Archive for December, 2008
Russian Economy Tanking Because Energy Prices Have Collapsed
December 29th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: The ruble fell to a record low against the euro as Russia devalued the currency for the 12th time in seven weeks after the government forecast its first budget deficit in a decade. The managed currency weakened 2.5 percent to 41.6870 per euro at 12:56 p.m. in Moscow, the lowest since the European […]
Over a Quarter of Large Retailers Are at Significant Risk of Filing for Bankruptcy or Facing Financial Distress in 2009 or 2010
December 29th, 2008Via: Wall Street Journal: The good news for retailers reeling from the holiday sales season is that 2008 is almost over. The bad news: The fallout in 2009 could be worse. This year’s retailing slide — when stores were forced to cut prices to convince wary consumers to spend — promises to have a lasting […]
Madoff Probe Focuses on Tax Havens
December 28th, 2008Via: Guardian: The hunt for funds allegedly cheated out of investors by Bernard Madoff, who faces fraud charges in New York, has turned to offshore tax havens where investigators believe he may have salted away hundreds of millions of dollars. Stephen Harbeck, chief executive of America’s Securities Investor Protection Corporation (Sipc) and official receiver of […]
North Carolina Panel Recommends Money for Eugenics Victims
December 28th, 2008Via: AP: North Carolina lawmakers pushed Thursday to offer reparations to thousands of victims of a forced sterilization program now recognized as a shameful part of U.S. history. A state House panel recommended the state give $20,000 to victims of the eugenics program, which sterilized about 7,600 people between 1929 and 1975 who were considered […]
Israel Attacks Gaza, Hundreds Dead: Who Made a Killing?
December 27th, 2008What did the Benazir Bhutto assassination and the latest Israeli attacks in Gaza have in common? There was a strong move higher on gold immediately preceding both incidents, which were spaced one year apart, to the day. Remember how gold moved before Bhutto was killed? Check out this Bloomberg piece from yesterday (a day before […]
CIA Buys Off Afghan Warlords with Viagra
December 27th, 2008The Washington Post didn’t interview any of the child brides/rape victims for this story. Via: Washington Post: The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an […]
Japan Factory Output Has Biggest Fall On Record
December 26th, 2008Via: AP: Japan’s contracting economy got a slew of bad news Friday when government figures showed that industrial production plunged by its biggest margin on record in November, the jobless rate jumped and household spending fell. Output at the nation’s manufacturers tumbled 8.1 percent from October, the largest drop since Tokyo began measuring such data […]
Cryptogon Readers Send Contributions
December 26th, 2008Thank you. TB $20 MW $20 KL $100 CM €5 JH $50 DP $20
U.S. Police Could Get ‘Pain Beam’ Weapons
December 26th, 2008Via: New Scientist: The research arm of the US Department of Justice is working on two portable non-lethal weapons that inflict pain from a distance using beams of laser light or microwaves, with the intention of putting them into the hands of police to subdue suspects. The two devices under development by the civilian National […]
Amateurs Are Trying Genetic Engineering at Home
December 26th, 2008The 21st-century technologies – genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR) – are so powerful that they can spawn whole new classes of accidents and abuses. Most dangerously, for the first time, these accidents and abuses are widely within the reach of individuals or small groups. They will not require large facilities or rare raw materials. Knowledge […]
