Slashdot Mirror

HSBC processed transactions for Iran in Europe, at a time when the USA had not successfully forced Iranian sanctions onto the EU and thus they were entirely legal.

If I were processing money for you in full knowledge that you were funding terrorism I'd be an accomplice wouldn't I?

[listed banks] conspired with Iran and its banks to withhold certain data from transactions, enabling them to circumvent monitoring by U.S. regulators

Disney, DreamWorks Sued Over Alleged No-Poaching Accord: "Walt Disney Co., DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and other film industry companies were sued in an antitrust case that may reflect a new wave of litigation applying traditional price-fixing claims to labor markets. Today's lawsuit accusing the California-based companies of colluding to not hire each other's software engineers , digital artists and animators comes as Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. are trying to resolve similar claims after failing to win court approval of a proposed $324.5 million settlement with 64,000 of their technical workers."

Renewable energy in Germany is increasing, so... bullshit much?

Right. That must be why Germany is abandoning it's 2020 CO2 goals.

Or maybe why Rising German Coal Use Imperils European Emissions Deal

Yeah, it's all Dick Chaney's fault. Oh wait, it says in the article that Dick Cheney was largely responsible for the large funding increase for treatment of Ebola, etc.

Now the Bloomberg article clearly and accurately points out that Cheney did this to combat potential terrorism threats. But hey, no reason not to blame Republicans for being pro-death, anti-vaccine, etc. just because you have no idea about the actual funding details in this case.

Like most people, Dick Cheney has some things to like, some things to dislike. At least Cheney shot an attorney in the face.

3% cancellations after a crash of a brand new, unproven edge technology? Malaysia Airlines cancellations peaked at 20% after its two recent accidents involving well-tested conventional technology:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...
Moral: people who panic and fly off the handle in response to technological problems don't become the one percenters who can afford a tourist space flight.

(Did you know ~30% of San Francisco's air pollution was emitted in China?)

Well... 25% of US coal exports goes to Asia.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinener...

U.S. coal exports have made steady inroads into the Asian market since 2007. Almost all the U.S. coal exported to Asia went to the world's top four coal importers: China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Asia's share of total U.S. coal exports increased from 2% in 2007 to 25% in 2012. While U.S. coal has also been gaining market share in Asia, it provided less than 4% of Asia's coal imports in 2012, and less than 1% of total coal consumed by the four large Asian importers.

And as natural gas pushes out coal in the US, that only means even more coal gets to be exported to Asia.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

Hey, look at it this way.
USA gets cheap labor and ONLY a tiny fraction of pollution from its own coal.
Meanwhile, China pays USA for coal, keeps nearly all of the pollution from said coal, and exports cheap labor to USA.

USA gets cleaner air, cheap products and profit - while China gets cheap energy, much lesser profit and air and other pollution.
It's a win-win.
Mostly for USA, but it's a win-win.

You didn't bother to provide a source but I will: New wind and solar plants generate cheaper low-carbon electricity than the latest nuclear reactors, a study shows, indicating they will lead a global push for green energy. There are lot of different factors that make this claim debatable, but even if wind is still somewhat more than nuclear, it's not "very expensive" which was the point.

The FCC's $2 billion ERate increase is specifically earmarked for Wifi deployments. See: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-11/fcc-approves-2-billion-boost-for-wireless-internet-in-schools.html

My experience contracting for public schools has shown me how incredibly wasteful schools can be when ERate pays for up to 90% of their costs. Suddenly, tiny charter schools are replacing 50Mb/s coax internet connections with dedicated 1Gb/s fiber. Schools buy expensive APs from Cisco, Aerohive, etc. because they only incur a fraction of the cost, while much cheaper solutions from companies like Ubiquiti would work just fine. Ironically, the deployments are usually terrible because ERate funds cannot be used to pay for staff, so these systems are run by idiots.

Actually ApplePay *DOES* cost more to the merchant. It's + ??%. Current CC's charge 2 or 3%.We can probably guess that ApplePay will want somewhere aroun 1%/transaction. So the ApplePay merchant charge will be 3% -> 4% vs. todays 2%->3%.

Here's a link to Bloomberg.com with the story. They don't quote numbers, just an anonymous source indicating that ApplePay will charge a per-transaction fee.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-27/microsoft-said-to-work-on-software-for-arm-based-servers.html

Egalitarianism

Wage gap myth:

http://www.consad.com/content/reports/Gender%20Wage%20Gap%20Final%20Report.pdf

Majors by Gender: Is It Bias or the Major that Determines Future Pay?

There Is No Male-Female Wage Gap

The Gender Pay Gap is a Complete Myth

Gender pay gap is not what activists claim

Equal pay statistics are bogus because they don’t compare like with like

Fair Pay Isn’t Always Equal Pay

Wage Gap Myth Exposed -- By Feminists

5 Feminist Myths That Will Not Die

The Wage Gap Myth

Don’t Blame Discrimination for Gender Wage Gap

The pay inequality myth: Women are more equal than you think

Women Now a Majority in American Workplaces

Labor force participation rate for men has never been lower.

Share of Men in Labor Force at All-Time Low

Women In Tech Make More Money And Land Better Jobs Than Men

Female U.S. corporate directors out-earn men: study

Female CEOs outearned men in 2009.

Women between ages 21 and 30 working full-time made 117% of men’s wages.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, single women between 22 and 30 years old earn an average of $27,000 a year. That’s 8% more than comparable men.

Workplace Salaries: At Last, Women on Top

Young Women’s Pay Exceeds Male Peers

The 15 Jobs Where Women Earn More Than Men

Women aged between 22 and 29 earn over £10 per hour on average, compared to men their same age who earn just under this amount.

Young women now earn more than men in UK

As well, millions (literally I'm afraid) of Americans are terrified by hospitals because just going there will almost certainly result in involuntary bankruptcy. The CDC and political leaders are saying nothing about who pays if you follow public health guidelines and go for treatment or observation. They seem unaware of how people make these decisions, and even well-versed journalists have no idea how hospitals respond when patients cannot pay. For example, in http://washpost.bloomberg.com/... Bloomberg quotes a JHU professor saying "If they recognize that [Thomas Eric Duncan] has no money they will clearly just write it off as charity care." That is simply not true. Non-profit hospitals are by far the #1 parties putting people into involuntary bankruptcy.

The care for Thomas Eric Duncan, "patient zero" in Texas, in estimated in the same article as over $500,000 even before he died. Presumably, due to the publicity, that bill was never sent. But who knows.

Did you discuss it with these chaps?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

http://www.renewableenergyworl...

http://news.stanford.edu/pr/20...

It does take up more land to do this - about 2.5 times as much if you use the Japanese system and crop spacing.
But you're not killing farmland, you're having a fairly minor impact on crop yield if the land is healthy and current FiTs provide a much better income for most farmers than they'll get from crops alone.

Not any time soon.

Legislation in both chambers of Congress would limit the Department of Defense's ability to buy alternative fuels, reflecting congressional Republicans' criticism of Pentagon efforts to green the military.

A $554 billion defense spending bill approved by the House earlier this month would limit DOD's ability to produce or procure biofuels if the cost exceeds the price of traditional fossil fuel.

Oh, you mean the opposite of that.

But seriously, as the other response said, the glut of oil from new extraction technology is pretty much the death knell for any serious efforts at diversifying the energy supply. Or, I guess, heading off global warming, although I think coal is the #1 problem there - coal is so cheap and unlimited and irresistible and deadly, it's like a free cigarette vending machine at the Jr High.

As we all know, there's no problem in the labor market that can't be solved with more education.

As President Obama says at the official White House web site, "Earning a post-secondary degree or credential is no longer just a pathway to opportunity for a talented few; rather, it is a prerequisite for the growing jobs of the new economy." Because, as he notes, "With the average earnings of college graduates at a level that is twice as high as that of workers with only a high school diploma, higher education is now the clearest pathway into the middle class."

To help sustain this middle class, the President has proposed policies that will:

- Help Middle Class Families Afford College
- by Keeping Costs Down
- Strengthen Community Colleges
- Improve Transparency and Accountability

Therefore, earning a PhDs must not be enough. What we need is a new credential. Something beyond PhD. A... "Super PhD" that will help high achievers stand out to those employers seeking only the best. Of course, that means longer class schedules, more lab training, in short... more education.

Don't worry, our financial institutions are here to help. Banks will be happy to lend you more with government backed student loans. It's the least they can do for a beleaguered middle class too uneducated to succeed in this high tech economy.

America is that Shiny City upon a Hill, a place where gleaming gold coins lay scattered about ripe for the picking. You only need more education to find them. A new life awaits you in that shining city on the hill. The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure! So come on America, become a go-getter and land that Super PhD! The Sciences are just filled with Gold Coins of Opportunity in this Shinny City on a Hill for those with the right education.

You know that's not how it works, right?

http://www.prairiebizmag.com/e...

http://www.businessweek.com/ar...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

http://www.chron.com/jobs/arti...

http://www.impactstaffing.com/...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

tl;dr: People think it'll happen at other banks anyway, plus it costs money to change banks, thus they don't care enough and stick with Chase (JP Morgan).
And, naturally, how does the stock market react to that? "The bankâ(TM)s shares climbed 2.5 percent to $60.30"

Start making people care that a company they do business with has been hacked, maybe then people will actually bother to worry about motives.

Presumably Jay Radcliffe's research is old news to you, correct? If not, I'd take a quick look-see...

First, the public subsidy.

Fed funds, the U.S. overnight inter-bank lending rate, opened 0.08 percent, within the Federal Reserve’s target of zero to 0.25 percent, ICAP Plc, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, said in an e-mailed statement.

Fed funds traded from 0.06 percent to 0.3125 percent yesterday, according to data posted on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s website. The fed effective, or a volume-weighted average of rates on trades arranged by major brokers, was 0.09 percent.

This this is on Oct. 2 2014: 0.09% is free money. Who gets this free money: the big banks, B of A, Citi, Chase. Also the top four investment firms which are also banks: #1 Goldman Sachs, #2 Morgan Stanley, #3 JPMorgan Chase, #4 Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Note the overlap, there is no meaningful difference between banks and brokerage firms.

So what is the result? Why the Fed's Zero Interest Rate Policy Isn't Working.

But, the Fed’s problem – like Japan a decade ago – is as the International Monetary Fund puts it in its latest financial stability report, the economy is “bifurcated”. Many large American companies, particularly those with global operations, are highly profitable and liquid. Unsurprisingly, for them “bank lending conditions and capital market financing remain easy”, the IMF notes.

But many small and medium-sized companies – or the entities that typically create jobs inside America, not overseas – find it hard to raise funds. A survey conducted by the International Franchise Association in Washington, for example, notes that whereas in March half of its members expected credit conditions to improve soon, now less than a quarter expect any easing; even as Treasury yields fall.

And the lack of any effective oversight: Bank of America fined $7.65M over accounting blunder.

The Wall Street Journal reports the SEC charged BofA with breaking securities laws pertaining to record-keeping and internal controls after the bank disclosed in April that it had discovered a nearly $4 billion accounting error.

So 7,650,000 divided by 4,000,000,000 = 0.019125 or 1.9125%. Note that this error existed for years, and it meant that BofA saved a huge amount of money by having $4 billion less in capital reserves then was required.

But to understand what the fine really means it should be compared to the market capitation (total worth on the stock market), which on Oct 2 2014 was $177 billion. So 7,650,000 divided by 117,000,000,000 = 4.32203e-05 = .0000432203 = 0.00432203%. Ohh, that must have really really hurt.

No one was held accountable. No one lost their job, was demoted, got a bad mark on their permanent record. The stock holders end up paying the fine. That's what it means to have no effective oversight.

So the NFL is in trouble and B of A gets a fine valued at 0.00432203% of their current net worth. That is why my brain hurts.

Interestingly, this was predicted quite a few years out. I wonder what took so long?

Kucera over at Bloomberg seems to be one of the earliest analysts to identify it back in very early 2012: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

You mean the same Germans that are building more coal fired power plants?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

Yeah Solar supplements natural gas peaking power. It does not compete with Coal...
Yeah you have just proved my point.

Here's what's happening in the real world.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

Germany's power production has gotten to be so unreliable that they are paying companies to shut down during
drops and add usage during surges. They are being paid up to 400 times the whole sale price.
Variable pricing is similarly done in the USA as well - offer variable prices during peak periods, and even paying industrial users if they shut down during extreme peak times, but it's nothing like what's happening in Germany. In the USA, it's done to hold down costs. In Germany it's being done to maintain stability of the grid, which is basing the grid's stability on faith, hope, and trust that those users will comply everytime it's needed.

So, the industrial users have found a way out: build their own generation
http://online.wsj.com/news/art...
"Every sixth company in Europe's largest economy now generates its own electricity, roughly 50% more than one year ago, according to Germany's Chamber of Commerce and Industry."

And damage to industrial equipment:
http://instituteforenergyresea...

For the most part, they already have.

US Solar subsidies in decline:
http://www.pv-magazine.com/new...

Australian subsidies in decline:
http://www.theaustralian.com.a...

China cuts solar subsidies:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

And yet it hasn't stopped solar deployments. Because even without subsidies, they're now cost competitive. Utility companies can't use the canard of government subsidized energy any longer. Yet they've invested - as the Economist notes - half a trillion in fossil fuel plants worldwide. I'm proposing a solution that at least prevents a utility meltdown during the transition period.

In no way has any person ever been thrown in jail for nonpayment of alimony Mr. MRA McLieYourAssOff.

A quick search says otherwise

http://www.weinsteinlawoffice....

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

http://www.cobbcountydivorcela...

And in case you think those are all biased propaganda, here's a blurb from the wikipedia entry on alimony, parts bolded for your convenience:

"One who allows his or her alimony obligations to go into arrears, where there is an ability to pay, may be found in contempt of court and be sent to jail. Alimony obligations are not discharged as a result of the obligee filing bankruptcy. Ex-spouses who allow child-support obligations to go into arrears may have certain licenses seized, be found in contempt of court, and/or be sent to jail. Like alimony, child-support obligations are not discharged as a result of the obligee filing bankruptcy."

And on a related note, you could even be jailed and pay child support for a kid that isn't yours!

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/0...

Apple is somewhat special. See, for example:

Institutional ownership of Apple shares has declined as funds question the company’s ability to increase revenue long term, Morgan Stanley said in a report this week. Apple’s 30 largest shareholders own a record low 30 percent of shares outstanding, down from a peak of 40 percent in 2009, according to the report.

The whole thing seems like a clever scheme by Chinese companies and Goldman Sachs to sucker money out of U.S. investors.

It is. What do you really own with Alibaba? The websites? No.

What's really for sale: When investors buy Alibaba, they are actually purchasing shares in a Cayman Islands entity called Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

But that company -- surprise! -- doesn't actually own Alibaba. Instead, Ma and another co-founder, Simon Xie, own most of Alibaba's biggest businesses according to Chinese law. Ma and Xie are then under contract to turn profits over to the Cayman entity.

The arrangement is called a variable interest entity (VIE), and is necessary to get around China's strict foreign investment rules. But investors should be aware of the structure -- especially since Chinese courts have not clarified the legality of the arrangement.

Voting rights and control in the company? No.

So what the fuck do you actually own? Hope and promises. My ex-wife gave me those.

P.S. Even the Hong Kong stock exchange spurned Alibaba.

Tax subscribers. Obviously. The funds will be pissed away giving Canadian cable executives better bonuses

Is Canada still taxing blank media to subsidize the "victims" of "piracy?"

Whatever. Enjoy your cable monopoly Canuckistan. You deserve it. As do we.

Yahoo has something to tell you about their $250,000 per day fine if they didn't accept PRISM

Nonsense.

http://www.netindex.com/downlo...

http://www.akamai.com/dl/akama...

http://www.xconomy.com/boston/...

http://www.bloomberg.com/slide...

If you count the US on a state-by-state basis and compare with the rest of the world, US states would take most of the top-10 spots.

On the other hand, parts of Europe (and the EU) are poorly served in terms of telecom services, charging high prices, having low penetration, and/or being slow.

There I said it. All the so called "Progressives" just love this guy because he is supposedly out in front of all these social issues. U2 has made hundreds of millions of dollars over the years, almost all of it funneled through companies in Ireland and the Netherlands with the express purpose of avoiding taxes. In 2007 they transferred most of their music catalog to a tax-free jurisdiction in the Netherlands.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/...

Just like the rest of these celebrity do-gooders he just loves to get up on stage and implore YOU to donate YOUR money to such and such a cause. But he, despite his vast resources, give little or none of his OWN money. Yes, he donates his "time" but all of his expenses (and those of his huge entourage) are paid for by the charity. So not only does he not contribute any money, a good portion of your donation is going towards paying his expenses.

The ONE Campaign, founded by Bono and U2, urges governments around the world to give more money to poor nations. Fine. Noble cause. But don't ask me to take this guy seriously when he is an obvious tax dodger. If it were not for people like him maybe governments would have enough money to hand out.

I'm not against making money. Far from it. But you can't have it both ways. Either you are a Capitalist or you're not.

So do us a favor, Bono. Get back on your private jet and go count all that money you've made by NOT paying your fair share of taxes.

http://www.businessweek.com/ne...

RWE AG said Aug. 12 it will halt an extra 1,005 megawatts of coal and lignite capacity by the first quarter of 2017, taking the total planned capacity cuts to 8,940 megawatts. Old lignite plants are candidates for closing, according to New York-based Pira, whose clients include oil companies, utilities and governments. A thousand megawatts is enough to power 2 million European homes.

They are shutting down the old coal plants, replacing them with new, more efficient and cleaner ones... and now they have to shut down and reduce production of those too.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

Wind and solarâ(TM)s share of installed German power capacity will rise to 42 percent by next year from 30 percent in 2010, according to European Union data compiled by Citigroup Inc. The share of hard coal and lignite plant capacity will drop to 28 percent from 32 percent, the data show.

German utilities plan to start new hard-coal plants with 5,606 megawatts of capacity this year and next, data from Bonn-based national grid regulator Bundesnetzagentur show. That compares with a target of at least 10,000 megawatts from new solar and wind installations in 2014 and 2015 under Germanyâ(TM)s renewable energy act, which takes effect Aug. 1. Solar output reached a record 24,244 megawatts on June 6, according to EEX.

Because... They are getting more out of all the solar and wind than expected. They are getting negative electricity prices in January and May.
http://www.reuters.com/article...
http://www.businessinsider.com...

Since 1997 germany has more than halfed!!! its usage of coal!

Yes, that was good for them back in the 90s, but now coal usage is going up.

They lack coal plants to increase coal usage significantly, if a coal plant is burning at 100% it certainly can not increase its rate of burning. Burning more coal than actual power is consumed makes no sense either. However, I did not think about that, they can produce base load with coal where they once used nuclear plants.

And all it takes is a simple search to find Germany is building new coal power plants. Which is my point. By eliminating nuclear and moving more production to coal then they are offsetting all the gains they have made in renewables when they should be keeping nuclear and reducing coal and oil instead.

There is certainly no sustained increase in coal usage in Germany.

That is not what I am reading about Germany. Despite the much hyped gains in renewables, those gains have been offset by the reduction in nuclear and the rise of coal use

And I doubt there is any in Japan either. Japan used oil plants as fall back in power production, not coal plants.

And that is not what I am reading about in Japan either where there are "Plans by Japanese companies to spend billions of dollars on new coal-fired plants"

If the plans all come to fruition, Japan's coal-fired power capacity would increase to around 47 gigawatts over the next decade or so, up 21% from the time right before the Fukushima accident.

So, we have increases in coal in Japan and Germany. China is still using coal like gang busters to power the largest industrial economy in the world, but to their credit they are also making a big investments in nuclear, solar, hydro and wind. The US is basically shifting to more natural gas which is better than coal, but nuclear is pretty much stalled and solar and wind are growing at a fast pace relative to their relatively low percentage of the energy mix, but isn't going to make a real dent in CO2 anytime soon unless those renewable growth rates are sustainable... but those growth rates aren't sustainable because all the easier locations for solar and wind are being built out first which should result in a slowdown in the adoption curve in future years unless solar panel prices really plummet and then the economics of it really changes.

Also, I noticed in one of those articles that Japan was promoting coal for developing economies, which would put us even further into a CO2 hole and undermine progress being made elsewhere as developing economies embrace coal as the lowest cost alternative. If the highly stable and developed economies are embracing coal, the developing world is embracing coal, then the current efforts for renewables look like little more than window dressing on the fact that Global Climate change is really being considered as a fait accompli by the world's decision makers.

I take Climate change seriously. I would rather not have the world experience the worst case scenarios, but I think that if we are going to avoid that worst case scenarios, then most environmentalists need to stop opposing nuclear or we might as well just do nothing now and pray for a technological miracle sometime before it is too late. Personally I would rather put forward a viable plan now that includes government subsidies and incentives for big increases in solar and wind, big increases in nuclear and maybe natural gas for the remaining 20% of the mix. I think that moving away from oil and coal and eventually most natural gas is doable. But not if you think that solar panels and wind turbines are going to provide for all our energy needs alone, not at anywhere near these population levels they won't.

Other manufactures already have this tech at the consumer vehicle.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

"A pretty good approximation of 100% would be my guess. "
nope. errors were found. Does it apply to every case? can't say.
The code in Toyota's systems are bad.

http://www.sddt.com/files/Book...

http://www.sddt.com/files/BARR...

" The NHTSA has looked into this twice without finding ANY evidence of mechanical or electrical malfunction."
Note: that doesn't include software.

" I work in the industry."
Based on the fact you don't seem to know anything relevant about the industry, I am just going to assume that means you pump gas.

Apple's specific argument was: "Samsung's claim that it has discontinued selling the particular models found to infringe or design around Apple's patents in no way diminishes Apple's need for injunctive relief... Because Samsung frequently brings new products to market, an injunction is important to providing Apple the relief it needs to combat any future infringement by Samsung through products not more than colorably different from those already found to infringe."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

However, even here, the argument is pretty darn weak. Apple only requested a number of devices plus any variants of those devices that are practically the same as those devices.

Essentially, they're asking an injunction against, say, a Galaxy S or a Galaxy S2 and any minor variants on them. But nobody sells them anymore except for a few ebay sellers. Samsung is not going to start reselling Galaxy S or S2 phones.

The other complaint was that they were too often scheduled for third shift one day, then second shift the next day. I know that with scheduling software that ignores human needs and only factors in minimizing labor costs this has become more of an issue.

I completely agree that an 24 hour economy can be more efficient than one that is not. OTOH, we are seeing that places like McDonald's are externalizing a lot of costs to the taxpayer to make such a thing happen.

In my case if I put in an all nighter at work or worked extra shifts it was by choice. Most places I worked did not encourage such things because it was unhealthy. But when on it young and energetic, some things are more acceptable.

because they don't pay tax on it there either.

But shouldn't that be up to the foreign countries where the money is earned? If a country doesn't want to tax earnings in its borders, that's their business. It doesn't mean the US or any other country should have a claim on it.

It hasn't been earned in those countries though, just shifted there after having been earned elsewhere (i.e. in the US or other high tax countries) by a shady loophole mechanism.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

Microsoft are simply copying what Apple does. IBM and others are doing it too.

They're all hoping that they can get the tax law changed so that they can repatriate the profits without paying the current tax rate.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

Give it up. The nuclear fanboys on slashdot will not believe it.

The nuclear industry itself states that this is the reason they don't build nuclear power plants (John Rowe):
http://www.bloomberg.com/video...

No sir.

There's a problem and they're handling it immediately and responsibly,

instead of pursuing the GM/Toyota strategy of ignoring it and hoping it goes away.

GM hardly ignored their problem - they actively tried to cover it up, probably all the way back to 2005 or 2006, maybe even with government help, especially once they became Government Motors:

GM Misses Red Flags From Rental Car Canaries on Crashes

Utilities can only delay solar a little. PV solar, without subsidies, is just now becoming cheaper than fuel-powered electricity in sunny locations. Bloomberg reports the first non-subsidized solar plant to be built in Spain.

In the next decade, we'll see the end of subsidies and continued growth in PV solar. Anywhere the biggest daytime power load is from air conditioning, solar will win out.

Early solar adopters aren't bearing this cost because the power company charges them same amount for power whether or not the sun is shining - it's not really an issue until solar is a bigger power source. Germany IS already there, leading the way with solar and wind, and has been paying outrageous prices for electricity at certain moments when there is a crunch - up to 400 times the normal rate! But as you can imagine this is a huge financial incentive to create new solutions.

I question the study because the transition to solar will be gradual, and it's hard to say what more efficient means we might come up with to store power. If we had a smart grid that could communicate fluctuating electricity prices to devices, there might be a lot they could do.

I felt the need to re-arrange a bit so the most severe issues are first.

The problem in USA is not that Google and Apple had agreements not to hire from each other, it's that there are so few employers at all, and that's a problem of business costs being too high thanks to government rules, taxes, regulations, litigation costs, inflation etc.

Wrong, absolutely wrong. Companies colluding to reduce employee wages is illegal and a problem. Hence the ruling and pending judgement to both reward people shafted by these illegal arrangements and punish the companies for using them.

Have you ever interviewed for either Google or Apple? I have, and their built in exclusion process ensures that they can hire only who they want when they want. If they want to save money they hire nobody local, and then claim that they need more H1B workers.

I don't take issue with the ability of a company to exclude people based on a lack of experience or knowledge, but that's not the criteria these companies are using to make exclusions. Google for example demands that you spend about a week studying various "trick questions" for their interview process. Your first phone interview will provide you a list of things to study, none of which have to pertain to the job you are interviewing for.

"trick questions" which does not test your real knowledge. It is however a great test to determine who will provide free labor without complaints.

Hiring employees becomes necessary when there is more work that can be done, where the cost of hired labour is lower than the value produced by that labour.

That part you have correct, but then it all goes downhill.

If you make labour cost too high, less of it will be bought, because the value produced by that labour may not be enough to cover the cost and to make some profit, and the whole point of business is to generate profit, otherwise it's not a business but a hobby.

Great, but why are you limiting your point on labor to only the worker bees? A CEO should make 145 million dollars a year while a worker bee makes 40K and is told they are overpaid? A manager can make a 1 million dollar bonus by eliminating 5 minimum wage employees and replacing them with 5 people making .60 an hour in a foreign country? Events similar to these happen frequently in the US. Do the math, how does this add up?

Look, I agree that the welfare state is a huge problem. That last paragraph has nothing to do with the welfare state, it has to deal with deregulation and incentives in the system to fuck people over so that you can make big bucks. Even to the point where a board will fire a CEO of a profitable company for not fucking his employees.

Back when the accident happened, a significant number of Slashdotters were saying that no meltdown had occurred, that there was no significant structural damage, that no radioactive material would reach the sea, that the incident was overblown and that the plant would be largely still operational.

God, we're sure lucky to have someone so intelligent as you to save us from ourselves... lets review the first article on slashdot about Fukushima so we can let you revel in our combined humiliation:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/s...

What's this? The post had meltdown right in the title? How could this be?!!?
Oh that's right, you're full of shit.
And just to make it clear, if you read through those posts... the Slashdot consensus at the time was the same as yours: The worlds over... big corporations just killed us all.

The current death toll of the disaster: 0
With 1 worker who died of esophageal cancer... so maybe 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

Long term affects:

Predicted future cancer deaths due to accumulated radiation exposures in the population living near Fukushima are predicted to be extremely low to none.

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2...

Your reactionary statements are not based in fact.
Nuclear power is fairly safe, modern reactors literally CANNOT melt down.
The nuclear industry is prevented from upgrading their plants to safer models because people like you panic and protest.
Japan moved to coal to replace the power lost due to the loss of nuclear power:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...
24,000 people per year died because of polution from coal fired power plants:
http://www.catf.us/fossil/prob...

get a clue

See Venezuela.

If you can catch a flight (kinda tough at the moment because the Government has effectively nationalized airline ticket revenue so the airlines have canceled most regular service) you might take a trip and stay if you like it so much.

Bring extra toilet paper.

energy, water, medical

All of the above has either been or is under imminent threat of nationalization. Lets look at the results;

Energy: Venezuelan president’s live speech about blackouts interrupted by blackouts
Water: Caracas Goes Thirsty as Taps Run Dry and Bottles Vanish
Medicine: Patients urged to show up at hospitals with their own disinfectant, gauze and pain killers

Of course the information will get additional publicity!

<kneejerk>Sure it will, right up until the police turn up at Google's European workplaces and start arresting their corporate officers for contempt of court.</kneejerk>

That possibility may or may not be hyperbole, of course.

...

There's not "might" about that being hyperbole at all.

Google's corporate officers will have to wait in line behind the bankers from the housing crash and GM's execs from their government-aided coverup of deadly defects.

Of-course I completely forgot to mention all of the service prices that are rising, from accounting, to lawyers, to court fees, to mailing, to education, to car repair, etc.

Did I forget to mention coffee and coffee shops?

Obviously water

They will talk about drought and bandits and weather and climate and every single excuse under the Sun except for the actual real cause of this nonsense: inflation.

You are not buying stuff at the same price as 6 years ago, maybe you should actually pay attention to the receipts.

beef, pork, avocado, fruits, veggies, almonds, pinenuts, walnuts, mozarella, cheddar, other cheeses, seafood, grains, soy, soy, palm oil, milk, gasoline, beer and more beer, limes, canadian bacon, barley, restaurants, restaurants, restaurants,electrical energy, car rentals, hotel rooms, cab fairs,

air travel and air travel gets more expensive in many other ways, various extra fees, less room, more seats on planes

aluminium,