Category Archives: Banana republic

Who Will Stop the US-Russia Arms Race?

Real News Network interview with Professor Stephen F. Cohen on the insane arms race between the United States and Russia, which leaders from both parties are doing their utmost to stoke.

Gaius Publius: Despite Officially Hating Trump, Democrats Like a Lot of What He Does

Yet another example of the Democrats’ hypocrisy.

Was Carillion’s Collapse the Beginning of the End for the UK’s Outsourcers?

Two large British outsourcers are also on the verge of collapse, and the vultures are circling.

Andrew Bacevich Shellacks the New York Times’ Usefully Idiotic Coverage of America’s Never-Ending Wars

A well-argued dressing down of the New York Times for its less than illuminating reporting on America’s military adventurism.

Wolf Richter: Then Why Is Anyone STILL on Facebook?

If you’ve created an account, you can never escape Facebook. But you can at least stop making things worse for yourself.

Whistleblower Woes: Retaliation

SEC makes record whistleblower award, while meanwhile an Ethics and Compliance Initiative survey reports retaliation rates for reporting of corporate misconduct have doubled.

Bill Of The Month: For Toenail Fungus, A $1,500 Prescription

Not only was the bill for a toenail fungus topical cream shockingly high, but the pharmacy dispensing it was able to tap directly into the patient’s health reimbursement account.

CalPERS Violates Law and Board Procedure: Cuts Microphone of Board Member Margaret Brown After Letting Her See Only Redacted Board Transcripts, Lodging Bogus Charges

CalPERS has been doing everything it can to keep new board member Margaret Brown from seeing recent closed session transcripts, including cooking up completely bogus, secret charges against her.

Is Verizon Violating Its Copper Network Settlement Already?

A series of awfully convenient outages in Manhattan on Verizon’s DSL service raise the question of whether Verizon is gaming its just-inked settlement.

Hidden History of How US Corporations Gained Legal Personhood and Civil Rights

Interview with Adam Winkler about his book, We The Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights. The consequences of this victory skew US politics to benefit corporations at the expense of the public good.

Fifth Circuit Axes Fiduciary Rule: Over to the SEC

A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last week axed the fiduciary rule– which the Trump Labor Department had delayed implementing. Now what? It’s over to the SEC.

Criminalizing Peaceful Pipeline Protests: Are Oil Billionaires Trying to Undermine Our First Amendment Rights?

RNN interview discussing oil funding of state measures to criminalize peaceful pipeline protest as ‘eco-terrorism’. Penalties up to 25 years in jail and $100 k in fines. Others to follow?

How Well Does Financial Regulation Work?

Sadly, reactive regulations don’t have a great track record.