For the last three months, hackers had access to customer credit and debit card names, numbers and expiration dates at 395 Dairy Queen stores in the U.S. stores, according to news reports. The hackers installed the same “Backoff” malware on
Most assume that Black Death quickly ravaged the fourteenth century western world was a bacterial bubonic plague epidemic caused by flea bites and spread by rats. But the Black Death killed a high proportion of Scandinavians — and where they lived
As Obamacare is fully implemented as a national mandate for individuals, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that four million people who chose to continue to be uninsured and do not qualify for exemptions will pay a fine on their
The International Monetary Fund officially announced that China just surpassed the United States as the world’s largest economy, sort of. China’s victory is only on a “Purchasing Power Parity” (PPP) basis. Although Gross Domestic Product is about 50% higher in
Since there is nothing more self-righteous than an addict who just got out of rehab, it was not surprising that Microsoft’s General Counsel Brad Smith at a Silicon Valley panel discussion on NSA surveillance would say, “You own your data.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has suffered from capital-flight out of the country. But with Western sanctions starting to bite, the modern capital-flight is only $100 billion in cash draining out; it also includes a brain-drain of
Apple Inc.’s (APPL) introduction of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus has generated all-time record interest, with over 1.9 billion Google search results. Sales, according to Forbes, are at 20 million units, and Apple is reported to have parts for 200
At the Los Angeles Auto Show and San Francisco Show next month, there will be lots of focus on the commercial roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. Las May, California joined Oregon and six east coast states, which together
For the first two years after Meg Whitman became the crisis CEO at Hewlett-Packard (HP) in late 2011, she had tofight off investor pressure constantly to break-up the company by spinning off its consumer-driven personal computer and printer businesses to
Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz published what is purported to be PIMCO founder Bill Gross’s letter to the staff as he jumped ship on the morning of September 26 to avoid being terminated for his supposed arrogant and demeaning treatment of
The California State Insurance Department and Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) both agreed on October 3 to approve a 4.2% average increase for individual care premiums under Covered California, the state’s version of Obamacare. Yet for the first time,
In what will be a devastating blow to California public employee unions, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein ruled in the Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy of the City of Stockton that pensions managed by the California Public Employee Retirement System, known
This week, the European Union (EU) Competition Commission approved Facebook’s $19.5 billion acquisition of WhatsApp based on a finding that the two companies’ business models assure that they are “not close competitors.” The ruling clears the last regulatory hurdle for Facebook to
Senator Carl Levin turned up the heat on Apple Computer over the company’s gaming of international tax rates to reduce the rate America’s most profitable tech companies pay to less than what is required of many small and medium-sized businesses.
The United States became the world’s largest natural gas producer in 2010 and is streaking past Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of petroleum liquids, according to the International Energy Agency. Despite scare tactics by the Left that
With September 30th as the end of the U.S. government’s budget year, bureaucrats facing use-it-or-lose-it rules swept up over $50 billion in leftover cash and went on the biggest one-day Porkapolooza shopping spree of the year. The “system typically creates panic
PIMCO has acknowledged that $23.5 billion of investors’ cash was withdrawn last month. It is my estimate that at least $19 billion or more of the liquidations followed legendary Pacific Asset Management (PIMCO) bond manager Bill Gross out the door after he left
Social network newcomer Ello is an invite only service that wants to be the “Facebook Killer” by refusing to engage in any intrusive advertising and data mining. Playing directly to tech hipsters, Ello’s front page states: “Your social network
On September 26, PIMCO’s Bill Gross resigned from the firm he built into a $2 trillion world class manager, in order to avoid what the Wall Street Journal described as his impending termination for the abusive treatment of employees. The
California ranks third in the U.S., behind Hawaii and New Jersey, with 1.1% of statewide electrical power production being generated by customer-sited solar panels. The driving force behind this growth has been the 30% federal investment tax credit, plus incentives
The California Legislature knows that the State Water Board’s unprecedented July 15 decision allowing local law enforcement and water agencies to impose a maximum $500-a-day fines on water wasters is difficult to enforce and is creating a rising backlash against
The CAL WatchDog blog is running a series on the trends in California water use and pricing during the current severe drought. They confirm our August prediction that voluntarily public conservation and agricultural water districts are doing an excellent job
The California Drivers Alliance, a coalition backed by oil, agriculture, retail, tourism and other industries has tried valiantly over the last three months–running radio, print and digital ads–to generate a groundswell against the so-called “hidden gas tax” that could act
The BlackBerry Passport smartphone was introduced on September 24th with a full physical keyboard, uniquely square large-screen design that increases the “readability” of web pages and e-mail. The rising attraction for corporate users is that the device’s software and hardware
In what may have just become the largest class-action lawsuit in American history, the U.S. Supreme Court denied hearing the appeal of a lower court ruling that Google maps’ “Street View” cars were not exempt from state and federal wiretapping
