Archive for January, 2012
The Roots of Bain Capital in El Salvador’s Civil War
January 22nd, 2012Via: Salon: A significant portion of the seed money that created Mitt Romney’s private equity firm, Bain Capital, was provided by wealthy oligarchs from El Salvador, including members of a family with a relative who allegedly financed rightist groups that used death squads during the country’s bloody civil war in the 1980s Bain, the source […]
Sorry iBooks, Paper Books Still Win on Specs
January 22nd, 2012Apple’s vision for ebooks is to make them like webpages, complete with embedded music, videos, lectures, 3D models, etc; the more distracting, the better. One of the most irritating experiences that I can think of is being interrupted as I’m trying to concentrate. When I sit down to read a book, I don’t want my […]
Former Liberian Dictator Charles Taylor Worked for CIA
January 22nd, 2012Via: Boston Herald: When Charles G. Taylor tied bed sheets together to escape from a second-floor window at the Plymouth House of Correction on Sept. 15, 1985, he was more than a fugitive trying to avoid extradition. He was a sought-after source for American intelligence. After a quarter-century of silence, the US government has confirmed […]
Kill Hollywood
January 21st, 2012Via: Y Combinator: Hollywood appears to have peaked. If it were an ordinary industry (film cameras, say, or typewriters), it could look forward to a couple decades of peaceful decline. But this is not an ordinary industry. The people who run it are so mean and so politically connected that they could do a lot […]
Military Vehicles on Train Near Santa Cruz
January 21st, 2012Definitely the most tanks you’ll see on a train today. Via: YouTube:
VoIP POTS Adapters
January 20th, 2012I’ve finally had it with Telecom’s criminal line rental fees. I’ve been testing a VoIP provider’s (2talk) softphone over my mobile broadband connections and it works fine. Using VoIP for our telephone service will save us at least NZ$50 per month. Ok, so I need a POTS adapter. The Linksys SPA2102 is widely available in […]
Feds Claim Ex-NSA Analyst Had Top-Secret-Plus Info on Home Computers
January 20th, 2012Via: Politico: Computers seized from a retired National Security Agency analyst’s home in 2007 contained information that is classified at a level beyond “top secret,” officials said in court filings Tuesday. A prosecutor and a senior NSA official made the claim to a federal court in Baltimore in response to a motion ex-NSA analyst Kirk […]
Federal Prosecutor to Take 5th Amendment in Fast and Furious Probe
January 20th, 2012Via: Politico: A senior federal prosecutor in Arizona intends to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights rather than testify before a House committee next week looking into the Justice Department’s handling of the Fast and Furious gunrunning investigation, the prosecutor’s attorney told Congress in a letter on Thursday. On Wednesday, House Government Reform and Oversight Committee […]
What Happens When Unlimited Runs Out?
January 20th, 2012Via: Bloomberg: European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s unlimited three-year loans to euro-region banks may give Italy and Spain only temporary respite from the region’s debt crisis. Two-year Italian and Spanish notes rallied since the ECB said Dec. 8 that it planned to offer as much liquidity as banks wanted in exchange for eligible collateral. […]
Side by Side
January 20th, 2012Via: Side by Side: Side by Side Official Trailer (2012) from Company Films on Vimeo. Related: Eastman Kodak Files for Bankruptcy Protection
