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[Banks are now looking to monopolize, well... everything. *RON*]
By Lynn Stuart Parramore, February 13, 2014

Wall Street is using loopholes in financial legislation to seize control of entire industrial chains.

Wall Street watchers have been concerned for some time about the monopolizing trend among big banks. One of the most alarming developments in recent years is a buying spree in which megabanks have been gobbling up physical assets.

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[The natural progression in a corporatocracy is toward monopoly, which is to say, complete control over consumers, and a tremendous loss to public discourse and democracy. Also see Paul Krugman's Monoposony Begets Monopoly, And Vice Versa*RON*]
John Nichols on February 14, 2014 - 11:09 AM ET

When it comes to media, bigger is not better. And when it comes to the control of the infrastructure of how we communicate now, the trend toward extreme bigness—as illustrated by Comcast’s plan to buy Time Warner Cable and create an unprecedented cable combine—is accelerating at a dangerous pace.

In the aftermath of a federal court decision striking down net neutrality protections that were developed to maintain an open and freewheeling discourse on the Internet, and with journalism threatened at every turn by cuts and closures, the idea of merging Comcast and Time Warner poses a threat that ought to be met with official scrutiny and grassroots opposition.

The poi…

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[The situation is not improving. There are now reports of 20% bogus product in a batch of Indian-made cancer treatment drugs tested in Uganda. A problem for consumers is that none of these products are labelled as to their point of origin. Then again, what sounds like paranoia on the part of Indian manufacturers really isn't - see Intellectual Property and the Globalization of Big Pharma. *RON*]

By GARDINER HARRIS, FEB. 14, 2014

NEW DELHI — India, the second-largest exporter of over-the-counter and prescription drugs to the United States, is coming under increased scrutiny by American regulators for safety lapses, falsified drug test results and selling fake medicines.

Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, the commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration, arrived in India this week to express her growing unease with the safety of Indian medicines because of “recent lapses in quality at a handful of pharmaceutical firms.”

India’s pharmaceutical ind…