Archive for May, 2008
New Zealand: Technical Details for New Liquidity Measures
May 7th, 2008If you’re thinking about buying property in New Zealand—hold off. Things are going to get weird. Via: Reserve Bank of New Zealand: The Reserve Bank is in the process of adopting new measures to guard against further disruptions to banking system liquidity arising from international financial market turbulence. These changes are seen as temporary, to […]
The Gospel of Consumption and the Better Future We Left Behind
May 7th, 2008Highly recommended. Via: Orion: By the late 1920s, America’s business and political elite had found a way to defuse the dual threat of stagnating economic growth and a radicalized working class in what one industrial consultant called “the gospel of consumption”—the notion that people could be convinced that however much they have, it isn’t enough. […]
U.S. Fed Now Accepts Credit Card Debt as Collateral
May 7th, 2008Via: Daily Reckoning: The Fed has become the mother of all credit exiles, accepting Wall Street’s over-valued, under-performing, dead-beat loans. At least that is what it’s done in a metaphorical sense. What did it do practically? First the Fed increased by US$25 billion the amount of money it will auction to banks (commercial and investment) […]
Cryptogon Reader Contributes $45
May 7th, 2008AS sent $45. Thank you.
Cell Phone Spying: Is Your Life Being Monitored?
May 6th, 2008Forget whatever the intelligence agencies are or aren’t doing for a moment. This article is about surveillance tools that are available to the public. Via: Geeks Are Sexy: It connects you to the world, but your cell phone could also be giving anyone from your boss to your wife a window into your every move. […]
“Green” City to Rise in the Desert
May 6th, 2008Oh sure. Via: TheStar: A new kind of oasis is forming in the middle of the desert. In one of the harshest environments imaginable, where temperatures regularly rise to 50C and sandstorms can limit visibility to a few metres, construction has begun on what will be the greenest city on Earth. Abu Dhabi is developing […]
Burma Cyclone Death Toll Exceeds 22,000
May 6th, 2008Via: CNN: A Myanmar government radio station said Tuesday that more than 22,000 people are dead and 41,000 missing after the catastrophic cyclone that battered the country. A news broadcast on the state-run station said Tuesday that 22,464 people had been confirmed dead after Cyclone Nargis. The broadcast added that 41,000 more were missing. The […]
Bernanke Urges More Action to Stem Home Foreclosure Crisis
May 6th, 2008Via: AP: A rising tide of late mortgage payments and home foreclosures poses considerable dangers to the national economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned anew as he urged Congress to take additional steps to alleviate the problems. “High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial […]
UK: Billions of Pounds Wasted on Surveillance Cameras, Senior Cop Calls Program “Utter Fiasco”
May 6th, 2008Via: Times Online: Billions of pounds spent on Britain’s 4.2 million closed-circuit television cameras has not had a significant impact on crime, according to the senior police officer piloting a new database. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville said it was a “fiasco” that only 3 per cent of street robberies in London were solved using […]
Dollar Tanks, Gold and Oil Up Sharply
May 5th, 2008I see a full court press with all the clowns in the media saying that the bottom is in on the dollar and the euro crash is coming, etc… The dollar will rise on the wings of eagles and harps will play in the background… The sweet perfume of renewal and optimism will pervade America, […]
