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American Banks Pay Out $20 Billion in Bonuses
by Josh Clark | February 23, 2010
Reuters reported yesterday that the annual bonuses among major American investment and commercial banks increased an average of 17 percent in 2009. Specifically, among JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley bonuses rose 31 percent. All told, employees of the banking industry in the U.S. raked in $20.3 billion, with the average bonus of $123,850.
This increase is modest compared to the 2007 records set with bonuses, but still, you know, we’re in a major recession, unemployment’s at nearly 10 percent with another 20 percent underemployed, the money used to turn the record profit of $55 billion among major banks in 2009 (three times the previous record profit) was built using taxpayer money.
Perhaps you’ve been following the situation in Pennsylvania regarding the Lower Merion School District issuing school laptops that could be activated remotely. Student Blake Robbins and his parents filed a lawsuit against the school district, saying that the school system enabled the cameras to spy on students.
The situation is getting worse for the school district. Maryclaire Dale of the Associated Press said that the FBI is investigating whether or not school officials violated federal wiretapping laws.
You might have seen some links from the Guardian floating around in the past few days; in a two-part series, the publication collected some tips on writing from some esteemed writers of our day, including Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman. You could read these tips at the Guardian’s Web site (part one and part two), but if you’re short on time, how about you just read this blog entry featuring the highlights?
You Asked: At what age is your skull fully formed? — Marko, Zagreb, Croatia Marshall Brain Answers: The following video shows the bones of the skull, and early on it talks about the “sutures” that hold the bones together: When a baby is born, these sutures have not fused and there are gaps between the [...]
A nice photo gallery showing you the world’s biggest foods: A look at some of the world’s biggest foods The list includes: – 127-pound cabbage – 82.9-pound rutabaga – 150-pound burger – 268.8-pound watermelon – 76-ounce steak – Broccoli, Carrot, Kohlrabi – Kitchen Sink Sundae – Big Lou’s 42” pizza – The Home Wrecker Hot [...]
The Cirrus SF50 Vision is a beautiful jet holding up to seven passengers. There is a test vehicle that has been flying since 2008 and over 400 people have put down deposits on the plane. It falls into the “crazy” category because, due to economic factors, it might never get built. These two videos lay [...]
After going dark a week due to a particularly nasty cold, TechStuff Live is back and ready for another week of technology news and rumors. Over the last two weeks, Chris and I have been scouring the Web for the most interesting stories. One such story is the ongoing Google Buzz saga. One of your hosts still uses Google Buzz — the other chose to disable it. Tune in today to find out why.
We’ll also cover some other news topics and bring you our weekly special effects extravaganza. You can watch us right here or grab our handy-dandy Facebook application.
There is huge buzz right now around the Bloom Box – a small fuel cell power plant that could, one day, end up in your home. Much of the buzz is coming from the coverage of the Bloom Box on 60 Minutes on February 21, 2010. Information from CBS: The money quote from that video: [...]
Karnak is a sprawling, ruined temple complex near Luxor, Egypt that was built over a period of more than 1,500 years. Take a tour of Karnak’s main temple — and learn some fascinating trivia along the way — in this episode.
The Snitch in Your Pocket – “Law enforcement is tracking Americans’ cell phones in real time—without the benefit of a warrant….” The Uncertain Future For Social Robots – “Humans have feared a robotic uprising since the machines first appeared in science fiction. Today, experts caution against a more insidious threat: We might like living with [...]
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