Archive for July, 2009
Are Average Taxpayers Freeloaders?
From Sam Pizzigati, at the online weekly Too Much, which is well worth a visit. Have Average Taxpayers Become Freeloaders? Opponents of the proposal for a 5.4 percent health care reform surtax on America’s wealthy are getting desperate. They’ve even turned their fire onto middle-income Americans. By Sam Pizzigati | July 27, 2009 Friends and ...Read more.
Hondouras Imposes State of Siege in South
A report from the Nicaragua/Honduras border, via Clifton Ross, an independent journalist who is friends with Margot Pepper, who has written recently for D&S: Honduras imposes state of siege in southThousands of Zelaya supporters stranded en route to meet the president Honduran national police have clamped a state of siege on the southern department of ...Read more.
Insurance Whistleblower Before Congress
I am so tired of reading about the horrific details of our lousy healthcare system in the foreign press… From The Observer: Whistleblower tells of America’s hidden nightmare for its sick poorWhen an insurance firm boss saw a field hospital for the poor in Virginia, he knew he had to speak out. Here, he tells ...Read more.
Not Everything Has to Make a Profit (Bill Maher)
From HuffPo. My favorite quote: “If conservatives get to call universal health care ‘socialized medicine,’ I get to call private health care ‘soulless vampires making money off human pain.’ The problem with President Obama’s health care plan isn’t socialism, it’s capitalism.” New Rule: Not Everything in America Has to Make a Profit Bill Maher | ...Read more.
More on Sales Lagging Profits
From Bloomberg: Sales Fail to Keep Pace With Profits as Economy Stays Sluggish By Peter J. Brennan and Steve MatthewsJuly 25 (Bloomberg) Sales growth lagged behind profits as companies in the Standard & Poors’ 500 Index beat analysts’ estimates this week, a signal that economic recovery may be slow. Second-quarter revenue at Caterpillar Inc. and ...Read more.
Intel Says Its Human Rights Were Violated
Taking the concept of corporate personhood to what might be considered its logical extreme, computer chip titan Intel is claiming that the EU has violated its human rights in a recent anti-trust case.Full story here.
Crisis Is Over: For the Wall Street Bonuses
In the second quarter, Morgan Stanley lost $1.26 billion. However, it managed to set aside $3.9 billion for bonuses during that time. In fact, despite 3 straight quarters of losses, it has set aside over $6 billion for bonuses. Looks like they’re going to need another bailout soon. From the Washington Post: NEW YORK, July ...Read more.
Unrest in Disneyland
From the Orange County Register: 800 demonstrators march on Disney over labor disputeJuly 14th, 2009, 6:02 pmposted by Adam Townsend, Staff Writer Roughly 800 Disney hotel workers, union organizers, outside demonstrators and members of the Episcopal clergy marched from the Convention Center, shutting down Harbor Boulevard to the Disneyland entrance Tuesday afternoon – another protest ...Read more.
Nice Analysis of Complexities of Online Piracy
From The Financial Times: Pirates on parade By Salamander Davoudi and Tim BradshawFiancial TimesPublished: July 22 2009 03:00 | Last updated: July 22 2009 03:00In April, when a Swedish court sentenced the founders of Pirate Bay to one-year prison terms for promoting copyright infringement on the world’s largest filesharing website, the music and film industries ...Read more.
Commercial Property Shoe To Drop?
From The Financial Times: US banks warn on commercial propertyFinancial TimesBy Francesco Guerrera and Greg Farrell in New YorkPublished: July 22 2009 19:21 | Last updated: July 22 2009 19:21Two of America’s biggest banks, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, on Wednesday threw into sharp relief the mounting woes of the US commercial property market when ...Read more.
