Clueless

Peru’s protesters shake up politics with challenge to President Humala

"The biggest political protests in Peru’s capital in more than a decade have pressured President Ollanta Humala to clean up government and share the benefits of the country’s decade-long economic boom. Many of the protesters were left-leaning and middle-class youth who voted for Humala two years ago, but now they say he and other political leaders are dangerously out of touch. The street protests peaked with a rally of around 8,000 at the end of July. They were small compared to other protest movements in Latin America, but the biggest in Lima since 2000, when demonstrators took to the streets against President Alberto Fujimori." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeru’s protesters shake up politics with challenge to President Humala

Texas Police Hit Organic Farm With Massive SWAT Raid

"Members of the local police raiding party had a search warrant for marijuana plants, which they failed to find at the Garden of Eden farm. The real reason for the law enforcement exercise appears to have been code enforcement. The police seized '17 blackberry bushes, 15 okra plants, 14 tomatillo plants ... native grasses and sunflowers,' after holding residents inside at gunpoint for at least a half-hour, property owner Shellie Smith said in a statement. The raid lasted about 10 hours, she said. She said the police didn't produce a warrant until two hours after the raid began, and officers shielded their name tags so they couldn't be identified." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas Police Hit Organic Farm With Massive SWAT Raid

US misprinted 30 million new $100 bills, costing millions to fix

"The US is approaching the release date of its new $100 bills, but the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is facing an embarrassing problem: 30 million bills were incorrectly printed, and fixing them will cost taxpayers an estimated $3.79 million. The new $100 bills are designed to contain a Liberty Bell that changes its color, 3-D images that move when the bill is tilted, and a hidden message on the collar of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers. Once these bills were delivered to the Federal Reserve, they were rejected. Officials have sent back about 30 million of them, and refuse to accept any more bills from the Washington, D.C. factory." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS misprinted 30 million new $100 bills, costing millions to fix

Texas cops raid farm commune when mistaking tomato plants for marijuana

"Police in Arlington, Texas are being criticized for their tactics during a drug raid on a local farm that came up empty while allegedly damaging both the property and the crops. Several residents at the 'Garden of Eden' sustainability garden were handcuffed at gunpoint by officers during the Aug. 2 raid, which also involved a SWAT team, after an undercover officer and helicopter surveillance allegedly gave authorities probable cause to believe there was marijuana being grown on the premises. 'They came here under the guise that we were doing a drug trafficking, marijuana-growing operation,' owner Shellie Smith told WFAA-TV. 'They destroyed everything.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas cops raid farm commune when mistaking tomato plants for marijuana

The NSA Is Hiring! And Following A Pittsburgh Car Dealership On Its Twitter Account?

"The NSA's hiring arm has a Twitter account, NSACareers. This account tweets new job listings and pro-NSA news into the void, gathering more derision than potential hires in its pursuit of people skilled in the art of data wrangling but completely devoid of a conscience or soul. Could this be you? Are you the sort of 'informaticist' who can swiftly extract needles from haystacks to help prevent the next terrorist attack? Failing that, can you swiftly extract victory from the jaws of defeat and say, 'Tough luck on the recent bombing, but we'll get the next one, I promise?' If so, your country needs your informaticizing skills NOW." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe NSA Is Hiring! And Following A Pittsburgh Car Dealership On Its Twitter Account?

Detroit city officials misplace $1 million check for a month

"Officials in the financially beleaguered city of Detroit misplaced a $1 million check made out to the city’s school system for a month. According to Bloomberg News, the fact that the check languished in a drawer, forgotten, for weeks from late February to March is another sign of the city government’s staggering inefficiency and bureaucratic incompetence. A spokesperson for Emergency Manager and Washington, D.C. bankruptcy lawyer Kevyn Orr blamed the oversight on the fact that the city’s technology is not up to date. 'Nobody sends million-dollar checks anymore — they wire the money,' Bill Nowling told Bloomberg." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit city officials misplace $1 million check for a month

Yemen: American Foreign Policy in Action

"Yemeni security forces have been put on high alert amid warnings of an imminent attack by al-Qaeda in Sana’a, as the US and Britain withdrew embassy staff and urged their citizens to leave the country. BBC Arabic quoted a Yemeni security source as saying 'extraordinary and unprecedented' security measures had been taken, with armoured vehicles deployed at the presidential palace and other sensitive government and foreign installations in Yemen’s capital. Dozens of al-Qaeda operatives were said to have streamed into Sana’a in the last few days, apparently to take part in a terrorist attack, the BBC said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYemen: American Foreign Policy in Action

Top Federal Reserve economist slams ‘incoherent’ European Central Bank

"A paper by the Richmond Fed said the ECB is hamstrung by institutional problems and acts on the mistaken premise that excess debt is the cause of the eurozone crisis when the real cause is the collapse of growth. 'The ECB lacks a coherent strategy for creating the monetary base required to sustain the money creation necessary for a growing economy,' said the paper, written in July by Robert Hetzel, the bank’s senior economist. It called for direct action to buy 'bundles' of small business loans, as well as 'packages of government debt' across EMU states, including German Bunds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTop Federal Reserve economist slams ‘incoherent’ European Central Bank

India Pledges Rupee Action as Currency Nears Fresh Low

"On Tuesday, traders were rattled after Subbarao said the central bank would return to a pro-growth monetary stance only once the currency stabilised. Separately, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the government was looking into liberalising foreign direct investment rules, attracting funds from non-resident Indians and clamping down on the import of non-essential items such as electronics. 'There's no rocket science in manufacturing basic electronic hardware ... So we can manufacture electronic hardware goods here,' he told a news conference in New Delhi." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia Pledges Rupee Action as Currency Nears Fresh Low

Would A Higher Minimum Wage Help McDonald’s Workers?

"It’s tempting to think that the higher wages for workers is worth it, but it isn’t. The minimum wage shifts the margins on which people compete with one another from wages to wasteful competitive endeavors like waiting or investing in too many quality signals. Competition in a price-controlled market can erode the entire value of the difference between the minimum workers are willing to accept and the minimum they are allowed to accept. The cruel irony is that a policy designed to pick the pockets of employers for the benefit of workers ultimately leaves everyone worse off." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWould A Higher Minimum Wage Help McDonald’s Workers?