Several articles caught our attention this week, as we admit, we’re a bit all over the map preparing for the upcoming holiday. Click the headlines for the full articles. So by category:
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Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing at least 60 people to sell their fat and other human tissue to Italian co-conspirators for cosmetic use in Europe, authorities said on Thursday.
The suspects were arrested in central Peru this month and a search is underway for seven others — including two Italian citizens whose names were not revealed — lead prosecutor Jorge Sans Quiroz told AFP.
The fat was purchased “to be commercialized in European (cosmetology) laboratories,” he said.
The prosecutor’s indictment noted that the gang allegedly targeted farmers and indigenous people on remote Andean roads, tricking them by offering jobs before killing them.
A Canadian woman claims she has lost her health benefits after her insurance company used her
Facebook pictures as evidence that she was no longer depressed.Nathalie Blanchard had been on sick leave for a year from her job at
IBM in Bromont, Quebec, after being diagnosed with severe depression. The 29-year old was receiving sick pay from insurer Manulife.
However, when payments stopped coming she contacted Manulife and, she claims, was told that Facebook() pictures taken on a beach and during a night out were evidence that she was no longer depressed.
(Click the above link for the video from Buffalo 9 News.)
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – If you’re a senior citizen, check your mailbox very carefully. An insurance company that offers Medicare benefits has sent out 80,000 postcards with the social security numbers of the intended recipients printed on the front.
Universal American sent the mailers to 35,000 of its Medicare patients here in New York. Printed on the front of the cards, right above the address, is the Medicare ID number which includes the social security number of the recipient.
Bob Hayes, VP of Health and Quality for the company tells us they are very sorry for the error and will be offering free credit monitoring services for one year to everyone affected.
BNI Operatives: Street Smart: Web Savvy.
Well, with all of that weirdness out of the way, we hope you all have a wonderful, safe and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.
As always, stay safe.
I think what the US government (and other govt’s that have followed in their footsteps) has continued to do to try to support the economy is very misguided. They have wasted trillions of dollars bailing out creditors and shareholders of failed institutions with broken business models rather than addressing the structural flaws in the system of too much debt. And this is going to lead to massive problems down the road with regard to our currency and interest rates, in my opinion. And I think that the gold price breaking out to a new high is a strong indication of the reduction in faith and confidence that people have in governments and their fiat currencies. I recently read a good article called Gold Price Hits Record as Gold Fever Grips Wall Street that discusses the Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policies in order to try to prevent any sort of deflation from occurring and to try to reflate asset prices. I think this story is very helpful for any investor to read because it helps to explain the investment implications for the dollar, the gold price, and gold mining companies who I believe will continue to benefit from central banks’ inflationary programs.
I’m not quite sure of the relation to the article but I can certainly understand the apprehension we all feel with what is a global economic crises. Regardless of the GM bailout in particular, I am not happy with teh government forcing first CEO Wagoner out, then his predecessor until they happily ensconsced their own government elected board member as CEO.