Bankocracy

Candy maker Hershey pays $4 million for price-fixing

"US candy maker Hershey on Friday pleaded guilty to participating in a chocolate price-fixing scheme and paid a CAN$4 million (US$4.2 million) fine. The company entered the plea at the Ontario Superior Court and, according to the Competition Bureau of Canada, received lenient treatment in exchange for its cooperation in an antitrust investigation. Earlier this month, Canadian authorities also charged Nestle, Mars and a network of independent wholesale distributors in the case after a whistle-blower tipped authorities to the scheme. The alleged price-fixing involved popular brands such as Kit Kat, Coffee Crisp, Aero, Twix, Snickers, Bounty and M&Ms." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCandy maker Hershey pays $4 million for price-fixing

Belarus and Russia in a ‘chocolate war’ against Ukraine

"Belarus will not allow confectionery manufactured by Roshen to cross its territory. That’s after the Russian sanitary services banned the confectioners products after the toxic hydrocarbon benzopyrene was found in Roshen milk chocolate. Roshen could stand to lose $200mn from the ‘chocolate war’ with Russia according to Oleksandr Sokolov, director of analytics at Pro-Consulting talking to Ukrinform. Kazakhstan, the third party to the Customs Union with Russia and Belarus, has so far not found any signs of benzopyrene in Roshen products. On Saturday Tajikistan said it had found no impurity in Roshen confectionary products imported into the country." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBelarus and Russia in a ‘chocolate war’ against Ukraine

Oil and gas drillers use complex schemes to stiff retired landowners for royalties

"From Pennsylvania to North Dakota, a powerful argument for allowing extensive new drilling has been that royalty payments would enrich local landowners, lifting the economies of heartland and rural America. The boom was also supposed to fill the government’s coffers, since roughly 30 percent of the nation’s drilling takes place on federal land. Over the last decade, an untold number of leases were signed, and hundreds of thousands of wells have been sunk into new energy deposits across the country. But manipulation of costs and other data by oil companies is keeping billions of dollars in royalties out of the hands of private and government landholders." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOil and gas drillers use complex schemes to stiff retired landowners for royalties

Detroit Bus Co. moving in the right direction

"In early 2012, when Detroit's dysfunctional bus system was all over the news, Andy Didorosi founded the Detroit Bus Co. with three buses and the hope he could do something to help our carless citizens who wait in frustration for buses that can be hours late and sometimes don't come at all. He got lots of press and even a citation from Detroit City Council for stepping in to help. Now a year and a half into the bus biz, Didorosi has found a way to give Detroiters a service they really need. The Detroit Bus Co. is building a program to pick up kids at 'safe spots' and drive them to summer and after-school programs and bring them safely home. The buses run on biodiesel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit Bus Co. moving in the right direction

New York City bike share tech woes enrage normally even-keeled New York bikers

"More than 38,000 New Yorkers have paid $103 for a year-long subscription, but many are still awaiting their blue key — needed to access the bikes. Officials have said 'batches of keys' are going out daily to fix the problem. But those with weekly and day passes are also dealing with spotty problems. Sometimes, docking stations in popular neighborhoods are full and users cannot park their bikes. Other times, the locking mechanisms do not work. And near busy Midtown offices, it is sometimes impossible to find a bike at night. And at some stations, payment via debit or credit card — the only way to purchase a short-term pass — does not function." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York City bike share tech woes enrage normally even-keeled New York bikers

Copenhagen Bike-Sharing Program To Be Most High-Tech Yet

"For the next generation of bike-sharing innovations, take a look at Copenhagen and smile. Trains and a bike-sharing program working as one travel option now offer a GPS built into the bike. Not only do you know where to pick up your next connection – you have a schedule of all local train times between your front bars. The Europeans and Copenhageners (again) increase a bike lover’s convenience in transit with this new innovation. With an Android tablet offering a built-in GPS, real-time train departures and ticket integration, and real-time info on available bikes and docks in the area, one glides easily from destination to destination." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCopenhagen Bike-Sharing Program To Be Most High-Tech Yet

Housing Vouchers: Equal Opportunity Crime-Sharing

"There is an alliance. Libertarians do not like tax-funded education, so they oppose vouchers. The teachers' union does not like inter-school academic competition, so they oppose vouchers. Suburban parents do not like forced integration, so they oppose vouchers. All in all, vouchers have been a gigantic failure. After 50 years of failure, HUD has decided to use another form of vouchers: vouchers that are not subject to local voting. HUD has broadened the scope of vouchers. Entire families will be granted tickets out. HUD will offer subsidies of all kinds to persuade cities to let the inner cities of America spread into the suburbs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHousing Vouchers: Equal Opportunity Crime-Sharing

Obama Seeks to Reshape Neighborhoods With Housing “Diversity”

"The Obama administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is under fire after announcing a proposed executive decree to make American neighborhoods more 'diverse.' Under the new HUD policy, dubbed 'Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing,' the federal government will gather and track data on 'segregation' and 'discrimination' across America before deploying a wide range of social-engineering schemes to ensure more 'diversity' in U.S. neighborhoods. Among the many federal targets in enforcing centrally planned diversity: local zoning regulations, public transportation, land-use policies, government housing agencies, and more." Continue reading →

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Taxes Even Impact When We’re Born and When We Die

"Let's look at some truly remarkable examples of how taxes influence things that – at first glance – seem completely impervious to fiscal policy. Would anyone think, for instance, that taxes could impact the day people are born? This study isn’t an outlier. Other research has reached similar conclusions. Indeed, in some case the impact of taxation is found to be much larger. Let’s close by recycling some research that shows how taxes even influence when people die. When Australia repealed the death tax back in the 1970s, researchers found that people lived longer in order to protect family assets." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaxes Even Impact When We’re Born and When We Die