Archive for December, 2009
Bankers Arming Themselves
December 1st, 2009Big deal. These corporations control the U.S. Military. Have a nice day. Via: Bloomberg: “I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a […]
Gold: Fresh Record High
December 1st, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Gold prices topped $1,200 an ounce for the first time as the slumping dollar spurred investor demand for an inflation hedge. Silver and palladium futures jumped to 16-month highs.
The Real Unemployment Rate in the U.S. is Now 22%
December 1st, 2009Via: Layoff List: The media and government officials often tout the unemployment rate using the official, or U3 rate, which stands at 10.2% for October. While 10.2% unemployment is certainly bad enough – it’s the highest rate nationally excluding 1983s 10.8% – it pales when compared to the U6 unemployment rate. First let’s discuss the […]
Another Escalation: Obama to Send 30,000 More Troops to Afghanistan
December 1st, 2009Via: New York Times: President Obama issued orders to send about 30,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan as he prepared to address the nation Tuesday night to explain what may be one of the most defining decisions of his presidency. Mr. Obama conveyed his decision to military leaders late Sunday afternoon during a meeting in […]
Stealth Starbucks Experiment Flops
December 1st, 2009HA. Via: Reuters: Apparently the experiment isn’t working. A former Starbucks insider said that Seattle’s 15th Ave. Coffee and Tea – the first of the new not Starbucks stores (its website, by the way, is called www.streetlevelcoffee.com) – is doing only a third of the business of the regular green-logoed Starbucks store that used be […]
New Sharp Flat Panel Factory: No Humans on Assembly Line
December 1st, 2009Via: AP: Huge sheets of glass are guided by robotic arms, sliding and turning in a towering germ-free plant, the world’s first making giant “10th generation” panels for flat screen TVs. Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp.’s futuristic-looking plant doesn’t have a single worker on the floor. Each sheet, measuring about 3 meters (3.3 yards) by […]
Scientists Grow Pork Meat in a Laboratory
December 1st, 2009Oh yummy. Via: Telegraph: SCIENTISTS have grown meat in the laboratory for the first time. Experts in Holland used cells from a live pig to replicate growth in a petri dish. The advent of so-called “in-vitro” or cultured meat could reduce the billions of tons of greenhouse gases emitted each year by farm animals — […]
Morgan Stanley Fears UK Sovereign Debt Crisis in 2010
December 1st, 2009Via: Telegraph: Britain risks becoming the first country in the G10 bloc of major economies to risk capital flight and a full-blown debt crisis over coming months, according to a client note by Morgan Stanley. The US investment bank said there is a danger Britain’s toxic mix of problems will come to a head as […]
Off to Auckland for a Couple of Days
December 1st, 2009Update: All Go in Auckland It’s five out of five bars on the mobile Internet system where we are in Auckland. —End Update— Becky’s grandmother has died. She was 95. We are going down to Auckland for the funeral and family gathering. While I’m assuming that my mobile Internet system will work where we will […]
