crony capitalism

Obama’s Auto Industry Bailouts in 2009: Taxpayers Lose, Big Time

"Despite surges in revenue and a catalog of new vehicles produced by the U.S. auto industry, taxpayers are still suffering from the 2009 bailouts, as General Motors (GM) would have to peddle their stock for $95.51 per share for taxpayers to break even, according to a government watchdog report published Wednesday. Even with a 25-percent spike in the price this year, that’s still well over twice what shares are selling for today, with the price currently lingering around $37 per share — meaning there’s little faith that taxpayers will break even on the nearly $50-billion GM bailout." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s Auto Industry Bailouts in 2009: Taxpayers Lose, Big Time

Abuse at Ecuadorian ‘gay conversion’ drug rehabs shocks authorities

"The country of 15.8 million people has at least 80 unlicensed drug and alcohol rehab clinics, many that are also used for anti-gay conversion therapy, Health Minister Carina Vance, who is openly gay, said. Two people died last year at the clandestine centers, she told foreign reporters. Authorities say the inhumane practice is a wide-ranging problem that has ensnared even government officials — such as the health ministry official who was recently the subject of a criminal complaint after it emerged she owned a clandestine clinic offering therapy against homosexuality. Ecuadoran law authorizes forced treatment for addicts with approval from a judge." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAbuse at Ecuadorian ‘gay conversion’ drug rehabs shocks authorities

European Court Backs Journalist Harassed Over Speed Camera Criticism

"Ilze Nagla's prime-time Sunday television news program infuriated the Ministry of the Interior with coverage of the bungled photo enforcement procurement that became a national scandal. The government wanted details of the contract to operate 160 speed cameras to be kept secret. The deal was handed to the German firm Vitronic, which would take a 35 percent cut of the tickets. At 9:30pm on May 11, 2010, Nagla's home was ransacked by a plain-clothes police officer who pushed his way through her door. Two other officers joined in the search of her residence, taking her laptop, hard drives, memory cards and flash drives." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEuropean Court Backs Journalist Harassed Over Speed Camera Criticism

A History of Cronyism and Capture in the Information Technology Sector

"Not only does it deny consumers more and better products and services, but they also may pay higher prices or higher taxes extracted by the corporate-government agreement. Moreover, economic growth slows as entrepreneurs pursue unproductive influence and capture activities rather than productive entrepreneurship. Cronyism also raises the specter of greater government control of the Internet and of the digital economy more generally. When policymakers dispense favors, they usually expect something in return. They may also become accustomed to having greater informal powers over the sector receiving favors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA History of Cronyism and Capture in the Information Technology Sector

Dr. Joseph Bonneau Wins NSA Award, Calls For NSA To Be Abolished

"Engineers and researchers like Bonneau have a unique and important role to play in fighting back against NSA oversteps. As Michael Hirsh noted in the Atlantic last month, tech companies have contributed enormously to wiring up Big Brother -- companies like Palantir Technologies, Eagle Alliance (of Computer Sciences Corp. and Northrup Grumman) and Booz Allen Hamilton. The only way the government gets to spy on everyone is when people who are intelligent and innovative enough to build scalable surveillance technologies decide to help them. Hopefully Bonneau’s example will inspire more cryptographers and security engineers to speak out." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDr. Joseph Bonneau Wins NSA Award, Calls For NSA To Be Abolished

Oklahoma prosecutors return $21,227 more to Interstate 40 travelers

"District Attorney Jason Hicks agreed Thursday to return the funds in the three cases, dropping efforts to have the money forfeited to law enforcement use. Hicks is under fire for hiring a private company, Desert Snow LLC, to assist in his drug interdiction effort. After hiring the Guthrie company in January, his task force seized more than $1 million in the stops, mostly along a 21-mile stretch of I-40 in Caddo County. Hicks agreed to pay the company 25 percent of all forfeited proceeds from stops involving its trainers. Hicks said he does not plan to return nearly $850,000 seized in one stop in May. No one was arrested in that stop." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOklahoma prosecutors return $21,227 more to Interstate 40 travelers

U.S. Postal Service hopes to be the ‘cutting edge of functional fashion’

"Watch out Versace and Chanel. Next year the US Postal Service plans to start selling its own clothing range, based on its uniforms. There was a time when your local post office would mainly sell stamps and deliver letters. No longer. According to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), global letter- and light parcel delivery volumes dropped by 3.7 percent in 2011 from a year earlier, and by 5.1 percent when just counting Europe and the former Soviet Union. USPS tripled its losses in 2012, losing $15.9 billion as the state-owned enterprise faces tough competition and what it calls onerous and unfair retirement funding requirements." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Postal Service hopes to be the ‘cutting edge of functional fashion’

Big Marijuana lobby fights legalization efforts

"Medical marijuana is a billion-dollar industry — legal in 18 states, including California, Nevada, Oregon and Maine — and like any entrenched business, it’s fighting to keep what it has and shut competitors out. Dispensary owners, trade associations and groups representing the industry are deeply concerned — and in some cases actively fighting — ballot initiatives and legislation that could wreck their business model. That pits them against full legalization advocates, who have been hoping to play off wins at the ballot box last fall in Colorado and Washington state that installed among the most permissive pot laws in the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBig Marijuana lobby fights legalization efforts

Walmart tells India it can’t buy enough local products for new supermarket

"Walmart has told India that it is unable to meet local sourcing requirements for foreign supermarket groups wanting to open stores in the country, a report said Wednesday. Under rules introduced when the government opened up the sector in 2012, foreign supermarkets are required to buy 30 percent of their products from local small-scale industries. India’s left-leaning government has opened up or proposed opening the banking and insurance, airline, energy and media sectors to foreign investors but has imposed conditions in each case." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWalmart tells India it can’t buy enough local products for new supermarket

Chris Martenson: Bankers Own the World – And are ultimately destroying it

"It wasn't that many decades ago that a list of the top companies with the most wealth and influence would have been dominated by companies that produced real, tangible products – that is, those that created wealth by adding value to goods by transforming resources into products. Companies like GE, GM, IBM, Exxon, and other industrial giants would have been the wealthiest, because, well, they create actual wealth. Today the top fifty companies in the 'super-entity' list of 147 from the above study is concerning. Out of the fifty, 17 are banks, 31 are an assortment of investment, insurance, and financial services companies, and only 2 are non-financial companies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChris Martenson: Bankers Own the World – And are ultimately destroying it