Friday, March 7, 2014

READING FOR THE WEEKEND (March 7, 2014)


How well do you know the world? A geography game that asks you to identify countries and territories ... be sure to take a look at a world map first (The Guardian).


When luck is on your side (Flixxy).

How two students built an A-bomb (The Guardian).


Insurance scam ... how private insurance companies are using Obamacare fears to rip off clients (Addicting Info).

15 big names who filed for bankruptcy (SheBudget).


In a procedural miracle Alabama House Committee passes school prayer bill without a majority (Wonkette).


WALL STREET
Real life "Wolf of Wall Street" says his life of debauchery 'even worse' than in the film (The Guardian).

Cracked tales of cocaine on Wall Street (Business Insider).

With an eye on mineral prospecting, water rights, and taking advantage of lax regulations on GMOs private equity firms are looking to buy half of all U.S. farmland (Nation of Change). 

Related, with fewer than 6% of farmers aged 35 years or younger- and with 70% of farmland owned by people 65 years or older - equity firms are looking to purchase farm land, but with an eye to producing profits over food (Nation of Change).



MODERN DAY SLAVERY

India's tea firms urged to act on slave trafficking after girls are freed (The Guardian).

Qatar's World Cup 'slaves' have passports confiscated, wages retained, and denied access to free drinking water as Qatar prepares for 2022 World Cup (The Guardian).


Paralyzed in Qatar ... Nepalese workers trapped in Kafkaesque Gulf nightmare (The Guardian).


An interesting set of articles on inequality in Europe ... the article income redistribution by Ive Marx is especially pertinent to what we're experiencing in the United States (Intereconomics).



LATIN AMERICA, MOVING FORWARD

Brazil and EU agree to lay an undersea cable to avoid U.S. internet surveillance (MercoPress).

Medellin - once the most violent drug capital in the world - was named the world's most innovative city in 2012 because of  things like this ... (Graphite Publications).

It's about time ... IMF addresses redistribution of wealth issue in Latin America by asking whether income inequality can lead to slower growth (Merco Press).


Why the plan to dig a canal across Nicaragua is so risky (Wired).


Scenes from Peru (The Atlantic).



MEANWHILE, IN CRAZY LAND ...

Republican Rep. Josh Miller opposes Medicaid expansion after using Medicaid to pay over $1 million in medical bills tied to his drunk driving (Addicting Info).

Meet the Republican lawmaker from Maine who said if women can have abortions that men should be able to rape them, and is only now apologizing after a liberal blogger exposed a long list of equally offensive remarks (Raw Story).

Rep. Steve King thinks protecting gays will lead to straights faking "the gay" so they can sue (Addicting Info).

10 right wing idiots this week ... a list that doesn't include the Arizona homophobes (Alternet).



MISCELLANEOUS
Makes sense to me ... Japan says any Bitcoin regulation should be international (Reuters).

A few years old but still one of the best pieces to explain inequality around the world (Economist).

Credit Suisse employees respond to CEO who blamed rogue employees who helped clients hide money from the IRS: "It was common knowledge that tax evasion was the strategy ..." (Reuters).


Red states, home of the family values crowd, have the highest teen birth rates (Slate).


- Mark

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