Faber makes the call.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Monday, 7 December 2009
How Bailout Nation Took Us Down … And Where It Is Taking Us Next
Why we simply should have said “Fuck You” to insolvent banks
How Bush started and Obama mistakenly continued the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the planet
The FDIC and the Swedish model
3 big and non-obvious reasons that puts the wind at gold’s back.
Stock market is up? Who cares! “What the hell do the markets have to do with the economy?” Ask Japan.
Why oil and other $USD priced commodities are going higher – but foreigners beware of real returns
Canada – a great place to invest and gain exposure to commodities
The $USD – encouraging a “race to the bottom” amongst global currencies, counter-trend rally, then another leg down
US equities – impossible to short stocks in this quantitative easing environment
The parallels to 1973-74 and the start of the next secular bull market
Gold – $1,350 and $1,525 targets, then probably goes to its inflation adjusted high
Ritholtz, as always, takes the no nonsense but supremely intelligent approach to economic analysis that we only wish our financial leaders would apply when governing. Given the fact his firm manages money for some pretty high-net worth individuals and organizations, any opportunity to tap into his brain for free is a golden one.
http://s3.agoracom.com.s3.amazonaws.com/conference/BarryRitholtz/index.htm
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Max Keiser: Dollar to be buried way before 2018
World's major powers including China and Russia don't want to 'finance' American military adventures anymore. That's the view of Max Keiser, finance critic and former stockbroker. He says China and Russia are interested in collapsing the US economy by rejecting the dollar.
Friday, 2 October 2009
China parade marks anniversary
China puts up a spectacularly choreographed show of military might to mark the 60th anniversary of the birth of the People's Republic of China.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Athens: The Truth About Democracy
Historian Bettany Hughes explores the 'Golden Age' of ancient Athens at the dawn of democracy. Can Athenian democracy live up to its reputation as the birthplace of freedom, equality and free speech?
The truth about democracy Athens is revered as the birthplace of Western philosophy, art, science and perhaps the greatest political idea of all time – democracy. But in this fascinating documentary (first shown on Channel 4 in July 2007), historian Bettany Hughes looks behind some of the myths of Athens’ golden age. She finds a very warlike and aggressive state,
capable of terrible mistakes, misdeeds and atrocities.
Friday, 25 September 2009
Honda unveils U3-X, a new personal mobility device
In advance of the Tokyo Motor Show on Oct. 24, 2009, Honda gives the media a preview of the U3-X prototype, a experimental mobility device on which a user can control speed and direction by shifting upper body weight.
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
A Mandelbrot the size of the known universe
An extremely deep dive into the mandelbrot zoom. If the final frame were the size of your screen, the full set would be larger than the known universe
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Saturday, 19 September 2009
George Smoot: The design of the universe
At Serious Play 2008, astrophysicist George Smoot shows stunning new images from deep-space surveys, and prods us to ponder how the cosmos -- with its giant webs of dark matter and mysterious gaping voids -- got built this way.
Friday, 18 September 2009
Celente: Revolution next for U.S.
Gerald Celente - the most trusted name in trends - sits down for an exclusive interview with RT's Anastasia Churkina to talk about what the future holds for America during and after the Great Recession, gives advice to Obama, and forecasts the unexpected.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Ted Kennedy on Health Care
Senator Edward Kennedy speaks passionately about trying to get health care reform passed during his career. In this video he talks about his own family's struggles in the past with sickness and injury...
Friday, 21 August 2009
Gerald Celente on Alex Jones Tv 1/4 - The Worst is Yet to Come
The New York Post said "if Nostradamus were alive today, he'd have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente." TAGS: future politics catastrophe market meltdown subprime mortage fox news cnn abc nbc msnbc money dollar devaluation loss profit stock market up down bull bear gold metals prediction national deficit debt end the fed federal reserve scam scheme healthcare obama clinton democrat republican house senate oil winter summer late to crash depression analysis today.
Hat Tip...
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
R.E.M. Losing My Religion
Oh, life is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up
(chorus)
That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight, I'm
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try
Every whisper
Of every waking hour I'm
Choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up
Consider this
Consider this
The hint of the century
Consider this
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed
What if all these fantasies
Come flailing around
Now I've said too much
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try
But that was just a dream
That was just a dream
(repeat chorus)
But that was just a dream
Try, cry, why try?
That was just a dream
Just a dream, just a dream
Dream
Thursday, 13 August 2009
This Economic Disaster ~ Video - Lecture By William K. Black
William K. Black, the former litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board who investigated the Savings and Loan disaster of the 1980s, discusses the latest scandal in which a single bank, IndyMac, lost more money than was lost during the entire Savings and Loan crisis.
He will examine the political failure behind this economic disaster, in which not only massive fraud has taken place, but a vast transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class continues as the federal government bails out the seemingly reckless, if not the criminal.
Black teaches economics and law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and is the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One. (Run Time: 1 hour, 38 min.)
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Harry Dent May 2009 Update
Harry S. Dent, Jr., best-selling author and economist, shares his views of the economy and the financial markets, giving viewers an update since the publication of his latest book, http://budurl.com/youtubegd "The Great Depression Ahead" http://budurl.com/youtubegd. The book was written in the summer of 2008 and released January 2009.
Chris Anderson on DIY drones
Have advances in robotics made it possible to make low-cost, unmanned aerial vehicles like model planes and blimps in the comfort of your own home? Editor in Chief of Wired Magazine, Chris Anderson, looks at DIY drones, and how to spy on your neighbours or unwittingly compromise high-security institutions.
Gerald Celente oThe bailout bubble is the mother of all Bubbles
Gerald Celente on CNBC the Bailout Bubble is about to burst..
Monday, 10 August 2009
Max Keiser - "Brown's Bottom" - (Documentary)
International journalist Max Keiser has just posted a nine-minute documentary he has done about the British government's gold sales that were begun in 1999 and now are disparaged as "Brown's Bottom," after then-Chancellor, now-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who decided upon the sales and remains unashamed that they marked the bottom of the gold market. Keiser's documentary is based largely on an interview with Conservative Party opposition Member of Parliament Phillip Hammond, who is shadow chief secretary of the treasury and who remarks that the British gold sales seem to have been structured precisely to knock the price of gold down rather than to maximize the return to the British government. Hammond also wonders aloud whether "something other than achieving the best price" might have been the objective of the gold sales scheme.
But Keiser's documentary may be sensational for getting an acknowledgement from the German central bank, the Bundesbank, that Germany's gold reserves are actually in the custody of the United States. This is a detail the Bundesbank long has denied to others who have inquired and is potentially a matter of great controversy in Germany. It raises the question of whether the German gold reserves are actually intact at all or whether they have been used by the U.S. government as part of its long-time gold price suppression scheme or have been comingled and diminished with the gold reserves of other countries held in the United States.
Sunday, 2 August 2009
corruption in the United States at many levels inside the government and financial sector
Currently a book, documentary and feature film movie are in the planning stages about what Harry did in courageously alerting and exposing the Madoff fraud.
"This is a hair raising interview as he describes the fear for his life. Once he got Madoff indicted, he was still worried that the SEC would have him eliminated, causing him to rush the documents into the public domain. Very interesting discussion. Kudo's to Eric King, who has put together an amazing string of interviews..." Thomas...
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2009/5/29_Harry_Markopolos.html
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Monday, 27 July 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Saturday, 18 July 2009
The Disappearing Male "endocrine disrupting" chemicals
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Monday, 6 July 2009
La Paloma
LA PALOMA (English Lyrics)
Latin American Folk Song / 1864
English and Spanish Lyrics: Gifford
My dear, la paloma sings in the tree above;
He sings with his sweetheart softly their songs of love;
Canta, la paloma sing us the serenade.
Canta, en la noche sweetly your serenade.
Fiesta is here, we smile and guitars are playing;
Breezes are blowing, as we are gently swaying.
La paloma, the dove,
La paloma sings on this summer night;
He coos, oh, so gently,
He coos so gently, under the stars so bright!
(Interlude)
Fiesta is here, senoritas and hombres dancing;
Guitars softly playing, making the night entrancing;
Our hearts fill with love, we wish this could last forever;
This magical time that brings all our hearts together.
La paloma, the dove, la paloma sings in the tree above.
He sings with his sweetheart softly their songs of love.
La Paloma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the song. For the American city, see La Paloma, Texas.
La Paloma (S.Iradier)
"La Paloma" is popular song, having been produced and reinterpreted in diverse cultures, settings, arrangements, and recordings over the last 140 years. The song was composed and written by Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier (later Yradier) after he visited Cuba in 1861. Iradier may have composed "La Paloma" around 1863, just two years before he died in Spain in obscurity, never to learn how popular his song would become.
The influence of the local Cuban habanera gives the song its characteristic and distinctive rhythm. Very quickly "La Paloma" became popular in Mexico, and soon spread around the world. In many places, including Mexico, Spain, Hawaii, Germany, Romania and Zanzibar, it gained the status of a quasi-folk song. Over the years the popularity of "La Paloma" has surged and receded periodically, but never subsided. It may be considered one of the first universal popular hits and has appealed to artists of diverse musical backgrounds.Contents [hide]
1 The motif
2 Most recordings ever?
3 Notable events
4 Famous performers
5 Movies
6 References
7 Lyrics (Public Domain)
8 Literature
9 External links
[edit]
The motif
The motif of "Valgame Dios, Gonzalo es La Paloma" (the dove) can be traced back to an episode that occurred in 492 BC preliminary to Darius' invasion of Greece, a time when the white dove had not yet been seen in Europe.[1] The Persian fleet under Mardonius was caught in a storm off the shore of Mount Athos and being wrecked when the Greeks observed white doves escaping from the sinking Persian ships. This inspired the notion that such birds bring home a final message of love from a sailor who is lost at sea. This theme that a final link of love overcomes death and separation is reflected in "La Paloma". While the lyrics may not always be true to the original, the soul of the song seems to survive all attempts to recast it in whatever new form and shape there may be and is able to express the tension between separation with loneliness, even death, and love.
[edit]
Most recordings ever?
Guinness World Records lists Yesterday by the Beatles as the most recorded song with apparently about 1,600 recordings.[2] It has been suggested that "La Paloma" has more than 2,000.[3]
[edit]
Notable events
"La Paloma" was a favorite of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, and at the same time the Mexican revolutionaries played and popularized it well. Legend has it, popularized by the movie Juarez, that as a last wish Maximilian requested it to be played at his execution.
As a correlate - Emperor Maximilian being a Habsburg - ships of the Austrian Navy would never play the song.
First translations appeared already in 1865 in France and Germany.
One of the first recordings that were made is the playing of "La Paloma" by the French Garde Républicaine in 1899.
The introduction of the Hawaiian guitar helped spread the popularity of "La Paloma".
Diverse lyrics have been created in many languages. In English the title "No More" was made popular by Elvis Presley.
La Paloma has been interpreted by musicians of diverse backgrounds including opera, pop, jazz, rock, military bands, and folk music.
The song entered the Guinness Book of World Records being sung by the largest choir, 88,600 people, in Hamburg on May 9, 2004.[4]
It is played regularly at LA ARAUCANA restaurant in Brussels, most notably sung in the presence of her majesty Fadila Ben Meradi, first lady of Rome and Sabines champion.
A recently built cruise ship has it largest buffet called "La Paloma". The song is played constantly there. At first it sounds nice, but after a few days its true intention becomes clear: annoy so much that you leave the place as soon as possible, making space for other passengers.
Commodore George Dewey, after winning the Battle of Manila Bay, during the Spanish-American War, had his band play "La Paloma," the night after the battle. Many Filipinos had gathered on the beach to look out at the conquering American fleet. The Colonel of the Spanish artillery shot himself in the head while listening to the band that evening, being overcome with feelings of dishonor.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Monday, 22 June 2009
Dont eat the marshmellows yet!
In this short talk from TED U, Joachim de Posada shares a landmark experiment on delayed gratification — and how it can predict future success. With priceless video of kids trying their hardest not to eat the marshmallow.
Joachim de Posada’s infectious energy and humor have turned him into a popular motivational coach. Working in Spanish and English, he helps companies and teams find deep and lasting reasons to succeed. His books include How to Survive Among the Piranhas and his latest, No te comas el marshmallow … todavia, or Don’t Eat the Marshmallow … Yet. (He’s recently updated the book for the recession, calling it Don’t Eat the Marshmallow … Ever.)
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Friday, 19 June 2009
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Shaolin Kong Fu Skills - Part I
Incredible demonstration of very hard skills.. from: National Geographic - Shaolin Kung Fu
Monday, 1 June 2009
Lost Vegas: Vanguard
We are quite doomed..... It was Vegas baby....
During the boom years, no place in America boomed more than Las Vegas. But when the economy collapsed, Vegas fell hard. Laura Ling tours the wreckage of Sin City, from unemployed strippers and half-built, abandoned casino projects, to hospitals turning away cancer patients and ambulances, to one of the few remaining boom industries--evicting people.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Monday, 11 May 2009
IUT Global blazes the trail
Utilising state of the art European technologies, with core expertise in organic waste bio-methanisation, and landfill remediation & management, IUT Global blazes the trail ahead as the pioneer specialised waste management solutions provider in Singapore for the Asia Pacific region.
Friday, 8 May 2009
Is Anyone Minding the Store at the Federal Reserve?
Rep. Alan Grayson asks the Federal Reserve Inspector General about the trillions of dollars lent or spent by the Federal Reserve and where it went, and the trillions of off balance sheet obligations. Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman responds that the IG does not know and is not tracking where this money is
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Friday, 1 May 2009
Swine Flu - Pandemic Flu Simulation Model
This video is valid considering it is a simulation of a Pandemic Flu, and as of right now we have a "Pandemic flu" and it is currently called swine flu. It was put as title to Swine Flu because of our current situation. There is nothing misleading and it all has valid points. Until a newer simulation model comes along concerning our swine flu cases; video is close as we can get.
The World Health Organization has just raised the flu pandemic level to 5 (out of 6). WHO director Dr. Margaret Chan said that this is a signal to all nations to activate their pandemic flu response plans
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Bullish on China:renewables,power,infrastructure
The Bloomberg video below makes the bullish case for China and Asia more generally.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Torture Video UAE (guy mangled over grain shipment)
In April 2009 a video emerged of a United Arab emirates Royal Sheik, Sheik Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan directing the torture of an Afghan grain dealer Mohammed Shah Poor[34]. The video includes the man being tortured with a cattle prod to his genitals, sand in his mouth and being runover by a Silver Mercedes SUV The official response of The UAE government concedes that Sheik Issa is the man shown in the video but says he did nothing wrong....
http://www.uaetorture.com/
Bassam Nabulsi is a United States citizen and Houston businessman. Sheikh Issa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Sheikh Issa) is a member of the royal family in the U.A.E. Sheikh Issa is the younger brother of the President of the U.A.E., Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed, and younger brother to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Bassam Nabulsi and Sheikh Issa were business partners. Through the course of their relationship, Mr. Nabulsi learned that Sheikh Issa expected no disagreements from those with whom he dealt, including his partner and business manager, Mr. Nabulsi. As their relationship progressed, Mr. Nabulsi noted that Sheikh Issa grew more aggressive, and less tolerant.
Indeed, as Sheikh Issa's moods grew darker, he began a habit and custom of torturing his employees or anyone else with whom he disapproved. Over the years, and particularly after the death of this father (the long-serving and well-respected President of the U.A.E.) in 2004, these torture sessions grew more brutal, vicious, and bloody. As his degeneracy increased, Sheikh Issa began to have such torture sessions videotaped, so he could enjoy viewing them later. Mr. Nabulsi disapproved vehemently with Sheikh Issa's behavior, and never took part in such conduct.
One of Sheikh Issa's many torture victims was Mohammed Shah Poor, an Afghan who did business with the Sheikh. After Poor fell into Sheikh Issa's disfavor, the Sheikh personally tortured Poor for more than forty-five minutes. Sheikh Issa was assisted by several members of the Abu Dhabi police. The torture involved shooting an M-16 into the ground in front of where Poor was kneeling, stuffing sand into his mouth, sticking nails repeatedly into his buttocks, whipping him with a board containing nails, repeatedly kicking his head, whipping his buttocks until they bled, pouring salt onto his wounds, pouring lighter fluid onto his scrotum and lighting it on fire, sticking a cattle prod up his anus, and running over him with Sheikh Issa's Mercedes SUV. As has now become his custom, at Sheikh Issa's direction, the torture session was videotaped.
Immediately after the torture session, a member of Sheikh Issa's entourage frantically telephoned Mr. Nabulsi. During that call, Mr. Nabulsi learned about the torture of Mr. Poor, and learned that Sheikh Issa was refusing to allow the injured and bleeding victim to be taken to the hospital. Fearing that Mr. Poor might die, Mr. Nabulsi spoke to Sheikh Issa by phone. In that call, Mr. Nabulsi pleaded with Sheikh Issa to allow Poor to be taken to the hospital. Although Sheikh Issa ultimately conceded to Nabulsi's frantic requests, Nabulsi's assertiveness on that call with Sheikh Issa was the beginning of the ultimate end to the two partners' business and personal relationship.
As personal and business manager for Sheikh Issa, as well as business partner, Mr. Nabulsi maintained all important business and personal items for Sheikh Issa. One such item was the videotape showing Sheikh Issa torturing Mr. Poor--along with several similar tapes of other torture sessions involving the Sheikh and other victims.
As the relationship between the partners continued to deteriorate, Sheikh Issa became desperate to retrieve the torture tapes. To that end, by asserting influence with the Abu Dhabi police, Sheikh Issa had Mr. Nabulsi arrested in April of 2005. However, there were no charges, and the police held Mr. Nabulsi only because Sheikh Issa had directed them to do so.
After his arrest, Mr. Nabulsi was held without charges for several days. The police department, under the direction of Sheikh Issa, thoroughly searched Mr. Nabulsi's residence in an effort to find the torture tapes. Further, all of Mr. Nabulsi's computers were confiscated, along with any devices that might contain evidence of Sheikh Issa's involvement in the torture.
In an attempt to justify Mr. Nabulsi's incarceration, Sheikh Issa then fabricated false accusations of marijuana possession against Nabulsi. Of course, the resulting search of Nabulsi's home revealed no marijuana, and the test performed on Mr. Nabulsi's urine was also negative for drug use.
Mr. Nabulsi was kept incarcerated for three months. During the three-month ordeal, Mr. Nabulsi learned from his jailors that the genesis of the false marijuana charges was Sheikh Issa, as well as his brother, Sheikh Nasser bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with the approval of another member of the Royal Family, Sheikh Saif, Minister of the Interior and Chief of Police.
At one point during the incarceration, the U.S. Embassy attempted to come to Mr. Nabulsi's aid. In response, the Embassy was informed by the police department that the reason for the incarceration was a personal dispute between Mr. Nabulsi and Sheikh Issa.
Despite the efforts of the U.S. Embassy, Mr. Nabulsi was kept in jail, where he was continuously tortured. Each day, the jailors, at the direction of the Issa, would have a "session" with Mr. Nabulsi, threatening him with immediate death and extreme pain. Because of what he had seen on the torture tapes, Mr. Nabulsi was frighteningly aware of Sheikh Issa's capacity for cruelty as well as his apparent influence with the police.
During his incarceration, the safety of Mr. Nabulsi's wife and children were also repeatedly threatened. These threats caused Mr. Nabulsi great stress. Further, members of his personal staff were held hostage for days without food or water. Mr. Nabulsi was threatened with their deaths as well.
Sheikh Issa himself conducted some of the torture sessions. During such sessions, Sheikh Issa asked repeatedly about the location of the torture tapes, and repeatedly told his business partner Nabulsi that he would be killed, and that his family and staff would be killed.
In furtherance of the effort to break Nabulsi mentally so he would give up the tapes, Sheikh Issa instructed the police to place Afghan and Iraqi prisoners, who were known to be hostile an aggressive towards Americans, in Mr. Nabulsi's cell. Sheikh Issa then had the guards taunt Mr. Nabulsi about being an American in front of these cell mates.
Mr. Nabulsi's criminal charges ultimately came to trial and he was acquitted of all charges of marijuana possession. Still, even after his innocence was proven in court, he was kept in jail. Finally, the U.S. Embassy again intervened to force Mr. Nabulsi's release. Through the grace of God, and with help from the U.S. Embassy and his family, Bassam Nabulsi was able to escape the U.A.E.
Bassam Nabulsi is now possession of several videos that show some of the most inhumane treatment the World has ever seen or heard about. These videos will ultimately be released on this site. Sheikh Issa, as brother to both the President of the U.A.E. and the Crown Prince of the U.A.E., has never been held accountable for his inhumane actions.
The message for anyone traveling or doing business in the U.A.E. or Abu Dhabi is clear. Be careful, be very, very careful.
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Torture debate John Yoo at Chapman University
John Yoo, whose memos justified controversial interrogation tactics, defends the practices during a Chapman University debate.
Monday, 20 April 2009
Dmitry Orlov on the Imminent Collapse of the U.S.A
Dmitry Orlov describes himself as a "Superpower Collapse Predictor". Here, talking at the Long Now Foundation in California, he explains why he's certain the US is headed for a Soviet-style collapse, and gives some handy hints for leaders of collapsing superpowers.
Dmitry Orlov, author of "Reinventing Collapse" is a theorist on issues relating to Peak Oil and an engineer. Orlov was born in Leningrad and immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve, witnessing the collapse of the Soviet Union during extended visits to his homeland. His 2006 article Closing the Collapse Gap, went viral on the internet. In it, he compared the collapse-preparedness of the USA and the USSR.
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Olbermann on the Teaparty's
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Thursday, 16 April 2009
BRITAINS GOT TALENT 2009 SUSAN BOYLE (SINGER) (HQ)
She can sing! No doubt about it...
This performance has become a phenomenon in just a few days - and why? She represents the buried dream/beauty, hidden under outward appearances and "killed by life," as the words of the poignant song so represent. Yet here she is and we are immediately struck by her gift and her soul. She's never been on a date, never been kissed, has been bullied all her life. So she sings with her whole being.
At a time when all about us seems veneered in ugliness and decline, she reminds us to never, ever, let the dreams we dream die.
Here are the words:
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted.
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.
And still
I dream he'll come to me
That we will live our lives together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather...
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Dangerous Minds w/ Richard Metzger Episode 1 Part 1
Well worth the listen if you stand the music....
Monday, 13 April 2009
Sunday, 12 April 2009
The Great Geithner Coverup
Economist William K. Black of the University of Missouri appeared in an interview on PBS last week with Bill Moyers. He pulls no punches in spelling out who is really responsible for our current economic disaster, and why our own Treasury Secretary is leading the charge to keep the truth covered up.
Full interview..
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html
Friday, 10 April 2009
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Bacteria's communication system
Bonnie Bassler discovered that bacteria "talk" to each other, using a chemical language that lets them coordinate defense and mount attacks.
Second, we are also now beginning to understand that there is extra information encoded in the molecules in the form of their physical properties. For example, the molecules used for intra-species communication are hydrophobic -- they don’t like water. On the other hand, the molecule I showed on my slide -- the one used for inter-species communication -- is hydrophilic and loves water. A hydrophobic molecule doesn't travel very far. A hydrophilic molecule goes really far. In this way, I think bacteria can use the blends of molecules to measure space. There are also long-lived and short-lived signals. I think the bacteria can use them to measure time. These features are in addition to using the molecules to count numbers of other cells in the vicinity.
Does this process ever "go to sleep," or are the bacteria just constantly chugging along, creating these signaling molecules?
The bacteria are constantly producing the signal molecules. As I mentioned, these molecules are not expensive to make.
The real energy in quorum sensing isn't spent making the signaling molecules. What really "costs" the bacteria something, is turning on and off hundreds of genes in a precise order, to switch from the "alone" program to the program related to collective behavior in response to the signal molecules.
Maybe then it would make sense then for bacteria to "cheat." That is, it might seem ideal for a bacterium to produce the signal molecule only, and let the neighboring cells turn on and off the hundreds of genes as a consequence. But if there were cheaters, that is, members of the gang didn’t participate in the quorum sensing behaviors, there would be no benefit because it takes the whole group acting together to make quorum sensing behaviors successful.
Consistent with this notion, as far as we can tell, this kind of cheating doesn’t happen. Rather, we see that, if a particular bacterium initiates the quorum sensing- program, one of the first genes that gets turned on in response to the signal molecule is the gene responsible for making the signal molecule itself. This "positive feedback loop" floods the environment with even more signal molecule and ensures that all the surrounding cells enter the program. We think this feedback step acts as a sort of molecular police that imposes synchrony.
I wouldn't say any of these ideas are obvious, but after hearing about them, they seem to make so much sense.
I spend half my time thinking, "My God, I can't believe they do this!" and then the other half thinking, "Why did it take me so long to figure this out? Of course they do this!" I agree, it's obvious in retrospect.
I often think, "Why is it that my lab that's doing this?" Bacteria have been intensively studied for 400 years. How could this have been missed for nearly 390 of those years? I guess there was this sort of snobbery -- among bacteriologists and among scientists in general -- that because bacteria seemingly live this mundane primitive life, and they have so few genes, and are so tiny, that we could not imagine they possessed this level of complexity and sophistication.
But think about multicellularity on this Earth. Every living thing originally came from bacteria. So, who do you think made up the rules for how to perform collective behaviors? It had to be the bacteria.
Again, even after we knew about intra-species quorum sensing, when we discovered the cross-species signaling molecule, we were shocked. But in retrospect, of course they have to signal across species! It doesn't do bacteria any good to only count their siblings if there are all kinds of other species around. It all makes total sense, right? But you can't know that until you figure it out. The bottom line is that we are always underestimating them.
Do you often have these sorts of "Whoa!" moments?
I remember the day we found the gene for the inter-species signaling molecule like it was yesterday. We got the gene and we plugged it into a database. And we immediately saw that this gene was in an amazing number of species of bacteria. It was a huge moment of realization. We had wondered for so long what this second molecule was for, and the database told us in an instant this must be about cross-species communication.
It's a manic-depressive life. You run in here, you open your incubator, your experiment makes no sense, you think, "I hate this job." Then ten minutes later you think, "Well, now, maybe I'll try this or I'll try that." You do it because you know there will be an "a-ha!" day. Those a-ha! days make it all worthwhile and they have to last you a long time.
One thing that is really good is that now there are 18 of us in this lab. The people in my lab get to see people who've come before them who are successful. We see one another have the a-ha! moment and you think you can figure something out too and that you’re a-ha! day will come. Luckily, I get to be a part of all of the a-ha! days that happen for the group.
Craig Venter has talked about a species of bacteria that creates gasoline. Is this sort of industrial technology at all in your daily thinking, or on your road map?
Yes. There are very clear medical and industrial applications.
Let's talk about anti-quorum sensing molecules, for example. Researchers want to embed them in the plastic wrap used to package foods to monitor for bacteria and keep food fresher longer. They want to put anti-quorum sensing molecules in the plastic that catheters are made from so we don’t get infections in hospitals. They want to put them in paints so they can paint cooling towers in industrial plants and keep the towers from getting gunked up and made unusable. They want to put them in toothpaste so you don't get the bacterial films on your teeth that give you cavities.
What if these quorum sensing-based technologies open another Pandora's Box?
Oh, indeed they will -- no question, the bacteria will figure a way around this new strategy. When antibiotics first came out, nobody could have imagined we’d have the resistance problem we face today. We didn't give bacteria credit for being able to change and adapt so fast. Basically bacteria do evolution on a 20-minute time scale. It takes humans about 20 years to make an offspring; but bacteria are dividing every 20 minutes, testing out new mutations for selective advantages.
When antibiotics became industrially produced following World War II, our quality of life and our longevity improved enormously. No one thought bacteria were going to become resistant. This is the problem with underestimating bacteria that I mentioned earlier. People thought the bacterial problem was solved. Researchers moved on to other important diseases: cancer and heart disease. Antibiotics were put into tremendous use both for health and agriculture -- and now we have this resistance problem. Compounding the problem is that because we thought the bacterial problem was gone, little effort was placed on studying bacteria, learning resistance mechanisms, and developing new antibiotics. So we're way behind in this game.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Salbuchi - Global Financial Collapse - Part 1
An Argentine opinion on the Global Financial Crisis, describing the whole Global Financial System as one vast Ponzi Scheme. Like a pyramid, it has four sides and is a predictable model. The four sides are: (1) Artificially control the supply of public State-issued Currency, (2) Artificially impose Banking Money as the primary source of funding in the economy, (3) Promote doing everything by Debt and (4) Erect complex channels that allow privatizing profits when the Model is in expansion mode and socialize losses when the model goes into contraction mode.
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Obama and the banking gnomes
Obama invited the same geniuses who destroyed the entire planetary financial systems to the Oval Office so he could beg them to please show some restraint. They, in turn, want no taxes and want us to shut up about their bonuses! Then, Obama went online to answer our questions. For example, he said, NONE of our outsourced or offshore jobs will EVER return! He thinks these jobs, such as engineering, computer programming, reporter, auto industry, etc, are all cheap labor jobs and we should be happy to get better jobs! This is insane as well as insulting. He supports 'free trade' which is killing our jobs.
Max Keiser on Bankers Bonuses - Face Off - 27 March 2009
Max Keiser as guest on France 24's Face Off to discuss bankers bonuses.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Audit the Gold in Fort Knox!
Chris Powell appeared on the FOX News program "America's Newsroom" today, to discuss GATA's request for an audit of the Gold in Fort Knox, and the Gold suppression scheme.
Hugh Hendry: why the dollar could approach parity with the euro
Hugh Hendry: why the dollar could approach parity with the euro.
The Silver Warcry!
Based on a recent article published by Israel Friedman.
Song - "Counting bodies like sheep to the rythm of the war drum" by "A Perfect Circle"
silver bullion, silver investment, silver shortage, stellaconcepts, silver warcry, silver price manipulation, silver manipulation, jpmorgan, citigroup, price fixing, gold price manipulation, bullion, silver bullion, gold bullion, krugerands, soverigns, coins, britannia, koalas, kangaroos
Monday, 30 March 2009
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Saturday, 28 March 2009
The Cave of Wealth and Death Pt 3 Wizards
Wizards: the most dangerous of all humans who dare to enter the Cave of Wealth and Death! They dont want sex—they seek power and control and use magic spells to rule all humanity. They are arrogant and irritable and think they know better than all of us ordinary mortals. But they are not smarter than the goddess of Infinity or the Goddess of Zero. The wizards avoid Libra but seek the secret knowledge of the sphinx, little suspecting, She is just as dangerous as the other Goddesses in this dark cave.
Friday, 27 March 2009
Thursday, 26 March 2009
McAlvany Seminar 2008:Protect Your Assets Now, Pt.2
Don and David McAlvany analyze the financial market chaos of 2008 and its immediate impact on the real world economy of 2009 and beyond.
McAlvany Seminar 2008:Protect Your Assets Now, Pt.1
In this Brand New DVD presentation Don and David McAlvany analyze the financial market chaos of 2008 and its immediate impact on the real world economy of 2009 and beyond.
Daniel Hannan MEP: The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government
Daniel Hannan, MEP for South East England, gives a speech during Gordon Brown´s visit to the European Parliament on 24th March, 2009. Read Daniel´s blog at www.hannan.co.uk
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Cave of Wealth and Death Part 1
The gnomes are the only ones who can enter the Cave of Wealth and Death. This is because they know no fear and are consumed with lust and desire. To get the world's most beautiful women to bed with them, they need lots and lots of loot.
So they go into the Cave and make deals with the Goddess of Infinity. She will add as many zeros as the gnomes desire. Meanwhile, the gnomes assure all of us, they will not be tempted by Infinity and will keep the lust for more money under control. This always fails and they create inflation.
Cave of Wealth and Death pt 2 All About Gnomes
he gnomes are the only ones who can enter the Cave of Wealth and Death. This is because they know no fear and are consumed with lust and desire. To get the world's most beautiful women to bed with them, they need lots and lots of loot.
So they go into the Cave and make deals with the Goddess of Infinity. She will add as many zeros as the gnomes desire. Meanwhile, the gnomes assure all of us, they will not be tempted by Infinity and will keep the lust for more money under control. This always fails and they create inflation.
Not only that, even with all this money, the beautiful women they desire hire lawyers and wrest away a lot of this money the gnomes get. So we end up with a collapsed economic system and a lot of very unhappy gnomes.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Pegasus and Magical Money
The very earliest Chinese paper money has a Pegasus on it. I find this most interesting. There are ancient Greek coins with Pegasus either by himself or on Athena's helmet. The connection between money, industry and the constellation of Pegasus is extremely ancient and probably goes back to the city of Ur.
I also show other Pegasus aspects, a statue from the Himalayan mountains which show the two fishes of the Zodiac on either wing, for example.
How to grow your own fresh air
Researcher Kamal Meattle shows how an arrangement of three common houseplants, used in specific spots in a home or office building, can result in measurably cleaner indoor air.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Why the Meltdown Should Have Surprised No One
The 2009 Henry Hazlitt Memorial Lecture, presented by Peter Schiff. Recorded at the annual Austrian Scholars Conference, Ludwig von Mises Institute, 13 March 2009.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
IMF poised to print billions of dollars in 'global quantitative easing'
Alistair Darling and senior figures in the US Treasury have been encouraging the Fund to issue hundreds of billions of dollars worth of so-called Special Drawing Rights in the coming months as part of its campaign to prevent the recession from turning into a global depression.
Should the move, which is up for discussion by the summit of G20 finance ministers this weekend, be adopted, it will represent a global equivalent of the Bank of England's plan to pump extra cash into the UK economy.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Jon Stewart puts spotlight on CNBC and meltdown
NEW YORK (AP) — The feud between Jon Stewart and CNBC’s Jim Cramer has been good for laughs — and ratings — but has also raised the serious question of whether the experts at TV’s No. 1 financial news network should have seen the meltdown coming and warned the public.
Over the past two weeks, Stewart’s “Daily Show” on Comedy Central has ridiculed CNBC personalities, including Cramer, the manic host of “Mad Money,” by airing video clips of them making exuberantly bullish statements about the market and various investment banks shortly before they collapsed.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Monday, 9 March 2009
THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
LECTURE: THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS — The Great Depression of the 21st Century with Michel Chossudovsky Causes and consequences of the financial meltdown; The speculative onslaught; Financial fraud and the "bank bailouts"; Bankruptcy of the real economy; Impacts on employment, wages and social services; Towards a spiralling public debt; The economic crisis and its relationship to the Middle East war; The centralization of corporate power; The concentration of wealth; The globalization of poverty. What are the policy alternatives
CNBC Gives Financial Advice
CNBC's Rick Santelli is angry that those loser homeowners are going to get bailed out.
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Saturday, 7 March 2009
The Black Hole
The little drama of ‘The Black Hole’ is an office employee discovers a magic hole that lets him reach into any hidden or locked places. He is greedy and uses it to get into a safe. As he reaches deeper and deeper, he falls thorough the hole into the safe, which he now cannot escape. This is a good analogy for the Derivatives Beast. This dark, occult creature was created so humans could be greedy and reach into locked places and steal wealth. Now, they fell into the hole and are trapped and no matter how much wealth we pour into the safe to save these crooks, they can’t escape and the money flowing in makes things worse. The news today about all this is important: we are trapped for sure. Thanks to AIG’s counterparty business with a bunch of gnomes and pirates.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Saturday, 28 February 2009
U.S.A. to disappear in 50 years, Saffo predicts
"There's less than 50% chance that the United States will exist by the middle of this century. And that is actually a good news. If the previous century was shaped by nation states as the primary actors of international law. What is very clear, at least to me is the central actors, locus of power and economy and control, is shifting from the nation state to city state. Like Singapour, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles... California in some level is independent". Saffo went on to give examples of recent decisions of Governor Schwartzenegger in direct opposition of President Bush policy: by not sending the California National Guards to protect the Mexican border or California's accord with the UK on climate change. Unthinkable! "City states are the centers because they are large enough to have impact but they are small enough that everybody sees the collective consequences of individual actions".
Rep. Manzullo Questions Bailout Czar Neel Kashkari
Congressman Don Manzullo grills Interim Assistant Treasury Secretary Neel Kashkari on the bailout plan, questioning why a failed company that was bailed out with taxpayer dollars -- AIG -- was allowed to give a $3 million bonus to an executive.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Rick Santelli Rant of the Year Response for the mortgage crisis 2009
Response to Rick Santelli Rant on CNBC yesterday with his response today
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Monday, 23 February 2009
The Crisis of Credit Visualized - Part 1
Crisisofcredit.com
The goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated. This project was completed as part of my thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
For more on my broader thesis work exploring the use of new media to make sense of a increasingly complex world, visit jdjarvis.com
Or email me at jonathan.jarvis@gmail.com
Civilisation by the skin of out teeth
Text and pictures
this almost incredible episode tells one something about the nature of civilisation. It shows that however complex and solid it seems, it is actually quite fragile. It can be destroyed. What are its enemies? First of all fear — fear of war, fear of invasion, fear of plague and famine, all the things that make it simply not worthwhile building for the future, or even planning next year’s crops.
And also fear of the supernatural, which means that you daren’t question anything or change anything. The late antique world was full of meaningless rituals, mystery religions, that destroyed self-confidence. And then again boredom, the feeling of hopelessness which can overtake people even with a high degree of material prosperity.
Civilisation does require a modicum of material prosperity — enough to provide a little leisure. But it requires confidence far more. Confidence in the society in which one lives, belief in its philosophy, belief in its laws, and confidence in one’s own mental powers. Vigour, energy, vitality: all the great civilisations have had a weight of energy behind them. People sometimes think that civilisation consists in fine sensibilities and good conversation and all that. These may be among the agreeable results of civilisation, but they are not what make a civilisation, and a society can have these amenities and yet be dead and rigid.
War Games - SHTF Scenario #1 - Gerald Celente and Glenn Beck
War Games - SHTF Scenario #1 - Gerald Celente and Glenn Beck