Andymatic

Category: 9. Corporate Power is Protected

  • Pentagon Can't Account for Trillions

    So wait a minute. Estimates are showing that by the time no-bid contracts have bled the Treasury dry and we’ve given the worst possible care to returning veterans that the Iraq occupation will cost $3 trillion (and let in a few hundred of the millions of displaced Iraqis into the country). But it turns out […]

  • Bank of America Asks Government for $739 Billion

    Context and commentary from Mischa: “The proposal warns that up to $739 billion in mortgages are at “moderate to high risk” of defaulting over the next five years and that millions of families could lose their homes. To prevent that, Bank of America suggested creating a Federal Homeowner Preservation Corporation that would buy up billions […]

  • World Markets Lose $5.2 Trillion in January

    World stockmarkets lost 5.2 trillion dollars (3.6 trillion euros) in January thanks to the fallout from the US subprime crisis and fears of a global economic slowdown, Standard & Poor’s said Saturday. Standard & Poor’s said the world’s equity markets lost a combined 5.2 trillion dollars as emerging markets fell 12.44 percent and developed markets […]

  • Lockheed Awarded $1 Billion to Spy on You

    I feel safer already: The FBI has awarded a nearly $1 billion contract to Lockheed Martin to help create a massive computer database of people’s physical characteristics as part of an effort to better identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI wants to use eye scans, combined with other data, to help identify suspects. The overall […]

  • Lieberman Skips Oversight Blackwater

    Not shocked at all: Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who chairs the Senate committee responsible for government oversight, says he has no plans to investigate Blackwater and other Iraq war contractors accused of potentially criminal wrongdoing.

  • In the Midst of Investigations, Blackwater Scores Another $92 Million

    What’s a few dead Iraqis anyway? It’s not really a private militia until your face is under the boot. Last Thursday, Gen. Peter Pace told reporters, “Blackwater has been a contractor in the past with the department and could certainly be in the future.” The next day, that future was already here. The Pentagon had […]

  • Maybe US Needs a Recession

    From The Economist: Some economists argue that this could create a much wider form of moral hazard. If long periods of uninterrupted expansions lead people to believe that the Fed can prevent any future recession, consumers, firms, investors and borrowers will be encouraged to take bigger risks, borrowing more and saving less. So a safety […]

  • Blackwater USA Adds Air Power

    Everybody’s favorite private army gets an upgrade: Security and training company Blackwater USA confirmed that it has applied for a license to acquire one Embraer Super Tucano light attack trainer. The Super Tucano programme would be limited to providing for US personnel only, the spokeswoman adds, and the aircraft would not be allowed to leave […]

  • An Actuarial Nightmare: GAO Comptroller on 60 Minutes

    Ignore the intro and outro music. [youtube]KGpY2hw7ao8[/youtube]

  • 9/11's Hidden Victims – Ground Zero Exposure

    “I’d like my wife to be remembered as a person who wasn’t afraid to do her job, and her most important thing was the kids. Really, everything she did was for our two kids. When it came time to do her job she did her job, no questions asked. She was a very good mother, […]