Category Archives: Profiteering

Corrupt Guatemalan officials find help from an unlikely source: Marco Rubio | World news | The Guardian – Russians have bought Rubio too!

The Florida senator said that his decision was motivated by the case of a Russian exile family convicted by Cicig on charges of identity fraud. The Bitkovs were prosecuted as part of a broader investigation into high-level corruption at the immigration office which has so far resulted in more than 40 convictions.

Source: Corrupt Guatemalan officials find help from an unlikely source: Marco Rubio | World news | The Guardian

Study suggests oral antibiotics may increase kidney stone risk | CIDRAP

Over the last 30 years, the prevalence of kidney stone disease has risen by 70%, with the greatest increases seen in children and young women. Although dietary and lifestyle factors have been suggested as possible causes for this increase, the exact reasons remain unclear. In a study today in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, researchers with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia suggest another possibility: oral antibiotic use.

Source: Study suggests oral antibiotics may increase kidney stone risk | CIDRAP

E.P.A. Officials Sidelined After Questioning Scott Pruitt – The New York Times

Mr. Pruitt bristled when the officials — four career E.P.A. employees and one Trump administration political appointee — confronted him, the people said.

The political appointee, Kevin Chmielewski, was placed on administrative leave without pay, according to two of the people with knowledge of the situation. Mr. Chmielewski was among the first employees of Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign, serving as a senior advance official. The two people, who are administration officials, said that Mr. Chmielewski flagged some of his concerns about Mr. Pruitt directly to the White House’s presidential personnel office.

Two of the career officials, Reginald E. Allen and Eric Weese, were moved to jobs where they had less say in spending decisions and less interaction with Mr. Pruitt, the people said. A third career official, John E. Reeder, joined American University as a temporary “executive in residence” after being told by the E.P.A. to find a new job. And a John C. Martin, who served on the security detail, was also removed from the team and had his gun and badge taken away after raising concerns about how Mr. Pruitt’s security was being handled.

Cambridge Analytica academic’s work upset university colleagues | Education | The Guardian

Source: Cambridge Analytica academic’s work upset university colleagues | Education | The Guardian

Kogan and his business partner, Joseph Chancellor, who later went on to work for Facebook, where he remains, harvested data using a personality app developed through Kogan’s commercial enterprise Global Science Research (GSR).

The emails from late May 2014 show Kogan initially tried and failed to elicit the support of two other academics at the university, who had amassed their own trove of Facebook data from volunteers by hosting personality apps on the platform.

Cambridge Analytica execs boast of role in getting Trump elected | UK news | The Guardian

Source: Cambridge Analytica execs boast of role in getting Trump elected | UK news | The Guardian

In secretly recorded conversations, Cambridge Analytica’s CEO, Alexander Nix, claimed he had met Trump “many times”, while another senior member of staff said the firm was behind the “defeat crooked Hillary” advertising campaign.

“We just put information into the bloodstream of the internet and then watch it grow, give it a little push every now and again over time to watch it take shape,” said the executive. “And so this stuff infiltrates the online community, but with no branding, so it’s unattributable, untrackable.”

Caught on camera by an undercover team from Channel 4 News, Nix was also dismissive of Democrats on the House intelligence committee, who had questioned him over Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.

Senior managers then appeared to suggest that in their work for US clients, there was planned division of work between official campaigns and unaffiliated “political action groups”.

Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation – The New York Times

Mr. Stamos had been a strong advocate inside the company for investigating and disclosing Russian activity on Facebook, often to the consternation of other top executives, including Sheryl Sandberg, the social network’s chief operating officer, according to the current and former employees, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.

Trump and trade tariffs: big lies founded on small truths | Yanis Varoufakis | Opinion | The Guardian

Source: Trump and trade tariffs: big lies founded on small truths | Yanis Varoufakis | Opinion | The Guardian

A closer look at the $375bn that is China’s trade surplus with the United States reveals an awkward fact: more than half of it is due to American corporations (with Apple being one of many) that export US-branded goods from China into America, while channelling their profits through a network of tax havens.