Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Freaky New World Order of International Treaties
truthdig.com | Peter Z. Scheer | 11/13/13

WikiLeaks blew open the secret negotiations behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement on Wednesday, releasing draft text that looks good for big corporations and bad for ordinary people.

The TPP is an existing treaty that could be expanded -- with new rules -- to cover as many as 13 countries and as much as 40 percent of the world's GDP. The scary thing about international agreements like this one is that they make local fights moot. Did you sign a petition to stop SOPA or PIPA? Too bad. The TPP would obviate those proposed U.S. laws. ... Read more

How the Stock Market Is Rigged, According to a Robo-Trading Whistleblower
motherboard.vice.com | Alec Liu | 11/14/13

"If you're on Wall Street, you would just assume that you're being ripped off, unless you were the one doing the ripping off," says Dave Lauer, who has helped build robotic systems at top firms like Citadel.

This is the opening of The Wall Street Code, a new documentary on the mysterious and sometimes incomprehensible world of high frequency trading produced by Backlight, a Dutch public broadcasting company. The focus of the documentary isn't on Lauer, who has testified as an expert at a Senate Committee Hearing on HFT, but on Haim Bodek, a "genius" algorithm architect who dared to break Wall Street's notorious omerta, the industry's unwritten rule of silence and secrecy. ... Read more

Flash-Crash Story Looks More Like a Fairy Tale
Bloomberg | Mark Buchanan | 05/07/12

Two years after the frightening spring day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost and regained about 600 points in a matter of minutes, we still don't really know why. This is a problem, because it means something similar -- or worse -- could happen again.

... The actual crisis struck in the three minutes between 2:41 p.m. and 2:44 p.m., when the market fell another 5 percent to 6 percent. Hunsader's analysis suggests this plunge was caused by high-frequency traders. They typically act as liquidity providers, standing ready to buy and sell at certain price levels. But the day's volatility prompted them to dump their holdings to avoid losses. ... Read about the Flash Crash

Ladydrawers - Zoned: The Mysterious "Foreign-Trade Zones" Outposts Inside the USA
truth-out.org | Anne Elizabeth Moore | 11/12/13

Lets look at the wacky world of Foreign-Trade Zones and the labor problems they foster. Despite their rampant growth in recent years, few know they exist. However, they contribute greatly to the annual gross domestic product - and the global garment trade.
Read more

Diabetes Kills One Person Every Six Seconds, New Estimates Show
Bloomberg | Albertina Torsoli | 11/14/13

Diabetes kills one person every six seconds and afflicts 382 million people worldwide, according to the International Diabetes Federation, which has been canvassing the help of people ranging from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to Bob Marley's nephew to raise awareness about the problem.

The number of diabetes cases has climbed 4.4 percent over the past two years, according to new figures the Brussels-based federation released today. The number of people affected by the disease is expected to climb 55 percent to 592 million by 2035 as factors including poor diet, a more sedentary lifestyle, increases in obesity and life expectancy fuel an epidemic, it said. There were only 285 million sufferers worldwide in 2009. ... Read more

South African farmers and scientists suggest the only way to save the endangered rhino is to legalise trade in the animal's horn. (06/13/12) [8:33]