5
POPSThe Price of Putin
when Russia defaulted, and the amount of cash leaving the country in the second week of August was the highest on record. Russia's central bank, which reported the $16.5 billion decline last week, still reckons to have $581 billion in reserves, money being stored away when the oil runs out and the gas flow starts to falter. This may come somewhat sooner than many think. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin spoke after the Cabinet approved the draft federal budget for the next three years, which assumes that Russia's main oil blend, Urals, will sell for at least $95 a barrel. (Russian government's own budget estimates, oil is expected to drop to $90 in 2010 and $88 in 2011.) At current rates of extraction combined with rising national consumption, Russia's known oil reserves will start to run out in the 2020s, and a lack of investment in maintenance and development means the two main gas fields expected to maintain Russia's export income are falling ominously behind schedule.
15
POPSDo subatomic particles have free will? But physicists all the way back to Einstein have been unhappy with this idea. Einstein famously grumped, “God does not play dice.” And indeed, ever since the birth of quantum mechanics, some physicists have offered alternate interpretations of its equations that aim to get rid of this indeterminism. The most famous alternative is attributed to the physicist David Bohm, who argued in the 1950s that the behavior of subatomic particles is entirely determined by “hidden variables” that cannot be observed. Conway and Kochen say this search is hopeless, and they claim to have proven that indeterminacy is inherent in the world itself, rather than just in quantum theory. And to Bohmians and other like-minded physicists, the pair says: Give up determinism, or give up free will. Even the tiniest bit of free will.
1
POPSThree Servicemen sculpture in Apalachicola honors Vietnam Vets "And beyond that, he wanted the sculpture to be a heartfelt and simple thank you from the citizens of this nation to the service and sacrifice of the veterans and their families." She quoted from her husband's last public speech in May 1999, a few months before his death. "By the expressions on the faces of the intensity of the strain and the anguish that was part of the Vietnam veterans experience on the battlefield and at homecoming, and by their endurance and youthful dedication to duty, they reveal themselves as true heroes," she said. She told of how the sculptor had learned from his talks with Vietnam vets that "all treasured their deep bonds of loyalty, comradeship and interdependence," or as one veteran put it, "At first we thought we were fighting for our country but soon we came to realize we were fighting for each other."
6
POPSSocialism for Wall Street and the Rich As for the banks that will go bankrupt, they will include community banks that finance homes, stores, downtown areas, commercial real estate and other mainstays of U.S. towns and cities, Roubini said. "Of three dozen or so medium-sized regional banks, a good third are in distress," he told Barron's, saying half of the group could go bankrupt. Some big banks could wind up insolvent, he added, but said they might be deemed too big to fail.
1
POPSBuilding bridges between Jews and Latino Pentecostals In L.A., a Jewish group has been mounting outreach efforts to Latino Pentecostal congregations and organizations, including a Spanish-language 'Essence of Judaism" course. The piece suggests the outreach has been pretty successful.
2
POPSPickens Gives New Meaning To Self-Government At Pickens’ behest, the Texas legislature changed state law to allow the two residents of an 8-acre parcel of land in Roberts County to vote to create a municipal water district, a government agency with eminent domain powers. Who were the voters? They were Pickens’ wife and the manager of Pickens’ nearby ranch. And who sits on the board of directors of this water district? They are the parcel’s three other non-resident landowners, all Pickens’ employees. What’s this got to do with Pickens’ wind-power plan? Just as he needs pipelines to sell his water, he also needs transmission lines to sell his wind-generated power. Rights of way for transmission lines are also acquired through eminent domain -- and, once again, the Texas legislature has come to Pickens’ aid. Earlier this year, Texas changed its law to allow renewable energy projects (like Pickens’ wind farm) to obtain rights-of-way by piggybacking on a water district’s eminent domain power.
25
POPS YOU JUST GOT SCREWED and Nobody Will tell you! URGENT!! Made the Digg front page in less than 3 hrs. Thank goodness some people still care what is happening in this country! Meanwhile, last year, Freddie Mac paid chairman and CEO Richard Syron nearly $19.8 million in compensation, Fannie Mae pres. and CEO Daniel Mudd recieved $12.2 million, including a $2.2 million bonus!
16
POPSTo Trust or Not to Trust? It has been hypothesized that oxytocin, a hormone recognized for its role in social attachment and facilitation of social interactions, is also important in the formation of trust. For instance, application of oxytocin to “investors” in experimental games increases their tendency to engage in social risks and trust someone else with their money (see this and this). The study by Baumgartner and his colleagues highlights the neural mechanisms through which oxytocin acts to facilitate trust behavior by investigating what happens in the brain when trust breaks down.
2
POPSChina and Fannie Mae China has already been burned badly with its Blackstone and Morgan Stanley investments. But with the Big Macs and Maes, it's still the same old problem, the Chinese loaned them money which they can't pay back, however, much both sides want pretend that one day they can.
6
POPSAbout Goodness "Does anyone ever notice the spider spinning in the hedge?" I knew a girl once who did and I opened my eyes and saw the goodness in her even though she was afraid of spiders. I try to remember that always.
6
POPSCircumcision - cutting the competition
Some forms of genital mutilation have obvious effects on fertility. For instance, several African and Micronesian societies practice testicular ablation—the crushing or cutting off of one testicle. Some Australian aborigines engage in subincision, which exposes part of the urethra and thus causes sperm to leak out of the base of the penis. Circumcision does not have quite such clear-cut effects. But there are several ways it may affect fertility: most obviously, the lack of a foreskin could make insertion, ejaculation or both take longer. Perhaps long enough that an illicit quickie will not always reach fruition. Older men are in a position to form alliances with younger men—passing on knowledge, lending them political support and giving them access to weapons. By insisting that the young undergo genital mutilation of some form as a quid pro quo, an older married man can seek to ensure that even if he is cuckolded, he will still be the father of his wives’ children.
1
POPSPETITION: To Secure Unrestricted Reliable Energy Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow the issuance of tax exempt facility bonds for the financing of domestic use oil refinery facilities; (2) extend through 2018 the tax credit for producing electricity from wind facilities; and (3) allow tax credits for the production of electricity from nuclear energy, natural gas production, and carbon dioxide tertiary injectant processes. Requires the President to designate at least 10 sites for oil or natural gas refineries on federal lands and make such sites available to the private sector for construction of refineries.
1
POPSCuomo, Wall Street Agree On Mortgage Debt Overhaul The deal applies only to riskier, non-prime loans in America, and is designed to end what the industry calls "ratings shopping" that pits credit-rating agencies against one another. The $5 billion rating agency industry has been accused of issuing favorable ratings to secure business with leading Wall Street investment banks. The three ratings agencies also signed a letter of agreement to work with Mr. Cuomo to pursue further reforms for the mortgage industry. The attorney general said his probe into the entire mortgage industry, including loan originators and big banks, is ongoing. "We continue to believe that the more our customers, investors and other market participants know about how we do our work, the better," the president of Standard & Poor's, Deven Sharma, said. "We continue to work with the attorney general and policymakers to support effective operations of the world's capital markets."
2
POPSWeak Dollar and Traders Behind Gas Prices, Not Supply and Demand This refutes a lot of talk about OPEC and such causing high oil and gas prices. It also explains higher prices on consumer goods, not just driven by fuel prices alone. The dollar is becoming as valued as the paper its printed on, which (this articles does not go into) is because of national indebtedness for heavy war spending, as Ron Paul pointed out during his campaigning. Traders and speculators in the investment community are increasingly buying oil futures for their portfolios and war fears (i.e. war on terrorism, middle east war-mongering) increase price on the trade floor, period.
2
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update