Mainstream News

Snapchat market value hits $800 million

"The startup behind a Snapchat application for sharing self-destructing smartphone photos and messages got a dizzying valuation on Monday in a new funding round. Reports that the company launched in late 2011 had raised $60 million from investors hit the Internet along with word that people are sharing more than 200 million ‘snaps’ daily. The startup said that it has been operating on a tight budget and will use the infusion of cash from investors to beef up its engineering team and server capacity. Snapchat has stirred controversy for its potential to be used to share risque pictures that are automatically deleted, like any ‘snaps,’ within ten seconds of receipt." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnapchat market value hits $800 million

How can you buy illegal drugs online?

"Imagine if there were an Amazon.com for drugs. That, roughly, is what the Silk Road, a mail-order drugs service hidden in the dark parts of the internet, tries to be. Many drug users cannot wait two or three days for delivery of their next hit. But it is all a lot easier than waiting for the man. The police may not agree. Still, there is probably less chance of a drug deal on the Silk Road turning into a murder scene, and customer reviews may be a better guide to quality—and so the risk of overdose and death—than a street-corner salesman’s patter. Buying a line online has never been easier." Continue reading →

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Taxpayer Dollars Are Helping Monsanto Sell Seeds Abroad

"The US State Department has been essentially acting as a de facto global-marketing arm of the ag-biotech industry, complete with figures as high-ranking as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mouthing industry talking points as if they were gospel. The FWW report is based on an analysis of diplomatic cables, written between 2005 and 2009 and released in the big Wikileaks document dump of 2010. FWW sums it up: 'a concerted strategy to promote agricultural biotechnology overseas, compel countries to import biotech crops and foods that they do not want, and lobby foreign governments—especially in the developing world—to adopt policies to pave the way to cultivate biotech crops.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaxpayer Dollars Are Helping Monsanto Sell Seeds Abroad

E-ppointments

"Right after 8.30am is a busy time for the ill in Britain. People must call up in the morning to book an appointment later in the afternoon. Come opening time, the phone lines are jammed with hacking, spluttering sick people trying to beg an audience with their doctor. Being able to book appointments online and outside of office hours not only makes life easier for patients, but gives them more choice. Zesty, a start-up based in London, has signed up 200 dental practices across ten London boroughs since launching at the end of April. Investors including Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, have put $95m into ZocDoc, an American health tech company, since its launch in 2007." Continue reading →

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Ex-Obama administration healthcare official joins lobby firm

"Yvette Fontenot will join Avenue Solutions as a partner. The firm is a boutique Democratic lobby shop with a specialty in healthcare, representing some of the country’s biggest insurers and healthcare providers. Fontenot recently left the Department of Health and Human Services, where she was deputy director of the Office of Health Reform. She also worked as senior policy director in the White House Office of Health Reform, where she helped to implement the Affordable Care Act. Fontenot has also held several positions on Capitol Hill, including as a professional staff member for the Senate Finance Committee where she helped develop the healthcare reform law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEx-Obama administration healthcare official joins lobby firm

Disturbing report finds U.S. hospitals profit more when surgery goes wrong

"US hospitals face a disincentive to improve care because they make drastically more money when surgery goes wrong than when a patient is discharged with no complications, a study published Tuesday found. An estimated $400 billion is spent on surgery in the United States every year. Privately insured patients with complications provide hospitals with a 330 percent higher profit margin than those whose surgeries went smoothly. Patients whose bills are paid by Medicare — a government insurance plan for the elderly and disabled — produced a 190 percent higher profit margin when complications arose following surgery." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDisturbing report finds U.S. hospitals profit more when surgery goes wrong

Stockbroker saves his life by smoking 130,000 government-issued joints

"A stockbroker with a crippling bone disease who has smoked more than 130,000 joints in his lifetime credits the relaxing drug for his long life. Irvin Rosenfeld, 60, says he would not be alive if he hadn't been issued with 12 daily government-supplied marijuana cigarettes for more than 30 years, for the treatment of the rare bone disorder, multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis. Mr Rosenfeld, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is the longest surviving patient to be assigned to the federal medical cannabis program, which began during the HIV epidemic in the 1970s, and is sharing his experience with lawmakers in a push to get it legalised." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStockbroker saves his life by smoking 130,000 government-issued joints

Black people in London twice as likely to be charged with drug possession

"Black people are not just significantly more likely to be searched by police for drugs than their white peers, but face almost double the chance of being charged if any are found, according to a study of racial disparities in the way drug laws are enforced. The study showed, for instance, disparities for cocaine possession in London, with 78% of black people charged, compared with 44% of white people. Black people were also almost twice as likely to be charged for possession of cannabis in the capital. There were also stark differences with the way courts deal with drug possession, with black people being jailed for the offence at six times the rate of white people." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBlack people in London twice as likely to be charged with drug possession

Rapper 2 Chainz arrested following a nine-hour tour bus standoff

"After police stopped the rapper’s vehicle in an Oklahoma traffic stop, its occupants refused to let officers climb on board and search for drugs. According to Sergeant Jennifer Wardlow, the vehicle was stopped due to a broken taillight. Once the driver was outside the bus, the people inside closed and locked the door. They reportedly insisted on seeing a search warrant – setting off a night-long deadlock. Around 7:30 am, officers towed the rapper’s bus to a police training centre and finally served the occupants with a warrant. 2 Chainz and his entire entourage were arrested 'on complaints of interfering with official process.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRapper 2 Chainz arrested following a nine-hour tour bus standoff

Chilean farmers export pet tarantulas around the world

"A farm in Chile exports the palm-sized critters to Asia, Europe and the United States for sale as exotic household companions. They go for $25 each plus shipping, and need to be fed just once a week, preferably live cockroaches or worms. And they live a long time — up to 25 years in the case of females. The farm is owned by one Juan Pablo Orellana, an agronomist who gathers and raises these Chilean rose hair tarantula (Grammostola rosea). Orellana’s farm exports about 30,000 of them a year. They travel in boxes with holes in them and a certificate that could be seen as a pedigree." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChilean farmers export pet tarantulas around the world