Archive for April, 2008
Weather Engineering in China
April 7th, 2008Via: MIT Technology Review: To prevent rain over the roofless 91,000-seat Olympic stadium that Beijing natives have nicknamed the Bird’s Nest, the city’s branch of the national Weather Modification Office–itself a department of the larger China Meteorological Administration–has prepared a three-stage program for the 2008 Olympics this August. First, Beijing’s Weather Modification Office will track […]
Iraq War: $3 Trillion Estimate May Be Too Low
April 7th, 2008Via: Guardian: President Bush has tried to give the impression that the $3 trillion dollar estimate of the total cost of the war that we provide in our new book may be exaggerated. We believe that it is, in fact, conservative. Even the president would have to admit that the $50 to $60 billion estimate […]
March Earnings
April 7th, 2008Cryptogon and Farmlet earnings came to a total of $1336.68, or about 2.7x the minimum monthly goal of $500. To all cash contributors, thank you. Thanks to the owners of bamboodev.com, freigeistforum.com and makomati.com for signing up for hosting with BlueHost via Cryptogon. BullionVault activity was heavy again in March. Thank you, goldbugs. Amazon continues […]
EMERGENCY: RICE SHARPLY HIGHER ON EXPORT CONTROLS
April 6th, 2008Via: Financial Times: Rice prices rose more than 10 per cent on Friday to a fresh all-time high as African countries joined south-east Asian importers in the race to head off social unrest by securing supplies from the handful of exporters still selling the grain in the international market. The rise in prices – 50 […]
Black Tea Could Defend Against Anthrax
April 6th, 2008Via: Science Daily: A new study by an international team of researchers from Cardiff University and University of Maryland has revealed how the humble cup of tea could well be an antidote to Bacillus anthracis –more commonly know as anthrax. As a nation, Brits currently drink 165 million cups of tea, and the healing benefits […]
Nation’s Largest Municipal Bankruptcy Narrowly Averted
April 6th, 2008Via: Birmingham News: The Jefferson County Commission on Monday narrowly averted defaulting on a $53 million sewer debt payment to Wall Street banks when two of four commissioners voted for a proposal to delay the full payment until mid-April. The commission voted 2-1, with one abstention, to make a $4 million interest-only payment to the […]
Forbes to Cryptogon: “We Think Your Blog Would be a Great Fit for Our Network”
April 6th, 2008I received an email from someone at Forbes inviting me to add Cryptogon to, “The new community of the high quality business and financial bloggers from Forbes.com.” A press release was attached, part of which is below: FORBES.COM TO LAUNCH BUSINESS AND FINANCE BLOG NETWORK Nicholas Ricci Tapped as General Manager, Sales for the Blog […]
U.S. Farm Bill Perpetuates Disastrous Agricultural Practices: There Is Another Way
April 5th, 2008Matthew Stiegelmeier for President! Via: Gourmet: Like his neighbors, Matthew did just fine last year, but he did it without growing a single ear of corn, and that’s where his family’s story begins to diverge from that of the other farmers. “I’ve got a philosophical problem with growing corn. Most corn goes to livestock. I […]
Lenders Swamped by Foreclosures Let Squatters Stay
April 5th, 2008The Bloomberg piece below is astonishing, but let’s think about it in terms of Mr. Mortgage’s latest video, which provides additional insights. We’re past the Oh Shit moment and we’re in a temporary lull phase as the banks scramble for a way to avoid hitting the wall. In short, the banks can’t foreclose because so […]
U.S. Lawmakers Heavily Invested in Defense
April 4th, 2008One for your Not-News-to-Me file folder. Via: AP: Members of Congress have as much as $196 million collectively invested in companies doing business with the Defense Department, earning millions since the onset of the Iraq war, according to a study by a nonpartisan research group. Not all the companies in which lawmakers invested are typical […]
