#2
Sorry to spoil all the negativity folks, but I'm gonna stick my two cents worth in here before all the talk about the sky falling.
If the beeb is on a story about the markets or the economy, its most likely a non story. At best, it's old news.
You'll notice the beeb is wringing their hands over a potential hit to the financial sector of $500 billion. Or, to make it scarier, they say half a trillion. American assets total about $112 trillion.
One need only ask themselves what kind of calamity would result from a person with a hundred grand in assets losing $500 in the stock market.
None.
Zero.
Zilch.
We can all go back to worrying about stagflation inflation or the Japanese Chinese economy or whatever it is that's going to bring down the American economy this week.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/13/2007 1:42 Comments ||
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#3
Mike, if you note "BBC" is in the title....
So I gave you the "sky is falling" hint.
Sun Tzu would want to know what the bbc was claiming. After all the bbc does hate us.
#4
The problem isn't that the banks are going to lose money. The problem is the amount of money available to purchase capital assets particularly real estate will go down and inevitably asset prices will go down as well. And those kinds of downward spirals are very difficult to break out of. Look at Japan over the last 15 years and that was during a period of low inflation.
#6
With numerous other facets of the US economy being very strong, BBC again flunks out with its use of adjectives. Quagmire was the last adjective they tried to use regarding the US that also did not apply. Three adjectives that come to my mind regarding BBC is "Babbling Bungling Clowns".
#7
There will always be money available with those who have solid credit. Money will no longer be available for those who had guestionable credit to begin with. In Texas land prices are shooting up in areas where gas drilling is heating up in the Barnet Shale section of Texas, which includes one of the most populated area in the state...
#8
Well, if only good credit risks are getting loans, that means fewer jobs for construction, fewer supplies being bought, etc. The USA really doesn't succeed in anything unless it succeeds wildly. Americans usually get upset if normal growth is occurring.
#9
"Look at Japan over the last 15 years and that was during a period of low inflation."
There are cultural and structural reasons for Japan's stagnant state that are not likely to be duplicated here. Americans do not have the same dread of failure and the need to rebuild their lives after financial loss (see yesterday's thread on suicide in Japan) and therefore our interest rate can go up even if it means some folks will go belly up financially.
Of course, this difference exists in the real world only if the Fed allows interest rates to increase to reflect the actual cost of borrowing money. It remains to be seen if the current head will do so.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
11/13/2007 6:12 Comments ||
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#10
Fewer loans equals less construction and lower margins for construction projects equals lower construction wages equals fewer jobs American construction workers are willing to do equals more work for illegal immigrants.
So the Wall Street carnage is a GOOD thing!
#11
Great article detailing some of the real estate carnage occurring, as well as the carnage to come. I don't think we're in for a depression, but the outsized profits trading in funny money that the financial institutions have have been raking in are at an end. Main Street America will make out fine, but the lottery ticket holders investment bankers are looking at much smaller bonus pools for the next several years.
#12
Carnage on Wall Street is the least of my fears.
One problem is that the government is doing all it can to protect these bankers from their stupid decisions while letting the individual borrowers suffer for theirs. As a result we may well get inflation stagflation.
#13
Here, here, Nimble. Screw the bankers. This will make the *second* time they've bilked the american taxpayer for billions (we talked just the other day about how Bernanke and that jackass Schumer want to create a $200B bail-out fund for jumbo loans, a la the Savings and Loan bailout of yore). No sympathy. Let market forces work!
And let them work fast. The market takes care of these problems quickly if it is not prevented from doing so. But since the introduction of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation our lords in government have thought they could eliminate pain and suffering from the business cycle and that somehow this would not have an impact on the learning curve. Hubris writ large.
#16
I'm with the above posters on their screw the banks comments.
Problem is, in order to bail out the homeowners, we help out the banks in the process.
So, I would say, screw everybody. Let the chips fall where they may.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/13/2007 11:39 Comments ||
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#17
Look at the Saudi Chief who is the main stockholder in CitiBank buying a Airbus 380 for a private toy. Obviously the games of CitiBank didn't hurt him.
How many was he behind?
#19
The thing is, most homeowners are good credit risks, so as long as they aren't trying to sell into what's become a buyer's market, they'll be unaffected. Despite Mr. Wife's aunt selling her house in California for $75,000 less than she would have gotten had she accepted that offer a year ago. She can still afford a brand new house near each set of grandchildren, so I don't think she'll be eating cat food any time soon.
Thanks 3dc, we don't want to disparage our Native Americans.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/13/2007 12:31 Comments ||
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#21
Anyone who has ever lived in the UK know that the BBC enjoys running any story or even editing or making up any story that is negative on America. I have no idea if it is left-over hostility from 1814 or even 1945 or our cold war against the Soviets (of which the BBC was infiltrated by real Ox-Cam commies) or the fact that we are so pro-Israel. In any event it is there in spades. Almost becoming sort of a superiority complex but very much delusional.
Posted by: Jack is Back!` ||
11/13/2007 12:50 Comments ||
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#22
As of noon today:
DOW is up +175.17 to 13,162.72
NASDAQ is up +50.18 to 2,634.21
S&P is up +20.95 to 1,460.13
NYSE Composite is up +165.63 to 9,735.60
AMEX Composite is up +3.64 to 2,381.91
#23
The Beeb's been right about as much as the local weather forcasters. They keep predicting rain, and we're beginning to look like Georgia. Now it's pretty certain that the local housing market is going to take a hit here in Colorado Springs, at least until that new brigade arrives next year. That's from over-building, which has always been a symptom of Colorado Springs' boom-'n-bust cycle. Some banks and lending institutions made a lot of bad decisions, but they're not going to lose their shirts - just any major profits they were expecting to make. If you loaned $185,000 on a house with a market value of $185,000, you still have $185,000 in assets. It's only if the housing market really goes south, and prices begin to drop considerably that these lendors lose money. The rest is just cheap theatrics.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/13/2007 13:41 Comments ||
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#25
It's not just the BBC that's concerned.
There's a greater than 50 percent probability that the financial system ``will come to a grinding halt'' because of losses from mortgages, Gregory Peters, head of credit strategy at Morgan Stanley, said. ``You have the SIVs, you have the conduits, you have the money-market funds, you have future losses still in the dealer's balance sheet in the banks,'' Peters said in an interview in New York. ``That's all toppling at once.''
The risk of systemic shock from the current subprime meltdown is quite large in the near term, Peters said. ``It's an overarching concern that we have,'' he said.
#26
What a crock of BS! Loans are classified as "assets" on balance sheets; if they are bad, then, unless unrecoverable in the form of seized collateral, they are sold to financial agencies that specialize in collection. The seller takes a loss, but bankruptcy doesn't happen as long as their big balance sheet doesn't dislose a present and forseeable inability to pay off liabilities. The Beeb can't comprehend free market solutions, because only doctrinaire socialists are employed by the Beeb.
If we are in a tight money period, that means fiscal discipline. Under those regimes, inventory loans are heavily collateralized. That would shake out companies that are poorly managed.
#27
TOPIX/OTHERS > THE NEW PEARL HARBOR, vv US economy and financial lending. A $12.0Trilyuuhn GDP USA has US$12.3Trilyuuhn held in foreign debt. *NEW CONGRESSIONAL STUDY/REPORT > US spending approxi US$1.5Trilyuuhn on WOT. Democrats are complaining that the Dubya war budget is double-priced.
#28
Dozens of foreclosed homes are flooding the Visalia-area market many of them suddenly owned by Fannie Mae because owners could no longer make mortgage-loan payments.
But just because these homes have been taken back by Fannie Mae and its various lending partners, dont look for bargain-basement fire sales even in a down real estate market, local real estate professionals say.
We had eight offers on [Fannie Mae-] foreclosed homes in August, said Sherrie Weece, a licensed agent for the past eight years in Visalia. All were turned away by Fannie Mae and came back to us.
The reason? The offers came in at an average of $60,000 less than the market price set by Fannie Mae, not enough for the mammoth privately owned mortgage conglomerate, even in a sluggish market where prices are declining, Weece said.
This is from another news item today. A lot of the financial distress is from adjustable rate mortgages. But Fannie Mae, the 800-lb gorilla of the mortgage business, is having problems with fixed rate mortgages, since those are the only kind it has on its books. I don't even want to think about the kind of problems the other banks are in today. California and Florida have seen prices go down 1/3 from the high while sales volumes have gone down in half and inventory doubled or tripled. The fat lady hasn't sung on the bursting of this bubble. If your property is worth a lot more than it was when you bought it, the time to sell is now. My estimation is that we won't see prices at the current high level for at least a decade.
By the way, many financial institutions have a net worth that is anywhere from 1/10 to 1/16 of their liabilities. This is another way of saying that if a bank's portfolio is written down by 15%, the bank has a negative net worth, and may be closed down by the government. Banks are exposed in two ways - loans to developers that never reached completion and risky mortgages that they previously sold to someone else as bonds, but are now having to keep on their books. These risks are why many banks are now having difficulty floating commercial paper or issuing debt. It is why Countrywide almost went under a month or so ago. The problems with real estate have nothing to do with BBC negativism - they are related to excessive leverage on the part of home buyers in response to a housing price bubble.
The real kicker is that American real estate holding costs are higher than elsewhere because local government is funded locally via real estate taxes instead of via the income tax (which is the case in other countries). This is why American real estate is deceptively cheap as a percentage of income when when compared to other countries. Holding costs are way higher as a percentage of home value.
The Libyan government denied entry to tourists without an Arabic translation of their passports, forcing several planeloads of foreigners to turn back on arrival and stranding at least two French tour groups. The change, which was not officially announced, makes Libya the only country in the region to demand translated passports. A modification of Libyan regulations on entering the country appears to have taken place on Nov. 11 without any prior information, and appears to have been retroactive, said a French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
Zimbabwe's lands and security minister Didymus Mutasa has admitted in a court in Europe that the government wrongfully seized white farms which belonged to Dutch citizens who considered Zimbabwe their home. At a hearing in Paris recently, a court is considering what amount of compensation the Zimbabwe government should pay to this group of farmers.
Make sure they pay in dollars. Or Euros. Or guilders.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
They could always just give them their land back. God knows what shape it is in though.
#2
No matter what shape it's in the farmers seem to be the only ones that know what the hell do with it. Funny how that works. Might just save the country if they go back to the system that was working before Mugabe got his grubby little hands on it.
Posted by: NOLA ||
11/13/2007 3:53 Comments ||
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#3
Once the breadbasket of Africa, now the basket-case of Africa
#4
*shrug* With what will Mr. Mugabe pay the ordered compensation? The farmers won't go back so long as he's in power, if they're wise, and it's not as if the currency has any value.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
11/13/2007 9:58 Comments ||
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#8
Real hard for dead men to "Come Back".
Let them strve.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/13/2007 14:00 Comments ||
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#9
STARVE Dammit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/13/2007 14:00 Comments ||
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#10
If dey be payin, tell em dey can have my piece o shit farm. I sell it back to da whitey I took it from cheap. It my privlege as a "war vetrin"...
Posted by: Farmin B. Hard ||
11/13/2007 14:12 Comments ||
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#11
Keepin' with the theme:
So it now seems that Zim is rethinkin' its policy and wants these guys back,
kinda like the remorseful Farm equipment saleman that regretted ditching his girlfriend after he sent her that 'John Deere' letter.....??
#12
Toilet paper has more value (and utility) than Zimbabwe currency, at least until Mugabe decides to use more absorbent paper. Current inflation rate= 7,5000%
It seems that a nation-wide anti-Islamic reaction is taking place in Italy.
(ANSA) - Brescia, November 13 - A Brescia judge sentenced three Pakistani men to 30 years in jail on Tuesday for the 'honour killing' of their young female relative.
In Euro-time, that's about eight years each, max.
It was Italy's first conviction for such a crime. The sentence was the longest possible in the fast-track process adopted in the trial.
At a full-length trial the men would probably have been given ten years maximum life imprisonment, Italy's ultimate penalty. A fourth man was given two years and eight months for helping hide the body of 20-year-old Hina Saleem, who was murdered by her father and two brothers-in-law last year.
Saleem was stabbed 28 times on the third floor of her family home in the northern town of Sarezzo and buried in the garden. Her Italian boyfriend, with whom she was living at the time, found her body the next day after she failed to return home or answer her phone. According to the prosecution, Saleem was deliberately lured back to the family home following a meeting of male relatives, who decided to punish her for bringing shame upon the family.
The defence said Saleem's father, Mohammed, killed her in the heat of an argument, after she drew a knife on him and demanded money. It said the two brothers-in-law were sitting downstairs at the time and knew nothing of the argument until afterwards.
Hina Saleem, together with her mother and sisters, left Pakistan six years ago, joining her father who settled in Italy in 1996.
Her boyfriend, 30-year-old Giuseppe Tempini, told investigators she had been arguing with her family for weeks before the murder. She had apparently refused to marry the man her family wanted and would not return to Pakistan with her mother and sisters.
Tempini burst into tears when the sentence was read out, while Saleem's mother, who was in Pakistan at the time of the murder, started screaming at the judge, and was eventually taken away by an ambulance. Commenting on the sentence, Mohammed Saleem's lawyer Alberto Bordone said: ''I was expecting this, as was my client. I will certainly appeal the decision''. The judge provisionally awarded Tempini 20,000 euros' compensation, which he has said he will donate to charity. The sentence, almost the highest available for murder, was welcomed by female politicians, many of whom had followed the fast-track trial closely. ''I am completely satisfied with this exemplary sentence and the tough decision of the Brescia court,'' said Isabella Bertolini, deputy House whip of the centre-right Forza Italia party. The rightwing MP Daniela Santanche', who received a death threat earlier this year after claiming the Koran doesn't require women to wear veils, said she hoped the full sentence would be served. ''I wouldn't want to see the murderers wandering the streets in a few years, in a position to repeat similar atrocities,'' she said.
Silvana Mura, an MP with the centrist Italy of Values party, also praised the ''fair decision'' of the judge, adding: ''Let's also hope the figure of young Hina becomes a symbol of courage, of joy in life, and of a willingness to integrate one's own culture with that of the country one lives in''. Brescia province has one of the highest immigrant populations in Italy, accounting for 11-14% of its inhabitants.
Pakistanis are the largest community, making up around 10,000 of the 120,000 immigrants living in the province. Police in Islamic countries often turn a blind eye to so-called 'honour killings' - and they are not always pursued by Western police. There was a landmark conviction in Britain earlier this year, where some 100 homicides are now being treated in the same light.
There have been reports of such killings spreading from Pakistan to Italy - as well as suicides of women forced into marriage.
Decades ago honour killings sometimes occurred in highly traditional communities in southern Italy, when young women were murdered for allegedly bringing shame on the family. Sicily was ruled by the Saracens for almost 200 years.
#1
Ok, first of all, and maybe I am missing something, why does the boyfriend get 20k Euros as compensation? Compensation for what?
Tempini burst into tears when the sentence was read out
Second, and more important, WTF? If my name is Giuseppe Tempini I should not go to the law, testify then burst into tears when justice is done. I should go to the real law, explain the problem to Don Tempini and get ready to dig at least three more graves in that garden.
#2
I believe similar compensation schemes happened after 9/11, Excalibur. I have no problems with this. Besides, in the US a man in a similar situation would bring a civil suit too.
It's a good idea for a nation to formally say it disapproves of such dishonor killings.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/13/2007 20:27 Comments ||
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The Barack Obama boomlet has apparently begun. The Illinois senator is getting rave reviews for his speech at the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner Saturday night.
Want the evidence? Heres what Iowa's premier political handicapper, David Yepsen, had to say on his Des Moines Register blog about the speech:
"It was one of the best of his campaign. The passion he showed should help him close the gap on Hillary Clinton by tipping some undecided caucus-goers his way. His oratory was moving and he successfully contrasted himself with the others - especially Clinton - without being snide or nasty about it. Should he win the Iowa caucuses, Saturdays dinner will be remembered as one of the turning points in his campaign in here."
Since Clinton stumbled in the last debate, there has been an air of anticipation surrounding Obama and John Edwards. Would one of them capitalize on the slip and begin to emerge as the alternative to Clinton's seeming march to the nomination? Sure, it's one event, one speech and plenty of road left before the January caucuses. And Obama faces big questions about his strategy. Although all accounts point to a strong organization in the state, it's not at all a slam-dunk that the campaign can harness its support among young and non-traditional caucus-goers, especially just two days after New Years.
Still, it's hard to miss the hype over Obama's candidacy lately. He's managed to be aggressive without being negative for now. Most importantly, his stepped up criticisms of Clinton looks to have answered questions about whether Obama has the mettle to go the distance. After being out-raised by Clinton in the third quarter of this year, and poll after poll outside of Iowa showing the New York Senator with a commanding lead, Obama's campaign appeared to stall. Now, he's reviving his pitch for change not just in the party controlling the White House but a more fundamental brand. "If we are really serious about winning this election, Democrats, then we can't live in fear of losing," Obama told Iowa Democrats. "This party, the party of Jefferson and Jackson and Roosevelt and Kennedy, has always made the biggest difference in the lives of the American people when we led not by polls but by principle, not by calculation but by conviction, when we summoned the entire nation to . . . a higher purpose."
This article starring:
Barack Obama
David Yepsen
Hillary Clinton
John Edwards
Posted by: Fred ||
11/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I would like to see some really stimulating presidential debates between an articulate and passionate Democratic candidate and an articulate and passionate Republican. In the best of all worlds, throw in an articulate and passionate Independent.
I admit it-after these years of drought, I am craving great word storms. This year, maybe we'll be lucky enough to get it. Who do you Rantburgers think could fill that bill? I'm not talking about positions per se here, I'm talking about the ability to argue them. I would say Obama, Biden, McCain, and Giuliani could do it. Maybe Huckabee. Tancredo could, too, if he can hang on that long.
#2
REDDIT/TOPIX > Ala the reported CHENEY-OBAMA familial inter-lineage, and the Kennedys + Bushes prior, new legislation is being introduced into the US Congress precluding DYNASTIC SUCCESSION for pol offices -"Relatives" to be [provably]?????? removed before being allowed to run for office???
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the government had planned to establish educational institutions to impart both modern and religious education to the youth, APP reported. He told this to a delegation of the Council of Islamic Ideology on Monday.
Separately, the prime minister increased the monthly stipend, from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000, of students getting training under National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC) programmes. Speaking at a NAVTEC-organised certificate awarding ceremony, he called youth an asset for the nation, and said the government was imparting them with quality education to utilise their skills for the countrys progress. He said the percentage of youth population in many countries was reducing, however Pakistan had very favourable demographic dividends in this regard with 100 million youth below 25 years of age. The government was focusing on providing a better education to the youth, he added. He said seven million expatriate Pakistanis were already contributing to the international economies. He said NAVTEC was set up two years ago to facilitate the technical education policy to meet the demand of skilled manpower.
This article starring:
Shaukat Aziz
Posted by: Fred ||
11/13/2007 00:00 ||
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One day after the morning raids to gather evidence against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, detectives from the Israel Police's crack National Fraud Squad returned to their usual routine of operational silence Monday concerning one of the most talked-about investigations in the country. But those familiar with the long and often painstaking process of building a white-collar case said that now the detectives' real work would begin.
After spending hours in almost 20 offices gathering documents and computer hard drives on Sunday, detectives will now begin to sift through the collected materials to try to find a paper trail pointing toward a conviction.
"It's not just about sorting through the papers," said Cmdr. Moshe Mizrahi (ret.), an old hand at white collar crime investigations and the former commander of the Investigations Division during the period in which then-prime minister Ariel Sharon was under investigation. "It's about familiarizing yourself with all of the material prior to a 'frontal' questioning, with a potential suspect or witness sitting in front of you."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/13/2007 00:00 ||
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US researchers have developed a method of producing hydrogen gas from biodegradable organic material, potentially providing an abundant source of this clean-burning fuel, according to a study released Monday.
The technology offers a way to cheaply and efficiently generate hydrogen gas from readily available and renewable biomass such as cellulose or glucose, and could be used for powering vehicles, making fertilizer and treating drinking water.
Numerous public transportation systems are moving toward hydrogen-powered engines as an alternative to gasoline, but most hydrogen today is generated from nonrenewable fossil fuels such as natural gas.
The method used by engineers at Pennsylvania State University however combines electron-generating bacteria and a small electrical charge in a microbial fuel cell to produce hydrogen gas.
Microbial fuel cells work through the action of bacteria which can pass electrons to an anode. The electrons flow from the anode through a wire to the cathode producing an electric current. In the process, the bacteria consume organic matter in the biomass material.
An external jolt of electricity helps generate hydrogen gas at the cathode.
In the past, the process, which is known as electrohydrogenesis, has had poor efficiency rates and low hydrogen yields.
But the researchers at Pennsylvania State University were able to get around these problems by chemically modifying elements of the reactor.
In laboratory experiments, their reactor generated hydrogen gas at nearly 99 percent of the theoretical maximum yield using aetic acid, a common dead-end product of glucose fermentation.
"This process produces 288 percent more energy in hydrogen than the electrical energy that is added in the process," said Bruce Logan, a professor of environmental engineering at Penn State.
The technology is economically viable now, which gives hydrogen an edge over another alternative biofuel which is grabbing more headlines, Logan said.
"The energy focus is currently on ethanol as a fuel, but economical ethanol from cellulose is 10 years down the road," said Logan.
"First you need to break cellulose down to sugars and then bacteria can convert them to ethanol."
One of the immediate applications for this technology is to supply the hydrogen that is used in fuel cell cars to generate the electricity that drives the motor, but it could also can be used to convert wood chips into hydrogen to be used as fertilizer.
The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
#1
Ironically, one of the most cellulose efficient plants is the Russian Thistle, aka the Tumbleweed.
Though commercial glucose in the US is obtained almost exclusively from corn starch, this could change if a crop was desired to be specifically for starch-glucose, at a much higher density than corn.
#2
If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
What's the problem here?
1) One of the immediate applications for this technology is to supply the hydrogen that is used in fuel cell cars.... IMMEDIATE USE
2)This process produces 288 percent more energy in hydrogen than the electrical energy that is added..... IS THIS POSSIBLE? This sounds like perpetual motion. Is there a lot of other energy inputs to the system?
3)The technology is economically viable now,....SO LET'S USE IT! can we start tomorrow?
#7
Thanks BP, that's what I guessed since it's a bio process but while I'm not a technical illiterate when you add the "bio" prefix I get lost quickly.
This process gives me flash backs to Back to the Future 2 and the Mr. Fusion that he loads from the garbage can.
Heck, I've got enough cellulose in the form of fallen trees to keep going for quite a while.
But, where do those electron generating bacteria come from; and how large a colony(ies) do you need to get this working to scale (as mentioned)?
I'm interested in seeing the numbers for the size of the operation needed to produce enough hydrogen to power one of those city buses.
I have a picture of 3 busses, one for people and the other two for the hydrogen generating bacteria.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/13/2007 14:01 Comments ||
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#14
First you need to break cellulose down to sugars and then bacteria can convert them to ethanol."
There's the catch, the same ethanol can be used as fuel directly, and what about all the "Ethanol Plants" they use the same biomass.
Can you say "Fuel Shortage", I know you can, not the alcohol, but the raw materials.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/13/2007 14:08 Comments ||
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#15
I would like to see oil tick shrivelled during my lifetime!
This would be a petrochemical equivalent of the Berlin Wall falling: Something I had never thought to see in my own lifetime.
In laboratory experiments, their reactor generated hydrogen gas at nearly 99 percent of the theoretical maximum yield using a[c]etic acid, a common dead-end product of glucose fermentation.
The new millennium's "acid" turns out to be vinegar instead of LSD. Who knew?
"This process produces 288 percent more energy in hydrogen than the electrical energy that is added in the process," said Bruce Logan, a professor of environmental engineering at Penn State.
Given the new high-value electrochemical capacitors that have storage values in dozens or hundreds of Farads, it should be feasible to have the electrical side of this system be totally self-regenerative, in that no external (off-vehicle) energy supply would be needed for that kick-start "jolt" to the cathode. Even an ordinary car battery might have the storage potential, although it would nice to remove that chemical lead footprint from the average vehicle. Something that the Prius in no way addresses.
to me that rings just as true as the various DIY TV shows where the host (hostess) rebuilds WITH HIS/HER OWN TWO HANDS AN ENTIRE THREE STORY VICTORIAN IN A HALF HOUR AND NEVER BREAKS A NAIL OR GETS HER TIGHT-ASSED PANTS DUSTY.....
i call BS on this, for now anyway.
#17
Stuff like this introduces the unforseen deltas that Michael Crichton talks about when he poo poos the global warming crowd. It is also the silver lining of high oil prices. Technological development is fast and furious. Effective alternative energy sources are going to be developed. And then the House of Saud (spit) will sink like a lead balloon.
#18
Redneck, either you or I misread that article.
You seem to be saying that the "fuel" for the process is ethanol. I read it that the alternate biomass process produces ethanol through fermentation but this process doesn't.
If this process relies on producing ethanol, how does that square the two statements....
1)The technology is economically viable now
and...
2)economical ethanol from cellulose is 10 years down the road,"????
#19
The AFP article had the science somewhat garbled so its not easy to say what is going on here.
However, a process that produces hydrogen is, other things equal, better than a process that produces ethanol.
Hydrogen burns cleaner and is probably easier to transport since it could be moved in existing pipelines (with some modification of the pipelines); whereas ethanol is such a good solvent that it realy needs its own pipelines.
#21
It is also the silver lining of high oil prices. Technological development is fast and furious.
Word, remoteman. If it takes $5.00 per gallon gasoline prices to get America off of the oil tit once and for all time, then bring it on!
It goes beyond ironic that the current war on Islamic terrorism is consuming the same vast amounts of money that we should be using to get off of the oil tit. It is almost as if Islam is waging this war to distract us from the more vital goal of overcoming our dependence on OPEC exports.
#22
Here is the press release from which the 288% comes.
Here is a bit about how it would be used in transportation:
For those who think that a hydrogen economy is far in the future, Logan suggests that hydrogen produced from cellulose and other renewable organic materials could be blended with natural gas for use in natural gas vehicles.
"We drive a lot of vehicles on natural gas already. Natural gas is essentially methane," says Logan. "Methane burns fairly cleanly, but if we add hydrogen, it burns even more cleanly and works fine in existing natural gas combustion vehicles."
#24
#18: Redneck, either you or I misread that article.
Ummm, I read it as first making ethanol from biomass (Same biomass needed for ethanol production in the first place), then converting the ethanol to hydrogen, Wrong?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/13/2007 20:54 Comments ||
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#25
You hoo, Professor, I'd like to finish eating my subs in class, plus change my PSU Sub Shop order to ten Philly Cheesesteak subs wid works to go, please,ala FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH + SEAN PENN's PIZZA. *D *** NG IT, SO MUCH HYDROGEN, NOT ENUFF PROVOLONE - theme from DRAGNET here.
#26
Time to [once again] be a good BEAU GESTE-IAN French Foreign Legionaire soldat like PEPE LE PEU and uncaringly obliviously smoke a good cigarette - NO, THE CRIPPLED RUSS BABE FROM "THE SOPRANOS"???
Once again led by its research and development center in Haifa, Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, on Monday unveiled its smallest and fastest processing chipset. Codenamed Penryn, the processors, including 16 eco-friendly and "cooler" chips, are the first to be produced on the company's 45 nanometer (nm) manufacturing process.
"The intellects, physics and designs that went into solving one of the industry's most daunting challenges are awe-inspiring and I congratulate the Intel teams for this breakthrough achievement," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO, as he unveiled the product. "Best yet, this feat, coupled with our industry-leading architectures, means faster and sleeker computers, longer battery life and better energy efficiency. Our objective is to bring consumers a new class of computers delivering a full Internet experience in ever-smaller, more portable form factors."
The chips were built using an entirely new transistor formula that alleviates the wasteful electricity leaks that threaten future computer innovation. In addition to increasing computer performance and saving energy use, the processors eliminate eco-unfriendly lead and, beginning in 2008, halogen materials.
"This development marks the biggest transistor advancements in 40 years," said Intel co-founder Gordon Moore.
Intel's new flagship manufacturing plant in Israel, Fab-28, currently under construction in Kiryat Gat, will produce the new 45nm chips beginning sometime in late-2008, an Intel spokesman told The Jerusalem Post.
The new 45nm (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) processors boast nearly twice the transistor density of previous chips built on the company's 65nm technology, meaning that up to 820 million transistors can be packed into quad-core processors.
"The technology that was developed for the 45nm chips is much more advanced then any technology that we have ever developed before," Roni Friedman, vice president of the Mobility Group and General Manager of the Mobility Microprocessor Group, said in a conference call.
"With a smaller silicon die, Intel can have more CPUs from the wafer and by reducing the size of the die it is possible to create a bigger memory cache without increasing the size of the chip. Also, a smaller die has closer circuits, making it faster for them to communicate to each other."
The processors are the first to use Intel's Hafnium-based high-k metal gate (Hi-k) formula for the hundreds of millions of transistors inside the processors. According to Intel, the move to halfnium doesn't just facilitate the shrinkage from 65nm to 45nm, but the new process also increases transistor switching speed and greatly reduces power leakage, thus upping performance-per-watt in the Penryn line significantly beyond what's gained from a typical die shrink. Intel has claimed its 45nm chips get a 38 percent efficiency boost over their 65nm predecessors.
"The breakthroughs clear the path for Intel to design products that are 25% smaller than previous versions and, thus, more cost-effective, as well as the ability next year to pursue new ultra mobile and consumer electronics "system on chip" opportunities," Intel said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/13/2007 00:00 ||
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Iranian newspapers have printed a list of moral vices that the police are targeting, including wearing make-up and hats instead of headscarves.
The police say they will also suppress "decadent" films, drugs and alcohol. This year has seen one of the most ferocious crackdowns on un-Islamic behaviour and improper Islamic dress by the authorities for at least a decade. But it has now emerged the current campaign has the overt backing of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The police are warning they will deal seriously with any women who dare to wear short trousers, skimpy overcoats or skirts that are revealingly transparent or have slits in them. Wearing boots instead of full length trousers will not be tolerated, nor will hats instead of headscarves. Indeed, the police stipulate that small headscarves are out - the scarf must cover a woman's head and neck completely.
The police say they will also clamp down on "decadent" films, drugs, alcohol, extortion and general thuggish behaviour, but it is issues of dress that are given most prominence. In the last six months, tens of thousands of women have been warned or arrested because of their clothes.
During the reformist period, Islamic dress restrictions eased dramatically in Iran, with women wearing bright colours, following Western fashions, and pushing the limits in an attempt to express their individuality. Some sported strappy, high-heeled sandals with tight three-quarter length trousers, skin-hugging coats at least a size too small, a headscarf perched on the back of their heavily highlighted hair, topped off with large diamond-encrusted sunglasses and matching designer handbag.
But the latest police action has put an end to that kind of dress. Last week, Ayatollah Khamenei urged the police to keep up their crackdown on social vices, clearly lending his weight to a campaign that has proved controversial.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
According to Muslim hadith, when their "prophet" (self appointment be upon him) made his "night journey" to hell and heaven, he found that hell was populated mostly by women.
Freudians, latch onto this: the "prophet" was shown both this parents in hell, with their brains "boiling." Being a nice "prophet" he asked angel Gabriel if Allah (alleged god) could place them where they would only simmer. Allah complied.
#3
But the latest police action has put an end to that kind of dress. Last week, Ayatollah Khamenei urged the police to keep up their crackdown on social vices, clearly lending his weight to a campaign that has proved controversial.
It's a back-door route to prevent civil uprising; the ones being targeted are usually the first to rebel. It's much easier to create a climate of suppression if it's based on 'religious grounds'. Call it the Iranian version of the PC-police.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The 
Prime Minister 
One day after the morning raids to gather evidence against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, detectives from the Israel Police's crack National Fraud Squad returned to their usual routine of operational silence Monday concerning one of the most talked-about investigations in the country. But those familiar with the long and often painstaking process of building a white-collar case said that now the detectives' real work would begin. 
Once again led by its research and development center in Haifa, Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, on Monday unveiled its smallest and fastest processing chipset. Codenamed Penryn, the processors, including 16 eco-friendly and "cooler" chips, are the first to be produced on the company's 45 nanometer (nm) manufacturing process. 
