Archive for February, 2008
The Dumbing of America
February 18th, 2008The zombie hordes are outside my window, ho hum, maybe I’ll write a piece for the Washington Post. Via: Washington Post: “The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson offered that observation in 1837, but his words echo with painful prescience in today’s very different United […]
22,000 Died Amid Delayed Bayer Drug Recall
February 18th, 2008Via: Reuters: The lives of 22,000 patients could have been saved if U.S. regulators had been quicker to remove a Bayer AG drug used to stem bleeding during open heart surgery, according to a medical researcher interviewed by CBS Television’s 60 Minutes program. The drug Trasylol was withdrawn in November at the request of the […]
Austrian UN Employee Dies in Fall from 19th Floor
February 18th, 2008Via: New York Daily News: A 44-year-old Austrian woman who worked for the United Nations plunged from the 19th floor of the iconic Secretariat building Sunday in an apparent suicide leap, police said. Maria DiBiase, who worked with the Austrian Consulate, was discovered in the complex’s rear courtyard by horrified UN staffers about 8 a.m., […]
NORTHERN ROCK TO BE NATIONALISED
February 17th, 2008Via: Financial Times: The UK Treasury is to announce on Sunday that it is to nationalise Northern Rock, the troubled British bank, the Financial Times understands. The decision ends months of efforts to find a private sector rescuer for the stricken mortgage lender, which ran into trouble as a result of the international credit squeeze. […]
Idle Parenting Means Happy Children
February 17th, 2008* wink * Via: Telegraph: The idle parent is a stay-at-home parent. Not for us costly leisure pursuits at the weekend. We reject the cheap thrills of expensive padded plastic fun palaces, zoos and days out in general. We find fun in our own backyards. We make aeroplanes out of cereal packets and it’s amazing […]
Sheeple: Crowds ‘Pick Leaders to Follow’
February 17th, 2008Via: Telegraph: People in crowds behave just like sheep, scientists claim, by blindly following one or two people who seem to know where they are going. Researchers at Leeds University believe their findings could have important applications, notably in the management of disasters. The team, led by Prof Jens Krause, conducted a series of experiments […]
Same Dealer Supplied Campus Killers
February 17th, 2008Via: Sky: A gunman who shot dead five Illinois students bought equipment from the same internet gun dealer as the student who murdered 32 people at Virginia Tech last year, it has emerged. Gun supplier Eric Thompson said his website, topglock.com, sold two empty magazines and a holster to Stephen Kazmierczak just 10 days before […]
Iran Opens First Oil Products Bourse
February 17th, 2008Well, Iran finally did it. Somewhat. They’re not trading crude oil yet. It’s oil products. Interestingly, they opened during the short window of time over the weekend when global financial markets are closed. So… Yeah. I don’t really know what to make of this so far. Via: Forbes: Iran, OPEC’s number two crude oil producer, […]
Lockheed Gets $1 Billion FBI Biometric Database Contract
February 17th, 2008Via: CNN: The FBI has awarded a nearly $1 billion contract to Lockheed Martin to help create a massive computer database of people’s physical characteristics as part of an effort to better identify criminals and terrorists. The overall deal is worth between $850 million to $1 billion and could run as long as 10 years, […]
The Next Crisis Will be Over Food
February 17th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. The mainstream media is figuring it out, quite late, as usual. Be careful, though, about timing long entries when Goldman Sachs is shilling something higher, or short when they’re badmouthing something. Remember what happened after that late November 2007 Goldman Sachs’ […]
