Archive for January, 2011
Consumer Watchdog Wants Investigation Into Google’s Relationships with NSA, Other U.S. Federal Agencies
January 26th, 2011Via: PC World: Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group largely focused in recent years on Google’s privacy practices, has called on a congressional investigation into the Internet giant’s “cozy” relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration. In a letter sent Monday, Consumer Watchdog asked Representative Darrell Issa, the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government […]
$20 Billion in Counterfeit U.S. Government Bonds Confiscated in Italy
January 26th, 2011There’s some confusion with the currency specified. The headline indicates 20 billion euros and the body states 20 billion dollars. I’m not able to find much more one this so far. Via: AP: Italy confiscates euro20 billion in fake US bonds Carabinieri on travel break nab 6 carrying counterfeit US bonds worth euro20 billion On […]
2011 DEFICIT TO HIT $1.5 TRILLION
January 26th, 2011Via: AP: A new estimate predicts the federal budget deficit will hit almost $1.5 trillion this year, a stunning new record. The latest figures from the Congressional Budget Office are up from previous estimates because Congress and President Barack Obama teamed up in December on bipartisan legislation to extend Bush-era tax cuts that were due […]
New-Home Sales in 2010: Lowest in 47 Years
January 26th, 2011Via: AP: Buyers purchased the fewest number of new homes last year on records going back 47 years. The Commerce Department says sales for all of 2010 totaled 321,000, a drop of 14.4 percent from the 375,000 homes sold in 2009. It was the fifth consecutive year that sales have declined after hitting record highs […]
Postal Service Could Close Thousands of Post Offices
January 26th, 2011Via: Wall Street Journal: Now, with the red ink showing no sign of stopping, the postal service is hoping to ramp up a cost-cutting program that is already eliciting yelps of pain around the country. Beginning in March, the agency will start the process of closing as many as 2,000 post offices, on top of […]
Bank of England: Standard of Living to Plunge at Fastest Rate Since 1920s
January 26th, 2011Via: Telegraph: Households face the most dramatic squeeze in living standards since the 1920s, the Governor of the Bank of England warned, as he reacted to the shock disclosure that the economy was shrinking again. Families will see their disposable income eaten up as they “pay the inevitable price” for the financial crisis, Mervyn King […]
Building a Super Robust Robot Hand
January 26th, 2011Click through for photos. Via: IEEE Spectrum: German researchers have built an anthropomorphic robot hand that can endure collisions with hard objects and even strikes from a hammer without breaking into pieces. In designing the new hand system, researchers at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, part of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), focused on […]
At Least 11 Cops Shot in 24 Hours
January 25th, 2011There aren’t many national headlines about the nonstop crimes committed by the police around the U.S. But, for our purposes, the number of cops that wind up dead on an annual basis (as a result of shootings and other assaults) is a fairly simple collapse metric to track, and I have been doing that. So […]
Egypt Simmering as Protests Spread; Regime Blocks Access to Twitter
January 25th, 2011Via: Christian Science Monitor: Egypt’s protests today appear to be the largest public call for democratic reform and an end to the Mubarak regime for years. The scope of Egypt’s protests today, calling for greater freedom and downfall of strongman President Hosni Mubarak, is unprecedented. Though tens of thousands took to the streets of Cairo […]
‘Wall Street Partying in Davos as Bankers Overcome Crisis’ [SIC]
January 25th, 2011In other news: ‘The unemployment rate rose in 20 states last month as employers in most states shed jobs.’ Via: Bloomberg: As Wall Street chief executive officers flock to the World Economic Forum, they’ll be breathing a sigh of relief along with the Swiss mountain air: There are no panels on compensation or redesigning financial […]
