"'For my own part,' Ms. Yellen said, 'I did not see and did not appreciate what the risks were with securitization, the credit ratings agencies, the shadow banking system, the S.I.V.’s — I didn’t see any of that coming until it happened.' Her startled interviewers noted that almost none of the officials who testified had offered a similar acknowledgment of an almost universal failure." Continue reading →
"Rebel Democrats on Monday threw their weight behind a growing campaign for Janet Yellen to take over the US Federal Reserve, as their successful revolt against White House pick Larry Summers emboldened those calling for tougher policy toward Wall Street. Investors were betting that Yellen would look more favorably on the continuation of the Fed’s massive financial stimulus programme, known as quantitative easing (QE). Yellen has backed Bernanke in his plans to extend the $85bn-a-month bond-buying programme that is aimed at stimulating the economy and keeping interest rates down. Summers had been perceived as being more critical." Continue reading →
"Since 2002 the US government has presided over one of the most dramatic financial bubbles of all time: the bubble of the military-industrial complex. This bubble, like all others, will pop, and it looks to be deflating right now. The amounts of money that have been spent in the past decade can only be characterized as obscene. In addition to the military complex, we have a massive intelligence complex. Not only that, but we also have a massive law enforcement complex. The Department of Homeland Security has given them at least $34 Billion in the past several years, on top of their take from local taxes, state taxes, fines, seizures, and other Fed money." Continue reading →
"While MNsure officials said the mistake was quickly resolved and was the first security breach, the incident highlights concerns of those who have hounded the state for years about privacy issues surrounding the online-based health insurance exchanges. The new marketplaces are a key vehicle for implementing the federal health law, often called Obamacare. Users of the exchange will need to provide sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, that will be sent to a federal hub to verify such things as citizenship and household income. This information will determine whether consumers using MNsure qualify for public health programs or tax credits that will lower premiums." Continue reading →
"While fingerprint sensors might seem like a nifty way to shorten the steps to your next brilliant tweet and keep your buddy from punking your Facebook with a fake status update, they’re more likely to create a false sense of security, thanks to statements like this, from Apple Senior Vice President Dan Riccio, in the introductory video for the new iPhone 5s: 'Your fingerprint is one of the best passwords in the world. It’s always with you, and no two are exactly alike.' Riccio is half-right. Your fingerprint is always with you, and no two are exactly alike. But that doesn’t make it one of the best passwords in the world. That actually makes it a potentially lousy password." Continue reading →
"Add new sensors, as well as imaginative software, into these mini-computers and the impact could be significant. Non-invasive blood testing will soon be a reality, transformative for diabetics who will no longer have to puncture themselves several times a day, as well as those who have to monitor cholesterol. Health apps will be able to monitor those blood test results, and sync with the restaurant as the wearer walks in, to suggest the most suitable low-GI or low-cholesterol meal. The behavioural implications could be profound, but we need to be interested in understanding and exploring the potential so that we are ready for the debate about who has access to this data." Continue reading →
"I have the benefit of knowing what the U.S. military plans are. Members on both sides are extremely well-informed about this. Most of us have been to multiple briefings, in some cases classified briefings. It’s not that people need more information, you know, we’ve got plenty. And what we’re seeing is an extremely risky and fruitless undertaking. I have the sense that the Administration is suffering from some degree of hubris. They claim to know the future reactions of the Syrians, the Russians, the Iranians, Hezbollah. They claim to be able to micromanage this 'unbelievably small' attack. In a way it’s reminiscent of Johnson choosing bombing targets in Vietnam. We all know how that ended up." Continue reading →
"Days after the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961, the American military came within a 'hair’s breadth' of detonating a nuclear explosion over North Carolina. A pair of Mark 29 hydrogen bombs — each of which was 250 times more powerful than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima — were accidentally deployed when the B-52 hauling them went into an uncontrolled spin. One of them fell to the ground unarmed, but the failsafe mechanisms in the other underwent a cascade of failure. Had the bomb exploded, the lethal fallout would have spread across the Eastern Seaboard, blanketing New York and Washington D.C." Continue reading →
"Have these rebels, who reportedly have ties to terrorist groups, gone through background checks? Does this transfer of light weapons and munitions to Syrian rebels go against the grain of the United Nations’ Small Arms Trade Treaty, which the president has said he supports and would sign? There have been allegations that the Syrian rebels have strong connections to al Qaeda, the same organization that claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks in 2001, and has been linked to last year’s Benghazi attack, and we’re giving these people weapons? Does it seem that the president is [little] concerned about putting guns in the hands of people whose idea of justice is public execution?" Continue reading →
"'We should bleed America economically by provoking it to continue in its massive expenditure on its security, for the weak point of America is its economy, which has already begun to stagger due to the military and security expenditure,' Zawahiri said according to the SITE translation. 'And keeping America in tension and anticipation only costs a few disparate attacks here and there, meaning as we defeated it in the gang warfare in Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan, so we should follow it with that war on its own land,' he added." Continue reading →