Archive for September, 2010
Genetically Modified Salmon
September 7th, 2010Unlikely to escape… Unlikely. Via: Guardian: Last Friday, though, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took a potentially dangerous step. The agency ruled that salmon whose genes have been altered so that they grow more rapidly than their wild counterparts are safe for human consumption. In so doing, the FDA opened the door for […]
Gold Trying to Break Higher
September 7th, 2010WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. $1256.70 is the close to beat. $1265.05 is the high to beat. It’s currently $1257. This is a big make or break area.
Robot Snake Now Climbs Trees
September 7th, 2010I’ll sleep well as long as that thing requires an extension cord. Via: PhysOrg: Uncle Sam, Carnegie Mellon’s latest robotic snake, has been taught to climb trees. The snake is the newest version of “modsnake” created by the Biorobotics Laboratory at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The snake’s movements are biomimetic, mimicking movements of […]
Mafia Cash in on Lucrative EU Wind Farm Handouts – Especially in Sicily
September 7th, 2010“In Italy, for example, power from wind farms is sold at a guaranteed rate of €180 per kwh – the highest rate in the world.” I don’t know what the subsidy is, but it can’t be €180/kwh. (Please tell me it’s not €180/kwh.) I looked up the retail cost of electricity in Italy and it’s […]
Should U.S. Government Debt Be Rated Junk?
September 7th, 2010Via: Fortune: Typically, a bond receives junk status due to its increased risk of default, and therefore pays higher yields to the owners of the bonds to make up for the risk. In general, the owner of a bond is subject to many risks: interest rate risk, inflationary risks, currency risk, duration risk, and so […]
The True Cost of the Iraq War: $3 Trillion and Beyond
September 7th, 2010Via: Washington Post: Writing in these pages in early 2008, we put the total cost to the United States of the Iraq war at $3 trillion. This price tag dwarfed previous estimates, including the Bush administration’s 2003 projections of a $50 billion to $60 billion war. But today, as the United States ends combat in […]
Britain: ‘Retirement As We Know It Is Over’
September 7th, 2010Via: BBC: Nearly three quarters of people believe retirement as we currently understand it will not be possible in the future, a BBC Newsnight poll has suggested. Some 70% of the 1,000 asked thought it would not be feasible for people to stop work then live on a pension for up to 30 years, the […]
Copenhagen Suborbitals Launch Fails Due to Frozen Liquid Oxygen Valve/Hairdryer Mishap
September 7th, 2010Via: Copenhagen Post: The dreams of the first Danish rocket in space were shot down this weekend, as the Heat-1X/Tycho-Brahe rocket failed to lift off. Rocket builders Peter Madsen and Kristian von Bengtson confirmed last night at a press conference that it was their by now infamous hairdryer that resulted in the rocket not achieving […]
Telecom XT Dead Again, Vodafone OK
September 7th, 2010Just FYI: My Telecom XT link has been dead since last night. I called the useless support line and the new innovation was that they hung up on me. They haven’t responded to email. Vodafone is up and running, so I should be able to update as usual.
Obama’s New Deal Spit Balls
September 6th, 2010ZeroHedge saved me from having to look up how much the dollar has been diluted: The New Deal cost America $50 billion in 1930s dollars. How the times have changed – today the White House will announce a new and improved New(er) Deal, which will invest $50 billion in a 3Rs sequel – road, rail […]
