Tag Archives: Crony Capitalism

Copenhagen Bike-Sharing Program To Be Most High-Tech Yet

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Copenhagen Bike-Sharing Program To Be Most High-Tech Yet

“For the next generation of bike-sharing innovations, take a look at Copenhagen and smile. Trains and a bike-sharing program working as one travel option now offer a GPS built into the bike. Not only do you know where to pick up your next connection – you have a schedule of all local train times between your front bars. The Europeans and Copenhageners (again) increase a bike lover’s convenience in transit with this new innovation. With an Android tablet offering a built-in GPS, real-time train departures and ticket integration, and real-time info on available bikes and docks in the area, one glides easily from destination to destination.”

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/08/19/copenhagen-bike-sharing-program-to-be-most-high-tech-bike-sharing-program-yet/

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Dream Chaser is nearly ready to fly

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“Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC’s) Dream Chaser spacecraft performed a ‘captive carry’ flight at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. During the two-hour test, the Dream Chaser engineering test article (ETA)—a full-sized version of the spacecraft, built for atmospheric tests—flew suspended under a helicopter at altitudes of up to 3,780 meters (12,400 feet).  Last August, it received one of three Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) awards from NASA, but its award was a ‘half-sized’ award, valued at $212.5 million. The other two awardees, Boeing and SpaceX, received larger awards: $450 million and $440 million, respectively.”

http://www.newspacejournal.com/2013/08/24/dream-chaser-is-nearly-ready-to-fly/

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Internet Giants Got Millions From Taxpayers to Cover PRISM Spying Costs

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“Internet giants like Google and Yahoo received millions of dollars from the NSA to cover their surveillance under the PRISM program. These payments occurred after a federal court ruled that surveillance requests the companies handled under the PRISM program were unconstitutional. The document also shows the NSA was anxious to get certifications from the FISA Court to authorize surveillance beyond the possible expiration of the law that authorized that surveillance. The law was set to expire on December 31, 2012, but the NSA received authorizations under that law to continue its surveillance until September 23, 2013.”

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/08/millions-paid-prism-compliance/

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A View Down The Road

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“The latest versions of these GPS systems have ‘real time’ functionality. They can adjust route guidance to take account of accidents along your planned route, for instance. This is handy. But the same functionality can be put to other uses, too. For instance, there is no technological reason why the new Lincoln MKZ’s ability to keep abreast of the speed limit wherever you happen to be driving could not also be used to limit the speed you drive – or at least, record your failure to abide by the speed limit and perhaps report your noncompliance to the authorities. Or more likely, your insurance company. Perhaps both.”

http://ericpetersautos.com/2013/08/15/a-view-down-the-road/

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Elon Musk condemns the ‘perversion of democracy’ in Texas

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“Tesla sells its cars directly to consumers, but state law currently prohibits Tesla from operating its own a dealership. Car makers are not allowed to sell vehicles directly to the public in Texas, they must sell through independently-owned franchises. ‘This happens all the time,’ said Bill Wolters, the president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, which lobbied against the bill. ‘Someone wants an exception to the franchise laws. If we made an exception for everybody that showed up in the legislature, before long the integrity of the entire franchise system is in peril.'”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/22/elon-musk-condemns-the-perversion-of-democracy-in-texas/

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Why Texas Bans the Sale of Tesla Cars

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Why Texas Bans the Sale of Tesla Cars

“Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans on opening 50 new Tesla stores in the next year. And taking a page from the Apple playbook, Musk is selling his product directly to consumers. No hard sell. No commission for employees. And uniform prices at every store. That’s a dig at the traditional middlemen in the car-buying experience: the car dealers. Musk wants to cut them out completely. So Musk is declaring war on car dealers, but car dealers are also declaring war on Musk. They have already successfully booted him out of Texas and there is anti-Tesla legislation pending in North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia.”

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/nightline-fix-abc-news/why-texas-bans-sale-tesla-cars-140842349.html

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California school district preps for lockdowns with 1,800 plastic classroom toilets

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“A California school district said this week that they had so many lockdowns last year that it seemed like the perfect time to spend $36,000 on portable plastic toilets for the classrooms.  The so-called lockdown kits sold by SOS Survival Products include a 5-gallon bucket with a toilet seat lid, toilet paper, wet wipes, waste bags, duct tape, latex gloves, a tarp and a bag of kitty litter. ‘This year, as a district, we bought it district wide in order to get the most cost-effective rate on our cost,’ Teves explained. ‘We were able to buy these for about $20 each. We bought a total of 1,800, so it was a cost of about $36,000.'”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/21/california-school-district-preps-for-more-lockdowns-with-1800-plastic-classroom-toilets/

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A Solar System Is Installed in the US Every 4 Minutes

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“If market growth continues at its current pace, the American solar industry could be installing a system every minute and twenty seconds by 2016. That’s a dramatic difference from 2006, when installers were only putting up one system every 80 minutes. Solar is on an extraordinarily fast growth trajectory. Two-thirds of all distributed solar in the U.S. has been installed over the last 2 1/2 years. And by 2016, cumulative installations of distributed PV will double. That means the U.S. will hit 1 million cumulative residential solar installations by then — making the market in 2016 ten times larger than it was in 2010.”

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/america-installs-a-solar-system-every-four-minutes

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60 Minutes: Crude Solution

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“When petroleum giant BP spilled millions of litres of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico three years ago, it was the worst ever offshore oil disaster. To try and break up that massive slick, vast quantities of chemical dispersant was sprayed on the spill. It seemed to work: the oil disappeared. But people started getting sick and then people started dying. Now, this environmental disaster has become a health catastrophe. The dispersant, when mixed with the oil, increases in toxicity by 52 times. This sickly, invisible toxin, still lurks in the water and absorbs straight into peoples’ skin. They’re still approved for use and our authorities are clueless as to how deadly they are.”

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8706910

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The Gulf is Still Struggling, But BP’s Done Paying

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“Three and a half years after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig dumped 205 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean, leaving 11 workers dead and damaging hundreds of miles of shoreline, the Gulf Coast is still recovering. The company has spent or earmarked $42.4 billion so far for cleanup, compensation payments and environmental fines. Its profits have suffered, and it has sold $38 billion in assets to help cover the cost. BP filed suit last week against the U.S. government for a ban on awarding the company federal contracts. BP already has $1.34 billion in contracts in place to supply fuel to the government, including the military.”

http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/21/bp-tires-of-footing-the-bill-for-gulf-coast-disaster/

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