Category Archives: Ridiculously obvious scams

As Risky Finances Alienate Investors, Fracking Companies Look to Retirement Funds for Cash

Latest DeSmogBlog coverage of fracking follies: the still unprofitable industry turns to pension funds and private equity for capital.

How the Government Can Steal Your Stuff: 6 Questions About Civil Asset Forfeiture Answered

Sad but necessary, a primer on civil asset forfeiture.

Libra – Freedom for Whom, from What?

What is Libra supposed to bring to us that we don’t have already? Freedom from legacy currencies will have a high price to pay.

Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg’s Fake Accounts Ponzi Scheme

Why Facebook may be a bigger fraud than Enron.

CalPERS Sleaze Watch: Showcases Criminal Ex-General “Betray-Us” as Keynote Speaker at Offsite

CalPERS demonstrates its lack of interest in ethics and propriety.

Hospitals Block ‘Surprise Billing’ Measure In California

Hospitals flex their muscles and the public loses.

Mining and Electric Vehicles: Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt

Electric vehicle production at scale requires materials we don’t have enough of.

Bill Black: Facebook’s Libra Currency Monetizes Identity and Threatens Privacy

Bill Black discusses Feacebook’s new proposed crypto-currency, called “Libra.” Facebook could use this technology to standardize identity and create a world of ultimate surveillance, and then profit from it.

Charter Schools Unleashed “Educational Hunger Games” in California. Now It’s Fighting Back.

Andrea Gabor, author of “After the Education Wars,” discusses how California is pushing back on millionaire-driven charter schools. Will the rest of the America follow?

Rebel Economist Breaks Through to Washington on How Shareholder Value Theory Rewards the Undeserving

How William Lazonick persuaded pols and pundits that the shareholder value theory was bad for business and society.

Plastic Watch: G20 Issues Pathetic Declaration

G20 issues Osaka Blue Ocean Vision, a voluntary plastic management plan so inadequate the plastic industry endorsed it immediately.

How a Central Asian Business Empire Dines Out on British Secrecy

Using the UK’s lax corporate transparency and accountability regime, international businesses can, in effect, mask interests and ownership at home.

Are Cryptocurrencies the First Crack in the Wall to Regulate Facebook?

Like Icarus, the social media monopoly is flying too close to the sun and generating much regulatory heat, which could eventually lead to its downfall.

How Judges Kill: Sealing Corporate Records Showing Destructive Behavior Based on Dubious “Trade Secret” Claims

Judges who are unduly deferential to corporate secrecy demands are literally killing Americans.

1 In 6 Insured Hospital Patients Get A Surprise Bill For Out-Of-Network Care

Surprise bills don’t just come from the emergency room. Often, patients will pick an in-network facility and see a provider who works there but isn’t employed by the hospital.