From the Trenches World Report

SF Gate – by Phillip Matier And Andrew Ross

It turns out that the mysterious high-tech barge that Google is building at Treasure Island is just the first of three floating wonders the company plans to launch, at a total cost of $35 million.

In a confidential budget report we obtained, barge builder Turner Construction Co. says the idea is to construct the vessels at Treasure Island, then dock them in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.   Continue reading “Google plans ‘floating retail store,’ builder says”

Video Rebel’s Blog

Alasdair Macleod said recently that Gulf State billionaires are sending their .995 pure 400 ounce gold bullion bars to Switzerland to have them cast into .9999 pure gold kilogram bars. Dr Jim Willie has said that the one kilogram gold bar will be the center piece of the new system of international trade designed by China to replace the dollar. Dr Willie has said he was told that the price of gold will be set at $7,000 an ounce. Jim Rickards who is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a corporate insider has separately said it would take $7,000 an ounce for a gold exchange standard to work.   Continue reading “Arab Gulf States Join Chinese Campaign To Dump The Dollar”

Bloomberg – by Hugh Son

Bank of America Corp. agreed to pay $404 million to Freddie Mac in a deal that caps the lender’s efforts to resolve repurchase claims from government-sponsored enterprises on mortgages sold before the financial crisis.

The accord covers about 716,000 loans created by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2009, and sold to Freddie Mac, the firms said today in separate statements. The payment, minus credits of $13 million that the bank already paid Freddie Mac, is covered by current reserves, the lender said.   Continue reading “BofA Reaches $404 Million Mortgage Deal With Freddie Mac”

Dr. Kevin R. Campbell, MD, FACC

During this last week of Thanksgiving, I began to reflect on the last year and the many good things that we have all been blessed with in healthcare.  I have the opportunity to serve patients and their families every single day.  I have the privilege of making a difference in the lives of others.  However, As I reflect, I am greatly troubled by what looms in the year ahead for physicians and their patients.   Continue reading “Unsustainability: Obamacare, Medicaid Expansion and the Destruction of the “Art” of Medicine”

Med Page Today – by David Pittman

Roughly half of the states are allowing health plans that do not conform to Affordable Care Act requirements to continue in 2014, following concerns that insurance companies were canceling policies for untold numbers of consumers.

At least 19 states intend to allow people with policies canceled as a result of ACA regulations to renew them, according to researchers at the Commonwealth Fund. However, 18 states and the District of Columbia have stated they will not implement the policy fix announced by President Obama last month.   Continue reading “Pay and Practice: ACA Policy Fix a Toss-Up Among States”

RT News

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Detroit, Michigan is indeed eligible for bankruptcy protection, giving the go-ahead to the once booming Motor City to move forward with plans to restructure more than $18 billion in debt.

Amid reading excerpts from a lengthy decision of more than 140 pages, United States Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes announced during Tuesday morning’s historic hearing that he approved of Detroit’s Chapter 9 filing, in turn authorizing the largest municipal bankruptcy ever in the US to proceed.   Continue reading “Federal judge lets Detroit move forward with largest bankruptcy in US history”

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman

Among the thousands of patents reviewed and approved each year by the federal government, a select group is kept secret from the public—a group that has grown in number lately.

During the previous fiscal year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) approved 139 new “secrecy orders” on patent applications, according to data obtained by Secrecy News.   Continue reading “Secret Patent Applications on the Rise”

AOL –  by FOSTER KLUG and HYUNG-JIN KIM

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Six decades before he went to North Korea as a curious tourist, Merrill Newman supervised a group of South Korean guerrillas during the Korean War who were perhaps the most hated and feared fighters in the North, former members of the group say.

Some of those guerrillas, interviewed this week by The Associated Press, remember Newman as a handsome, thin American lieutenant who got them rice, clothes and weapons during the later stages of the 1950-53 war, but largely left the fighting to them.   Continue reading “US Vet Detained in N Korea Oversaw Guerrilla Group”

High Times – by Mike Adams

While every stoner dreams of having a badass ride made entirely out of weed, one automotive company has brought that concept one step closer to reality by developing a new hemp-based product that industry experts say will change the way automobiles are made by 2016.

Faurecia, which has become a major player in the global automotive market, ever since it hit the ground running in 1997, recently introduced a new hemp-based plastic called BioMat, which serves as a more environmental sound alternative to traditional injection-molded plastic.   Continue reading “Marijuana Motors: Automobiles Could Soon Be Made of Weed”

Huffington Post – by Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON — A Wisconsin man who, for one minute, took part in an Anonymous-sponsored effort to overwhelm the website of Koch Industries has been sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay the company $183,000.

Eric J. Rosol, a 38-year-old truck driver from Black Creek, Wis., was sentenced on Monday in federal court in Wichita, Kan., where Koch Industries is headquartered. He pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of accessing a protected computer, admitting that he used a software called Low Orbit Ion Cannon Code to participate in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Kochind.com for approximately one minute back in 2011. As a result of the attack, the website was down for about 15 minutes.   Continue reading “Loading Koch Industries Website Too Many Times In 1 Minute Just Cost This Truck Driver $183,000”

GOP USA – by Times Record (Fort Smith, AR)

Gun ammunition is in higher demand now than ever.

While the once-scarce .223 and 5.56 rounds have come back into readily available stock, the humble little .22 caliber bullet has become the most sought-after projectile.

The Walmart Supercenter locations in Fort Smith, as well as Academy Sports, Dicks Sporting Goods and the Tackle Box, all report high demand for .22 LR “longs” to the point they are bought up as soon as shipments arrive.   Continue reading “Ammo In High Demand”

USA Today – by Susan Jaffe, Kaiser Health News

Dorathy Senay’s doctor had some bad news after her last checkup, but it wasn’t about her serious blood disorder called amyloidosis. Her Medicare Advantage managed care plan from UnitedHealthcare/AARP is terminating the doctor’s contract Feb. 1.

She is also losing her oncologist at the prestigious Yale Medical Group — the entire 1,200 physician practice was axed.   Continue reading “UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage cuts doctors”

And Still I Persist… – by BF Webster

Stephen Covey was fond of saying, “You teach what you are.” Regardless of what platitudes you speak, all you really teach is what you actually live and practice. It should not be surprising, then, that the same political and philosophical mindset that produced the Affordable Care Act and pushed it through Congress in spite of fierce opposition and public disapproval would then seek to implement it with a vast, complex IT system that reflects much of the same hubris and many of the same fundamental flaws.   Continue reading “Obamacare and Healthcare.gov: How We Got Here”

Reuters – by STEVE SLATER AND AASHIKA JAIN

(Reuters) – Royal Bank of Scotland has neglected its technology for decades, the state-backed bank’s boss admitted on Tuesday after a system crash left more than 1 million customers unable to withdraw cash or pay for goods.

The problem for three hours on Monday, one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, raised questions about the resilience of RBS’s technology, which analysts and banking industry sources regard as outdated and made up of a complex patchwork of systems after dozens of acquisitions.   Continue reading “RBS admits decades of IT neglect after systems crash”

Yahoo News – by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is believed to have dismissed a powerful uncle, a man key to his rise to power, from his posts, South Korean lawmakers said on Tuesday, a move that could help consolidate his power base with a younger guard of aides.

Jang Song Thaek was likely sacked as vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission and as a department head of the ruling Workers’ Party, lawmaker Jung Cheong-rae said, citing a senior South Korean official with the National Intelligence Service (NIS).   Continue reading “North Korea’s Kim seen behind sacking of powerful uncle”

NJ.com – by Mike Davis

ROBBINSVILLE — Robbinsville Mayor David Fried today declared in an open letter to township residents that he would proudly hold a “Christmas” tree lighting ceremony and criticized any politically correct or secular terms for the event.

A secular “tree lighting ceremony” had been advertised for the township, but Fried said he was upset the township could identify the “Hanukkah Menorah” and not the Christmas tree.   Continue reading “‘Holiday tree celebration?’ Robbinsville mayor says not in his town – Will proudly host ‘Christmas tree lighting’”