The Mattress Racket
So my excellent AlterNet editor and SoCal pal Jan Frel has been asking me to start muckraking rackets, and it’s been a hoot. I’ve already rooted out Red Bull and […]
Greenvesting
Welcome to the Retirement Nightmare
Remember when the plan was to pour a percentage of your hard-earned salary into a retirement account, usually supplied by your employer? Who then invested your money with the company’s […]
The Cell Phone Racket
If you’re not angry with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint — America’s four national wireless providers that reportedly control 90 percent of the market — then here’s some ridiculous news to raise your righteous ire.
Flash Crash: Robotrading The Market
Flash Crash proved that market makers playing both sides of securities could be capable of wiping out any corporation’s stock, perhaps any nation’s economy
Deepwater Horizon’s Epic OilGas Catastrophe
If you’ve been railing for decades against the fossil fuel sector for everything from deliberately removing safeguards that could have prevented what will likely end up being the worst U.S. oil disaster in history to its lethal emissions that could, in the extreme, end up warming planet Earth to the point that human habitation is an impossibility, well, this is all old, sad news.
Why China Has Our Economy By the Balls
[Scott Thill, AlterNet] On May 1, China popped the cork on Expo 2010 in Shanghai, a months-long international celebration signifying the ascension of the city, and thereby its parent nation, […]
Showdown On Wall Street
[Scott Thill, AlterNet] Good thing Goldman Sachs reported its first-quarter profits on the popular pot holiday April 20. Because you had to be totally stoned to appreciate the sheer, corrupt […]
With Finance, Expected the Unexpectedly
When it comes to the finance casino, expect the unexpected. And when it comes to the financial press that is committed to covering it, expect to hear the word “unexpectedly.” […]
Goodbye, Paper Money
[Scott Thill, AlterNet] Currency has come a long way in the past few thousand years of human existence. Ancient Turkey started using hybrid silver and gold coins around 640 B.C. […]
Goldman Sucks Greece, Swallows The Eurozone
I’ve been writing about Goldman Sucks — that is, rapacious economics star chamber Goldman Sachs — for years now. And I’m glad the rest of the world is finally paying […]
Technocracy Blowback: Five Case Studies
“Why blame technology? It generally does what it is coded to do. It’s the human sentient understanding of how to take cruel advantage of human weakness that’s the problem.”
New York Times Bites My Walkaway Rhyme
[Scott Thill, Morphizm] Look, New York Times: You can pay me for my cultural and political insights. People already do. Seriously. Like when you posted that article today advising underwater […]
Attack of the Foreclosed Homeowners!
Hey, have you heard the one about the underwater homeowners who unsuccessfully tried to modify their home loans, but got even by tying two loan servicers to chairs and beating […]
Can We Call It a Depression Now?
I conceived this article before the Dow passed 10,000, and wrote it afterward. It went up on AlterNet right before the Dow fell from 10,000 and now I’m posting it […]
Step Aside McDonald’s, Subway’s Surging
Subway has managed to carve out a lucrative niche in a perfect storm of fast food and economic recession.
What’s Thin-Film Solar? The Future Today
Last century, solar power struggled to enlighten the renewable resource community. This year, it’s downsizing to thin films you can put on your car and your body, shining the way […]
Mortgage Underwater? Just Walk Away
No one likes a bad investment, especially when everyone has been making them. The housing meltdown was built on a house of cards called securitization, and it ruined the global […]
Land and Water Grabs In The Age of Climate Change
The economic valuation of land and water has increased in concurrence with both price commodities and the ravages of climate change, whose droughts, wildfires and other extreme environmental events are quickly shrinking what’s left of the planet’s arable land and clean water
Currency Wars Coming Right Up!
It’s probably not the sexiest battle on Earth, but it is easily one of the most important. With the econopocalypse ravaging what’s left of the American economy and the currency […]
How Long Will China Buy Our Debt Economy?
It started with a joke, but quickly went viral everywhere from the South China Sea to the White House.
Show Obama The Money
[Scott Thill, Morphizm] UPDATE: My fine fellow journos at the Huffington Post have syndicated this post there. Hop on, stir it up, spread the noise. “This disaster is not set […]
Memo For Obama: Save Our Earth
Let’s be real: Barack Obama can’t change the world on his own.
Let Them Eat Hummers
UPDATE: My pals at the Huffington Post have syndicated this entry. Hop on and post a comment, if you feel so inclined. They love the love, and so do I. […]
The Pickens Plan Sucks
Having your cake on climate crisis, fossil fuel addiction, eminent domain, water privatization and corporate earnings — and eating it too.
Africa Is A Victim In Our Quest For Oil
The ecological impact has been felt in the Niger Delta, which is the oil-producing region. According to the World Wildlife Fund, it is one of the most polluted places on the face of the Earth.