This Episode’s Executive Producer and 271 Club Member: Robert Goshko
Art By: Thijs Brouwers
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We’ve seen TASER electroshock weapons designed for law enforcement, personal protection and even riot control, but in all of the above cases, it’s a human on the receiving end. Now the company has a different target in sight for its “less lethal” technology … and it’s one that could create as much controversy as its predecessors – the TASER Wildlife Electronic Control Device (ECD).
Introduced at this week’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas, the TASER Wildlife ECD has been developed as an alternative tool for less effective methods of animal control used by wildlife professionals like chemical or acoustic repellents. It is designed for use on large animals like bears and elk.
“The TASER Wildlife ECD is an extension of TASER’s technology to save animal lives,” said Rick Smith, CEO and co-founder of TASER International. “It is designed to incapacitate larger animals more effectively and safer than current animal control tools.”
Oh man. Now PETA has something else to bitch about.
If you haven’t been to Las Vegas for a while, I thought I’d record a drive from the Welcome Sign to the Stratosphere hotel with local radio stations playing in the background. Shot during CES.
Next up: Some athletes have taken steroids. Strange, but true!
Researchers have measured the actual blood alcohol level of fans leaving professional football and baseball games. And they found that eight percent of all the spectators willing to take the breathalyzer exam were over the legal limit for driving. The work appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. [Darin Erickson et al., “Can We Assess Blood Alcohol Levels of Attendees Leaving Professional Sporting Events?”]
The investigators managed to get breath samples from 362 fans exiting 13 different baseball games and three football games. Forty percent registered some level of alcohol on the meters. Fans under the age of 35 were nine times more likely to be over the limit than older fans. And tailgaters were 14 times more likely than other fans to be over the limit.
Not that speculation in oil futures has anything to do with the prices, of course.
First there’s this:
Most Americans have no idea how important oil prices are to the overall health of the U.S. economy. Whenever oil prices have pressed toward record levels in recent decades, it has always resulted in an economic downturn. A high oil price does not just mean that consumers will have to pay a little more at the pump. The truth is that oil is the very lifeblood of our economic system. We have built our entire country around the concept that we can transport lots of stuff very long distances for a very, very cheap price. When that paradigm beings to change, it fundamentally alters the dynamics of the U.S. economy. A high oil price will mean an even faster economic decline for America.
Here’s one take on things:
The International Energy Agency (IEA), which represents industrial consumers, said prices “already pose a real economic risk” and said Saudi Arabia has stealthily boosted its output. However, OPEC said “any assumption that there is tightness in the market… is incorrect”. The cartel of oil-producing countries blamed the weak dollar and speculation for taking the price per barrel near $100.
[…]
He criticised the IEA for lacking “consistency”, suggesting it was willing to add to oil prices by telling members to raise related taxes, but would then pressure OPEC to curb prices to safeguard growth. However, analysts say that the cartel is reluctant to openly agree output rises in case prices drop sharply.
And then there’s this:
Oil prices dropped ahead of important data on U.S. oil supplies, due 11 a.m. EST Thursday. U.S. oil inventories are expected to fall by 900,000 barrels in the weekly report from the Department of Energy. But the expected decline is partly due to the shutdown of the Trans Alaska Pipeline, which restarted Monday. Fuel inventories are seen continuing their recent steep increase, with gasoline stockpiles expected to grow 2.3 million barrels and distillates, including heating oil and diesel, seen adding 500,000 barrels.
[…]
Supply issues have been paramount in recent days after the shutdown of the Alaska pipeline last week pushed crude futures back above $90 a barrel. With the key 800-mile oil route back in service, investors are closely watching the recent rise in stockpiles of fuel products, both in the U.S. and Europe, as continued builds could stifle any push toward triple-digit oil.
For the record, I have never considered this issue anything more than a distraction. I am beginning to wonder….
A business privacy case that comes before the U.S. Supreme Court today may rekindle a debate among the justices over whether corporations are like people, even to the point of suffering embarrassment.
The case, set to be argued in Washington, pits the Obama administration against AT&T Inc. over the release of documents stemming from a government investigation of the company. The question is whether corporations can invoke a Freedom of Information Act provision that protects against invasions of “personal privacy.”
As with a corporate campaign spending case the court resolved a year ago, the answer may reflect the justices’ differing views about the nature of corporations. In siding with AT&T, a lower court said companies can be embarrassed and stigmatized just like human beings — a contention the Obama administration scoffed at.
Next, corporations will want the right to bear arms.
Found by Cinàedh.
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In September, a privately held and highly secretive U.S. bio-tech company named Joule Unlimited received a patent for “a proprietary organism” – a genetically adapted E. coli bacterium – that feeds solely on carbon dioxide and excretes liquid hydrocarbons: diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline. This breakthrough technology, the company says, will deliver renewable supplies of liquid fossil fuel almost anywhere on Earth, in essentially unlimited quantity and at an energy-cost equivalent of $30 (U.S.) a barrel of crude oil. It will deliver, the company says, “fossil fuels on demand.”
We’re not talking “bio-fuels” – not, at any rate, in the usual sense of the word. The Joule technology requires no “feedstock,” no corn, no wood, no garbage, no algae. Aside from hungry, gene-altered micro-organisms, it requires only carbon dioxide and sunshine to manufacture crude. And water: whether fresh, brackish or salt. With these “inputs,” it mimics photosynthesis, the process by which green leaves use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds. Indeed, the company describes its manufacture of fossil fuels as “artificial photosynthesis.”
If this is on the level, it would be fantastic.
Found by Cinàedh.
An update from the Boston Business Journal found by jeffreysdailey.
Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs invested $450m in the social network company at a price that valued Facebook at $50bn. It was then reported that the bank was looking to raise $1.5bn for Facebook through an exclusive share offer, known as a private placement, for the bank’s top clients…
The bank planned to set up a “special purpose vehicle” to allow its clients to invest in Facebook. The plan was widely seen as a way to circumnavigate rules that restrict to below 500 the number of US shareholders a private company can have. It subsequently transpired that Facebook was planning to address the 500 rule itself by going public or publishing full accounts…
American law prohibits “general solicitation and advertising” in private offerings, banning banks from promoting an offer by taking out advertisements or communicating with media outlets. A Goldman representative said that the media coverage could have been interpreted by regulators as marketing and publicity in contravention of private placement rules…
The move is a major embarrassment to Goldman. Its clients were reportedly told they would have to pay a minimum of $2m to invest and would be prohibited from selling their shares until 2013. The restrictions proved no barrier to the appetite of the bank’s US clients. Goldman was flooded with requests for shares.
The move will also be a blow to Facebook. Goldman was reportedly aiming to raise $1.5bn for the company but had received orders for $7bn.
Foreign investors are not covered by the same rules and will still be able to participate in the Facebook offering…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is making noises like standing up on their hind legs is easier than they thought.
Overdue.
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When transport chiefs wanted pub goers to get a ‘sober friend’ to give them a lift home they jokingly used a horse in their advert – not expecting anyone to take it literally.
But some drinkers in Montana, U.S., have started returning from bars on horseback – and police have confirmed it is legal to ride the animal while drunk.
The Department of Transportation were concerned that people were putting themselves at risk by not planning in advance how they were getting home.
Yet after the advert was produced, Helena Police Chief Troy McGee has revealed he has been inundated with calls from people wanting to know if they can ride home under the influence.
The Montana State law definition of a ‘vehicle’ excludes anything that runs under animal power – so police are powerless to stop drunks going home on horseback.
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Apple’s Steve Jobs will be taking a medical leave of absence for the second time in two years but will remain CEO of the company, involved in strategic decision-making.
Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will assume responsibility for the company’s day-to-day operations, amid continuing investor concerns over Apple’s plans for eventual transition in the corner office.
For Kindle and with free ePub version. Only $9.49 Great reading.
Here is what Gary Shapiro CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said: Dvorak's writing sings with insight and clarity. Whether or not you agree with John's views, he will get you thinking and is never boring. These essays are worth the read!
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