Remember the efficient and affordable Pallet House from last spring? Well designers Andreas Claus Schnetzer and Pils Gregor have bested their original design with an even lower-cost shipping pallet home that was completed this year in South Africa. The ‘Slumtube’ utilizes discarded pallets along with other local materials like clay and straw to […]
Overstock Accuses Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch of Racketeering
December 19th, 2010Via: Reuters: Overstock.com Inc plans to amend a lawsuit it filed in early 2007 to include racketeering claims against Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, the online retailer said on Thursday. The original lawsuit, filed in the California superior court in San Francisco, alleged that Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch unit […]
Pfizer Targeted Nigerian Attorney General to Undermine Suit Over Fatal Drug Tests
December 17th, 2010Via: Democracy Now: Diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer hired investigators to find evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general to pressure him to drop a $6 billion lawsuit over fraudulent drug tests on Nigerian children. Researchers did not obtain signed consent forms, and medical personnel said Pfizer did not […]
Ireland’s Credit Rating Cut Five Levels by Moody’s With a Negative Outlook
December 17th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: Ireland’s credit rating was cut five levels by Moody’s Investors Service and further downgrades are possible as the government struggles to contain losses in the country’s banking system. The rating was lowered to Baa1 from Aa2, Moody’s said in an e-mailed statement from London today. That’s three levels above non-investment grade and the […]
Food Price Inflation
December 17th, 2010Via: San Francisco Chronicle: For the first time since 2008, inflation is hitting consumers in the stomach. Grocery prices grew by more than 1 1/2 times the overall rate of inflation this year, outpaced only by costs of transportation and medical care, according to numbers released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists […]
