Archive for August, 2008
Another Weekend Arrives, Another Bank Failure: First Priority Bank Goes Down
August 2nd, 2008Via: Los Angeles Times: We all can start getting used to this: Friday is going to be Bank Failure Day in the U.S.A. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said late today that it took control of First Priority Bank of Bradenton, Fla., marking the eighth bank failure this year — and the fourth just since […]
Schwarzenegger Lays Off Thousands of California State Employees
August 1st, 2008Via: Guardian: California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered on his threat to lay off thousands of state employees yesterday when he signed an executive order in an attempt to solve the state’s budget crisis. The move, dismissed by critics as a gesture to force legislators to reach a compromise on how to resolve the state’s $15bn […]
U.S. Admits That Pakistan’s ISI Sponsors International Terrorism
August 1st, 2008The question is: Why admit this now, since it has been known all along? Then there’s the little Mohammad Atta ISI issue, which, of course, is nowhere to be found in the New York Times piece below. Via: New York Times: American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan’s powerful spy service helped plan […]
GM Posts $15.5 Billion Loss
August 1st, 2008Will this pig ever die? Maybe the Volt albatross will finally pull them under. As Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, BMW, Mercedes and about a dozen smaller firms ready their electric vehicles for release by 2010, GM is going to try to sell the piece of crap Volt with a 40 mile electric range—about half the range […]
To Provoke War, Cheney Considered Proposal to Dress Up Navy SEALs as Iranians and Shoot at Them
August 1st, 2008Via: ThinkProgress: During the journalism conference event, I asked Hersh specifically about this meeting and if he could elaborate on what occurred. Hersh explained that, during the meeting in Cheney’s office, an idea was considered to dress up Navy Seals as Iranians, put them on fake Iranian speedboats, and shoot at them. This idea, intended […]
Blackwater Now in the Private Intelligence Business
August 1st, 2008Via: Raw Story: Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, is worried about the giant mercenary firm’s latest foray into private intelligence. “They’re marketing their services to not only foreign governments, but to Fortune 500 corporations,” he recently told an interviewer. The forthcoming paperback edition of Scahill’s book […]
‘Major Discovery’ from MIT Claims to Efficiently Store Energy Generated from Intermittent Sources Such as Solar and Wind
August 1st, 2008I wonder what the phrase, “highly efficient process” means? Also, take a look at this paragraph: Nocera hopes that within 10 years, homeowners will be able to power their homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells, while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power their own household fuel cell. Electricity-by-wire from a […]
U.S. Government Seizes Laptops Without Suspicion of Wrongdoing and Shares Personal Data Files with Private Companies
August 1st, 2008Breathtaking. Via: Washington Post: Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies […]
NYPigTube: NYPD Calls on Citizens for Amateur Video Evidence
August 1st, 2008This should be uploaded first of all. Via: Reuters: New Yorkers can soon take a bite out of city crime by uploading video or photo evidence directly to the New York Police Department, in a move welcomed on Thursday by civil rights groups. “We’re putting that technology in place to enable us to do that,” […]
STRESSED BANKS BORROW RECORD AMOUNT FROM FED
August 1st, 2008Check out the chart, if you dare. Via: Reuters: Banks borrowed a record amount of funds from the Federal Reserve in the latest week as the year old credit crisis took a persistent toll, while the commercial paper market continued to contract, signaling tough conditions for short term borrowers. Banks’ primary credit borrowings averaged $17.45 […]
