Archive for May, 2007
Baby, You Can Fuel My Car
May 9th, 2007As you know, my wife and I don’t watch TV. We don’t have one in the house. But I remember somehow being exposed to those freaky pharmaceutical adds. Do you know the ones I mean? Pills hovering in purple fields with weird sunsets, and frightening, doped up women with Laura Bush smiles, etc… The kind […]
Verizon Says Phone Record Disclosure is Protected Free Speech
May 8th, 2007Via: Arstechnica: Verizon is one of the phone companies currently being sued over its alleged disclosure of customer phone records to the NSA. In a response to the court last week, the company asked for the entire consolidated case against it to be thrown out—on free speech grounds. The response also alleges that the case […]
Oil Company CEO to Alaska Republican: “I Own Your Ass”
May 8th, 2007Via: Reuters: The chief executive and part owner of Alaska’s largest oil-field services company and one of his vice presidents pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that they tried to bribe Alaska legislators to secure favorable state oil policies. VECO Corp. Chief Executive Bill Allen and Richard Smith, vice president for community affairs and government […]
Venezuela Criticizes DEA as ‘New Cartel’
May 8th, 2007I don’t know about new… Via: Yahoo / AP: Venezuela on Monday said it will not allow U.S. agents to carry out counter-drug operations in the country, accusing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of being a “new cartel” that aids traffickers. Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said the South American nation suspended cooperation with the agency […]
Organic Food Production Could Secure Global Food Supplies with Reduced Environmental Impacts
May 8th, 2007Here’s one for your No-Shit-Rocket-Science-Brain-Surgery file. The problem, of course, is getting there from here. Conventional farmers walk a fine line that is so close to ruin that it’s mostly unthinkable for them to switch to organic methods. They are under incredible pressure to perform because they often don’t own the land that they’re farming […]
Cryptogon Readers Contribute $100, $30 and $25
May 7th, 2007Many thanks to these Cryptogon contributors for adding some exclamation points on Dagobaz’s opening statement in May: Anonymous $100 AS $30 RW $25 Wow! And on Amazon… A generous soul remembered to order his or her exercise bike via Cryptogon. I don’t know who you are, but thanks! Man, I wonder if there would be […]
China Exporting Antifreeze Component as Common Sweetener
May 7th, 2007Via: Bloomberg: Regulators in the U.S. are warning drugmakers, suppliers and health professionals to be on the alert for counterfeit medicine additives that substitute a poison used in antifreeze for a common sweetener. The Food and Drug Administration knows of no contamination cases in the U.S. like those that caused deaths in Panama, Haiti and […]
Please Lord, Not the Bees
May 6th, 2007Everything you didn’t want to know about Colony Collapse Disorder… Via: GNN: Among the various mythologies of the apocalypse, fear of insect plagues has always loomed larger than fear of species loss. But this may change, as a strange new plague is wiping out our honey bees one hive at a time. It has been […]
The Ghost in Wall Street’s Shell
May 6th, 2007I’ve written several stories about how I’ve dabbled with this stuff. Here are a few colorful examples: Insider Crimes, Funny Money and Options Rackets The Magic Mystery Dot U.S. Dollar Index Breaches Significant Weekly Supports Now, here’s an interesting article that looks at the efforts of the people who play these games with billions of […]
In 2006 Dollars, U.S. Minimum Wage Peaked in 1968
May 5th, 2007Via: Oregon State: A federal minimum wage was first set in 1938. The graph shows nominal (blue diamonds) and real (red squares) minimum wage values. Nominal values range from $0.25/hr in 1938 to the current $5.15/hr. The graph adjusts these wages to 2006 dollars (red squares) to show the real value of the minimum wage. […]
