Apple-1 computers, built in Steve Jobs’s family garage, have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent auctions, a run-up reflecting the company’s mystique, Steve Lohr reports in The New York Times. … Read More
Live Blog: Apple and Corporate Taxes
A Senate panel is set to examine how Apple sidestepped tens of billions of dollars in taxes around the world. Live coverage begins at 9:30 a.m. … Read More
Phillipine migrant workers pay personal price
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Too Rich To Pay: UK giants slash tax bills amid tense austerity
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Iraq in ruins: Post-war life overshadowed by crumbling infrastructure, corruption, poverty
In spite of billions of dollars spent on reconstruction following the decade-long conflict, many neighborhoods lack sewerage systems and trash collection services. In some settlements, there are barely any streets. Water is also a big problem, locals pointed out.“Nobody drinks the city water because we know it’s not clean. Since the war, I’ve had to rely on bottled water. What comes out of the tap is contaminated and makes us sick. How can we drink it?” local resident Umm Muhammad indicated. Central power is another issue, with the system sometimes on for as little as two hours a day. Electrician from Baghdad Abu Meria is sure the new government is to blame for the chaos that reigning in his homeland.“It’s the citizens who suffer in the end, not the government. The services are so bad and the power system has really deteriorated. There were billions spent on fixing the grid but there’s little to show for it.”Abu Meria now earns four times more than before the war due to the frequent failures and blackouts all over the city.As RT’s Lucy Kafanov also discovered, the crumbling infrastructure is closely entangled with rampant corruption.Transparency International group has ranked Iraq as the eighth most-corrupt state in the world. In the latest scandal, the country’s Electricity Ministry was involved in a $1.7 billion fraud case.On the backdrop of this, most Iraqis remain impoverished, struggling to make their ends meet. In the Al Tajiat landfill, on the outskirts of Baghdad, people are actually forced to live – without any proper living conditions.“There are no schools for the kids here, no electricity, no real houses. To get a drink of water we have to travel 4km. It’s very difficult to live here.” Watch RT’s Lucy Kafanov’s full report. … Read More
FSB releases tapes of ‘CIA agent’ talking to officer he wanted to recruit (VIDEO)
“We should meet today. It’ll be impossible to do it tomorrow, we can meet only today,” Fogle told the ‘recruitee’ FSB officer minutes before the arranged meeting in Moscow’s Vorontsovsky park.The FSB recorded two phone calls of the alleged spy, with the first one being of particular interest to the counterintelligence agency. In it, the alleged CIA spy promises a million dollar reward in return for the officer’s services.“You can earn up to 1 million dollars per year and I’ll give 100 thousand up front – but only if we meet right now. Yes or No?” the US diplomat can be heard saying on the tape.According to the FSB, the conversation was recorded close to midnight Moscow time, as Fogle was walking towards the park through the city’s southern dormitory district.The agents had reportedly been given orders not to arrest Fogle until he met with ‘the subject’ at the agreed spot. Right before the arrest, he allegedly made another call, describing the place the FSB officer should be waiting.“There’s got to be a staircase in front of you, at the park entrance. Wait, I can see you, I’ll be right there,” the diplomat says on the recording of the brief second call.‘The subject’ that Fogle was allegedly meeting to recruit, took a direct role in the suspected spy’s arrest, the FSB later said. … Read More
For sale: Coca Cola’s secret recipe on eBay for $15mn
Cliff Kluge, from Coca-Cola’s home state of Georgia, is selling the document that might contain the original top-secret recipe in an old box of papers he bought at an estate sale.Kluge has listed the ‘historical document’ on eBay, with a ‘buy-it-now’ price of $15 million, and an auction price starting at $5 million.Kluge doesn’t expect the item will sell for the asking price, but does think the document is worth at least a few hundred thousand dollars, TheDailyMail reported.The sale ends at 22.11 GMT on May, 14. There are currently 0 bids.If somebody buys it, that doesn’t mean they would be able to reconstruct the unique beverage, as Kluge says on eBay that “the recipe states it, that there are some ingredients that cannot be processed but by anyone except for the company in Maywood, NJ, and they won’t sell to anyone but the Coca Cola Company. According to this 70-year-old letter, it takes a month to make the formula – it’s fairly complicated.”The document is a yellowed, hand typed and written recipe from 1943, which the seller believes is the original Coca-Cola formula.Kluge lists the following description on eBay: “Typed on January 15th, 1943, this single page (front and back) breaks down the formula into exact amounts of specific ingredients to make one gallon of concentrate, which, when combined and processed yields enough to make 16 gallons.”On the eBay site, it is advertised as a “70+ year-old recipe on yellowed paper that was purchased out of an estate of a local chemist in a city that claims the right of being where Coca-Cola Bottling originated.”It is unknown whether Kluge knew the box contained the recipe before purchasing, or if he stumbled upon it by luck. It is not clear how much he paid for the box of papers.The Daily Mail reported Coca-Cola denies the recipe is an original, but admit it may come close to the original 19th-century formula.Coca-Cola is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, where the company keeps the original recipe locked in a vault.Coca-Cola’s first quarter results exceeded forecasts, with the biggest rise since 2009, boosted by Latin American sales as well as a deal to sell bottling distribution rights in North America.First quarter net income fell 15 percent to $1.75 million, but profit was still 46 cents a share, which outperformed analysts’ estimates.Coca-Cola shares increased 17 percent in 2012, above the 10 percent S&P 500 Index gain.And for those a bit short of the $5 million needed for a copy, but who want to brew their own version of the sweet soda, one of eBay user provided his own Coca-Cola recipe: “FE Coca (Fluid Extract of Coca) 3 drams USP 4 oz FE Coco Citric Acid 3 oz 3 oz Caffeine 1 oz 1oz Citrate Caffeine Sugar 30 # 30 # Water 2.5 gal 2.5 gal Lime Juice 2 pints (1 qrt) 1 qrt Vanilla 1 oz 1 oz Caramel 1.5 oz or more to color Color sufficient Use 2 oz flavor (below) 2.5 oz flavor to 5 gals syrup 7X Flavor Alcohol 8 oz 1 qrt Or ange Oil 20 drops 80 Lemon Oil 30 120 Nutmeg Oil 10 40 Corriander Oil 5 20 Neroli Oil 10 40 Cinnamon Oil 10 40 (The Pemberton formula for 7X is the same as the Beal, just four times as much.)” … Read More
