crony capitalism

‘Prison Architect’ online game challenges players to build and maintain maximum security prisons

"Think of computer game management simulations, and you usually think of aspirational jobs – or at least the things we dreamed of doing as kids. Theme parks, railroads, game development studios, farms – all have featured in this popular genre since it flourished in the ’90s. But right now, there is something very different out there, something intriguing enough to attract over 10,000 players into its paid online alpha test. Developed by UK studio Introversion, the game challenges players to build their own functioning jails, from a variety of components. Cells, canteen, exercise areas and even morgues all have to be constructed." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Prison Architect’ online game challenges players to build and maintain maximum security prisons

Security experts say new electronic voting machines can be hacked

"The 2010 discovery of the Stuxnet cyberweapon, which used a thumb drive to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and spread among its computers, illustrated how one type of attack could work. Most at risk are paperless e-voting machines, which don’t print out any record of votes, meaning the electronically stored results could be altered without anyone knowing they had been changed. In a tight election, the result could be the difference between winning and losing. A Monitor analysis shows that four swing states – Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, and Florida – rely to varying degrees on paperless machines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecurity experts say new electronic voting machines can be hacked

Louisiana: Traffic Camera Company Sues Client Over Cash

"Redflex is irate that its photo ticketing contract was swept up in a parish government corruption scandal two years ago. A new set of government leaders intent on cleaning up the parish decided on January 27, 2010 to suspend the red light camera program. Officials were most concerned about documents that showed Redflex paid a 3.2 percent cut of the firm's profit on each ticket to lobbyist Bryan Wagner, a former New Orleans city councilman, who in turn shared the funds with the wife of District Judge Robert Murphy. Wagner was set to earn an estimated $90,000 a year from this deal." Continue reading →

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Police group receives donation from Taser stun-gun maker

"The nation's largest association of police chiefs, which has advised thousands of its members on the appropriate use of stun guns, accepted a $300,000 donation from the foundation associated with Taser International, the biggest supplier of stun guns to law enforcement. The contribution to the International Association of Chiefs of Police Foundation (IACP), the organization's philanthropic arm, represents the latest in a series of controversial relationships Taser has established with police, the primary source of the Arizona-based company's lucrative business." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice group receives donation from Taser stun-gun maker

Food Trucks Are Increasingly Serious Terrorism Threat, Says NYC’s Fire Department

"In an internal-use-only document, NYC's Fire Department outlines its concerns about the increasing number of food trucks around New York. Not only are they serious fire hazards, but also a genuine terrorist threat. They say that it will be easy for evildoers to pack large quantities of explosive material into a food truck and conceal it. There's also a growing black market for permits, which opens the door for potential terrorist groups to obtain a truck with ease. The document says that, according to the Department of Homeland Security, 'a food cart can be used as an excellent surveillance platform due to their access and long duration stays.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFood Trucks Are Increasingly Serious Terrorism Threat, Says NYC’s Fire Department

Pennsylvania may force workers to pay taxes to their employers

"A bill that landed on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s (R) desk this week would give companies that hire more than 250 new workers a gobsmacking tax incentive: 95 percent of those workers’ state income taxes would be paid to the employer, and not the state. It’s a bizarre strategy meant to attract companies from other states, specifically designed to lure California-based software maker Oracle into Pennsylvania. It’s also, as Philadelphia City Paper put it, 'lavish corporate welfare' writ large across state government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPennsylvania may force workers to pay taxes to their employers

NYC Mayor Seeks to Ban Short-Stay Residential Room Hotels

"The charge that there are hazardous conditions in these rooms that put guests in danger is absurd. The rooms are all in residential high-rises, which house thousand of permanent residents. What's really going on here is that the two firms are competing with establishment hotels and providing cheaper rates. Bloomberg is creating a moat around the crony establishment NYC hotel industry that will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for operators like Smart Apartments to provide cut-rate hotel prices in a city with extremely high hotel rates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYC Mayor Seeks to Ban Short-Stay Residential Room Hotels

Romney’s Big Navy Guru Made Millions From Building Ships

"For one of Romney’s most important advisers on Navy issues, a man who oversaw a massive naval expansion for Pres. Ronald Reagan, there’s more at stake than U.S. national security. John Lehman, an investment banker and former secretary of the Navy, has strong and complex personal financial ties to the naval shipbuilding industry. That doesn’t mean that a bigger or better Navy is necessarily a bad idea. But it does complicate Romney’s claim that a larger Navy would merely be 'matched to the interests we need to protect.' A bigger maritime force has the possibility of personally enriching one of the candidate’s top advisers. In fact, it already has." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRomney’s Big Navy Guru Made Millions From Building Ships

TSA removes X-ray body scanners from major airports

"The Transportation Security Administration has been quietly removing its X-ray body scanners from major airports over the last few weeks and replacing them with machines that radiation experts believe are safer. The TSA says it made the decision not because of safety concerns but to speed up checkpoints at busier airports. The United States remains one of the only countries in the world to X-ray passengers for airport screening. The European Union prohibited the backscatters last year 'in order not to risk jeopardizing citizens’ health and safety.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTSA removes X-ray body scanners from major airports