"In a televised address early on Wednesday morning, military spokesperson, Major General SB Moyo, said the army was seeking to 'pacify a degenerating, social, and economic situation' in the country. The army spokesperson said that once the military's objectives have been achieved, the situation in the country would return to normal, before urging Zimbabweans to continue with their lives as usual."
"The Nation‘s Patrick Lawrence wrote a lengthy review of the findings made by various computer experts formerly with the NSA. Published this week, the left-wing magazine’s report notes two bases for their conclusion: (1) hard science shows that a remote hack of the DNC servers resulting in the breach that actually occurred would have been technologically impossible; (2) forensic review of the initial Guccifer 2.0 documents proves that they are poorly-disguised cut-and-paste jobs–forgeries–intended to finger Russia." Continue reading →
"The exercise of power is often a ludicrously simple thing. And Federal Reserve deliberations often partake of such simplicity. The tapering debate is yet one more example. It is symptomatic of a dialectic that everyone can understand and participate in. We are meant to examine two choices, and two choices only: Either the Fed tightens or it doesn't. Either of these choices acknowledges the primacy of the Fed and its central importance. The Fed is NOT intrinsically important. Absent the force of the state, there is no way that a tiny group of mis-educated people would be able to gather in a well-appointed room to fix the value and volume of money for hundreds of millions." Continue reading →
"Sudan's economy has been in turmoil since South Sudan's secession in 2011 took away of three-quarters of oil production. Oil was the driver of the economy and source for dollars needed for food and other essential imports. The central bank has been trying to bridge a ballooning gap with the black market rate where one dollar costs 7.8 pounds as import firms struggle to get their hand on hard currency. The black market rate has become the benchmark for banks and firms. The secretive central bank tends not to announce devaluations, which are embarrassing for the government, which denies there is a shortage of hard currency." Continue reading →
"How many times have you heard that 'women are paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men'? Barack Obama said it during his last campaign. Women’s groups say it every April 9, which is Equal Pay Day. In preparation for Labor Day, a group protesting outside Macy’s this week repeated it, too, holding up signs and sending out press releases saying 'women make $.77 to every dollar men make on the job.' I’ve heard the line enough times that I feel the need to set the record straight: It’s not true. The point here is not that there is no wage inequality. But by focusing our outrage into a tidy, misleading statistic we’ve missed the actual challenges." Continue reading →
"An Arizona appeals court has ruled that marijuana users don't need to be actually impaired to be successfully prosecuted for driving under the influence. The ruling came Tuesday in the case of a man who tested positive for an inactive marijuana metabolite that remains in the body for weeks after the high from smoking marijuana has worn off. The ruling in Arizona v. Shilgevorkyan overturned a decision by a superior court judge who said that it didn't make sense to prosecute people for driving under the influence if they're not actually under the influence." Continue reading →