Author’s Note: This is the sixth in a series of articles about Nebraska’s Medicaid program, the Unicameral’s apparent intent to expand it, and the many reasons why expansion is an uncommonly bad idea. Although they don’t have to be read in order, here are links to the previously-published articles in the series: NE Medicaid Expansion:… more
“A video obtained by the Guardian reveals how an ‘extreme-scale analytics’ system created by Raytheon, the world’s fifth largest defence contractor, can gather vast amounts of information about people from websites including Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. The Massachusetts-based company has acknowledged the technology was shared with US government and industry as part of a joint research and development effort, in 2010, to help build a national security system capable of analysing ‘trillions of entities’ from cyberspace.” Continue reading →
“Hundreds of thousands of people marched on Sunday in Tehran and other cities chanting ‘Death to America’ as Iran marked the 34th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed shah. Tehran is currently under a series of international sanctions aimed at curbing its controversial nuclear programme of uranium enrichment. The sanctions have led to a severe economic crisis, choking Iran’s banking system and limiting its oil exports, the country’s main foreign revenue earner. According to a recent survey by the US polling firm Gallup, Iran’s nuclear programme is supported by a large majority of its population.” Continue reading →
“An Iranian oil rig that cost $40 million and weighs more than 4 million pounds sank in the Persian Gulf last week, news.com.au reports. Workers rushed to get off the rig—which belongs to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and took 30 months to build—as it disappeared into Iran’s South Pars gas field in about 10 seconds. Last month Iran’s oil minister acknowledged in a report that oil sales were down 40 percent and income dropped 45 percent in the previous nine months, largely because of U.S. sanctions aimed at curbing the country’s disputed nuclear program. Nevertheless, China has been purchasing more in recent months.” Continue reading →
“When Vladimir Putin says the U.S. is endangering the global economy by abusing its dollar monopoly, he’s not just talking. He’s betting on it. Not only has Putin made Russia the world’s largest oil producer, he’s also made it the biggest gold buyer. His central bank has added 570 metric tons of the metal in the past decade, a quarter more than runner-up China, according to IMF data compiled by Bloomberg. The added gold is also almost triple the weight of the Statue of Liberty.” Continue reading →
“An estimated quarter of the gold flowing into India is coming through irregular channels given the ‘anti-gold’ stance adopted by the government of one of the world’s leading gold markets‚ Philip Klapwijk‚ global head of metal analytics at GFMS Thompson Reuters. ‘You have a government that is clearly anti-gold in India and it is using the duty system to try hold back demand‚’ he said. In January the government raised the duty on gold imports to 6% from 4%. ‘What this is doing is stimulating the smuggling of gold into the country. It may be that at least a quarter of the gold coming into India is coming through unofficial channels‚’ he said.” Continue reading →
“China’s central bank on Tuesday injected CNY 450 billion into the money markets through open market operations, reports said. This was the largest ever single-day injection. The People’s Bank of China conducts repurchase agreements and offers bills to maintain short-term liquidity. The bank has introduced more funds as liquidity tightened ahead of the Chinese Spring Festival holiday.” Continue reading →
“Iranians continued to purchase gold from every available centers on fears about it’s economy, particularly the risk of soaring inflation and a wobbly currency. Worries about the declining buying power of the rial and doubts over the currency’s stability are the main drivers behind the flight to gold. Due to sanctions, Iranians have no choice but to invest in gold coins as they can’t move their capital and invest in other countries. Treasured as a store of value, Iran’s gold coins, minted over centuries, are also culturally important. Produced by the Central Bank of Iran, a standard gold coin weighs 8.133 grams. It is also sold in smaller denominations.” Continue reading →