The Deep End
Insight and investigations from our expert reporters
A peek inside our layer
We stepped into the new new Media Universe for our report on Augmented Reality, creating our own app which will alert anyone using it (iPhone or Android-phones only so far) when they are near one of the new movers and shakers of the business. It wasn’t so hard — you can see how we did it here.
But for anyone who just wants an overview, here’s the contents of the layer we made and published through Hoppala (on a Firefox browser) and AR browser firm Layar. It’s our take on the movers and shakers in the AR industry, mainly linking to Twitter feeds, and Tarmo Virki is happy to learn of any updates. These entries are unadorned:
Company: Int13 What it does: mobile gaming firm ARDefender game for iPhone, bada Weblink: http://twitter.com/#!/Int13
Parrot creator of AR.Drone plastic and foam-made helicopter controlled by iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-dron e/usa/ar-games
Boeing’s extreme outsourcing
Today’s special report from Kyle Peterson takes an in-depth look at the development of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. Boeing went further than ever before in outsourcing much of the work on the plane, upsetting its unionized workers in the Seattle area. This graphic shows why.
So what’s the result?
A revolutionary, light-weight aircraft that is nearly three years behind its delivery schedule.
Right on American Guy!!!
Boeing’s machinists’ union exists for their own benefit, not for the benefit of the members.
Apparently it’s better the union to lose union jobs, than to relax and maybe even allow for union members to pay a little bit more of what are becoming enormous medical costs. Boeing is self-insured, so all increases in the cost of medical care that result from improved medical procedures and methods are paid for by Boeing, as an employee-benefit. So, why can’t grossly-overpaid machinist share some of those increased costs? Because the union administration would lose “power” if they were to allow that, “Yes, it’s okay to charge our members more for the skyrocketing medical cost. Boeing should pay those cost without burden on the machinists.”
Vietnam’s Capitalist Roaders
A woman dressed in the traditional Vietnamese “ao dai”costume serves tea to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (front R) during the opening ceremony of the 11th Party Congress in Hanoi January 12, 2011
Vietnam’s ruling communists opened an eight-day party congress on Wednesday with a candid admission the fast-growing economy had become unstable, as delegates began the process of reshuffling leaders and charting new policies. As leaders sang the national anthem to begin the five-yearly event, streets in the chilly capital Hanoi were festooned with red and yellow banners, some bearing the iconic hammer and sickle. Propaganda posters bore the smiling likeness of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh or of proud, uniformed workers. The economic backdrop is less festive. Inflation surged to a 22-month high in December, the government is struggling to bring down a hefty fiscal deficit, the currency has been depreciating for three years and the trade deficit remains stubbornly high.
A Reuters Special Report takes a close look at Vietnam’s new breed of captitalists, as the country of 90 million takes a page out of China’s Communist Party playbook and promotes a more consumption-led economy. This is a development path divergent from that of its East Asian neighbours, whose economies became Tigers or Dragons (as the case may be) on the back of exports not consumers.
Somebody’s been making money on Ford
Here’s a line from our special report on Ford from Detroit today, by Bernie Woodall and Kevin Krolicki, who spent some quality time with Bill Ford earlier this week.
A $100,000 investment in the company’s stock at the bottom in late 2008 — when its cross-town rivals GM and Chrysler were nearing government bailouts — would be worth $1.8 million today.
For more graphics and a full multimedia version of the story, click here.
Congratulations to Murray Waas
Murray Waas is picking up the prestigious Barlett & Steele award today in Phoenix for his special report on health insurers dropping patients after they were diagnosed with breast cancer.
The Reynolds Center is holding a panel discussion with Murray and silver medal winner John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which will be streamed live here.
Murray’s four-month investigation, supported by additional reporting from Lewis Krauskopf, revealed that a giant health insurer had targeted policyholders recently diagnosed with breast cancer for aggressive investigations and canceled some policies. An exhaustive study of records, hearings and federal data, as well as dozens of interviews with experts, officials and patients led to the story, which was edited by Jim Impoco and Doina Chiacu.
We published the story in April and the reaction was swift. The Obama administration and Congressional Democrats urged insurers to end the policy known as rescission immediately — five months before the new healthcare law would require it to do so.
Solar energy vs wildlife
Sarah McBride reports on brewing battles between environmentalists in her special report: “With solar power, it’s Green vs. Green.”
It turns out the perfect place to build a big solar plant is often also the perfect place for a tortoise or a fox to live. This means developers of large-scale solar plants are running into legal challenges from people who one would expect to be natural allies of alternative energy providers.
Here’s a map of some of the more contentious projects.
Asking for opinions is not very useful without supplying more information… such as: how much space per MegaWatt is needed for these plants? Is there to be a continuous blanket of collectors, or are they in sections with spaces between them? What is the proposed ratio of collector coverage to empty zones between? Answers to these questions make differences in the degree of environmental impacts. It’s not like trees – natural solar collectors – don’t shade out the zones below them: basking creatures manage to adapt to trees. It seems that making this out as a black vs. white issue is someone’s way of preventing discussion and compromise.
Let’s be ethical, economists say
Last month’s special report “For some professors, disclosure is academic” has been making waves in the academic world, as this story shows:
Economists urge AEA to adopt ethics code: letter
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Almost three hundred economists have signed a letter to the American Economic Association “strongly” urging it to adopt a code of ethics requiring disclosure of potential conflicts of interests.
Please, no more drunks, tax evaders and womanizers in leadership-she can’t take anymore! Let em move to sin city where they’ll fit right in! Also, free internet porn for kids at a push of a button should produce big/expesnive sociall ills in no time!
Jerry Brown is back
The new year brings a new set of politicians into office, including California Governor Jerry Brown. As Nichola Groom reports, he has his work cut out for him.
As this graphic shows, politicians are in low regard and pessimism is high in the Golden State.
Here’s another graphic showing how California’s public spending compares with the national average.
Notice how the largest part of the budget expenditures is for “all other”. That’s the salaries and pensions of all the government workers. They’re stealing all of your money!
Coming to America, for a price
Jim Kelleher and Karin Matz teamed up with Reuters reporters in South Korea and China for a special report on what has become a cottage industry profiting from a program that allows foreigners who invest in certain small U.S. businesses to get on the fast track to U.S. residency and citizenship.
Chinese and South Koreans are the biggest customers. But a Reuters investigation indicates there are widespread problems in the way the program is promoted and the immigrants’ chances of winning permanent U.S. residency are more of a coin toss than a slam dunk
The U.S. EB-5 investor visa program, which allows foreign entrepreneurs to become U.S. residents if they invest money in businesses that create or save 10 jobs, is especially popular in Asia, where it is aggressively promoted by recruiters as a safe, surefire way to gain legal entry to the United States – and to make a potential profit in the bargain.
Here’s some amplification of the story, based on my Atlantic Yards Report investigation of the New York City Regional Center in China.
Though a principal in the above company blames affiliates for misleading investors, as my reporting shows, a representative of the regional center has made the same misleading statements regarding the content of the investment, the immigration risk, and the role of government.
More here:
http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/ 2010/12/in-reuters-investigation-of-eb-5 .html
Making money for taxpayers from AIG?
The U.S. Treasury plans two large AIG stock sales in 2011 and is mulling ways to maximize its returns as it extricates itself from the unpopular bailout, we reported today in our special report “Inside AIG’s tortuous turnaround.”
Overall, a stock sale at more than around $30 per share would leave the Treasury with a hefty profit. Currently, AIG is trading above its book value of $48.24 per share as of Sept. 30.
So how much could the Treasury make on its stake? Click on the graphic below for an interactive showing some of the scenarios for how much money the Treasury might make.
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