Archive for September, 2009
Bush’s Third Term? You’re Living It
September 3rd, 2009Please understand: THERE ARE NO POLITICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS THE U.S. IS FACING. The outcome of this election is meaningless, one way or the other. The more you keep grasping for glimmers of hope within the political system, the worse off you will be. … Will a big Democratic win calm people down? Maybe […]
Pfizer Agrees to Pay Largest Healthcare Fraud Penalty in History
September 2nd, 2009Via: BBC: US drugmaker Pfizer has agreed to pay $2.3bn (£1.4bn) in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice. A subsidiary pleaded guilty to misbranding drugs “with the intent to defraud or mislead”. Pfizer illegally promoted four drugs and caused false claims to be submitted to government healthcare programmes […]
CIA Doctors Face Human Experimentation Claims
September 2nd, 2009Via: Guardian: Doctors and psychologists the CIA employed to monitor its “enhanced interrogation” of terror suspects came close to, and may even have committed, unlawful human experimentation, a medical ethics watchdog has alleged. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a non-profit group that has investigated the role of medical personnel in alleged incidents of torture at […]
Gold Is Probably About to Put on a Show
September 2nd, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I’m not able to make a high confidence call on which way gold is going to go, but I think it’s about to make a strong move. If I was forced to guess, I’d say that it will break higher, which […]
‘Pacific Garbage Patch’ Expedition Finds Plastic, Plastic Everywhere
September 2nd, 2009Via: San Jose Mercury News: Scientists who returned to the Bay Area this week after an expedition to the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” brought piles of plastic debris they pulled out of the ocean — soda bottles, cracked patio chairs, Styrofoam chunks, old toys, discarded fishing floats and tangled nets. But what alarmed them most, […]
UN Chief Visits ‘Doomsday’ Seed Vault in Arctic
September 2nd, 2009Via: AFP: UN chief Ban Ki-moon visited Wednesday a vault carved into the Arctic permafrost, filled with samples of the world’s most important seeds in case food crops are wiped out by a catastrophe. “The world faces many daunting challenges today, one of the greatest of which is how to feed a growing population in […]
Mercenaries in Afghanistan: “Lord of the Flies Environment”
September 2nd, 2009Via: New York Daily News: Secretary of State Clinton ordered an investigation on Tuesday into the Animal House revels of private guards at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan – including booze, hookers and other “deviant behavior.” “These are very serious allegations, and we are treating them that way,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said of […]
Cities’ Budget Problems Getting Worse
September 2nd, 2009Via: Bloomberg: U.S. city officials say they expect to face further financial strains because tax collections won’t recover until after the economy emerges from the deepest recession since the Great Depression, a national survey found. Eighty-eight percent of city finance officers said they are less able to cover the cost of running their governments than […]
Camp Grounds and Tent Cities Become Permanent Addresses
September 2nd, 2009Via: Christian Science Monitor: A gravelly campground off Interstate 40 in central Tennessee is a last refuge for a hodgepodge of Americans: Here you can get a $275-a-month camping spot with a 30-amp electric outlet and a scratchy Wi-Fi signal emanating from “the bathhouse” down the lane. “It’s my permanent home – for now,” says […]
Oldest Swiss Bank Tells Clients to Sell U.S. Assets or Leave
September 2nd, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Wegelin & Co., Switzerland’s oldest bank, is telling wealthy clients to sell their U.S. assets, or switch banks, because of concerns new rules will saddle investors with tax obligations in the world’s biggest economy. U.S. proposals to extend reporting requirements for banks whose clients buy American stocks and bonds coupled with estate tax […]
