Author: Serkadis

  • Asia Down, Futures Heading Lower As Chinese Tightening Fears Once Again Come To The Fore

    While you were sleeping, Asian stocks headed lower, possibly on fears that the PBOC would tighten again.

    Bloomberg:

    Asian stocks dropped while oil and copper declined on prospects China will take more steps to cool its economy. The pound weakened after Moody’s Investor Service said the U.K. is close to losing its top credit rating.

    The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.4 percent to 122.70 as of 5 p.m. in Tokyo, as the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite sank to a five-week low. The pound fell against 15 of 16 major counterparts after Moody’s Managing Director Pierre Cailleteau said the U.K. and U.S. have moved closer to losing their AAA ratings. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.4 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed at 8 a.m in London.

    US futures are heading lower as well, threatening to begin a little bit of a down-streak.

    Join the conversation about this story »

  • Logorama: Best Animated Short Film Award

    logorama.jpg
    The movie Logorama [logorama-themovie.com] is a 17-minute animated film made by the French collectibe H5. The film depicts events in a stylized Los Angeles, and is told entirely through the use of more than 2,500 contemporary and historical logos and mascots. The film won the Prix Kodak at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.

    Logorama explores the extent to which logos are embedded in our daily existence. “Logorama presents us with an over-marketed world built only from logos and real trademarks that are destroyed by a series of natural disasters (beginning with a hurricane, cyclone, tidal wave…). Logotypes are used to describe an alarming universe (similar to the one that we are living in) with all the graphic signs that accompany us everyday in our lives. This over-organized universe is violently transformed by the cataclysm becoming fantastic and absurd. it shows the victory of the creative against the rational, where nature and human fantasy triumph.

    Watch a short snippet of the movie below.

    See also All my Faves and All the Logos. Via Under Consideration. Also at Design Boom and Wikipedia.


  • Gmail Gives a Peek Behind the Scenes

    The SXSW festival was underway in Austin, Texas over the weekend with plenty of startups there to strut their stuff and geeks to drool over the latest hyped service. But, among the struggling newcomers, some pretty established players were also there to show off their products or just to be there. The Gmail team was there holding a panel dubbed Behind the Sc… (read more)

  • The Appearance of Profitability

    It has become apparent that from Roberts, to Scalia, to Alito, to Thomas there is no such thing as an appearance of impropriety to a conservative justice.

    But how nice for Clarence Thomas that in voting with the 5-4 majority in Citizens United he not only saw no conflict of interest; he managed to give his wife a business opportunity CA-CHING!

    As “an ordinary citizen from Omaha, Neb.” and Teabagger.

    Although the busier Mrs. Thomas stays, the less likely she is to review her husband’s “history” file on the home PC. After all, as long as she thinks “Red-tube” is like You-Tube for monitoring liberal propaganda, as he’s explained to her, the better it is for domestic tranquility.

    Tags: , ,

  • HEALTH-UGANDA: EU Supports Law Threatening Access to Medicines

    By Wambi Michael KAMPALA, Mar 15 (IPS) The European Union (EU) is funding the drafting of Uganda’s controversial Counterfeit Goods Bill, a proposed law that has caused an outcry as it threatens access to life-saving generic medicines in this low income East African country. Some 90 percent of medicines used in Uganda’s health-care system are imported, of which about 93 percent are generics.

    IPS received information that part of the five million euros that Uganda’s ministry on tourism, trade and industry received from the EU in a financing agreement signed in July 2009 was to draft this contentious bill that has consistently been criticised as a threat to treatment.

    The financing agreement is aimed at supporting Uganda’s implementation of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the EU and East African countries.

    Simon Lokodo, Uganda’s state minister for industry, admitted in an interview with IPS that the process of formulating the bill has been funded by the EU.

    "We get support from the European Union. With the support we get from them we have managed to employ someone who has helped us to dig into the matter and work with other partners to develop the bill which is before cabinet now," he said.

    Lokodo told IPS that there was nothing peculiar with the EU funding anti-counterfeit policies as part of other support to the trade sector.

    "You have seen our markets flooded with counterfeit goods. Those goods are not only impacting our lives but they are killing our industries. I think it is better to work with the EU and other partners to fight those goods," he said.

    But activists have been puzzled by the Ugandan government’s willingness to adopt a law that defines counterfeiting so broadly as to criminalise the production and importation of generic medicines, thereby placing affordable and legitimate medicines outside the reach of millions of people in a country struggling with HIV and AIDS and malaria.

    This step has been all the more perplexing since Uganda, as a least developed country, has until 2016 before it is obliged to provide patent protection for pharmaceutical products as per the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) regime of the World Trade Organisation.

    Harvey Rouse, head of the political and trade section of the EU delegation to Uganda, confirmed to IPS that part of the five million euro financing agreement entered into with Uganda in July 2009 involves developing an anti-counterfeits law.

    He said, "we are supporting the ministry of trade … to reform its policy and legal/regulatory regimes, (including on) counterfeits… This support is under the EPA (economic partnership agreement)-related trade and private sector development programme … (implemented over) the next four years."

    In response to further questions about whether the EU delegation was aware of the obstacles to public healthcare that the bill poses, Alex Nakajjo, trade operations officer at the EU delegation in Kampala, pointed out that the bill "targets only people who infringe on protected intellectual property rights … The EU does not support counterfeits trade and counterfeits should not … be confused with generic drugs".

    Moreover, he said, the EU had previously "pushed for a provision to ease access to generic drugs for developing countries under the TRIPS Agreement. The EU as one of the largest donors in the world believes (in) and promotes access to generic drugs for developing countries". (See sidebar for full response.)

    However, the Ugandan law, like the recently adopted Kenyan law and the pending East African Community law, makes no distinction between legal generic medication and counterfeits, according to the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) at the Washington College of Law in Washington, DC.

    PIJIP runs a training programme on the use of intellectual property (IP) flexibilities to ensure access to generic medication.

    Activists also point out that, while substandard and fake medicines should not be tolerated, the proposed law will not address the problem of bad quality as it confuses IP rights with quality standards.

    Intellectual property rights expert Sisule Musungu pointed to the following that indicate that the draft law is about trade interests and not about safety standards: the channelling of such legislation through trade ministries rather than health ministries which have been working on safety standards for drugs for many years; and the involvement of customs and police rather than health authorities.

    Another indication is that the funding of the law comes from money allocated to trade rather than health policy.

    Musungu explained the push behind the law as follows: if liberalisation of trade in agricultural and manufactured goods continues, it will eventually mean that the EU and the U.S. will be unable to compete in agriculture with Brazil and in manufactures with China and India.

    All that remains for the EU and U.S. in terms of comparative advantage is services and intellectual property rights.

    "Intellectual property has become a very important part of the EU’s foreign policy… The big players in the West won’t get very far if they use the standard IP entry point because of the awareness that exists in many developing countries about the effect of IP on access to medicines and other things.

    "And so, using the language of counterfeits strategically is basically a strategy to get via another way what you would normally get through IP laws," he concluded.

    IPS has traced the evolution of the law and found that the EU’s association with the drive for anti-counterfeit legislation goes further back. The EU funded the Ugandan trade ministry’s trade sector review conference on Oct 30, 2008 through a programme for the "technical support for the economic partnership agreement finalisation".

    At this conference the first version of the Counterfeit Goods Bill was discussed in a presentation by Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) chairperson and former Ugandan finance minister Gerald Ssendaula.

    The PSFU, which represents 81 business associations and public sector agencies, has been among the primary organisations in Uganda working with other groups in East Africa to push for national and regional anti-counterfeit policies.

    At the time Ssendaula identified counterfeits as one of the main challenges in the business environment in Uganda.

    He said that, "the private sector notes with concern that the penalty in the draft counterfeits bill is not punitive enough to deter counterfeiting and trademark malpractices. We call upon the government to review the relevant clauses with a view of making them more punitive."

    Ssenduala suggested five-year jail terms for counterfeiters and the establishment of a regional and international link with other bodies to curb importation of fake goods.

    The EU delegation’s Rouse told IPS that Uganda lacks adequate legislation and enforcement of IP rights and has weak punitive measures that encourage trade in counterfeits. Uganda also needs a specific institution charged with fighting counterfeits. This position is reflected in the Counterfeit Goods Bill.

    Most other countries requires "wilful deception" or piracy "on a commercial scale" for IP infringement to be regarded as counterfeiting. The World Health Organisation also sets the minimum measure of counterfeit to be "deliberate and fraudulent mislabelling" and "misrepresentation of identity or source".

    But in the East African cases, unknowing infringement is made a criminal offence. In the Ugandan case the bill prescribes hefty fines and even prison sentences of up to 20 years. This is in stark contrast to the use of civil remedies that are the internationally accepted legal practice in cases of IP infringement, said Musungu.

    Legal experts have argued that Uganda has the necessary laws in place to address the problem of counterfeiting, for example the Copyright Act, Trademarks Act, Patents Act, Trade Secrets Act and sections in the Penal Code which criminalise the sale of counterfeits.

  • Bowling: Improved CoD4 maps coming to Modern Warfare 2

    Major Nelson’s weekly podcast this week had Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling up in the hotseat. On top of his discussion list were more information on the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 DLC.
     
     
     

  • Happy birthday dotcom as internet domain name turns 25, BBC News

    Article Tags: BBC, Comment

    article image

    Click source for more. ClimateRealists.com and other sites owe the Internet a debt of gratitude. Without the Internet we could not have highlighted our cause. We have become a voice in the crowd promoting man’s influence on the climate, and that is, man has very little or NO effect. The political reasons that enshroud the main stream media that continue to promote a non scientific cause of “Man Made Climate Change” or AGW, is falling apart right before our eyes, and that is thanks to the Internet.

    Happy birthday Internet, the world IS a better place because of you, and long live freedom of speech and shame on those who wish to suppress it.

    Source: news.bbc.co.uk

    Read in full with comments »   


  • Wild Bison Restoration





    I have posted on this subject in the past and am much more aggressive in terms of expanding the herds.  Present numbers reflect a mature husbandry in which surplus is shipped and general quality is improving. Incentives could easily expand the herd ten fold in a few short years while integrating a grassland restoration program.

    A hefty report is linked to in this item and it brings us up to date with the present situation. The report is complete and it is detailed and becomes a necessary reference.  This will encourage and support additional entrants.

    It is encouraging though presently driven by commercial demand.  This can be improved upon with deliberate range management.  Presently, the best driver is the sharply improved efficiency versus beef cattle.  This model can also be extended into the steppes of Asia and should.

    The herds are presently been domesticated and all that goes with that is taking place.  This is a natural process that made the beef industry work and will ultimately rebuild herds to exceed their natural range and population.  It is also a natural result of present herd stability and modest herd growth.

    The interesting news in the report is that the original range included much of Alaska.  I had assumed that the Athabasca was their limit.   This does mean that they will prosper in the boreal forest agricultural protocol that I have also extensively outlined.  Open meadow lands can be maintained to provide summer feed in the form of grasses and small brush and we use cattails for winter feed also.  The boreal forest promises to be a rich source of fish and animal proteins with modest ground preparation needed.   The bison promises to be a natural partner in  such husbandry.
       
    Restoring North America‘s Wild Bison to Their Home on the Range




    GLAND, Switzerland, March 3, 2010 (ENS) – Restoring wild populations of American bison would benefit ecosystems in their historic range from the desert grasslands of northern Mexico, through the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, to the lowland meadows of interior Alaska, finds a new publication from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN.

    Published Tuesday after three years of work, the comprehensive study features contributors from federal government agencies in the United States, Canada and Mexico; state agencies from bison range states in all three countries; and bison experts from nongovernmental and tribal organizations and universities.

    Bison, also called buffalo, have a profound influence on ecosystems, but for restoration to occur, more land must be made available for herds to roam free, government policies must be updated and the public must change its attitude towards bison, according to the study, written under the auspices of the IUCN American Bison Specialist Group.

    “Although the effort to restore bison to the plains of North America is considered to be one of the most ambitious and complex undertakings in species conservation efforts in North America, it will only succeed if legislation is introduced at a local and national level, with significant funding and a shift in attitude towards the animal,” says Dr. Simon Stuart, Chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission.

    “No other North American species holds such great cultural and political significance,” the study states.

    Five hundred years ago, tens of millions of American bison roamed free on the plains of North America, from Alaska to northern Mexico. Now the American bison – which includes both plains and wood bison – is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.
    As of 2008, there were about 400,000 bison in commercial herds in North America, some 93 percent of the continental population. But little progress has been made in recent decades to increase the number of animals in conservation herds, which are managed for their genetic diversity and ecological roles.

    In 2008, there were 61 plains bison conservation herds in North America containing about 20,500 animals, and 11 conservation herds of wood bison, containing nearly 11,000 animals, according to the study.

    “While substantial progress in saving bison from extinction was made in the 20th century, much work remains to restore conservation herds throughout their vast geographical range,” says University of Calgary Environmental Design Professor and co-editor of the study, Dr. Cormack Gates, who co-chairs the IUCN Bison Specialist Group.

    “The key is recognition that the bison is a wildlife species and to be conserved as wildlife, it needs land and supportive government policies,” said Dr. Gates.

    “The decimation of the American bison in the late 1800s inspired the first recovery of bison and an entire conservation movement that protected wildlife and wild places across North America,” says co-author Keith Aune, senior conservation scientist, Wildlife Conservation Society. “The IUCN Status Survey and Conservation Guidelines provide a new framework for inspiring a second recovery of bison and restoring functional grassland ecosystems.”

    In one of the study’s 10 chapters, Aune and co-authors describe the complex maze of legal and policy issues confronting bison conservation. They point out that much of this complexity is due to a history of bison being treated like livestock rather than as wildlife.

    The legal recognition of bison as wildlife or livestock, or both, varies across various federal, state, and provincial jurisdictions. Only 10 U.S. states, four Canadian provinces and two territories, and one Mexican state classify bison as wildlife; all other states and provinces within the bison’s historic range designate them as domestic livestock.

     Overlaying this legal map for bison are several stakeholder groups that manage bison: public wildlife and land management agencies, Native American groups, non-profit conservation organisations, and private producers. Reportable diseases present another set of legal issues that affect international and interstate transport of bison.

    In another chapter, Aune and co-authors describe the characteristics and implications for bison conservation of nine diseases, ranging from anthrax and bluetongue to bovine brucellosis and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also called mad cow disease.

    They detail the complex and difficult management challenges that diseases present in three of North America’s most important conservation herds: the plains bison herds of Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park/National Elk Refuge that harbor brucellosis, and the wood bison herds in and around Wood Buffalo National Park that are infected with both bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis.

     While the policies and legal framework for controlling disease in domestic livestock are well established, they do not work well when applied to wildlife, including bison, because they often conflict with conservation goals and our ability to manage and maintain wild populations, the study states.
    The authors point to the recent development of national wildlife health strategies in both Canada and the United States that could help address this problem.

    Bison have the best chance of full recovery as wildlife by being allowed to roam freely across hundreds of thousands or even millions of hectares, the study states, a situation that requires the support of both public and private landowners.

    “The next 10-20 years present opportunities for conserving American bison as a wild species and restoring it as an important ecological presence in many North American ecosystems,” the study concludes.

    But, the authors say, the “greatest challenge is to overcome the common perception that the bison, which has had a profound influence on the human history of North America, socially, culturally and ecologically, no longer belongs on the landscape.”

    “The bison is the largest land mammal in North America, and yet it is perhaps the most neglected icon,” says Steve Forrest, WWF Northern Great Plains Manager for Conservation Science. “These guidelines provide a roadmap for bringing the bison back to its rightful place as a keystone of the Great Plains.”

    Click here to read “American Bison: Status Survey and Conservation Guidelines 2010,” and its recommendations on how to ensure that the species is conserved for the future.
  • Cryptoterrestrials



    This review is of some interest though I have not yet seen a copy of the book itself.  This is the first time that I have seen it suggested that the agency using ufo’s may be terrestrial in a compelling manner.  My own postings make that point explicitly and integrate a tale of deliberate terraforming of the Earth.

    This book makes inferences of an old race and a social conflict with modern humanity that I find unlikely and derived from interpreting old scriptures filled with tales of ancient conflict.

    We today can envisage modifying the human genetic code in fairly simple ways to adjust it to new environments.  The classic ET appears to be a space adjusted human being who has a low muscled skeleton and body that is fine for low gravity environments and a slightly larger brain able to handle the added processing needed to use the artificial eyes designed to see across a broad spectrum useful in space.  If humanity chose to vacate Earth for a number of millennia, it is sufficient to arrange for all children born to the first generation to be so modified genetically.  We can almost do it now and will certainly achieve that ability soon.
    That makes tales of conflict and racial genetic problems something straight out of nineteenth century science fiction and certainly unnecessary.

    One thing can be acknowledged though.  It would be reasonable to prepare additional human forms adapted to Earth and have them raised and trained on Earth in secreted underground facilities for direct insertion into the population for intelligence gathering.  This past century has made the usefulness of that role much more profitable than before.

    They have had no trouble preventing us from learning hard information and not thus been able to organize a threat to them.  And so it goes.

    For the skeptics, actual sightings are numbered in the tens of thousands and cover a wide range of apparently related phenomena.  Eliminating the ET hypothesis answers the biggest question as to why they care at all.  They care for the same reason we care.  This is still their home even though they presently reside in space habitats.

    Tuesday, March 9, 2010

    http://forteanreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/coming-of-cryptoterrestrials.html

    Over the course of the last 60 years or so, the world of Ufology has spawned a truly huge number of books: many very good indeed, a not-insignificant number very bad, and a great deal hovering precariously somewhere in between. Just occasionally, however, a title comes along that is truly revolutionary, ground-breaking and – as far as its potential implications are concerned – thought-provoking in the extreme.


    For me, personally, Jacque Vallee’s 
    Messengers of Deception and John Keel’s UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse both fall into that latter category. Albeit in admittedly different ways, Vallee and Keel made equally strong cases for the existence of genuine UFOs in our midst. But, both Messengers and Trojan delivered to the reader two far more explicit messages: (A) UFOs are real; but that doesn’t mean they are necessarily extraterrestrial; and (B) the phenomenon is clearly deceptive and manipulative in nature and intent.
    Of course, for many of the longstanding (a.k.a. the bloody old) players within Ufology, any talk of deceptive messengers, or of Keel’s super-spectrum, is dismissed as mere speculation and not much else. For them, UFOs have to be extraterrestrial. After all, they have upheld such notions and beliefs for decades; and to relegate them to the rubbish-bin is not an option.

    Well, I have a few choice words for those people who are so rigidly set in their ways: the extraterrestrial hypothesis is itself entirely speculative and totally lacking in hard evidence. All we really know for certain is that there most assuredly is a genuine UFO phenomenon. But, as for definitive proof of its actual point of origin or origins? Please! There is none at all. There is merely a lot of data clearly demonstrating the presence of unidentified “others” amongst us.

    Vallee and Keel most assuredly and astutely recognized this. They understood that a puzzle which – at first glance – seemed to be defined by the presence of nuts-and-bolts spacecraft and flesh-and-blood aliens in our midst, was far, far stranger than many within Ufology wanted to admit. 

    And there was someone else who also recognized this ufological factor: Mac Tonnies. Mac was a very good friend of mine; and like all his friends I was shocked to the core when he passed away suddenly and tragically in October 2009, at the age of only 34.

    But, I am pleased to say, Mac’s latest – and, inevitably, final – piece of work ensures that his memory, legacy and ability to think outside of the conventional ufological box will live on. That work is
    The Cryptoterrestrials: A Meditation on Indigenous Humanoids and the Aliens Among Us.

    Like Vallee and Keel, Mac rightly recognized that UFO encounters could not be dismissed as the ravings of lunatics, the tales of the fantasy-prone, or the lies of those seeking fame and fortune. But, he was also careful not to get sucked into the near-viral mindset that practically screams (take a deep breath): UFOs = alien spaceships piloted by little gray chaps from across the galaxy, who are on a mission to save their dying race by stealing our DNA, eggs and sperm.

    Rather, Mac – right up until the time of his death – was chasing down the theory suggesting that the UFOnauts may actually represent the last vestiges of a very ancient race of distinctlyterrestrial origins; a race that – tens of thousands of years ago may have ruled our planet, but whose position of power was thrown into overwhelming chaos by two things: 
    (A) the appearance of a “debilitating genetic syndrome” that ravaged their society; and (B) the rising infestation of a violent species that threatened to eclipse – in number – their own society.

    They are the Cryptoterrestrials. And that violent species that blusters around like an insane, unruly and spoiled child, and that has done more damage in its short life-time than can ever be truly imagined, is, of course, us.

    With their society waning, their health and ability to even successfully reproduce collapsing, and their absolute worst nightmare – the Human Race – becoming the new gang in town, the Cryptoterrestrials followed what was perceived as the only viable option: they quietly retreated into the shadows, into the darkened corners of our world, below the oceans, into the deeper caverns that pepper the planet, and in their own uniquely silent and detached way, set about a new course of action.

    That course of action – given that they were in some fashion genetically related to the Human Race – was to eventually resurface; to move amongst us in stealth; to pass themselves off as entities from far-off worlds (as part of a concerted effort to protect and hide their real point of origin); and to use and exploit us – medically – in an attempt to try and inject their waning species with a considerable amount of new blood: ours.

    In addition, Mac believed, the Cryptoterrestrials were – and, by definition, still are – subtle-yet-brilliant, cosmic magicians. For them, however, there is no top-hat from which a white-rabbit is pulled. There is no hot babe sliced in half and then miraculously rejoined at the waist. No: their tricks are far more fantastic. As well as deceiving us about their origins, the Cryptoterrestrials have – via, perhaps, the use of advanced hologram-style technology, mind-manipulation and much more – led us to conclude that they have an infinite number of craft, resources and technologies at their disposal.

    And that is the trick, the ruse: in actuality, their numbers today may be very small. They may well be staging faked UFO events to try and convince us that they have a veritable armada at their disposal when, perhaps, the exact opposite is the case. And, most important of all, they desperately want us to think of them as visitors from the stars. If their plan to rejuvenate their species is to work, then stealth, subterfuge and camouflage are the essential orders of the day.

    Of course, the above all amounts to a theory – just like the ETH. And, Mac’s book makes it very clear that he is theorizing, rather than being able to provide the reader with definitive proof for such a scenario. He does, however, offer a logical, and at times powerful, argument in support of the theme of his book.

    As for so-called “alien abductions”: the clumsy, intrusive means by which ova and sperm are taken by a race of beings we are led to believe are countless years ahead of us is addressed. That the ability of the aliens to wipe out the memories of those they abduct is constantly and regularly overturned by nothing more than simple hypnosis is highlighted. And the unlikely scenario that our DNA would even be compatible, in the first place, with extraterrestrial entities is also firmly dissected. Mac’s conclusion: all this points not to the presence of highly-advanced aliens who are thousands of years ahead of us; but to the actions of an ancient Earth-based society whose technology may not be more than a century or so in advance of our current knowledge.

    Mac also noted how the “aliens” seem to spend a hell of a lot time ensuring they are seen: whether its taking “soil-samples” at the side of the road; equipping their craft with bright, flashing lights; or hammering home the point to the abductees that they are from this planet, from that star-system, or from some far off galaxy. Just about anywhere aside from right here, in fact.

    Roswell comes into the equation, too: and in ingenious fashion. Those who do not adhere to the extraterrestrial hypothesis for Roswell point to the fact that many of the witness descriptions of what was found at Roswell, are collectively suggestive of some form of large balloon-type structure having come down at the Foster Ranch, Lincoln County, NM on that fateful day in the summer of 1947. 

    The possibility that ET would be flying around New Mexico in a balloon is absurd. But, as Mac notes, a race of impoverished, underground-dwellers, highly worried by the sudden influx of military activity in New Mexico (White Sands, Los Alamos etc), justmight employ the use of an advance balloon-type vehicle to secretly scope out the area late at night.

    Perhaps, when elements of the U.S. military came across the debris, they really did assume it was balloon-borne material and probably of American origin. Until, maybe, they stumbled across something else amid the debris, too…

    The Cryptoterrestrials continues in a similar vein; to the extent that we are left with a stark and surreal image of a very ancient – and very strange – race of beings who may once have been the masters of this planet; who were sidelined thousands of years ago; and who are now – under cover of darkness and while the cities sleep – forced to grudgingly surface from their darkened lairs and interact with the very things they fear (and perhaps even hate and despise) most of all: us.

    Survival is the name of their game. And deception is the means by which it is being cunningly achieved.

    Whether you agree with Mac’s theorizing or not, 
    The Cryptoterrestrials is a book that is expertly and beautifully written. It challenges the reader to throw out old, rigid views. It represents the careful studies of a man who knew he was going out on a limb – but who, thankfully, didn’t give a damn about appeasing the UFO research community in fawning style. And, for me, it truly is a Messengers of Deception for the 21st Century and for Generation-Next.

    To learn more about Mac Tonnies’ The Cryptoterrestrials, and where to purchase copies, click on the Anomalist Books website.

    Posted by Nick Redfern at 6:12 AM

  • Financial Contraction Phase II

    Look at this chart and you will see the reason most folks are predicting the end of the world as we know it.  We have two years of underwater mortgages to be reset and likely refinanced.  The bad news is that it actually cannot be done so it largely will not be done.
    The reasons are simple. The subprime wave has passed through the system and the banks discovered they are the end buyers of millions of homes.  The original borrowers were all normally not credit worthy, so their exit while damaging merely changed seats on the home ownership titanic.  The end result is a badly depressed marked in which the sellers are the lenders who are unable to sell at all.  That is why pricing has stabilized.
    The next wave is actually credit worthy people who will be forced to make a strategic investment decision.  They bought a house priced at say $500,000 with little down usually and an attractive monthly payment that they could afford.  The house has lost $250,000 and shortly their monthly payment must double at least.  Until now they have been paying close to market rent for the property.  Paying double is not in the cards.  Yet continuing the program locks in a $250,000 loss.
    The last time I checked, that is a bone stupid investment decision.
    The foreclosure laws provide no meaningful escape hatch forcing banks and creditors to engage in a work out and this past year has seen no progress toward doing such.  The banks are about to learn that if you destroy your customer’s assets by reckless lending, that your asset base must shrink.
    Most of these borrowers will be exiting their obligations. The good news is that they  can move next door and pay rent on an equal house to another bank happy to receive rent on their recently acquired foreclosed home.  There is no bad news if they do this.  The banks still have to lend to earn and your new friendly bank manager will see to it that such a fine earner such as you does not go without appropriate lines of credit.  After all, without that large mortgage the ratios are wonderful and you certainly did not lose your job with the house.
    Smarter things might have been done, but that did not happen.  It does mean however that consumer cash liquidity is stable as consumers take charge of their lives and shed massive household debt.  It will be a fabulous time to create household wealth by buying houses on the basis of their rental income.  What an old fashioned idea.
    Yes the banks are getting hammered, but who said you should be rolling the dice with the money of widows and orphans.  All this funny paper was financed with floods of excess cheap credit.  It got lost and this is what a financial contraction looks like.  Banks get much smaller.
    What is so bullish is that the true engine of economic growth, the American consumer will swiftly get over the hangover and reenter both the housing market and durables and smart cars. 
    The financial industry will contract back to pre bubble size which will be about a two thirds reduction.  It has well begun.
    This collapse was and is a financial collapse that disturbed the main street economy to the extent of making Main Street financing difficult.  That appears to be ending.  The remaining problem is to carry the massive mortgages been forced on banks through so called foreclosure.
    There will still be lots of noise and when it is over, our banking system will be back to been boring with a 12 times multiple.  I wonder who bought all that funny paper flogged by the boys into the Eurodollar market.  There are a lot of walking dead out there that will show up.
    My sense is that the Eurodollar market has been contracting and that this will continue, but I do not know for sure.
    The American consumer is in a position to walk away from the lenders and this is bullish for Main Street.  Those same consumers will be buying all that foreclosed housing and restoring their balance sheets.  This is all bullish news.  A massive amount of misplaced credit has disappeared and the next tier of financial institutions is emerging from the shadows to carry on as capital flows back in.
    Six Theories On Why the Stock Market Has Rallied
    By Washington‘s Blog
    There are at least 6 theories about why the stock market has rallied some 70% off its lows a year ago, even though nothing has been done to actually address the root causes of the financial crisis.
    What The Dumb Money Believes
    The dumb money believes what CNBC and their trusty stock churner … er, broker … says: that the government has fixed the economy but it just has to “kick in” (and that unemployment is just a lagging indicator, nothing important. See thisthisthis andthis).
    Therefore, these folks believe that stocks are hugely undervalued, and that if they buy while most people are still afraid, they’ll make a killing when the market goes to the moon.
    Temporary Juice
    Others believe that it is the quantitative easing, low rates, bank bailouts, stimulus spending, and other portions of the “wall of money” which the feds have thrown at the economy are creating a temporary pump to the stock market.

    But they think that – when the spigot is turned off – the market will tank.
    The Situation is Inflation 
    Others believe that – regardless of continued loose monetary and fiscal policy or real stock valuations, we’re in for some serious inflation.

    Stocks tend to preform well during inflationary periods.

    For more on inflation versus deflation, see this.
    Machines Run Amok
    Tyler Durden explains that all of the stock market gains have occurred after hours when mystery buyers purchase stock futures in low volume environments (and seethis).

    Vincent Deluard – a strategist for TrimTabs Investment Research (25% of the top 50 hedge funds in the world use TrimTabs’ research for market timing) – said last month:

    We’ve never seen this before – such a huge rally, and the little guy is out.
    Some argue that it is high-frequency trading or momentum-chasing trading algorithms doing the buying, and that the market will tank when they change their game.
    Fed Futures
    Others argue that the government is itself buying stock futures.

    Some believe that the Feds aren’t buying, but that they have intentionally showered the big banks with money, and encouraged the banks to buy. In other words, they argue that the Feds are indirectly promoting a stock market rally.
    Fraud Central
    Karl Denninger believes that the market has rallied due to the systemic, fraudulent overvaluation of assets.

    As Denninger wrote yesterday:
    [A reader wrote] the FDIC to ask about [allegations of fraudulent valuations]. This was their response:
    That’s the value the bank had them on their books on their year-end financials, but the true value is much less. It is similar to someone in Las Vegas saying that their house is worth $300,000 because that’s what they paid for it three years ago, but the reality is, if they had to sell it in today’s market, they’d only get $250,000 for it. The FDIC has to sell assets in today’s market…
    Or tomorrow’s market.
    The simple fact of the matter is that there it is, right in front of you.
    A raw admission that the banks are carrying these loans at dramatically above their actual value.
    Yes, this means that essentially all balance sheets must now be considered fraudulent, and thus the valuations assigned by the market to them are also fraudulent.
    Extending this to the stock market as a whole you now have a market that is intentionally overvalued as a direct and proximate consequence of fraud, permitted and endorsed by the government, of somewhere between 25-40%.
    Now you know why the market rallied off the SPX 666 lows to where it is now. 1139 (where we are now) * .60 (a 40% haircut) = 683.40, or awfully close to that 666 bottom.
    Of course this “valuation” expressed in the market can only be maintained for as long as the fraud is. If the ability to maintain that fraud is lost for any reason then values will instantly collapse back to reflect reality.
    Note: Obviously, I believe this is a bear market rally which will eventually fizzle out. If the bulls are instead right, then that will make me the dumb money. But I think it much more likely that the rally will change direction in the not-too-distant future.
  • Gran Turismo 5 set for October 2010?

    Could there finally be an official release window for Gran Turismo 5? Here we go, we’d rather not get our little hearts disappointed yet again, but a Sony representative allegedly told an Italian gaming site at the

  • Six myths about “deniers” by Bill DiPuccio, Quadrant.org.au

    Article Tags: Bill DiPuccio

    Global warming “deniers”: myth-conceptions abound

    They’ve been compared to “flat earthers” and even “Holocaust deniers”. And, as the recent “Climategate” email scandal reveals, they have been blacklisted in certain professional circles. Scientists who disagree with the current consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) are dismissed by some colleagues and politicians as ignorant and irrelevant. Though there are certainly cranks out there who lend credence to this stereotype, not everyone who rejects the idea that global warming is a planetary crisis brought about by burning fossil fuels deserves to be vilified.

    There are numerous myths surrounding those who are wrongly labeled “deniers”. Most of them can be distilled into six basic accusations:

    1. “Deniers” believe the climate has not warmed.

    No one questions that there has been a slight, but unmistakable increase in global temperature since the end of the “Little Ice Age” in the early nineteenth century. Global average surface temperature has risen approximately 0.9°C since 1850. But not all scientists attribute this change to the human addition of CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the air. Those who oppose the prevailing view on AGW point out that since temperatures began to increase well before CO2 levels were considered significant (c. 1940), a considerable part of this warming is due to natural variations in the climate. Such variations in the past have brought about abrupt climate changes with large swings in temperature.

    Source: quadrant.org.au

    Read in full with comments »   


  • When a scientist becomes a fear-mongering propagandist by Dr. Martin Hertzberg, SummitDaily.com

    Article Tags: Martin Hertzberg

    Re. “When a scientist becomes an activist,” Opinion, Auden Schendler, March 10:

    The “climategate” e-mail scandal revealed an appalling lack of scientific integrity, possible criminal conduct in violating Freedom of Information Acts in both the US and the UK, and the fraudulent treatment of data, on the part of some scientists involved in pushing the Gore-IPCC-Hansen theory that human emission of CO2 has been causing global warming/climate change. The e-mails also reveal a conspiracy to suppress opposing viewpoints, and even the gloating over the death of a distinguished Australian climatologist who disagreed with them. Ever since then, a host of environmental activists, pretending to be scientists, have come to their defense. The latest is the recent article by Auden Schendler hailing Jim Hansen as a “once in a millennium . .comet of a person … like Jonas Salk … a great man.”

    There is a simple way to tell the difference between a scientist and a propagandist. If a scientist has a theory, he searches diligently for data that might actually contradict his theory so that he can modify or refine it. If a propagandist has a theory, he carefully selects only the data that might agree with his theory and dutifully ignores the data that disagrees with it. In the case of James Hansen, he doesn’t even bother with the data: all he has to support his theory are half-baked computer models that are totally out of touch with reality, and have already been proven to be wrong. By any reasonable definition, Hansen’s scenarios and those he helped Gore and the IPCC to concoct, are the work of fear-mongering propagandists.

    Source: summitdaily.com

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  • Naughty Dog staff were not "pirated" by Valve

    Worried that Valve might be “stealing” creative talents from Naughty Dog? Not so fast. The news pinpointed three devs namely, Vitaliy Genkin, Elan Ruskin, and Alex Vlachos. All three of them have worked for Valve some couple

  • New Multiflux® Mixer from Gericke

    Gericke’s Multiflux® mixer GMS creates with its 2 horizontal, overlapping mixing rotors a fluidized bed. As a mixing process is based on the exchange of the particles in a volume by convection, this principle is very efficient for the energy-saving and product respecting mixing.

    The GMS mixer is known as long-lasting and reliable process equipment. In order to complete its existing range, Gericke has made a redesign of the GMS Multiflux mixer that responds to the increasing demand for hygienic execution in the food and pharmaceutical industry.
    The new model is called GMS C. C stands for cantilevered and refers to the 2 shafts that are cantilevered, offering many advantages. Not only the number of sealing is divided by 2. Due to the construction, the front side of the mixer can be opened entirely. In the high end version, named the GMS ECD, the operator can even pull out the complete drive and mixing shafts out of the body. Large lateral doors offer an easy access to the mixing chamber.
    The new execution shortens the inspection-, dismantle- and cleaning cycle and increases the value creating production time!
    The concept of the shaft sealing is adapted according to the product and process characteristics.
    A reliable and robust food grade stuffing box is in the basic execution foreseen. In the high end version, a “hypergienic” sealing allows the dismantling without tools and total access to the shafts.
    Different investigations show that Gericke’s Multiflux® mixers are capable to mix additives and minor components quick and reliably also in concentrations of some per mille.
    Trials can be executed in the Gericke Test Center.

    We look forward to meeting you at the Powtech exhibition 2010 (27.- 29.04.2010, hall 6 stand 311).

  • Out with the OLD and in with the NEW!

    For a limited time, trade into your used air jet sieve or sieve shaker and receive a credit towards the purchase of a New Micron Air Jet Sieve*. Up to $1,000 credit for old air jet sieves and $500 for sieve shakers!

    The Hosokawa Micron Air Jet Sieve utilizes the pneumatic sifting principle that enhances the accuracy and reproducibility of particle size analysis. Use of this device has become a preferred method for such tasks as quality assurance of incoming raw materials and the confirmation of final product specifications.

    While negative pressure draws all the particles below a defined particle size down through a sieve screen, a positive airflow is introduced upwards through a rotating wand. This airflow deagglomerates and disperses undersized particles and carries them through to the vacuum collector.

    Sieving Range: 20 to 4750 micron – See available screen options.

    Sample Size: 10 to 100 grams

    Special Features:

    Rotating wand eliminates the need for tapping.
    Electronic Timer
    Pressure differential gauge built directly into the main body of the unit
    Vacuum System designed for strong, quiet performance
    Available Designs:

    Basic Version (Instrument with Vacuum)
    Advanced Computer Assisted Version (Instrument, vacuum balance and software)
    Available Accessories:

    200 mm diameter Certified Stainless Steel Sieve screens
    Multiple sieve screen adapter
    83 mm diameter Certified Sieve screens
    Cyclone
    Industries: Chemical, Food, Minerals & Pharmaceuticals

    The Micron Air Jet Sieve and Vacuum package provides users with superior filtration while providing the necessary air pressure required for aerodynamic sieving.

    Rugged constructed suitable for abusive environment canister vacuum
    100 watt motor, sound level at 3 meters 53 dB (A)
    4 gallon low profile wheeled steel collection canister
    6 foot long anti-static suction hose
    50 foot long power cord
    Multi-stage filtration system consisting of a paper bag, foam filter and an up-stream HEPA filter capable of filtering 99.97% of particles down to and including 0.3 microns.
    Low profile suitable for under desk installation, approximate dimensions 18” L x 15” W x 13” H, empty weight 17 lbs.
    Request a Brochure
    *This offer is only valid for the purchase of new Micron Air Jet Sieves made before March 31, 2010.

  • Newly launched CPS 275/7.5 make their international debut at Bauma

    Several Chicago Pneumatic compressors and generators make their international debut at Bauma
    The Chicago Pneumatic generator range and several CP compressors make their international debut at Bauma, where the newly launched CPS 275/7.5 compressor will also be on show

    Reliability, easy maintenance and flexibility are the main characteristics of Chicago Pneumatic compressors. The range features robust German designs, with powerful engines from well-known, well-respected brands under sound, weatherproof hoods.

    The new CPS 275/CPS 7.5 is well suited to running pneumatic tools, abrasive sandblasting, and general construction work.

    In the construction business nothing is as important as the reliable availability of power. That’s why Chicago Pneumatic is introducing a product line of light, transportable power generators. The generators range from 12 to 30 kVA and produce clean power for all types of equipment and tools. Under the top-notch design of the hoods lie powerful engines chosen for their low fuel consumption, quiet operation, and reliability.

    With a straightforward control panel Chicago Pneumatic compressors and generators are easy to use. They are easy to move and highly impact resistant, which really pays off when you’re working in a tough environment. What’s more, Chicago Pneumatic compressors and generators are available around the world, through a certified distribution network.

    Since 1901 the Chicago Pneumatic name has represented high-performance tools and equipment designed for an extensive range of applications. Today, Chicago Pneumatic has a global reach, with local customer centers around the world. Chicago Pneumatic tools and air compressors are tailored to the needs of the industrial, vehicle service, and construction markets. Every day we develop and manufacture new products that are meant not only to meet your demands today, but tomorrow as well.

    To learn more about our extensive range of tools, hydraulic attachments, industrial and portable compressors, accessories and workshop equipment, please visit www.cp.com.

    Press contact
    Elsie Vestraets
    Phone: +32-34019811
    E-Mail: [email protected]
    Internet: www.cp.com

  • Asmussen: If we are to release chopped out God of War III portion as DLC, it’ll be for free

    Here’s definitely something to look forward to, if in case it does push through. God of War III director, Stig Asmussen, revealed in a podcast that if the GoW III ending does come back as DLC, it’s

  • On Shelves This Week: March 14 – 20,2010

    The week is finally here! There is no doubt about it, there is only one game you guys will be setting your eyes on for this week, and that’s none other than God of War III. Kratos

  • EPA Solicitations – March 2010

    logo-epa1Environmental Economics Workshops, and Data Gathering for Dissertation and Early Career Research on the Pollution Control Aspects of Environmental Economics – Applicants must submit proposals for one of the two subject areas of interest listed below. Proposals that do not address one of these areas will be rejected. Proposals that combine both areas will not be accepted. While proposals must address one area only, eligible applicants may submit more than one proposal for each area, or proposals for both areas, so long as each proposal is separately submitted and demonstrably different.  Area 1. Environmental Economics Workshops – NCEE is seeking proposals for workshops in three different categories: a) Dissertation Workshops, b) Methods Development and Training Workshops, or c) Current Issues Workshops. Proposals for Area 1 must address one and only one of the workshop categories. While applicants may submit proposals for more than one workshop category, each one must be separately submitted.   Area 2. Data Gathering for Dissertation and Early Career Research on the Pollution Control Aspects of Environmental Economics. NCEE is also seeking proposals for gathering data for use in doctoral dissertations and other early career research in those areas of environmental economics involving pollution control. The data to be gathered should be relevant to protecting public health and the environment particularly for state, tribal and local pollution control agencies.  Total Funding: $400K.  Eligibility: Colleges and Universities, Hospitals, Laboratories, and Non-Profit.  Closing Date: April 26, 2010.

    Posted Date: March 10, 2010

    Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-OPEI-NCEE-10-01

    ————————————————————————————–

    Pre-Solicitation: Small Business Innovation Research Phase I – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contemplates awarding approximately twenty-eight (28) firm-fixed price contracts under the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program Phase I, during Fiscal Year 2011. The SBIR Program is a phased process, uniform throughout the Federal Government, of soliciting proposals and awarding contracts for research or research and development (R&D) to meet stated agency needs or missions. During Phase I (covered by this solicitation) contractors shall conduct feasibility-related experimental research or R&D efforts on the following agency topics: A) Green Building; B) Innovation in Manufacturing; C) Nanotechnology; D) Greenhouse Gases; E) Drinking Water Monitoring and Treatment; F) Wastewater and Sustainable Infrastructure; G) Air Pollution Monitoring and Control; H) Biofuels; I) Waste Monitoring and Management; and J) Homeland Security.  Proposals submitted in response to the solicitation must directly pertain to the EPA?s environmental mission and must be responsive to EPA program interest included in the topic descriptions identified in the solicitation.  The anticipated release date of the solicitation is March 25, 2010, with an expected due date of May 11, 2010. The solicitation will be avail able on the internet and can be found at www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir/ and www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd/.

    Posted Date: March 10, 2010

    Solicitation Number: PR-NC-10-10251