OBAMA CALLS FOR SYRIAN PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN
August 18th, 2011Is the U.S. going to drag NATO into bombing Syria—for the children? World War III for economic growth?
How’s that thing in Libya working out for Mr. Hopey Changey?
Via: New York Times:
President Obama called on Thursday for the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, to leave power, and issued a new executive order providing for additional sanctions. It is the first time the United States has explicitly called for Mr. Assad’s departure from power.
“For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside,” Mr. Obama says in the statement issued by the White House.
NASDAQ DOWN MORE THAN 5%
August 18th, 2011
DJIA -4.57%
Nasdaq -5.21%
S&P 500 -4.76%
Spot Gold Bullish Engulfing 10 and 15 Minute
August 18th, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Melt up.
SEC Illegally Destroyed Files and Documents Related to Thousands of Early-Stage Investigations
August 18th, 2011You’ll love this one.
Via: New York Times:
An enforcement lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission says that the agency illegally destroyed files and documents related to thousands of early-stage investigations over the last 20 years, according to information released Wednesday by Congressional investigators.
The destroyed files comprise records of at least 9,000 preliminary inquiries into matters involving notorious individuals like Bernard L. Madoff, as well as several major Wall Street firms that later were the subject of scrutiny after the 2008 financial crisis, including Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and Bank of America.
Gold Breaks Higher Out of Previous Range; New Record
August 18th, 2011Spot gold: $1819.99.
BP and Other Companies Asked to Investigate “New Sheen” in Gulf of Mexico
August 18th, 2011I guess sheen is newspeak for oil spill.
Via: CBS / AP:
Oil giant BP says it is investigating a new sheen in the Gulf of Mexico.
A catastrophic explosion at the energy giant’s Macondo well in the Gulf on April 2010 killed 11 men and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
BP did not make clear Thursday what the source of the new sheen was, but told The Associated Press in London it was not found near “any existing BP operations.” A sheen is a shiny coating that floats on the surface of the water, and could come from leaked or spilled oil.
London-based BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams said that “there is a lot of sheen in the Gulf of Mexico area” and that the substance did not necessarily come from a BP site or well.
For First Time, More Corn Used for Ethanol Than Livestock
August 18th, 2011Via: The Gazette:
For the first time ever, more of the corn crop may go into gas tanks than into the stomachs of cattle and poultry destined for kitchen tables.
The prediction drew little response last week when it was released by the USDA in its Crop Production and Supply/Demand Report for the 2011 crop season. The USDA kept its prediction for ethanol production demand for corn at 5.05 billion, but lowered demand projections for livestock feed by 100 million bushels to 5 billion bushels.
That fuel now tops livestock as the primary user of corn struck at least one observer as noteworthy.
“That’s a first-time-ever type of change,” University of Missouri Extension economist Ron Plain said in a statement released by the university.
“For forever,” Plain said, “ feed was the largest single use of corn.”
Research Credit: EB
UK PM’s Internet Censorship Insinuation Receives Praise from China
August 18th, 2011Via: ZeroPaid:
You know your internet censorship plans are too strict when China praises you for it.
I’ll say this right off the bat, if someone told me one month ago that I would end up writing a headline like that, I would have told them they were insane. I am simply stunned that it has come to this.
Last Thursday, British Prime Minister said that he wanted to “stop people from communicating on social media” whenever that person is using it to instigate violence. A growing majority of observers are interpret this as meaning that he wants to block social media websites altogether whenever civil unrest is suspected.
Blocking social media has certainly caused some debate in many places – especially in the UK. The discussions around possibly censoring the internet has received international attention. This includes China. Chinese state media website Global Times weighed in on the debate suggesting that “Western” countries are coming to realize that free speech cannot go unhindered on the internet.
Research Credit: EB
Hugo Chavez Orders $11 Billion of Gold Home From International Vaults
August 18th, 2011Via: Bloomberg:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered the central bank to repatriate $11 billion of gold reserves held in developed nations’ institutions such as the Bank of England as the metal rises to record levels behind a weakening U.S. dollar.
Venezuela, which holds 211 tons of its 365 tons of gold reserves in U.S., European, Canadian and Swiss institutions, will progressively return the bars to the central bank’s vault, Chavez said yesterday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Barclays Plc (BARC), Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) and the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) also hold Venezuelan gold, the president said.
“We’ve held 99 tons of gold at the Bank of England since 1980. I agree with bringing that home,” Chavez said yesterday on state television. “It’s a healthy decision.”
Related: Hugo Chavez to Nationalize Venezuela’s Gold Industry
Single Seat Electric Vehicle Sets 1,000 Miles-Plus Record on Single Charge
August 17th, 2011Via: PhysOrg:
An experimental electric vehicle called “Schluckspecht” (“boozer,” or “tippler” in German) has set the record for achieving the longest drive in a battery-powered vehicle on a single battery charge. Its record-breaking distance was 1,013.8 miles (1,631.5 km). The trip lasted 36 hours and 12 minutes. The Schluckspecht E, as the winning machine is called, was developed at Germany’s University of Applied Sciences, Offenburg, in collaboration with other academic groups. The test drive took place in Boxberg at the Bosch corporate test track, where a team of four drivers made the trip, as they took turns navigating over the long stretch of hours.
…
The aerodynamic design and weight efficiencies of the vehicle are singled out as reasons for the team’s success.
