Staging a global forum on climate change is a dilemma, for it adds to very problem it is trying to solve. How about a video conference? Or maybe some emails.
Around 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) will add to Earth's greenhouse effect from the December 1-12 meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UNFCCC said. That estimate is based on a turnout of 8,000 people, but as of Sunday 10,657 people had registered for the talks.
Poland, which is hosting the meeting, "plans to offset the total emissions resulting from the conference once a final calculation has been made," the UNFCCC said. The modern equivalent of buying indulgences.
Under offsets, anyone emitting carbon can invest in a scheme that mitigates the pollution by the same amount. Typical projects involve reforestation or transferring cleaner technology to developing countries in order to ease their own emissions of greenhouse gases. More like easing their own guilty consciences, if they have any. A suggestion: unplug Al Gore's house for a awhile. Put your (our) money where your mouth is.
The UNFCCC, based in Bonn, is sending 200 people to the Poznan talks, who are traveling by the most "carbon-friendly means possible," either by train or bus, it said. The Poznan talks are a stepping stone to a new global treaty on climate change, scheduled to be concluded in Copenhagen in December 2009. Watch your wallets, good people. My bet is that the new treaty will be Kyoto on Steroids.
Greenhouses gases are so called because they linger in the atmosphere and trap the heat from the Sun, instead of letting it radiate out into space. As a result, Earth's surface is slowly warming, inflicting potentially dangerous impacts on its climate system.
Most greenhouse gases come from the burning of oil, coal and gas. Emissions from the Poznan talks come principally from delegate travel and heating and lighting the conference venue. And flambe's. Don't forget the lighting of the desserts.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/02/2008 00:03 ||
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#5
Simply convince them that not-breathing will end pollution of several million units of carbon dioxide, also to help promote plant growth, simply lay down at the base of some tree (Fruit or nut bearing preferably) and cease polluting the atmosphere(Stop breathing).
I see it as a win-win situation.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/02/2008 17:46 Comments ||
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MONROVIA - More than 200 prisoners escaped from LiberiaÂ’s highest security prison in the heart of the capital Monrovia Monday, after overcoming guards by pelting stones and other objects, police said.
So maybe it wasn't so secure ...
The UN mission in the west African country, UNMIL, deployed troops at the South Beach jail after the breakout but only some 30 prisoners were apprehended, a police official said.
Send in the mighty Uruguayans!
The discontented prisoners were spurred among other things by a tuberculosis outbreak in the overcrowded penitentiary.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm surprised they caught that many.
Posted by: James ||
12/02/2008 11:55 Comments ||
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The emir of Kuwait accepted the resignation of the cabinet on Monday and asked the outgoing prime minister to form a new government, parliament speaker Jassem al-Kharafi said. Kharafi told reporters that the emir, who has the last say in politics, had informed him of the decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2008 00:00 ||
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Coalition governments are rare in Canada, and the opposition plan still faces constitutional and political uncertainties.
Adding to the political turmoil is speculation about how Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose government is outnumbered by the opposition in Parliament, will respond. Over the weekend, the Conservatives tried to stifle the movement against them by withdrawing some economic proposals, including an end to public financing of political parties, that angered the opposition parties and prompted the negotiations that led to their alliance.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
A modern day coup. The conservatives gained even more seats in last month's election, but the lefties are hell-bent on stealing the government. They're so desperate that they will ally themselves with a separatist party and install a PM who resigned from party leadership just a few weeks ago, after his dismal election loss.
#4
This has the potential to be a HUGE constitutional crisis. There are lots of people who are not pleased with the prospect of a "Separatist" party holding a veto over any government action. Almost as many as those who are displeased with this coup.
Much anger and ugly actions forthcoming from the Great White North.
#6
I find it hard to imagine such a coalition will last long. I remember when the a coalition removed the Conservatives in Germany. The greens wanted to enact all of their mad schemes and the Social Democrats had to explain the way the real world works and how they would be tarred and feathered and lose power if they followed the Green agenda. Of course today it would be different.
Could Sarah Palin's celebrity appeal be the thing to push incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) over the edge in the statewide run-off?
Chambliss seems to think so.
"She -- she truly is a rock star,” Chambliss said on FOX. “I mean, she came into town to help us electrify our base, make sure that these folks get fired up and turn out tomorrow, and she did exactly that.”
Palin rallied for him in Augusta, Savannah, Gwinnett County and Metro Atlanta.
"We had huge crowds,” he said, “and they were enthusiastic and very electrified.”
Chambliss said that although the turnout was high for Democrats in November, he expects to win this time.
"We expect them to turn outÂ… but we think we've got a pretty good ground game ourselves."
Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss has won re-election in a runoff, dashing Democratic hopes of capturing enough Senate seats to thwart Republican filibusters. Chambliss, who fell just short of the majority vote needed to win re-election in November, prevailed in a one-on-one rematch with Democrat Jim Martin.
FloDesign Wind Turbine... has developed a wind turbine that could generate electricity at half the cost of conventional turbines.... Typically, as wind approaches a turbine, almost half of the air is forced around the blades rather than through them, and the energy in that deflected wind is lost. At best, traditional wind turbines capture only 59.3 percent of the energy in wind, a value called the Betz limit.
FloDesign surrounds its wind-turbine blades with a shroud that directs air through the blades and speeds it up...
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last month Technology Review had an article on a new generator design that could also help boost productivity of wind turbines:
#1
Let's talk about the dirty secret of wind turbines. Given that the wind can chnage from second to second, wind farms have to be complemented with gas powered generators. TRhese act by heating water so when the wind weakens and the gas turbine has to enter service there is energy lost (respective to conventional gas-powered generator) in order to bring water to boiling point: ie you are using gas and producing zero energy output. When the wind stiffens again the gas turbine goes off but that means you lose the energy you had used in getting the water hot.
In other ords the attached gas turbine is a lot less efficient than the one in a gas plant.
If you make a new more wind turbine design with doubled efficiency you must also double the size of the gas turbine who must be able, when there is no wind, able to produce 2*N instead of N watts.
#2
A 1MW wind turbine is about 125 feet in diameter. I'd like to see a shroud anywhere near that size and the support structure to hold it in place.
Posted by: ed ||
12/02/2008 10:28 Comments ||
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#3
It's even more fundamental than that. My next door neighbor has a small windmill. Sometimes it turns. But many times it don't turn when it should. Either it's pointing in the wrong direction because the wind shifted or the gearing is wrong. He paid $15K. He is not happy.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
12/02/2008 10:31 Comments ||
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#4
Imma gonna put a waterwheel in the creek.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/02/2008 11:34 Comments ||
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#5
this farmer/rancher in the Saudi Arabia of Wind energy (Kansas) has replaced water windmills with solar pumps. Why? more dependable and you can't keep the aeromotors working and when they break down you can't find anyone to fix them.
1. Assuming better energy storage devices are developed, wind power will be a major beneficiary. With so many different technologies being advanced, this seems a pretty decent bet.
2. The shroud would only work with some wind turbines; obviously not the huge ones. However, one effect of the shroud would be to allow for shorter blade size (which would mean, among other things, more densely developed wind farm areas, i.e., more turbines/acre).
3. At this point in time, the single most important constraint on wind power is the lack of transmission lines from the very rural areas where wind farms are desired and wind conditions are good.
#8
More bad news for wind energy: a recent article in one of the Seattle papers ( i think) was suggesting that wind farms can change the weather by a compination of removing energy from wind so that patterns are affected, or the turbulence from the blades can casue the weather fronts to move in reation to that turbulence. thier research went on to admit the theorized farm size was much bigger than any seen to date, but ".. well you can't be too careful..."
the reduction in available energy makes sense to me, but blade turbulence causing wx patern shifts seems a bit much. its not like we are comparing this to wing tip vortices on aircraft and how they affect other nearby aircraft....
time to put an option on that nearby cave, that's all we will be allowed to live in after the 'learned elite' gets done.
#10
the 'wind-turbines hurts birds' argument is pretty dead
utility lines, tall buildings, communication towers and other such things take out about 1 million birds per day vs. about 500 per day by all the wind turbines together worldwide
#11
Domestic cats kill 100mil birds a year. That is an doorstep estimate of course. Turbine kills amounted to 37,000 annually, based on counts at the base of the towers.
#15
in the cities, most cats are indoor cats (like mine, who's 14 yrs old, not very bright and would be short-lived outside, gawdloveher), so I think the estimate is a leeetle off. I've heard numbers like this before (no offense, Skunky), and it always seemed like Audubon nonsense. I remain unconvinced (except that birders seemed predisposed to alarmism - see Chicken Little)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2008 22:28 Comments ||
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#16
Just cover the California coast with windmills that are using the power generated to do reverse osmosis on seawater turning it into usable water.
Then you don't need to depend on it for power nor care if it is an even source of power.
When the wind blows you make pure water.. When it doesn't nothing happens.
Water could be used for drinking/irrigation/whatever.
California is always short of water - that's why they steal it from elsewhere.
I suspect this is a case of finding what you expect to find. Alzheimer's commonly appears in people around 70, with an incubation period of 10-15 years where the signs aren't visible. So we should see people who were born in 1938 or prior showing the signs, and people born 1948-1953 incubating, their brains steadily shrinking.
McDonalds opened their first store in 1955. Prior to that we had to make do with the Dairy Queen, Twin Kiss, the Dixie Diner, Hot Dog Frank's, Bill Jones' Diner, and probably thousands of other local or regional dispensers of burgers and dogs, fries and shakes. All of these prepared meals to order, rather than grabbing them out from radiation emitted by infrared lamps at a Frederick Taylor-measured productivity-maximized rate using 2.8 man minutes per customer order.
The regionals also sold a wider variety of foods: Illinois and Iowa and neighboring regions were big on pork cutlets. You could get fried brains in Missouri, though I'm not sure why. Nectar and ambrosia in Texas was referred to as a hamburger basket and an order of fried beans. And all across the south you could buy things that taste like chicken but weren't. All of these were delivered by young women named Madge or Trixie or Millie, sometimes on roller skates.
If you were born in 1938 or prior, the fast food phenom didn't hit until you were 17 if you were at the first McDonald's on opening day, with your DA haircut and your gaspers rolled up in the sleeve of your white tee shirt. You'd expect to find those of us who matured subsequent to fast food as an industry -- McDonald's, Burger King, Jack in the Box, and similar joints -- incubating at a much heavier rate, while those in their 80s would be relatively free of the disease.
Mice fed junk food for nine months showed signs of developing the abnormal brain tangles strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease, a Swedish researcher said on Friday.
The findings, which come from a series of published papers by a researcher at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet, show how a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol could increase the risk of the most common type of dementia.
"On examining the brains of these mice, we found a chemical change not unlike that found in the Alzheimer brain," Susanne Akterin, a researcher at the Karolinska Institutet's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, who led the study, said in a statement.
"We now suspect that a high intake of fat and cholesterol in combination with genetic factors ... can adversely affect several brain substances, which can be a contributory factor in the development of Alzheimer's."
Alzheimer's disease is incurable and is the most common form of dementia among older people. It affects the regions of the brain involving thought, memory and language.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Couldn't the intake of ANYTHING, combined with the right 'genetic factors' adversely affect several brain substances? I'm sure Nitrogen will give you Alzheimer's if you have enough genetic disposition to it. This is just another attempt to modify peoples behavior to suit you own values. I don't think academics have any more credibility than journalists do any more.
#2
On the other hand, these researcher's did mention that vast quantities of lutefisk were conducive to a long life, healthy skin and fresh breath. I suspect some bias.
Posted by: ed ||
12/02/2008 7:30 Comments ||
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#3
I'll call hooey as well. For example, as a rule of thumb, Alzheimer's and Schizophrenia are mutually exclusive.
Those with less education are as a group more likely to develop Alzheimer's, as well.
#4
Most people do not have a diet of exclusively cheeseburgers, french fries and Coke. Even those who eat only at McDonalds have the option of a salad, orange juice, and a carton of milk on occasion. This feels like the tests that were used to show that cyclamates are dangerous while saccharine is safe, which infuriated my research biochemist father. Interestingly, as I understand it, Canada took the same research to support banning saccharine and promoting cyclamates.
It would be interesting to see a proper study following three identical groups of mice for at least a year: one group eating exclusively junk food, the second part junk food and part normal mouse kibble, and the third exclusively mouse kibble.
#8
I think a factor is the preservatives used in most American foods. Some fat is impossible to lose, as it is dense and fibrous, and will not yield even to liposuction. The doctors call it human transfat. American remains also fail to decompose as rapidly as others, if disinterred. The very long shelf life of hamburger buns, processed cheese, and all the transfat from french fries is only part of the story, as nearly all our food from the grocery store has preservatives. Even OTC meds have shelf lives of 3-10 years! Even our milk is homogenized by law but other nations often cook using fresh products or are literally homemade. When Native Americans or the Caribbean islanders eat store bought food and fast food, they gain weight and have diabetes and other diseases of obesity they didn't have when eating indigenous diets. Then there is the corn syrup in so many products, like soft drinks and candy. They need a test population such as rural Asians that eat no junk food or even access to store bought products. Also, I've seen what was called Alzheimers with fairly rapid onset in a hunter who ate mostly deer and elk, besides homegrown garden vegetables; it was Kreutzfeld-Jacobs (sp) or a form of Mad Cow Disease found in wild game. This disease is caused by prions, a protein not killed by heat. Cooking or sterilization procedures such as autoclaving surgical instruments will not destroy prions, making a misdiagnosis on a surgical patient a potential means of transmission.
#11
CNN AM > Pert basically argues that the human brain at birth is a self-contained, self-regulating/limiting pool of CHOLESTEROL, and that the addition of fast food cholester = fats puts the brain's normal cholesterol oper system in overload.
* REDDIT > THE SIX MOST GROSSEST ITEMS ON US FAST FOOD MENUS.
BANGKOK - One anti-government protester was killed and 22 wounded in a grenade attack at BangkokÂ’s occupied domestic airport Tuesday, in the latest incident targeting demonstrators, emergency services said.
The explosion at Don Mueang airport came just hours after the PeopleÂ’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) ended a three-month sit-in at the prime ministerÂ’s offices in Bangkok following a series of grenade attacks. The hundreds of protesters abandoning the premierÂ’s offices moved to Don Mueang and the main Suvarnabhumi international airport, which they seized last week as they upped a six-month campaign to topple the government.
‘A 29-year-old man was killed and 22 others wounded in bomb attack early Tuesday (at Don Mueang),’ an emergency services spokeswoman told AFP. She said the man died from shrapnel wounds to the stomach.
A grenade attack early Sunday at the prime minister’s Government House offices wounded about 50 people, prompting PAD leaders on Monday to vacate the protest site and reinforce their numbers at the two occupied airports. Two protesters were killed in blasts at Government House last month, in attacks which led to the PAD’s ‘final battle’ against the government, which has developed into an economically crippling week-long siege of the airports.
The PAD accuses the current administration of running the country on behalf of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and currently lives in exile abroad to escape corruption charges.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/02/2008 00:00 ||
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Chrysler says its November U.S. sales plunged 47 percent, blaming a slumping industry wide demand and a planned drop in fleet sales. The drop announced Tuesday includes a 59 percent decrease in demand for cars and 42 percent decline in truck sales.
Excluding fleet sales, the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker says its November sales fell 36 percent. Chrysler LLC's sales drop compares with a 41 percent plunge at General Motors and a 31 percent decrease at Ford.
#1
Chrysler Nov. US sales drop 4.7 pct; GM down 4.1 pct should spook the market! But now that the stock market is Ben Bernanke's personal c4sino, who knows.
#2
and a planned drop in fleet sales.
Yes Officer, he slash under my chin was planned (Bullshit)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/02/2008 18:05 Comments ||
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#3
Slumping industry-wide demand, a planned(?) drop in fleet sales, and the possibility that the manufacturer of your new vehicle will be unable to honor a 90 day parts & labor warranty?
A few days old.
The federal government committed an additional $800 billion to two new loan programs on Tuesday, bringing its cumulative commitment to financial rescue initiatives to a staggering $8.5 trillion, according to Bloomberg News. That sum represents almost 60 percent of the nation's estimated gross domestic product.
Given the unprecedented size and complexity of these programs and the fact that many have never been tried before, it's impossible to predict how much they will cost taxpayers. The final cost won't be known for many years.
The money has been committed to a wide array of programs, including loans and loan guarantees, asset purchases, equity investments in financial companies, tax breaks for banks, help for struggling homeowners and a currency stabilization fund.
Most of the money, about $5.5 trillion, comes from the Federal Reserve, which as an independent entity does not need congressional approval to lend money to banks or, in "unusual and exigent circumstances," to other financial institutions.
To stimulate lending, the Fed said on Tuesday it will purchase up to $600 billion in mortgage debt issued or backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and government housing agencies. It also will lend up to $200 billion to holders of securities backed by consumer and small-business loans. All but $20 billion of that $800 billion represents new commitments, a Fed spokeswoman said.
About $1.1 trillion of the $8.5 trillion is coming from the Treasury Department, including $700 billion approved by Congress in dramatic fashion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The rest of the commitments are coming from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Housing Administration. Only about $3.2 trillion of the $8.5 trillion has been tapped so far, according to Bloomberg. Some of it might never be.
Relatively little of the money represents direct outlays of cash with no strings attached, such as the $168 billion in stimulus checks mailed last spring. Rest at link
Posted by: ed ||
12/02/2008 07:17 ||
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#5
The rate of bailout growth is worrying. Last week the total disbursed funds was a bit over $2T. The burn increased by nearly a trillion in only 1 week. Won't even make it to Christmas at this rate.
Posted by: ed ||
12/02/2008 10:31 Comments ||
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#6
Holy moly! The U.S. GDP is only a little over $13 trillion. Where's this whole thing going to end?
#7
It will end when the currency collapses, when nobody, even the Chicoms will have any faith in our currency. Then the road splits into a number of forks. The people will have had enough and throw the criminals out. A dictator takes power, a military coup happens, or the US becomes a bunch of provincial enclaves. Or we become Zimbob on the installment plan. We are throwing good money that we do not have into a financial black hole, which can never be filled.
There is no oversight and accountability. You want energy independence? Where are you going to get the money? A gas pipeline from Alaska to Alberta will cost $20 to 40 billion? What banks can raise that kind of capital? It would take a consortium of banks to do it. I do not see anybody stepping up to the plate. Who is going to buy Treasury bonds?
A free press, which is necessary for a democratic form of government to flourish, cannot even ask questions. They have failed in their duty.
This whole thing is like a disease that must run its course. I hope that the nation survives it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/02/2008 12:50 Comments ||
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#8
I don't know, provincial enclaves sounds ok to me.
The 'Red State Block' would be a nice place to live.
#13
Poorly run and greedy companies deserve to go belly up. Money should be committed to deposit insurance funds, and that is it. In any case, loans appear as assets on the balance sheets of financial institutions. Non-performing assets still have value. If we stand clear, these would have to be sold for peanuts.
Japan's 12 year economic crisis has been prolonged by the insistence that everything be paid back, and not be written off as a worthless asset. Our recession will never end if we save companies that don't deserve to exist.
#15
I never thought we'd see anything like the market interventions we've seen under a Republican president. Let's face it - Bush isn't just a big government Republican like Nixon - he's the second coming of FDR, squared. After Bush's insane market interventions, anything under Obama is going to look like business as usual.
#1
If you are employed in the manufacturing or finance businesses you are probably in for a long hard slog. Everyone I talk to in the Engineering business is going like gangbusters right now, I have no idea how. Maybe 'project' money lasts a couple of years after the economy takes a turn. I recently interviewed with a company in CA that has work booked through 2010 and wants to add 20% to their workforce. So it all depends on what industry you are in I guess. Some seem, at least to me, to be doing fine.
#2
at least in infrastructure construction and design, phases of work are obligated (funds secured) years before needed. It's a FHWA requirement that before you get a phase OK'd, the next has to have funding identified
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2008 12:36 Comments ||
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#3
That is true, Frank. The only thing is that if the financial crisis gets too serious, drastic measures might be made and that would include freezing already committed funding for infrastructure projects. The dems are in charge, and they are dumb enough to run the ship of state right into the rocks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/02/2008 12:54 Comments ||
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the new Legislature in to work on its first day, declaring a fiscal emergency Monday in response to the state's deteriorating finances and urging lawmakers to "get off of their rigid ideologies." How about your multi-billion dollar Global Warming spending?
But even as Schwarzenegger warned that California could run out of cash within two months, there was little indication that the Capitol's partisan gridlock has waned enough to allow for an easy resolution to the state's $28-billion budget gap.
Republican lawmakers, who last week blocked a Democratic proposal to cut billions of dollars from schools, healthcare and welfare programs while tripling the vehicle license fee, quickly reiterated their opposition to any new taxes, which both Schwarzenegger and Democrats say are indispensable. Democratic legislators again dismissed some of Schwarzenegger's proposals to ease labor rules on business in order to boost the economy.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Look for CA legislators to fall dead from strokes when they see next year's tax revenues.
Posted by: ed ||
12/02/2008 7:28 Comments ||
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#2
Zim politicians haven't fallen dead from strokes [internal types at least]. Why should the legislatures, bureaucrats, and academics of California be different. Operating on a third world model just makes for interesting times. Unfortunately, for the bordering states who'll end up getting a lot of economic refugees, they haven't altered their residency status requirements, so the socialist plague that created this mess will just spread.
#3
I have a very dear friend out in California, who draws a pension from the state for working nearly 30 years as a high school teacher (music and history) - in November his pension check was one quarter of what it was supposed to be. He says, laughingly, that if December's check is down at the same amount, it wasn't just a weird and temporary hiccup. He'll have to get a job after Christmas. (He's in his 80s, and a WWII vet. In good health, but still...) Anyone else hear anything odd like this going on with California state pensions being short-changed lately?
#4
That's a dog act, I hope its just an error that can be corrected. My father draws a pension from the police dept, he hasn't mentioned anything out of the ordinary to me. That's a city pension though, not a state fund. If that was widespread, I'm sure you'd be hearing a LOT of people raising hell.
Yes it is. Socialism doesn't work. That accident victim was run off the road by a government chartered armored car hauling money around and it ain't the first incident.
#8
Many of the problems in California can be laid directly at the feet of the federal government. We are severely impacted by illegal immigration. I don't know how many billions of dollars it costs us. I don't know if anybody does because the laws prevent making people prove they are citizens before giving them public services. But it has to be a whole helluva lotta money. This is a failure of the federal government so IMHO the feds should be helping us with the expenses.
But our state legislators are like so many spoiled children who are completely out of touch with reality. Arnold isn't perfect but he seems to be doing his best with an impossible situation. It shouldn't be rocket science to come up with a budget where spending does not exceed revenue. But when greed and corruption are involved then the logic gets too convoluted even for the criminals. I don't know what to do about that. It makes me fear for the future of American democracy. Our elected representatives are running this country right into the ground.
#12
We have government salary and pension obligations in CA that are unsustainable. On top of that the voters don't seem able to constrain themselves when it comes to idiotic propositions (high speed rail than no one will ride, govt funded stem cell research, etc, etc.). Fortunately, the repubs in the CA legislature are holding the line on raising taxes. This at least forces the argument over to cutting spending. We'll see how long they can hold out.
#13
A Russian scholar is predicting that the United States' current financial crisis will lead to the breakup of the country.
Igor Panarin, a professor at the diplomatic academy of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the newspaper Izvestia on Monday that America will break apart into six regions following the crisis.
"Dissatisfaction is growing, and it is only being held back at the moment by the elections, and the hope that [President-elect] Obama can work miracles," according to a translation by Bloomberg. "But when spring comes, it will be clear that there are no miracles."
Panarin predicts the U.S. will split into: the Pacific, the South, Texas, the Atlantic coast, the central states and the northern states, and hinted that Alaska could be Russia's for the taking.
The professor said China and Russia will become the world's great regulators.
#17
I was busy banging my head against the wall in Iraq watching our do-nothing strategy fail when Ahnuld made his first and far as I know only attempt to actually fundamentally change the trajectory out here. His propositions were voted down, and since then he's been fighting a mostly tepid rear-guard action on fiscal matters, while beclowning himself on global-wormening and energy issues. Spectacular, epic, galactic-sized disappointment.
CA was warned years ago that its tax burden was so disproportionately on the upper bracket that huge revenue volatility was certain (here we are - as noted by a commenter, just wait til they see the new revenue figures in Sacramento and in big-metro/county offices).
Meanwhile, CA's tax burden is high overall. So we've got excessive taxes, disastrously stacked against wealth and success and entrepreneurship (this ignores the horrendous regulatory environment), and spending that is out of control.
Just anecdotes, I know. A friend teaches as a guest lecturer at a prominent state college (not a UC). The salaries of the tenured profs are unbelievable - and for this, they plagiarize for their publications, back-stab in a petty manner that defies belief, and mostly teach crap to young minds (we're talking social sciences obviously, not geology or accounting).
The dumbing-down of the country - especially the "educated" elements - may lie behind much of this. CA libs and others are suckers for any stupid faddish "idea" that comes along - stem cell institutes, high-speed rail, unicorn power, you name it. It's rare to meet someone who really has any clue about anything even a few inches outside their professional competence.
Could be we're at that point, long feared by many right-wing death beasts like us, that public "education" and an unhinged politicized media and culture have tipped the balance, and common sense and history have lost, permanently, to prejudice, ignorance, and emotion.
#18
IIRC State revenues increased by something like 40% over 2000.Unfortunately the expenditures increased by approx 70%. The intelligent voters of blue-county California also locked in mandated %'s of expenditures to education and other causes. An all-around clusterfuck. Any cut in next year's budget increases is slammed in the press as "budget cuts" with willing complicity by the LAT, SF Chron, Sac Bee, et al.
What is needed is a mandated return to a prior year's (say 2005) budget, and all increases offset by cuts instead of tax increases
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2008 20:36 Comments ||
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Oil prices on Monday fell below $50 a barrel for only the second time this year after Opec delayed a further production cut until mid-December. The oil cartel, which controls 40 per cent of the world's production, said demand was weakening fast with the global economic crisis but it agreed to wait until a meeting in Oran, Algeria, on December 17 to further reduce its output.
In late trade, Nymex January West Texas Intermediate fell $5.15 to $49.28 a barrel. ICE January Brent fell $5.52 to $47.97 a barrel.
Abdalla El-Badri, Opec secretary-general, said the cartel was heading for a cut. "We are all geared towards a cut in Algeria...There will be action there."
The cartel has promised to lower its production by about 2m barrels a day in the past two months but analysts said it had so far cut about 1m-1.2m b/d.
Ed Meir, of MF Global in New York, said that, in spite of knowing that the oil markets were oversupplied, Opec decided to pass on making any quota cuts at its weekend meeting in Cairo. "Apparently, Gulf producers insisted on stricter compliance of existing cuts before new ones were introduced," Mr Meir said.
The drop in oil prices was exacerbated by signs of sharply lower manufacturing activity worldwide in November, traders said.
Oil products were also lower. Nymex January RBOB gasoline dropped 8.9 cents to $1.1197 per gallon while Nymex January heating oil dropped 10 cents to $1.6270 a gallon.
#1
...I suspect that this is a great deal of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Any production cut at this point would be shooting themselves in the foot, as the world economic situation isn't going to change. On top of that, when it comes to production cuts, OPECs record isn't good. They tend to talk a good fight while cheating left and right. It shows how little these people understand the market and its forces that they seem to believe the speculator-driven price hikes of the last year or so were a perfectly natural event that will happen again just by their wish that it happen.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/02/2008 6:09 Comments ||
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#2
here's hoping a lot of speculators lost their asses
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2008 8:26 Comments ||
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#3
A lot of these Opeckers are in a cash flow situation. They are going to lose their shirts, because their spending has doomed them in times of low oil prices. They HAVE to sell oil to get cash, and that drives the price down even lower.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/02/2008 12:59 Comments ||
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#4
Yesterday I filled up at $1.67, on the way past the same station today it's 1.61.
Speculators, DIE.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/02/2008 13:40 Comments ||
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#5
The true speculators have made a killing since the same folks who added the last $20-30/bbl on the way up are the ones currently pushing oil down. The crude price will undershoot in the same way it overshot thus providing a nice opportunity for the speculators to exchange their short positions for longs.
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.
Mice fed junk food for nine months showed signs of developing the abnormal brain tangles strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease, a Swedish researcher said on Friday.
BANGKOK - One anti-government protester was killed and 22 wounded in a grenade attack at BangkokÂ’s occupied domestic airport Tuesday, in the latest incident targeting demonstrators, emergency services said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the new Legislature in to work on its first day, declaring a fiscal emergency Monday in response to the state's deteriorating finances and urging lawmakers to "get off of their rigid ideologies." Arnold_Schwarzenegger_Photo.jpg)
Oil prices on Monday fell below $50 a barrel for only the second time this year after Opec delayed a further production cut until mid-December. The oil cartel, which controls 40 per cent of the world's production, said demand was weakening fast with the global economic crisis but it agreed to wait until a meeting in Oran, Algeria, on December 17 to further reduce its output.
