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The EU has confirmed that Europe's highest court will rule on the legality of the controversial anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (Acta).European trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said on Tuesday that the European court of justice would be asked to assess whether Acta "is incompatible - in any way - with the EU's fundamental rights and freedoms".This will include freedom of expression, data protection and the right to property in case of intellectual property, he said.Supporters argue that the agreement will help tackle piracy and illegal file sharing online, but there have been public demonstrations across Europe amid concerns over freedom of information on the internet.Parliament's rapporteur on Acta, British MEP David Martin, welcomed the decision, describing it as an admission by De Gucht that "there are still many question marks about Acta and what the implementation of the agreement, as it stands, would mean for citizens and for the freedom of the internet".
A conference in Brussels was told that many companies 'don't help themselves' when it comes to combating piracy and counterfeiting.The two-day conference, organised by the European commission, heard that 'financial incentives' could be offered to enterprises to help them deal with the growing problem of fake goods.A scheme, piloted in Italy, was cited as an example of 'best practice' in tackling counterfeiting and also raising public awareness of the problem.The initiative cited at the conference on Tuesday has been piloted by the Italian intellectual property office.Gianluca Scarponi, representing the organisation, said, "What happens is that we make them an offer they can't refuse use the capital generated from applications for patents and designs and, basically, give it back to enterprises."
We apologize... normal service resumed asap etc...
we use the capital generated from applications for patents and designs and, basically, give it back to enterprises.
Despite plenty of transatlantic tensions over the eurozone debt crisis, US President Barack Obama phoned German Chancellor Angela Merkel to congratulate her on concluding a new Greek bailout deal. The White House said late Tuesday that "the president thanked the chancellor for her leadership and welcomed last night's agreement in Europe on a new rescue programme for Greece to help reduce its debt to sustainable levels." "The president and chancellor agreed that the planned EU fiscal pact, recent actions by the European Central Bank and reforms by Spain and Italy have also been positive steps in addressing the eurozone crisis," White House spokesman Jay Carney added. But back home the reaction to the new 130 billion Greek bailout deal, agreed by the eurozone's finance ministers Tuesday morning, has been less friendly. Prominent Merkel-ally Wolfgang Bosbach, deputy parliamentary leader in the chancellor's Christian Democratic Union, has already announced that he would not vote for the new package. "We're marching with great strides towards a union of liability, and we're burdening future generations with risks that I find unjustifiable," he told the Passauer Neue Presse.
Despite plenty of transatlantic tensions over the eurozone debt crisis, US President Barack Obama phoned German Chancellor Angela Merkel to congratulate her on concluding a new Greek bailout deal.
The White House said late Tuesday that "the president thanked the chancellor for her leadership and welcomed last night's agreement in Europe on a new rescue programme for Greece to help reduce its debt to sustainable levels." "The president and chancellor agreed that the planned EU fiscal pact, recent actions by the European Central Bank and reforms by Spain and Italy have also been positive steps in addressing the eurozone crisis," White House spokesman Jay Carney added. But back home the reaction to the new 130 billion Greek bailout deal, agreed by the eurozone's finance ministers Tuesday morning, has been less friendly. Prominent Merkel-ally Wolfgang Bosbach, deputy parliamentary leader in the chancellor's Christian Democratic Union, has already announced that he would not vote for the new package. "We're marching with great strides towards a union of liability, and we're burdening future generations with risks that I find unjustifiable," he told the Passauer Neue Presse.
The truth is no one really believes in this illusory firewall which sacrifices intellect on the altar of imagination. If they did, the European Union would not have decided to grant yet another colossal loan to Greece on 21 February, and there would be no talk of a new federal EU architecture, with nation states handing over more sovereignty to a European government. Progress has been slow, no one has tackled the crux of the problem (the issue of the EU resources required to conduct an effective investment programme). At times you could be forgiven for thinking that the governments of "major" countries are waiting for Greece to go bankrupt before building the Union they want to construct. This is the thesis advanced by economist Kenneth Rogoff, in an interview with Spiegel: once Athens has been expelled from the union, the impetus of the crisis can be used to accelerate the construction of a United States of Europe. But can a new union be built on the ashes of Greece? And what kind of union would we have had without the pressure of the Greek crisis?
The truth is no one really believes in this illusory firewall which sacrifices intellect on the altar of imagination. If they did, the European Union would not have decided to grant yet another colossal loan to Greece on 21 February, and there would be no talk of a new federal EU architecture, with nation states handing over more sovereignty to a European government. Progress has been slow, no one has tackled the crux of the problem (the issue of the EU resources required to conduct an effective investment programme).
At times you could be forgiven for thinking that the governments of "major" countries are waiting for Greece to go bankrupt before building the Union they want to construct. This is the thesis advanced by economist Kenneth Rogoff, in an interview with Spiegel: once Athens has been expelled from the union, the impetus of the crisis can be used to accelerate the construction of a United States of Europe. But can a new union be built on the ashes of Greece? And what kind of union would we have had without the pressure of the Greek crisis?
Sigh.
Oh, and engaging Germany in a war like the US war in Korea in 1950 wouldn't be a bad thing either, since the war drive would increase German demand for periphery products. tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
The other way is the transfer union. I don't believe in a third option. Even Swabian housewives get sooner or later that breaking up Europe would be even nastier. It will be too late and too little and I have no doubts as to who exactly will have to pay for it, but it will come, because it must.
All that requires is admitting that the Euro was a bad idea from the get-go.
- Jake Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.
So bad, in fact, that you can pretty much use it as a rule for how to set up currency unions: Do everything the opposite: Put the limits on state surpluses instead of deficits, put the limits on current account rather than sovereign balances, have parliament control the central bank instead of the other way around. And so on and so forth and etcetera.
Oh, you meant "orderly" as in "in ways that will not cause systemic insolvencies?"
Three years and a lot of euros late for that.
It would lead to two currency blocks, and in between would be France.
Unless Germany - and by Germany I mean the BundesBank - decides to unconditionally support French membership of the common currency with the full power of the ECB's printing press, France will drop out of the Euro no more than five years after Greece does.
Given the crop of nutcases currently staffing the BuBa, I would not place any expensive bets on that proposition.
I really don't think we need more centrifugal force in the EU.
I find it difficult to imagine that it would be a greater source of centrifugal force for Europe that Eurozone members strategically default and devaluate than it would be to continue to subject them to the whims of the insane asylum that passes for a central bank in the Eurozone.
Well, The Bundesbank did exactly that in 1992/3. The buck stopped with France.
But it's not clear they would do it now. The only reason would be that Germany needs France as the useful idiot in the strong currency zone in order to have any chance of convincing the rest thet the strong currency zone is a necessary feature of the EU. tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
I mean, if Greece agreed to subject itself to two years of high-grade IMF treatment rather than default two years ago it was in order to avoid hard feelings. Also, apparently to take Barroso and Bini Smaghi's words at face value, in order to preserve democracy in Greece. See how well that's worked.
2. You mean the current policy path doesn't lead to two currency blocks (or a much diminished Euro bloc serially shedding members) with France a borderline case?
I believe you missed the evolution in real time of my Euro crisis scorecard. We had been predicting an endgame with a small core Euro and France on the boundary for a long time before France fell off the core last August. tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
If it's pushed to the point where blood starts flowing in the streets of Athens, we'll be struggling to keep the Union alive, nevermind the Euro.
if the other half (fiscal union) had come first, or at least simultaneously, it would have had a chance to resist world market attacks, as is, it's a pacifist at a massacre.
it was rankly stupid 'blue sky' optimism to think that we could have one sans the other, and now it's a lead zeppelin, because it was symbolic union, not real, as it would have been if both parts had been legislated.
whether this was opportunism or a giant duh will maybe come clearer as wonks wonk out the details, mostly of the cui bono variety! 'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
An area with "no fiscal transfers" is an area with trade balances.
As a `coalition of the unwilling' meets in Moscow to debate retaliatory measures against the EU's inclusion of airlines in the Emissions Trading System (ETS), a senior Airbus executive has warned of a `trade war'. "Certain countries are opposing ETS which could cause manufacturing industries problems in terms of future orders and you can see the potential for a trade war, specifically with the Chinese," said Paul Nash, head of environmental affairs for Airbus. "We're obviously concerned because the big growth industries today are Asia and South America so it could certainly impact us," he told EurActiv. But industry opinions are divided between short-haul companies that may charge customers as little as 30 cents a flight to compensate for carbon charges and long-haul carriers, which the EU says may pass on ticket price hikes of between 2 and 12, despite one US government-funded report predicting a potential 2 billion windfall from the ETS for airlines. "We rather regret the turn this [Moscow meeting] is taking because there are moves within the International Civil Air Organisation to find alternative market-based mechanisms," said John Hanlon, the secretary-general of the European Low Fares Airline Association. "My understanding is that the Commission would be prepared to amend their legislation providing these alternatives achieved the same carbon reductions," he added. "The noises offstage are unwelcome and obstructive to that process."
As a `coalition of the unwilling' meets in Moscow to debate retaliatory measures against the EU's inclusion of airlines in the Emissions Trading System (ETS), a senior Airbus executive has warned of a `trade war'.
"Certain countries are opposing ETS which could cause manufacturing industries problems in terms of future orders and you can see the potential for a trade war, specifically with the Chinese," said Paul Nash, head of environmental affairs for Airbus.
"We're obviously concerned because the big growth industries today are Asia and South America so it could certainly impact us," he told EurActiv.
But industry opinions are divided between short-haul companies that may charge customers as little as 30 cents a flight to compensate for carbon charges and long-haul carriers, which the EU says may pass on ticket price hikes of between 2 and 12, despite one US government-funded report predicting a potential 2 billion windfall from the ETS for airlines.
"We rather regret the turn this [Moscow meeting] is taking because there are moves within the International Civil Air Organisation to find alternative market-based mechanisms," said John Hanlon, the secretary-general of the European Low Fares Airline Association.
"My understanding is that the Commission would be prepared to amend their legislation providing these alternatives achieved the same carbon reductions," he added. "The noises offstage are unwelcome and obstructive to that process."
Berlin says it does not want to discuss the merger of EFSF funds and the ESM; Angela Merkel does not want any complications that might get in the way of the Bundestag's approval of the Greek programme; there is no likelihood now of a summit agreement on an EFSF/ESM merger, but Germany remains willing to talk abou this later in March;the Dutch have changed position, and now support the merger; Agustin Carstens calls for more rescue efforts, as a pre-condition for more IMF help;says a merger of EFSF and ESM would not be enough; CACs are approved by Greek parliamentary committee, and to be voted on by the full parliament later today; Antonis Samaris invites outsted MPs back in if they support reform programme; the Dutch finance minister expressed doubts about the Greek progamme; Clive Crook argues that the Greek deal will not stop the confidence crisis; Germany's tax revenues slow considerably in December; Werner Mussler says France will be the litmus test of the new EU budget rules; Wolfgang Proissl calls on Draghi and Weidman to repeat a Trichet-Weber type confrontation; Nomura explains the broken monetary transmission channel; a BIS study establishes a Reinhart-Rogoff type debt rule for the private sector; Wolfgang Munchau says it is ultimately not in Germany's interest to run excessive and persistent trade surpluses; Sebastian Dullien and Ulrike Guerot argue that the Germans are digging in over austerity, and the best way to coopt Germany is to advocate EU-level investment programmes, and a shift in taxation power to Brussels.
Huh?
Proissl calls on Weidmann and Draghi to avoid a remake of the Weber-Trichet-confrontation Commenting in Financial Times Deutschland Wolfgang Proissl calls upon Jens Weidmann and Mario Draghi to work on avoiding another damaging confrontation as their predecessors Axel Weber and Jean-Claude Trichet had had. Proissl argues that the initially good relations between the presidents of the Bundesbank and the ECB risk turning sour because of a series of policy decisions the ECB has recently taken against the Weidmann's will. Among them are the second surprise interest rate cut in December, the extremely generous conditions of the 3yLTRO's, the imposition of a senior creditor status of the eurosystem for its Greek bonds and the attempts to earmark future profits from Greek bonds for governments so they can pass the money on to Greece. Weidmann has started to come out publicly against those decisions thus risking to put the Bundesbank back into the dissident role unable to form coalitions as was the case under Weber. Proissl calls on both central bankers to work out a mature relationship because working against each other damages the euro and the prospect for both to be successful on their respective jobs.
Commenting in Financial Times Deutschland Wolfgang Proissl calls upon Jens Weidmann and Mario Draghi to work on avoiding another damaging confrontation as their predecessors Axel Weber and Jean-Claude Trichet had had. Proissl argues that the initially good relations between the presidents of the Bundesbank and the ECB risk turning sour because of a series of policy decisions the ECB has recently taken against the Weidmann's will. Among them are the second surprise interest rate cut in December, the extremely generous conditions of the 3yLTRO's, the imposition of a senior creditor status of the eurosystem for its Greek bonds and the attempts to earmark future profits from Greek bonds for governments so they can pass the money on to Greece. Weidmann has started to come out publicly against those decisions thus risking to put the Bundesbank back into the dissident role unable to form coalitions as was the case under Weber. Proissl calls on both central bankers to work out a mature relationship because working against each other damages the euro and the prospect for both to be successful on their respective jobs.
... Who knew? The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
Saner, then.
>Proissl calls on both central bankers to work out a mature relationship because working against each other damages the euro and the prospect for both to be successful on their respective jobs.<
That ha nothing to do with a mature or immature relationship or any personal relationship, but with a genuine policy conflict.
As you know there are some presidents of regional federal reserve banks who disagree with Bernake on policy being more "hawkish". That still doesn't change the status of these federal reserve banksa as mere branches of the fed.
It remains to be seen whether Draghi will display similarly astute analysis and slap Weidman down for being a dangerous idiot. Though we may not get to see the answer for ourselves because, unlike the BuBa, Draghi seems to actually respect the confidentiality of ECB deliberations (that the BuBa demanded back when the ECB was formed).
Dragi and Bernanke deal both with equals and Bernanke can't just order any dissident on the Federal Open Market Committee to change their votes: and he can't order them to shut up either: the hawks like to go to the press.
So the relationship is just the same: Bernanke and Draghi both must gain a majority on in one case the governing council, in the other case the open market committee.
So yes, the bundesbank is quite like the federal bank of philadelphia.
But apparently It's OK When You're The BundesBank.
At this point, I'm seriously supporting a blanket financial sector berufsverbot for anybody who's ever been employed at a position of trust with the Bundesbank. That institution is rotten to the core and needs to be purged.
That is rather the problem. As, as Jake points out, that is an open breach of collegiality which generally only Bundesbank officials engage in. tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
Generally speaking the Bundesbank was modeled after the federal structure of the fed and the ECB on the Bundesbank. Only more so.
The BuBa is behaving like the New York Fed did prior to the New Deal. In case anybody is wondering, that's, eh, not high praise.
That makes the BuBa wankery carry a certain weight among those who want the Euro to keep living, because they will need to appease the wankers in question if that is to happen.
So you want to argue now that the heads of the regional feds do have the right to go the public on their opinion of monetary policies opinion but the heads of the euro system member banks don't? That the ECB is actually more centralized then the Fed?
And that they're the most prolific violators of.
Does it make sense? No, arguably not. But the BuBa stopped making sense back in the mid-1920s when it swallowed the Austrian koolaid, so "it makes no fucking sense" is not in any way in contradiction of "the BuBa insisted on it."
Now that is a new interpretation.
And while there does exist a rule about confidentiality of meetings, you seem to turn this rule into a gneral gag rule for central bank presidents. I don't think that is right.
What I said was that the Bundesbank has been insane ever since Schacht. That does not imply any endorsement of its pre-Schacht behaviour above and beyond the endorsement generally implied by noting that someone does not need to be committed to a mental institution.
I don't know if the method he used after 1933 - mefo bills .- was fiscal or monetary stimulus bit certainly wasn't the liberal orthodoxy of his day.
So he should - if we look only at central bank policy - a man of your tastes.
They were also done by the Treasury, not the Reichsbank.
Schacht's economic policies are a mixed bag, but that's somewhat beside the point, as we were discussing the aetiology of the institutional insanity of the BuBa. And while the hardening of the Reichsbank's anti-inflationary dogma might have happened under Schacht, a single man does not make history.
http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:Funktionsweise_der_Wechsel.png&filetimestamp=201 10509102445
The readiness of the Reichsbank to discount made the bills of exchange of the technically private mefo work.
So you want to trace the origin of the institutional ideology of the german central bank back to the end of the great inflation but treat anything between 1933-1948 as an aberration.
Woytinsky hatte in Die Arbeit (Heft 3, 1932) erläutert, in welcher Weise die nicht untergebrachten Anleihestücke "den Banken als Unterlage für eine Zwischenfinanzierung der Arbeitsbeschaffung dienen" sollten: "Von den mit den Arbeiten betrauten Unternehmern werden Wechsel auf die als Träger der Arbeiten in Betracht kommenden öffentlich-rechtlichen Körperschaften gezogen." Die Banken könnten diese Wechsel einlösen und ihrerseits "bei der Reichsbank diskontieren". In der Resolution vom 13. April 1932 fehlte jedoch der entscheidend wichtige Verweis auf die Diskontierbarkeit bei der Reichsbank. Es hieß nur: "Soweit die Anleihestücke noch nicht in vollem Umfange auf dem Kapitalmarkt untergebracht sind, sollen sie den Banken als Unterlage für eine Zwischenfinanzierung der Arbeitsbeschaffung dienen."[11] Insbesondere Tarnow war entschieden gegen den Kompromiss mit der Anleihe gewesen. Und Woytinsky hatte immer wieder betont: "Krisenbekämpfung heißt aber Arbeitsbeschaffung. Und wer Arbeitsbeschaffung sagt, der hat von der Kreditschöpfung gesprochen."[12]
Note that the öffa bills and mefo bills are only necessary to circumvent the equivalent of a debt-brake and the like.
I would have tried to post a translation but I don't know how it works--the instructions telling me that it is easy with the Firefox extension doesn't make me much wiser. Can someone explain?
Woytinsky couldn't even get a majority inside the social democrats for the WTB plan, mostly because Hilferding was opposed.
At same time a certain Mosley did leave the labour party, because they would not listen to his keynesian proposals. And in 1932, Roosevelt attacked Hoover because the deficits were to high.
I don't know. They listened to the expert and the expert was Hilferding and Hilferding said no. Was it really that far-fetched to listen to Hilferding?
Major industrial depressions where not, the official version of history notwithstanding, a new and exciting development at the time. There was the next best thing to a century of empirical evidence that laizzes-faire did not, and indeed could not, work.
Your screen should now be glowing orange and emitting a low hum. Do not worry, this is normal. But it's advisable to put on latex gloves before touching the keyboard.
Select, on its html page, the text you want to translate, and right-click (Windows). The option Translate appears in the menu. It opens a new page with the text to be translated on the left. Beneath it, a drop-down menu allows you to define its language. On the right, the empty frames have English defined beneath them, by default.
When you have "German" on the left and "English" on the right, click the "Translate" button between them. The right-hand frames will fill with Google Translate's translation. Check it carefully. To correct, click within a frame and edit appropriately.
When finished, click on "Copy output and close". You can then paste into your comment or diary. The two texts will be html-formatted side by side with link above, as you may have seen here or there in green and yellow.
(I found out that I had Firefox 8 and the extension for 10., but I fixed that now. I don't know how to get a html page though.)
It works. Thanks Afew.
BRUSSELS - One of the many loose ends to the Greek bail-out agreed in the early hours of Tuesday (21 February) is the lack of a firm commitment from the International Monetary Fund, pending a decision by eurozone leaders next week to merge the firepower of two bail-out funds. According to eurozone finance ministers, the IMF is expected to make a "significant" contribution to the 130bn bail-out. German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble on Tuesday spoke of 13bn plus another 10bn from the first Greek programme committed in 2010 that have not been paid out yet. But IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Tuesday said "significant means lots of things" and that the contribution will be decided by the board of the institution mid-March. That means the final decision will be taken after an EU summit next week when eurozone leaders are to discuss raising the joint 500bn ceiling for the two bail-out funds - the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM). "The IMF board will have in mind the overall programme but also additional matters such as the proper setting up of a decent firewall comprising of EFSF and ESM as considered today, but not concluded today," Lagarde said.
BRUSSELS - One of the many loose ends to the Greek bail-out agreed in the early hours of Tuesday (21 February) is the lack of a firm commitment from the International Monetary Fund, pending a decision by eurozone leaders next week to merge the firepower of two bail-out funds.
According to eurozone finance ministers, the IMF is expected to make a "significant" contribution to the 130bn bail-out. German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble on Tuesday spoke of 13bn plus another 10bn from the first Greek programme committed in 2010 that have not been paid out yet.
But IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Tuesday said "significant means lots of things" and that the contribution will be decided by the board of the institution mid-March. That means the final decision will be taken after an EU summit next week when eurozone leaders are to discuss raising the joint 500bn ceiling for the two bail-out funds - the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
"The IMF board will have in mind the overall programme but also additional matters such as the proper setting up of a decent firewall comprising of EFSF and ESM as considered today, but not concluded today," Lagarde said.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who called for the nation's wealthiest people to pay more taxes, should "just write a check and shut up." "I'm tired of hearing about it," Christie told CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview that aired last night. "If he wants to give the government more money, he's got the ability to write a check. Go ahead and write it." Christie, a 49-year-old first-term Republican known for a blunt and caustic style, has proposed a 10 percent income-tax cut for every New Jersey resident. Democrats who control the Legislature say his plan would favor the rich. A family with a $50,000 annual income would pay $80 less under his plan, while someone earning $1 million would save $7,200, Democrats say.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who called for the nation's wealthiest people to pay more taxes, should "just write a check and shut up."
"I'm tired of hearing about it," Christie told CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview that aired last night. "If he wants to give the government more money, he's got the ability to write a check. Go ahead and write it."
Christie, a 49-year-old first-term Republican known for a blunt and caustic style, has proposed a 10 percent income-tax cut for every New Jersey resident. Democrats who control the Legislature say his plan would favor the rich. A family with a $50,000 annual income would pay $80 less under his plan, while someone earning $1 million would save $7,200, Democrats say.
While Republicans promote themselves as the friendliest party for Wall Street, stock investors do better when Democrats occupy the White House. From a dollars- and-cents standpoint, it's not even close. The BGOV Barometer shows that, over the five decades since John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, $1,000 invested in a hypothetical fund that tracks the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) only when Democrats are in the White House would have been worth $10,920 at the close of trading yesterday. That's more than nine times the dollar return an investor would have realized from following a similar strategy during Republican administrations. A $1,000 stake invested in a fund that followed the S&P 500 under Republican presidents, starting with Richard Nixon, would have grown to $2,087 on the day George W. Bush left office.
While Republicans promote themselves as the friendliest party for Wall Street, stock investors do better when Democrats occupy the White House. From a dollars- and-cents standpoint, it's not even close.
The BGOV Barometer shows that, over the five decades since John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, $1,000 invested in a hypothetical fund that tracks the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) only when Democrats are in the White House would have been worth $10,920 at the close of trading yesterday.
That's more than nine times the dollar return an investor would have realized from following a similar strategy during Republican administrations. A $1,000 stake invested in a fund that followed the S&P 500 under Republican presidents, starting with Richard Nixon, would have grown to $2,087 on the day George W. Bush left office.
China's manufacturing may shrink for a fourth month in February, indicating the world's second- biggest economy remains vulnerable to a deeper slowdown as Europe's crisis caps exports and the housing market cools. The preliminary 49.7 reading of an index from HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Markit Economics today compared with a final 48.8 in January. A number below 50 points to a contraction. January and February economic data are distorted by a weeklong holiday. China is cutting banks' reserve requirements from Feb. 24 to support an economic expansion that Nomura Holdings Inc. estimates may be 7.5 percent this quarter, the least since the global financial crisis.
China's manufacturing may shrink for a fourth month in February, indicating the world's second- biggest economy remains vulnerable to a deeper slowdown as Europe's crisis caps exports and the housing market cools.
The preliminary 49.7 reading of an index from HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Markit Economics today compared with a final 48.8 in January. A number below 50 points to a contraction. January and February economic data are distorted by a weeklong holiday.
China is cutting banks' reserve requirements from Feb. 24 to support an economic expansion that Nomura Holdings Inc. estimates may be 7.5 percent this quarter, the least since the global financial crisis.
The European Central Bank's second tranche of three-year loans next week may mark the end of its "generous" provision of long-term funding, according to Deutsche Bank AG. (DBK) While markets are hoping for "a continuation of the program through the rest of the year," another large long-term refinancing operation, or LTRO, after this one "seems unlikely," London-based Deutsche Bank chief economist Thomas Mayer said in a note to clients today. "We expect the more hawkish ECB council members, coming mainly from the AAA-rated countries, to oppose continuing generous LTROs on the grounds that these operations will reduce adjustment pressure on both governments and banks," Mayer wrote. "Unless the euro crisis deteriorates significantly further," Deutsche Bank expects the ECB "to wind down these operations" after the next three-year operation, he said.
The European Central Bank's second tranche of three-year loans next week may mark the end of its "generous" provision of long-term funding, according to Deutsche Bank AG. (DBK)
While markets are hoping for "a continuation of the program through the rest of the year," another large long-term refinancing operation, or LTRO, after this one "seems unlikely," London-based Deutsche Bank chief economist Thomas Mayer said in a note to clients today.
"We expect the more hawkish ECB council members, coming mainly from the AAA-rated countries, to oppose continuing generous LTROs on the grounds that these operations will reduce adjustment pressure on both governments and banks," Mayer wrote. "Unless the euro crisis deteriorates significantly further," Deutsche Bank expects the ECB "to wind down these operations" after the next three-year operation, he said.
2015 is going to be an interesting year, when the trillion needs to be paid back. tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
To je već treća HNB-ova intervencija ove godine i to u nepuna dva mjeseca. Prva HNB-ova ovogodinja intervencija bila je 4. siječnja, kada je sredinja banka prodala 197 milijuna eura po prosječnom tečaju od 7,532527 kuna za jedan euro, čime je povukla 1,48 milijardi kuna.
This is the third intervention by the CNB this year in less than two months. The first was on January 4, when the central bank sold 197 million Euro at an average exchange rate of 7.53 kuna to a Euro, that is 1.48 billion kuna were withdrawn.
Eventually the unsustainable defence of the kuna exchange rate will stop and the kuna will collapse. This will happen no later than when the HNB runs out of Euro reserves, which may be in the process of happening. And then the HNB will have no reserves to help the country access essential imports.
Let's at least hope that they don't do as in Russia in 1998: get an expensive IMF loan and squander it defending the exchange rate for a couple of weeks so that wealthy people in the know can get their money out before the final collapse. tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
Two prominent Western journalists have been killed in the Syrian city of Homs in the latest violence which left 60 people dead across Syria on Wednesday. Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, an American, and award-winning French photographer Remi Ochlik died when a shell hit a makeshift media centre in the Baba Amr district. Troops are shelling opposition-held areas of Homs, besieged for weeks. ...Ms Colvin and Mr Ochlik were reportedly staying in a house in Baba Amr that was being used by activists as a media centre when it was hit by a shell on Wednesday morning. Rockets were also said to have hit the building's garden when people tried to flee afterwards. At least two other foreign journalists were wounded, activists said. One was named as British freelance photographer Paul Conroy, who was working with Ms Colvin, and Edith Bouvier of the French newspaper, Le Figaro. Ms Bouvier was said to be in a serious condition. The dead and the injured journalists are said to have been taken to a field clinic in Baba Amr.
Two prominent Western journalists have been killed in the Syrian city of Homs in the latest violence which left 60 people dead across Syria on Wednesday.
Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, an American, and award-winning French photographer Remi Ochlik died when a shell hit a makeshift media centre in the Baba Amr district.
Troops are shelling opposition-held areas of Homs, besieged for weeks.
...Ms Colvin and Mr Ochlik were reportedly staying in a house in Baba Amr that was being used by activists as a media centre when it was hit by a shell on Wednesday morning.
Rockets were also said to have hit the building's garden when people tried to flee afterwards.
At least two other foreign journalists were wounded, activists said.
One was named as British freelance photographer Paul Conroy, who was working with Ms Colvin, and Edith Bouvier of the French newspaper, Le Figaro. Ms Bouvier was said to be in a serious condition. The dead and the injured journalists are said to have been taken to a field clinic in Baba Amr.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke out on Wednesday against foreign interference in Syrian internal affairs, the Kremlin said. Medvedev and Ahmadinejad discussed the "dramatic situation" in Syria in a telephone conversation, where both presidents "urged the resolution of the current crisis by Syrian people using only peaceful means and without any foreign interference," the Kremlin said in a statement. "The sides agreed that the main goal today...is to prevent a civil war in the country, which may destabilize the situation in the whole region," the statement said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke out on Wednesday against foreign interference in Syrian internal affairs, the Kremlin said.
Medvedev and Ahmadinejad discussed the "dramatic situation" in Syria in a telephone conversation, where both presidents "urged the resolution of the current crisis by Syrian people using only peaceful means and without any foreign interference," the Kremlin said in a statement.
"The sides agreed that the main goal today...is to prevent a civil war in the country, which may destabilize the situation in the whole region," the statement said.
His position was the the Syrian opposition are al Qaeda and that western support is hypocritical. Especially when we claim that Syria is a dictatorship yet ignore Saudi Arabia etc etc.
Of course, he could just say it was opportunism on both sides, but I thought it was a more nuanced position than I'd previously understood from them keep to the Fen Causeway
WASHINGTON, Feb 21, 2012 (IPS) - Just days before the opening meeting of the new international "Friends of Syria" in Tunis Friday, the debate over whether the United States should provide more support - including weapons - to opposition forces is gathering steam.Over the weekend, two influential Republican senators called for Washington to provide greater material and other support, including arms, to rebel fighters associated with the opposition in an effort to oust President Bashar al-Assad. "I am in favour of weapons being obtained by the opposition," said Senator John McCain, who accused Russia and Iran of arming Assad, during a visit to Kabul, Afghanistan. "People that are being massacred deserve to have the ability to defend themselves," he declared, noting that Washington could provide arms indirectly through "third-world countries" and the Arab League.
Australia's government faces a mounting crisis after Kevin Rudd, the country's foreign minister, said he was resigning from his post over a widening rift with Julia Gillard, the prime minister. "The simple truth is that I cannot continue to serve as foreign minister if I don't have Prime Minister Gillard's support," Rudd told a news conference late on Tuesday in Washington, where he had earlier attended a meeting of G20 foreign ministers. Gillard said she was disappointed by Rudd's resignation and planned to hold a press conference on Thursday. "I am disappointed that the concerns Mr Rudd has publicly expressed this evening were never personally raised with me, nor did he contact me to discuss his resignation prior to his decision," Gillard said. Speculation has been rife in Australia that Rudd is planning to reclaim the prime ministerial post almost two years since he was replaced by Gillard in June 2010 after losing the support of Labor Party leaders.
Australia's government faces a mounting crisis after Kevin Rudd, the country's foreign minister, said he was resigning from his post over a widening rift with Julia Gillard, the prime minister.
"The simple truth is that I cannot continue to serve as foreign minister if I don't have Prime Minister Gillard's support," Rudd told a news conference late on Tuesday in Washington, where he had earlier attended a meeting of G20 foreign ministers.
Gillard said she was disappointed by Rudd's resignation and planned to hold a press conference on Thursday.
"I am disappointed that the concerns Mr Rudd has publicly expressed this evening were never personally raised with me, nor did he contact me to discuss his resignation prior to his decision," Gillard said.
Speculation has been rife in Australia that Rudd is planning to reclaim the prime ministerial post almost two years since he was replaced by Gillard in June 2010 after losing the support of Labor Party leaders.
Typical ruthless ALP politics.
Kevin Rudd Resigns | Julia Gillard Labor Leadership Challenge
The latest odds: Labor Leadership vote - Monday, 27 February 2012:$1.25 Julia Gillard (in from $1.33)$3.75 Kevin Rudd (out from $3.15) Australia's next Federal Election:$1.30 Coalition (steady)$3.45 Labor (steady)
The latest odds:
Labor Leadership vote - Monday, 27 February 2012:$1.25 Julia Gillard (in from $1.33)$3.75 Kevin Rudd (out from $3.15)
Australia's next Federal Election:$1.30 Coalition (steady)$3.45 Labor (steady)
The former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has begun meeting politicians in Senegal in an effort to resolve the West African nation's political crisis, amid continued violence in the capital, Dakar. Opponents of President Abdoulaye Wade want him to step down instead of run for a third term in the forthcoming weekend's election. Obasanjo met Idrissa Seck, a former prime minister and one of the leading opposition candidates, on Wednesday at a hotel in Dakar in what was the first of several such planned meetings. The African elder statesman is in Senegal as the head of a joint mission between the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). After his meeting with Obasanjo, Seck said the opposition remained steadfast in their effort to get Wade to stop his candidacy.
The former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has begun meeting politicians in Senegal in an effort to resolve the West African nation's political crisis, amid continued violence in the capital, Dakar.
Opponents of President Abdoulaye Wade want him to step down instead of run for a third term in the forthcoming weekend's election.
Obasanjo met Idrissa Seck, a former prime minister and one of the leading opposition candidates, on Wednesday at a hotel in Dakar in what was the first of several such planned meetings.
The African elder statesman is in Senegal as the head of a joint mission between the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
After his meeting with Obasanjo, Seck said the opposition remained steadfast in their effort to get Wade to stop his candidacy.
CAIRO, Feb 22, 2012 (IPS) - The ongoing crackdown by Egypt's military rulers on a handful of civil society groups accused of receiving illegal foreign funds has far-reaching implications for the estimated 40,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in the Arab world's most populous country.Thousands of NGOs - engaged in everything from nature conservation to eradicating illiteracy and sheltering women from domestic abuse - are collateral damage in a row that threatens Egypt's longstanding relationship with the U.S. "This dispute is affecting all NGOs in Egypt that rely on foreign donors for grants," the director of a Cairo- based non-profit organisation told IPS. "Unless it is resolved soon, hundreds if not thousands of NGOs will be forced to shut down."
EU commissioner Siim Kallas says that Europeans should break their "almost complete dependence" on oil to fuel road transport systems.Speaking in Brussels, the Estonian official said this is all the more important as oil was "likely" to become more scarce in years to come.Addressing a conference, he said, "Our transport system has developed against a background of generally cheap oil, expanding infrastructure and limited environmental constraints."We must now adapt to a very different set of conditions."He added, "Oil is likely to become scarcer in the years to come, demand remains strong and markets as volatile as ever - just look at how little it takes to send oil prices shooting higher with events in a country such as Libya."So reliable alternatives need to be in place."
Goes on to "alternative fuels" but doesn't say what they are exactly. Erm, agrofuels?
I still wanna know if you can create a combustible fuel like a butane or an alcohol by electrolysing non-oil sourced chemicals keep to the Fen Causeway
But ...
at the moment, any kit we do have, tends to be optimised to be very energy-efficient during use. Which gives exactly the wrong cost profile - high capital cost, low running cost - the sort of cost profile best suited to kit that runs constantly, all the time.
It's all a bit of a work in progress. Everyone knows is a potential major money-spinner, if a patentable, scalable, affordable solution is found. Chemists - start your engines!
Worldwide, smoke from landscape fires contributed to an average of 339,000 deaths per year between 1997 and 2006, according to new research published in Environmental Health Perspectives and released today during the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia were the hardest hit by fire-smoke deaths, with an estimated annual average of 157,000 and 110,000 deaths, respectively, attributable to landscape fire smoke exposure, said researcher Fay Johnston, who represented a global team at the 2012 AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada. "It's time to look at deforestation impacts on fires, which in turn affect human health," said Johnston, a research fellow at the Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. Johnston and her co-authors specifically assessed the health impacts of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, an important byproduct of landscape fire smoke.
Worldwide, smoke from landscape fires contributed to an average of 339,000 deaths per year between 1997 and 2006, according to new research published in Environmental Health Perspectives and released today during the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia were the hardest hit by fire-smoke deaths, with an estimated annual average of 157,000 and 110,000 deaths, respectively, attributable to landscape fire smoke exposure, said researcher Fay Johnston, who represented a global team at the 2012 AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
"It's time to look at deforestation impacts on fires, which in turn affect human health," said Johnston, a research fellow at the Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
Johnston and her co-authors specifically assessed the health impacts of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, an important byproduct of landscape fire smoke.
A growing world population, mixed with the threat of climate change and mounting financial problems, has prompted University of British Columbia researchers to measure the overall 'health' of 152 countries around the world. Encompassing both economic and ecological security, high-income countries were ranked among the least healthy overall. Many countries in South America performed well, offering future generations better financial, food, water, and energy security. The top five performing countries are Bolivia, Angola, Namibia, Paraguay, and Argentina, while the bottom five performers are Jordan, the Republic of Korea, Israel, Kuwait, and Singapore. "We hear that countries are suffering financially every day in the news," says Rashid Sumaila, director of the UBC Fisheries Centre, "but that only tells half the story. Piling up ecological deficits is just as concerning as piling up financial deficits - both have consequences for future generations."
A growing world population, mixed with the threat of climate change and mounting financial problems, has prompted University of British Columbia researchers to measure the overall 'health' of 152 countries around the world.
Encompassing both economic and ecological security, high-income countries were ranked among the least healthy overall. Many countries in South America performed well, offering future generations better financial, food, water, and energy security.
The top five performing countries are Bolivia, Angola, Namibia, Paraguay, and Argentina, while the bottom five performers are Jordan, the Republic of Korea, Israel, Kuwait, and Singapore.
"We hear that countries are suffering financially every day in the news," says Rashid Sumaila, director of the UBC Fisheries Centre, "but that only tells half the story. Piling up ecological deficits is just as concerning as piling up financial deficits - both have consequences for future generations."
NUREMBERG, Germany, February 22, 2012 (ENS) - As of June 1, 2012, organic products certified in Europe or in the United States may be sold as organic in either region under a new partnership agreement signed last week in Nurember at the BioFach World Organic Fair, the world's largest trade show for organic products. All products meeting the terms of the agreement can be traded and labeled as certified organic produce, meat, cereal, or wine. The organic food sector in the United States and European Union is valued at roughly 40 billion euros (US$53 billion) combined, and rising every year. This partnership between the two largest producers of organic foods in the world takes EU-U.S. agricultural trade relations to a new level of cooperation. It is intended to establish a strong foundation from which to promote organic agriculture and the growing organic industry. Formal letters creating the partnership were signed by Dacian Ciolos, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. Agriculture Deputy Secretary; and Ambassador Isi Siddiqui, U.S. Trade Representative chief agricultural negotiator.
All products meeting the terms of the agreement can be traded and labeled as certified organic produce, meat, cereal, or wine.
The organic food sector in the United States and European Union is valued at roughly 40 billion euros (US$53 billion) combined, and rising every year.
This partnership between the two largest producers of organic foods in the world takes EU-U.S. agricultural trade relations to a new level of cooperation. It is intended to establish a strong foundation from which to promote organic agriculture and the growing organic industry.
Formal letters creating the partnership were signed by Dacian Ciolos, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. Agriculture Deputy Secretary; and Ambassador Isi Siddiqui, U.S. Trade Representative chief agricultural negotiator.
Ukraine illegally siphoned off up to 40 million cubic meters of Russian natural gas for Europe over several days this month, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Wednesday. Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko said this January that Ukraine was seeking to cut Russian gas imports to 27 billion cu m from 52 bcm. Gazprom reacted then by saying the current contract did not stipulate unilateral changes in gas purchase volumes. "Ukraine kept up to 40 million cu m of gas for several days [in February]. This causes financial and reputational damage to Gazprom," Miller told President Dmitry Medvedev. Several European countries said in early February they had faced shortfalls in Russian natural gas supplies, as a severe cold spell hit Europe, with temperatures plunging to below 30 degrees Celsius. Italy resorted to crisis measures to reduce the consumption of gas and maintain supplies to domestic customers.
Ukraine illegally siphoned off up to 40 million cubic meters of Russian natural gas for Europe over several days this month, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Wednesday.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko said this January that Ukraine was seeking to cut Russian gas imports to 27 billion cu m from 52 bcm. Gazprom reacted then by saying the current contract did not stipulate unilateral changes in gas purchase volumes.
"Ukraine kept up to 40 million cu m of gas for several days [in February]. This causes financial and reputational damage to Gazprom," Miller told President Dmitry Medvedev.
Several European countries said in early February they had faced shortfalls in Russian natural gas supplies, as a severe cold spell hit Europe, with temperatures plunging to below 30 degrees Celsius. Italy resorted to crisis measures to reduce the consumption of gas and maintain supplies to domestic customers.
Big stand-alone plants are to receive over 30% less in electricity prices, 15 percentage points more cuts than hitherto set. Medium-sized plant prices are cut 25% (-10 additional points). Small arrays: 20% (-5 additional points). ... "The subsidy is still too high" says Holger Krawinkel with the Federal association of consumer advocates. "According to our calculations, roof-top arrays would still be profitable with 15 cents. For large plants 10 cents would suffice."
"The subsidy is still too high" says Holger Krawinkel with the Federal association of consumer advocates. "According to our calculations, roof-top arrays would still be profitable with 15 cents. For large plants 10 cents would suffice."
Despite spending more on teaching the language than the top four countries, Switzerland ranked only eleventh in an international survey comparing English proficiency levels among adults. A study last year by Education First, a company specialised in teaching English across the world, compared results from 44 countries, with Norway achieving top marks, online news website 20 Minutes reported. Switzerland was beaten by Poland, Malaysia, Austria and Germany, as well as by more obvious contenders such as the Netherlands and Sweden.
Despite spending more on teaching the language than the top four countries, Switzerland ranked only eleventh in an international survey comparing English proficiency levels among adults.
A study last year by Education First, a company specialised in teaching English across the world, compared results from 44 countries, with Norway achieving top marks, online news website 20 Minutes reported.
Switzerland was beaten by Poland, Malaysia, Austria and Germany, as well as by more obvious contenders such as the Netherlands and Sweden.
Europe's top human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, has urged Germany to end the practice of surgically castrating sex offenders. The council's anti-torture committee said such voluntary treatment, albeit rare in Germany, was "degrading". In Germany no more than five sex offenders a year have been opting for castration, hoping it will lower their sex drives and reduce their jail term.
Europe's top human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, has urged Germany to end the practice of surgically castrating sex offenders.
The council's anti-torture committee said such voluntary treatment, albeit rare in Germany, was "degrading".
In Germany no more than five sex offenders a year have been opting for castration, hoping it will lower their sex drives and reduce their jail term.
Russian scientists have grown flowering plants using seeds stored by squirrels 30,000 years ago and preserved by the Siberian permafrost, a new study showed, in what may become a key experiment in the race to revive ancient species. The seeds of the herbaceous Silene stenophylla are by far the oldest plant tissue to have been brought back to life, according to lead researchers Svetlana Yashina and David Gilichinsky of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The latest findings could be a landmark in research of ancient biological material and the bid to potentially revive other species, including some that are extinct. The scientists highlight the importance of permafrost itself in the "search of an ancient genetic pool, that of preexisting life, which hypothetically has long since vanished from the earth's surface".
Russian scientists have grown flowering plants using seeds stored by squirrels 30,000 years ago and preserved by the Siberian permafrost, a new study showed, in what may become a key experiment in the race to revive ancient species.
The seeds of the herbaceous Silene stenophylla are by far the oldest plant tissue to have been brought back to life, according to lead researchers Svetlana Yashina and David Gilichinsky of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The latest findings could be a landmark in research of ancient biological material and the bid to potentially revive other species, including some that are extinct.
The scientists highlight the importance of permafrost itself in the "search of an ancient genetic pool, that of preexisting life, which hypothetically has long since vanished from the earth's surface".
Men may not become extinct after all, according to a new study. Previous research has suggested the Y sex chromosome, which only men carry, is decaying genetically so fast that it will be extinct in five million years' time. A gene within the chromosome is the switch which leads to testes development and the secretion of male hormones. But a new US study in Nature suggests the genetic decay has all but ended.
Men may not become extinct after all, according to a new study.
Previous research has suggested the Y sex chromosome, which only men carry, is decaying genetically so fast that it will be extinct in five million years' time.
A gene within the chromosome is the switch which leads to testes development and the secretion of male hormones.
But a new US study in Nature suggests the genetic decay has all but ended.
The Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University declared the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, which burned through the latex gloves of the researchers assigned to pick it, to be the hottest pepper on earth. "There will be a run on seeds and plants," predicted grower Jim Duffy. "Like Cabbage Patch dolls right before Christmas."
aspiring to genteel poverty
Not being an S&M kinda guy, I do not ever intended to eat one of them things. She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
So, why not have something madder ? Good luck, my digestive system decided years ago that deathwish chilli was not for me and I have reluctantly agreed. keep to the Fen Causeway
(He asked, rhetorically.) She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
Cooking long enough violates the volatile oils and leaves a more subtle range of tastes. Sensory manipulation is achieved by blending two or more types of chili musically: so you get top notes, mids and bass effects. This is while eating - another set of musical notes appears in due course.
It is even possible, for the experienced chilista, to decide whether sweat will break out on the pate, the forehead or the entire face - and even predict the location of a breakout of blushing blotchiness.
Everything I cook draws inspiration from East of Italy - and you can keep going as far as Hawaii but no further. All the spices you need come from Eurasia and and the islands. You can't be me, I'm taken
??? tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
Conservative filmgoers beware: Hollywood is after your children (again) with the release of two new films that shamelessly deliver a pro-liberal message.The Secret World of Arrietty, Studio Ghibli's animated take on The Borrowers, is an insidious polemic that encourages class envy and redistribution of wealth. Meanwhile, Dr Seuss' The Lorax is yet another example of environmental radicalism, according to Lou Dobbs of the Fox Business Network.
Conservative filmgoers beware: Hollywood is after your children (again) with the release of two new films that shamelessly deliver a pro-liberal message.
The Secret World of Arrietty, Studio Ghibli's animated take on The Borrowers, is an insidious polemic that encourages class envy and redistribution of wealth. Meanwhile, Dr Seuss' The Lorax is yet another example of environmental radicalism, according to Lou Dobbs of the Fox Business Network.
'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher
Physicists had detected neutrinos travelling from the CERN laboratory in Geneva to the Gran Sasso laboratory near L'Aquila that appeared to make the trip in about 60 nanoseconds less than light speed. [...] According to sources familiar with the experiment, the 60 nanoseconds discrepancy appears to come from a bad connection between a fiber optic cable that connects to the GPS receiver used to correct the timing of the neutrinos' flight and an electronic card in a computer. After tightening the connection and then measuring the time it takes data to travel the length of the fiber, researchers found that the data arrive 60 nanoseconds earlier than assumed. Since this time is subtracted from the overall time of flight, it appears to explain the early arrival of the neutrinos.
[...]
According to sources familiar with the experiment, the 60 nanoseconds discrepancy appears to come from a bad connection between a fiber optic cable that connects to the GPS receiver used to correct the timing of the neutrinos' flight and an electronic card in a computer. After tightening the connection and then measuring the time it takes data to travel the length of the fiber, researchers found that the data arrive 60 nanoseconds earlier than assumed. Since this time is subtracted from the overall time of flight, it appears to explain the early arrival of the neutrinos.
Former actress and model Brigitte Bardot has sent a letter to French mayors asking them to help far-right Front National leader Marine Le Pen get the crucial 500 signatures she needs to stand in the country's presidential elections....She asked them to lend their support so that Marine Le Pen could be part of the elections, which are due to be held in two rounds on April 22nd and May 6th. Bardot, who now devotes her time to animal causes, said Le Pen "defends animals and has the courage to give our country, France, its proper place in the world." "I therefore ask them [mayors] to have a bit of courage for once in their lives and to do their duty," she wrote.
Former actress and model Brigitte Bardot has sent a letter to French mayors asking them to help far-right Front National leader Marine Le Pen get the crucial 500 signatures she needs to stand in the country's presidential elections.
...She asked them to lend their support so that Marine Le Pen could be part of the elections, which are due to be held in two rounds on April 22nd and May 6th.
Bardot, who now devotes her time to animal causes, said Le Pen "defends animals and has the courage to give our country, France, its proper place in the world."
"I therefore ask them [mayors] to have a bit of courage for once in their lives and to do their duty," she wrote.
Mayors are reported to be delighted.
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