Tag Archives: big business
Sugar corporations push Cambodian farmers off land
The corporate practice in Cambodia of obtaining tens of thousands of acres from the government as economic development concessions for large sugar plantations, while paying modest compensation to farmers pushed off the land, places a harsh light on international trade pacts that are meant to help the world’s poorest countries. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/business/international/in-cambodias-cane-fields.html?ref=world The culprits are the […]
Wealth redistribution continues to be funneled to sociopaths
Robert Benmosche, the chief executive of the American International Group, said something stupid the other day. And we should be glad, because his comments help highlight an important but rarely discussed cost of extreme income inequality — namely, the rise of a small but powerful group of what can only be called sociopaths. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/opinion/krugman-plutocrats-feeling-persecuted.html?src=me&ref=general Mr. […]
Disney Corp to exploit Zen audio technique
The Ishin-Den-Shin technology uses a standard microphone to record audio and then converts it into an inaudible signal transmitted through the body of the person holding the microphone. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24031948 When they touch someone’s earlobe, an organic speaker is formed and the sound becomes audible, effectively whispering a message into that person’s ear. The sound can […]
Corporations pay lobbyists to avoid most taxes in US
The biggest, most profitable American companies paid only a fraction of the taxes they would owe under the official corporate rate, according to a study released on Monday by the Government Accountability Office. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/business/big-companies-paid-a-fraction-of-corporate-tax-rate.html?ref=us Using deductions and legal loopholes, large corporations enjoyed a 12.6 percent tax rate far below the 35 percent tax that is […]
More evidence of corporate america supporting Hitler
The list of institutions and industries that have been accused of whitewashing their links to the Third Reich is long, including various governments, the Vatican, Swiss banks and American corporations like I.B.M., General Motors and DuPont. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/books/scholar-asserts-that-hollywood-avidly-aided-nazis.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=general&src=me In “The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler,” Ben Urwand draws on a wealth of previously uncited documents to […]
Another Bagladeshi sweat shop fire
A fire erupted at a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka on Thursday morning, sending employees fleeing in terror and raising more questions about safety conditions in Bangladesh less than two months after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building claimed more than 1,100 lives. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/world/asia/another-garment-factory-scare-in-bangladesh.html?ref=world Labor activists who rushed to the burning […]
Bloomberg News encouraged conflict of interest
Interviews with more than 30 current and former Bloomberg employees paint a picture of an aggressive, hyperkinetic organization that not only tolerated but encouraged an unusual symbiotic relationship between the company’s news operation and its business interests, including the use of the terminals to break news. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/business/media/bloomberg-reporters-tactics-become-crucial-issue-for-company.html?hp Many of these reporters say they routinely used […]
Wal-Mart fined for illegally dumping hazardous waste
Wal-Mart Stores pleaded guilty Tuesday to improperly dumping hazardous waste in California and Missouri, agreeing to pay almost $82 million in fines. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/business/wal-mart-is-fined-82-million-over-mishandling-of-hazardous-wastes.html?ref=us The retailer was charged with six counts of violating the Clean Water Act in California and one count of violating a federal law related to pesticide disposal in Missouri. The problems stem […]
Pespi beta tests racist ads
US soft drinks giant PepsiCo has withdrawn a commercial over criticism that it depicts racial stereotypes and makes light of violence against women. The online ad shows a battered white woman on crutches being asked to identify a suspect out of a police line-up of black men and a goat. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22376865 “arguably the most racist […]
UK and Big Business launch cyberintelligence center
The UK has announced that a global centre for cybersecurity will be opened at the University of Oxford. “The new global centre for cybersecurity… will co-ordinate global work on cyber-threats and cyber-policies” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22078755 Countries around the world are keen to increase their levels of cybersecurity in the wake of an unprecedented number of threats.Part of […]
US military industry aids hatian neo-colonialism
U.S. military contractor announced Tuesday that it won a contract for up to $48.6 million that will help support a U.S. contingent to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/04/09/world/americas/ap-cb-haiti-military-contractor.html?ref=world DynCorp International received the contract from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. It will recruit and finance up […]
Dirty Babylon 