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Consumerist.com reports that Microsoft has patented a system that would let people pay to skip commercials. That could be the start of a rant about our broken patent system (is this really something that needs a patent? Isn’t it sort of obvious?), but I’m on a different rant today. Specifically: People will pay to avoid […] Well, this is bad. An article on Truthout details how a new Pennsylvania law makes it difficult for us to even know what chemicals frackers are using, much less what they’re doing to us, because they’re trade secrets. Check out how difficult it is to get, and especially to share, information that may be needed […] This resignation letter by one Greg Smith, formerly of Goldman Sachs, has created a bigger splash than most. Maybe because he published it in the New York Times. From the letter: I have always taken a lot of pride in advising my clients to do what I believe is right for them, even if it […] Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post, here’s Ann Romney, saying “I don’t even consider myself wealthy.” Right, her money doesn’t matter. It’s not important to her. It’s not a part of who she is. Will she say the same when the taxman comes around? Yep, I’m linking to Cracked again. Here David Wong skewers the clueless excuses rich people make when people say, hey, maybe you have too much money. My favorite quote, regarding the very common “I got rich, you could too” excuse: So “anyone can get rich” isn’t just untrue, it’s insultingly untrue. You can’t have a […] Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner has an opinion piece called Financial Crisis Amnesia in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal (I was pointed there by DrRichardCranium on Reddit; excuse his name). Geithner rightly reminds Wall Streeters that it’s a bit disingenuous to complain about reform when not too long ago they were on their knees for […] This piece by Ezra Klein shows some of the ways people who don’t think of themselves as being on government assistance are assisted by the government. I don’t really have anything to add to it. You should read it. The Planet Money blog linked to this from an outfit called Third Way, which came up with a “taxpayer receipt” showing where your federal tax money goes. I agree with the Third Way people that this is a very good idea, and would be very easy for government to implement. Fact is, anything that dispels […] Tom the Dancing Bug is one of the best comics out there; I was going through the archives and came across this one that I’d somehow missed. It’s actually an excellent explanation of how bond traders (who never seem to object to tax cuts for the rich) pretend to freak out when the government thinks […] Michael Moore’s doc Capitalism: A Love Story spends some time at a company called Republic Windows and Doors, where laid-off workers were holding what I think was the first big sit-in strike since the 1930s. The strike garnered widespread support, and it succeeded—the workers got money they were owed. Which was a limited goal, but […] |
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