Archive for October, 2009
“When You Own Gold You’re Fighting Every Central Bank in the World”
October 4th, 2009Jim Rickards:
Former Japanese Finance Minister Nakagawa Found Dead
October 4th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Shoichi Nakagawa, who resigned as Japanese finance minister in February amid accusations of drunken behavior during an international conference in Rome, was found dead in his Tokyo home today. He was 56. Nakagawa lost his parliamentary seat in Aug. 30 elections that saw the Liberal Democratic Party swept out of power after half […]
Will California Become America’s First Failed State?
October 4th, 2009Via: Guardian: Los Angeles, 2009: California may be the eighth largest economy in the world, but its state staff are being paid in IOUs, unemployment is at its highest in 70 years, and teachers are on hunger strike. So what has gone so catastrophically wrong? California has a special place in the American psyche. It […]
Two Million Slum Children Die Every Year as India Booms
October 4th, 2009Via: Guardian: India’s growing status as an economic superpower is masking a failure to stem a shocking rate of infant deaths among its poorest people. Nearly two million children under five die every year in India – one every 15 seconds – the highest number anywhere in the world. More than half die in the […]
Ireland Backs EU’s Lisbon Treaty
October 3rd, 2009Mmm hmm. Via: BBC: Irish voters have strongly endorsed the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty – 16 months after their first vote rejecting it plunged EU reforms into deadlock. About 67% voted “Yes”, official results from the latest referendum showed. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen hailed a “clear and resounding” endorsement. Political leaders across the EU […]
Excreted Tamiflu Found in Rivers
October 3rd, 2009Via: Science News: The premier flu-fighting drug is contaminating rivers downstream of sewage-treatment facilities, researchers in Japan confirm. The source: urinary excretion by people taking oseltamivir phosphate, best known as Tamiflu. Concerns are now building that birds, which are natural influenza carriers, are being exposed to waterborne residues of Tamiflu’s active form and might develop […]
InkStop Abruptly Closed All 152 Retail Stores and Laid Off All Workers; No Final Paychecks
October 3rd, 2009Wow. Via: The Plain Dealer: InkStop Inc., a specialty retailer of ink, toner, consumer electronics and other supplies for small businesses and home offices, abruptly told its employees that it was shuttering all 152 stores nationwide as of Friday and laying off all workers until further notice. “The company has elected to temporarily close all […]
The Australian Town That Kicked The Bottle
October 2nd, 2009If there’s no fluoride, pesticides, chlorine or _____ (fill in the blank) in the tap water, great. Via: Independent: Plastic bottles were ceremoniously removed from shelves in the sleepy Australian town of Bundanoon at the weekend as a ban on commercially-bottled water – believed to be a world first – came into force. The ban, […]
Banks Changed Hands, Records Lost, People Unable to Cash CDs
October 2nd, 2009A couple of cautionary tales for those of you who have CDs with banks that are changing names due to merger/collapse. Bank May Have Lost Grandma’s Money Phoenix resident Rosemarie Braunstein said Wells Fargo has refused to cash her certificate of deposit because it has lost her records. — Which Bank Owes Couple $400K? Paul […]
Banks With 20% Unpaid Loans at 18-Year High Amid Recovery Doubt
October 2nd, 2009Via: Bloomberg: The number of U.S. lenders that can’t collect on at least 20 percent of their loans hit an 18-year high, signaling that more bank failures and losses could slow an economic recovery. Units of Frontier Financial Corp.,Towne Bancorp Inc. and Steel Partners Holdings LP are among 26 firms with more than one-fifth of […]
