Archive for March, 2010
And Now: U.S. Government Program Pays People to Sell Homes at a Loss
March 8th, 2010Via: New York Times: In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave. This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give […]
Company Claims New Fuel-Injection System Can Increase Efficiency of Gasoline Engines by More than 50 Percent
March 8th, 2010Your mileage may vary. Via: MIT Technology Review: Transonic Combustion, a startup based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a fuel-injection system it says can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by more than 50 percent. A test vehicle equipped with the technology gets 64 miles per gallon in highway driving, which is far better than […]
One in Three Killed by U.S. Drone Strikes is a Civilian
March 8th, 2010Via: Raw Story: The US military has used drones to attack suspected terrorists in Pakistan since at least 2004. Proponents of the small, unmanned planes say they are capable of “surgical strikes” that reduce civilian casualties and effectively combat terrorism. Is that true? Well, not really, according to a new report from the New America […]
The Pentagon’s Runaway Budget
March 8th, 2010Via: antiwar.com: With his decision to boost defense spending, President Obama is continuing the process of re-inflating the Pentagon that began in late 1998 — fully three years before the 9/11 attacks on America. The FY 2011 budget marks a milestone, however: The inflation-adjusted rise in spending since 1998 will probably exceed 100 percent in […]
Beijing Studies Severing Dollar Peg
March 8th, 2010Via: Financial Times: China’s central bank chief laid the groundwork for an appreciation of the renminbi at the weekend when he described the current dollar peg as temporary, striking a more emollient tone after months of tough opposition in Beijing to a shift in exchange rate policy. Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of […]
How Food and Water Are Driving a 21st-Century African Land Grab
March 7th, 2010Via: Guardian: We turned off the main road to Awassa, talked our way past security guards and drove a mile across empty land before we found what will soon be Ethiopia’s largest greenhouse. Nestling below an escarpment of the Rift Valley, the development is far from finished, but the plastic and steel structure already stretches […]
Federal Pay Ahead of Private Industry
March 7th, 2010Via: USA Today: Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data finds. Accountants, nurses, chemists, surveyors, cooks, clerks and janitors are among the wide range of jobs that get paid more on average in the federal government than in […]
Five Ways Your TV is Slowly Killing You
March 7th, 2010Via: MSNBC: You’ve accepted the idea that TV makes you dumber. You know there are lots of more edifying things you could be doing with your time than cheering on the contestants on “Survivor.” And unless you’re working out to an exercise video, you know those hours sprawled out in front of the screen are […]
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March 7th, 2010Thanks to the owners of foreverdyingbrightly.com and smartliketruck.com for signing up for hosting with BlueHost. Cryptogon received $180.
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