Archive for February, 2011
COUP: MUBARAK RESIGNS AS EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT; MILITARY TAKES CONTROL
February 11th, 2011Al Jazeera English: Live Stream Via: Bloomberg: Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt and handed power to the military, bowing to the demands of protesters who have occupied central Cairo for the past three weeks demanding an end to his 30-year rule. “Mubarak has decided to relinquish the office of the presidency,” said […]
IMF Calls for Dollar Alternative
February 11th, 2011Mix the big confetti currencies together and what do you get? Confetti. Via: CNN: The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The IMF said Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, could help stabilize the global financial system. SDRs represent potential claims on the […]
Solo 457 Garden Sprayer – Made in Germany
February 11th, 2011Just a quick FYI: If you happen to be fed up with Made in China junk garden sprayers, check out Solo sprayers. They’re made in Germany and built to last. I bought the Solo 457 and I’ve been using it this year in the garden to apply neem oil solution. It works great. The pressure […]
Google Offers Two-Factor Authentication
February 10th, 2011I see this development as a sort of confidence trick, where Google is trying to get people to put more of their eggs into fewer baskets (that Google controls, of course). Two-factor authentication schemes offer strong security against unauthorized account access by miscreants, no doubt about it, but never forget that Google is God on […]
Egypt: Mubarak May Step Down Today
February 10th, 2011Update: Mubarak Refuses to Step Down Al Jazeera Reuters: Unrest in Egypt —End Update— Update: Military Coup Via: CNN: President Hosni Mubarak is expected to announce Thursday night that he is yielding power to the nation’s military, a senior Egyptian government official told CNN. He said the process — which included dialogue between the government […]
Mercenary Deaths Surpass U.S. Military Losses in Both Iraq and Afghanistan
February 10th, 2011Via: Foreign Policy: …more than 2,000 contractors have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Contractor deaths now represent over 25 percent of all U.S. fatalities” in those conflicts, write Steven Schooner and Collin Swan of the George Washington University Law School. Research Credit: Matt
Deutsche Boerse-NYSE Euronext Merger
February 10th, 2011Via: Reuters: Deutsche Boerse is in advanced talks to buy NYSE Euronext in a deal that would create the world’s largest trading powerhouse and put a bastion of American capitalism into foreign hands. The discussions, announced on Wednesday, came only hours after the London Stock Exchange said it had agreed to buy Canadian market operator […]
When Wal-Mart Metastasizes, Neighborhoods Get Poorer
February 10th, 2011Old news, but worth repeating. Via: Reuters: Wal-Mart’s lengthy struggle to open in New York City has hit fresh problems — a controversial report that said America’s biggest discounter does not just sell cheap, it makes neighborhoods poorer. The report concludes that Wal-Mart, the biggest U.S. private employer, kills jobs rather than creates them, drives […]
Robotic Lettuce Production
February 10th, 2011Via: Singularity Hub: The steady march of industrial automation continues to envelop the world. Many of us have a quaint early 20th century vision of agriculture, but the truth is that the farmer of the 21st century is a machine. Case in point: lettuce. With new hydroponic techniques, companies are able to grow lettuce in […]
White House to Cut Energy Assistance for the Poor
February 10th, 2011In other news: U.S. Spends $20 Billion Per Year for Air Conditioning in Tents in Afghanistan. Oh sure, Obama is serious about budget discipline. Via: National Journal: President Obama’s proposed 2012 budget will cut several billion dollars from the government’s energy assistance fund for poor people, officials briefed on the subject told National Journal. It’s […]
