Author Archives: Yves Smith

Mastercard Pushes Biometrics, Banks Follow

Mastercard and other financial services providers are aggressively promoting biometrics. Where are the vaunted EU privacy regulators?

Rail Workers Acquitted in Trial on Deadly Lac-Mégantic Oil Train Disaster

A jury acquitted front line workers in the horrific Lac-Mégantic “bomb train,” but the higher-ups have not been held to account.

A Day in the Life of an NHS Nurse – How Our Government Is Failing Both Patients and Nurses

Nurses are leaving the NHS, and that’s no accident.

Links 1/25/18

Amazon Scores Two More $5+ Billion Bids

More grifting, Amazon-style.

Fiduciary Counsel Ashley Dunning Encourages CalPERS to Muscle Actuary to Change His Forecasts of Funding Needs

How CalPERS’ fiduciary counsel encouraged its board to pressure its actuary to produce more politically-convenient results.

Solar Import Tariff: Pain Without Benefit

On the not-well-thought-out solar tariff.

Dear Elon: Tesla’s Base Is Not the Model S Coalition

How Elon Musk is doing a great job of alienation a critically important part of Tesla’s Model S coalition.

Gaius Publius: Democrats Laying Their Own Bonfire

The Democrats are increasingly cocky as potential voters become more and more angry over their pro-Establishment policies.

CalPERS’ Fiduciary Counsel, Ashley Dunning, Lies to Board to Defend Private Equity Secrecy and Perpetuate Inadequate Supervision of Staff

Yet another example of the culture of casual lying at CalPERS and the deep-seated effort to neuter its board.

Darkest Hour – What Does a Rash of Winston Churchill Portrayals Tell Us About Brexit Britain?

On the UK’s Churchill boomlet.

Can Uber Ever Deliver? Part Twelve: Brad Stone and Bloomberg Continue To Get the Uber Story Badly Wrong

How Brad Stone’s piece about “bad boy” Travis Kalanick is yet another effort to tell the most pro-Uber story possible at this point in time.

Is the Most Massive, Illegal Paywall in the World About to Come Down?

PACER’s days of massively overcharging and impeding legal research may be about to end.

Amazon, City Killer?

The unseemly bidding war to have the opportunity to have Amazon ruin your city moves to its finalist phase.