Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Winter Blast Dumps More Than A Foot Of Snow On Parts Of New England
AP/HP | author | date

BOSTON (AP) -- The latest blast of snow to hit New England dumped more than a foot in part of Massachusetts and packed heavy winds that left thousands without power Sunday on Cape Cod.

... Wind gusts of more than 50 mph were reported Saturday night on Cape Cod, where utility NStar said about 1,750 customers were without power on Sunday evening. Crews from Connecticut crossed into Massachusetts to help fix the power outages after more than 13,000 customers started the morning without power. ... Read more

Glenn Greenwald Among Four To Win Polk Award For Snowden Stories
AP & HP | author | 02/17/14

Four journalists who reported on the extent of the National Security Agency's secret surveillance based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden are among the winners of the 65th annual George Polk Awards in Journalism.

Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras of The Guardian and Barton Gellman of The Washington Post will receive the award for national security reporting for stories based on secret documents leaked by Snowden, a former intelligence analyst. The awards were announced Sunday by Long Island University. ... Read more

Ex-Morgan Stanley Chief Jams Foot in Mouth, Complains of CEO Abuse
Rollin gStone | Matt Taibbi | 02/13/14

... Mack went on to say that the debate over compensation was healthy, just not always warranted. "As long as shareholders reward performance," he said, "we can argue." But, he added, "The last time I checked, this business is still a business that pays people extremely well."

It's already funny that of all the injustices in the world, this was the one Mack decided to worry about on TV: the criticism of poor Jamie Dimon's 74 percent raise. But more to the point: If we really did live in a world where shareholders rewarded performance, would a CEO who just oversaw a record $20 billion in regulatory penalties even have a job, much less be getting a raise? .... Read more
Bloomberg | John Mack Says Wall Street Pay Debate Is `Healthy' (02/11/14) [13:02]

Fracking is draining water from US areas suffering major shortages - report
RT | author | 02/07/14

Some of the most drought-ravaged areas of the US are also heavily targeted for oil and gas development using hydraulic fracturing - a practice that exacerbates water shortages - according to a new report.

Three-quarters of the nearly 40,000 oil and gas wells drilled in the US since 2011 were located in areas of the country facing water scarcity, according to research by the Ceres investor network. Over half of those new wells were in areas experiencing drought conditions. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in those wells required the use of 97 billion gallons of water, Ceres found. ... Read more

Brazil rations water in 140 cities amid worst drought in decades
RT | author | 02/16/14

Over 140 Brazilian cities have been pushed to ration water during the worst drought on record, according to a survey conducted by the country's leading newspaper. Some neighborhoods only receive water once every three days.

Water is being rationed to nearly 6 million people living in a total of 142 cities across 11 states in Brazil, the world's leading exporter of soybeans, coffee, orange juice, sugar and beef. Water supply companies told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that the country's reservoirs, rivers and streams are the driest they have been in 20 years. A record heat wave could raise energy prices and damage crops. ... Read more