Archive for January, 2010
UK Economy Lies ‘On Bed of Nitroglycerine’
January 29th, 2010Via: Guardian: The government’s hopes of claiming credit for reviving the British economy suffered a severe blow today when the world’s biggest buyers of bonds warned that the UK was a “must to avoid” for his investors as its debt was “resting on a bed of nitroglycerine”. The intervention by Bill Gross, co-founder of California-based […]
Bernanke Confirmed by Senate for 2nd Term as Fed Chairman
January 29th, 2010Via: Washington Post: The Senate on Thursday confirmed Ben S. Bernanke for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman, but he scraped by with the narrowest margin in the history of the position and his weakened political standing could weigh on the central bank’s ability to maneuver for years to come. The Senate voted 70 […]
Euro Falls to Lowest in More Than Six Months on Greece’s Crisis
January 29th, 2010WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. The squiggly wigglies told the tale in advance: There is an uptrending support line on the USDX that goes back to March 2008. The USDX is subtly indicating that it is going to bounce off of that support. Via: Bloomberg: The […]
Howard Zinn Dies at 87
January 29th, 2010Via: Reuters: Historian and activist Howard Zinn, whose 1980 book “A People’s History of the United States” was a rallying cry for the American left in a conservative era, has died aged 87. Family members said Zinn, who for decades was a fixture in the U.S. civil rights and anti-war movements and lived in Auburndale, […]
Apple’s iPad as Metaphor for The Nightmare Future of Computing
January 29th, 2010Someone asked what I thought about Apple’s iPad. I wrote back: This was the most hype I’ve seen since Hope and Change. The iPad is going to save publishing. It’s going to save marriages. The blind will see and the deaf will hear! Pay Steve Jobs a commission everytime you want to scratch your ass […]
Pentagon Report Calls for Office of ‘Strategic Deception’
January 28th, 2010Via: Wired: The Defense Department needs to get better at lying and fooling people about its intentions. That’s the conclusion from an influential Pentagon panel, the Defense Science Board (DSB), which recommends that the military and intelligence communities join in a new agency devoted to “strategic surprise/deception.” Tricking battlefield opponents has been a part of […]
Schwarzenegger: Pay to Build Prisons in Mexico to Incarcerate Illegal Alien Convicts (Not The Onion)
January 28th, 2010Via: Sacramento Bee: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday offered yet another way California can save on incarcerating illegal immigrants: pay to build prisons in Mexico. Schwarzenegger said in a Sacramento Press Club speech that rather than raise taxes, the state could find money by cutting pension costs, allowing offshore oil drilling and lowering prison expenditures. […]
City Condems House Because Woman Was Trying to Save Money By Using Solar Panels and Batteries Instead of Utility Power
January 28th, 2010Via: Arizona Republic: An Avondale woman who spent 11 days sleeping in her car said the city treated her unfairly when her home was condemned in December for lack of electricity. But city officials said Christine Stevens violated building codes, a health and safety concern because Avondale homes are required to have heating systems and […]
U.S. Babies Mysteriously Shrinking
January 28th, 2010I’ve been seeing this article around but avoiding dealing with it because I just blow my stack when it comes to stuff like this. I’m posting it so people will stop submitting this. I guess it gives me an excuse to post a link to the Weston A. Price Foundation again. Cutting to the chase, […]
Finally, We Have Chickens
January 28th, 2010Posts on Farmlet have become so rare that I think it’s worth mentioning this one here. Via: Farmlet: We recently bought eighteen two-day-old Barred Rock chicks. They were unsexed, so we will probably wind up with something like half of them turning out to be roosters. Chickens, used properly, are outstanding creatures for permaculture systems. […]