![Click here to read Watch BP's "Top Kill" Oil Spill Fix LIVE](http://cache-02.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/05/160x120_bpstreamstream.jpg "Click here to read Watch BP's "Top Kill" Oil Spill Fix LIVE")
All systems are go for BP’s latest “top kill” oil spill fix, and they’re broadcasting the process live. The 21st Century: disastrous oil spills and the technology to let you watch them live. Video feed after the jump. More »
BP – Oil spill – Environment – Energy – Petroleum in the Environment
Are the bulls about to blow it again?
Right now it looks like it. At one point the Dow was up triple digits.
Join the conversation about this story »
Black shoes are still needed for those summer night outings. Vanishing Elephant’s Felix model is a good option for either formal our casual evenings that may include some dinner and dancing. It features high quality leather with a wooden/leather sole combination. Truly a classic way to cap off your attire. Available at CryWolf.
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[JURIST] Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty [official website] on Wednesday introduced legislation [text; official backgrounder] that would establish a single national securities regulatory body to replace the current system managed by individual provinces and territories. The Canadian Securities Act would establish the Canadian Securities Regulatory Authority (CSRA) [fact sheet], replacing the current “passport” system, which allows provincial authorities to issue registration recognized nationwide, with a single national authority with voluntary provincial participation. According to Flaherty, the CSRA is also intended to foster competitive capital markets and protect investors from fraudulent practices. It will be run by a board of directors accountable to the Ministry of Finance [official website]. The legislation would also redefine securities-related criminal offenses that would apply even in provinces not participating in the CRSA and would give concurrent prosecutorial jurisdiction to the federal and provincial governments. Flaherty explained the need [press release] for the legislation, stating:
Canada is the only major industrialized country that lacks a national securities regulator. This step will strengthen the stability, integrity and effectiveness of the Canadian financial system … [by] harmoniz[ing] existing legislation in the form of a single statute. … It proposes significant improvements in terms of governance, adjudication, financial stability, and regulatory and criminal enforcement, and provides a wide scope of authority to regulate financial instruments and participants in capital markets.
The legislation will be submitted to the Supreme Court of Canada [official website] to rule on the proposal’s constitutionality [official backgrounder], a process that could take 10 to 24 months. Quebec Premier Jean Charest [official website] sharply criticized [Montreal Gazette report] the proposed legislation, stating that it would interfere with provincial jurisdiction and that his government would pursue a legal challenge in the Quebec Court of Appeal [officials website]. The governments of Alberta and Manitoba have also been critical of the legislation, prompting another court challenge from Alberta.
The legislation is based on the recommendations of a seven-member panel appointed by Flaherty, which concluded in January that the global financial crisis [FT backgrounder] increased the need for a national securities regulatory system. It comes as a culmination of the efforts of successive Canadian governments to form a single securities regulator. The global financial crisis has caused concern over securities regulations in other countries as well, prompting the US Department of Justice [official website] in April to open a criminal investigation [JURIST report] of Goldman, Sachs & Co. [corporate website] for possible securities fraud in mortgage trading. Earlier in April, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website; JURIST news archive] filed civil charges [JURIST report] against Goldman Sachs. The SEC alleges that Goldman made misleading statements and omissions to investors in early 2007 in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 [text, PDF] and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [text, PDF]. Also in April, the German government announced [JURIST report] that it was considering legal action against the company. Britain has indicated that it may also pursue legal action [Bloomberg report] after it found out the scope of the allegations contained in the SEC lawsuit.
This year at the 2010 BET awards its going to be mostly a battle of the Africans fighting for the Best International Act title. Nominated under this category is Hip-Hop Panstula (South Africa), P-Sqaure (Nigeria), K’NAAN (Somalia), M.I (Nigeria), Estelle (UK), Kojo Antwin (Ghana), Sade (UK/Nigeria), Chipmunk (UK), Dizee Rascal (UK) and Corinne Bailey Rae (UK).
Congratulations to all the nominees, including Idris Elba and Gabourey Sidibe who are nominated for the Best Actor and Actress category and Sade who also score a nomination for the “Centric Award”.
The Award show is schedule to air June ‘10 2010.
Jay Leno's Garage: 2011 Ford Mustang GT
Yes – when we grow up we want a garage just like Jay Leno’s. Leno recently had the chance to get behind the 2011 Ford Mustang GT and seemed really impressed by the new GT (as he should be).
Click here to get prices on the 2011 Ford Mustang.
Hit the jump for the video.
Refresher: The 2011 Ford Mustang GT is powered by a 5.0L 4-valve Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) V8 engine producion 412-hp with a peak torque of 390 lb-ft. Transmission choices include a 6-speed automatic and a 6-speed manual. The 6-speed automatic helps deliver an estimated fuel-economy of 17/25 mpg (city/highway).
– By: Omar Rana
Facebook today announced a revamp of its user privacy controls, responding to widespread public criticism following its f8 conference product launches with systematic changes that it said came out of weeks of nights-and-weekends work by its top engineers and designers. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the release a “modern privacy system” that reflects what the site has become and incorporates feedback from users.
“We made a lot of changes at the same time, and a lot of what we were trying to do we didn’t communicate that well,” said Zuckerberg. He acknowledged users felt there were so many controls that they were overwhelmed and didn’t feel comfortable sharing.
Here are the most important changes, which will roll out to users shortly, heralded by a notice at the top of their homepages:
The main privacy settings page (see above) lets users toggle between sharing various types with everyone, friends of friends, and friends only. Facebook gives broad recommended settings or users can click to customize. This applies to all content retroactively and all content going forward.
What other users can see about you in the directory is limited. You don’t have to share your friend list with other users, and you don’t have to share what pages and interests you have connected to and liked. Facebook warns you that you should probably share some information so that your actual friends can find you.
You can now opt out completely of the Facebook platform. If you do, you won’t be able to access any applications, but applications will then have no information about you. Particularly importantly, if you opt out, your friends won’t be able to share your information with other applications. You can also more clearly opt out of the new instant personalization feature. Lastly, in the coming month, outside applications will have to ask for items of your personal data in a much more granular manner.
Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):
Could Privacy Be Facebook’s Waterloo?
Please see the disclosure about Facebook in my bio.
Article Tags: ClimateGate, Iain Murray
Climategate starkly revealed to the public how many global-warming scientists speak and act like politicians.
The news that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who popularized the idea of a link between the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine and autism, has been struck off the register of general practitioners in the United Kingdom testifies to the fact that, in many scientific fields, objectivity still reigns. Britain’s General Medical Council found that Wakefield had used unethical and dishonest research methods and that when his conclusions became common knowledge, the result was that far more children were exposed to the risk of those diseases than would have been the case otherwise. Unfortunately, in other areas, some scientists have been getting away with blatant disregard for the scientific method.
The most prominent example, “Climategate,” highlights how dangerous the politicization of science can be. The public reaction to Climategate should motivate politicians to curb such abuses in the future. Yet it was politicians who facilitated this politicization of science in the first place.
The economic historians Terence Kealey (The Economic Laws of Scientific Research) and Joel Mokyr (The Gifts of Athena) help us understand just how science progresses. Their central insight involves the recursive nature of the scientific process. In Mokyr’s terms, propositional knowledge (what politicians term “basic” science) can inform prescriptive knowledge (“applied” science). However, the reverse happens just as often.
Source: article.nationalreview.com
Posted by Tribune staff at 1:40 p.m.
Gov. Pat Quinn today issued an amendatory veto of the McCormick Place overhaul
legislation, sending it back to the legislature with
revisions, including elimination of a hike in fees on airport taxi and bus rides
that would have raised additional marketing funds.
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Senate Republican leader Christine Radogo of Lemont issued a joint statement vowing to override Quinn’s veto.
You can read more as the story develops from Tribune business writer Kathy Bergen and our Springfield bureau by clicking here.
Rokin makes new classic mens shoes, partly seasoned with influences from the West Coast of Sweden. One of the shoes in their lineup is the Rokin Ryder, which is available in this Cognac color. It’s a classic footwear silhouette that features high quality leather and a strong rubber sole. Available now at Urbana.
So, it’s happened. By at least one metric, for at least this very moment—it could change tomorrow—Apple is now bigger than Microsoft. Apple’s market cap passed Microsoft’s today, just two months after edging under Walmart. The latest showing from Google Finance puts Apple’s market cap at $225.98 billion to Microsoft’s $225.32 billion. More »
Apple – Microsoft – Business – Monopolies and Oligopolies – Economic
For a while I carried a USB drive on my keyring, but it never helped me rescue a computer lab damsel in distress like I had hoped it would. Maybe I’ll fare better with Scosche’s FlipSync folding USB key fobs. More »
Universal Serial Bus – Scosche – Hardware – Accessories – Cables
Posted by John Byrne at 1:35 p.m.
State lawmakers need to stop relying on borrowing money and start choosing their priorities in the state budget, Mayor Richard Daley said today.
With the Senate set to consider a measure to borrow $4 billion to pay public pensions next year, Daley said taxpayers will end up suffering through high interest payments down the road because lawmakers won’t make tough decisions.
"Just like the federal government, they borrow and print money, other states borrow money," Daley said at a news conference about summer tourism at the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. "In the long run, it’s all going to come – find out how it’s going to effect every taxpayer here. It’s going to effect you next year, the following year, the following year."
"You have to bite the bullet. These are difficult decisions you have to make. Some times you have to cut things out, and you have to hold back on spending," he said. "You have to do these things if you want to balance the budget."
The city is looking at borrowing $170 million or so to cover back pay raises for police and firefighters following an arbitrator’s ruling on a contract dispute.
""Eventually we pay it right back. It’s a very small amount of money," Daley said. "That’s nothing compared to the state. We will pay that right back, because we have to do that."
The Chicago Public Schools could face cuts in state aid in the budget, which district officials have said could force thousands of teacher layoffs and bigger class sizes.
Education should be a priority in Springfield, Daley said.
"What are your priorities? That is the key," he said.
Daley also praised a neighbor who called 311 to report he hadn’t seen a pair of elderly neighbors recently around their home in the 1500 block of East 69th Street.
The couple was found by city workers trapped in their apartment by floor-to-ceiling debris.
"(The neighbor) made that call. Whether it’s 311 or 911, please make those necessary calls," Daley said.
There had been no other recent 311 calls to the home of Jesse and Thelma Gaston said.
"In October 2009 there was only one 311 call about garbage at that address, which the Department of Streets and Sanitation responded to," he said.
Bond guru Bill Gross makes this point:
Tougher sovereign budgets produce government worker layoffs, pay cuts, reduced pension benefits and a drag on consumption and the ability of the private sector to accept an attempted hand-off from fiscal authorities. Recession becomes the fait accompli, and the deficit/GDP ratio moves ever higher because of skyrocketing risk premiums and a plunging GDP denominator. In many cases therefore, it may not be possible for a country to escape a debt crisis by reducing deficits.
Me: This certainly seems to be the case with Ireland, as it has for most countries trying this path to escape a debt trap. As I point out in this Weekly Standard piece I wrote, the best way to solve a sovereign debt problem is by cutting spending and boosting economic growth.
Buenas noticias para la planta de producción del grupo PSA de Vigo, actualmente la más grande de Europa Occidental. El grupo francés quiere producir en esta planta, además con una inversión de unos 1.000 millones de €, los modelos destinados a los países en desarrollo en competencia directa con Dacia.
Vigo le ha ganado el pulso pues a las plantas de Turquía y Polonia, sus principales competidoras de cara a tamaño y competitividad. Estos modelos, denominados internamente el M3 y el M4, serán fabricados con vistas a venderlos a bajo coste en los países en desarrollo.
Además la noticia recoge que la planta de Vigo fabricaría la nueva versión de la Citroën C4 Picasso, además de las versiones eléctricas de los vehículos comerciales Citroën Berlingo y Peugeot Partner, que se fabrican actualmente en Vigo. Más de 50 años en activo para una planta de producción que parece que tiene su futuro garantizado.
De cara a los modelos a vender, no nos extrañe que acaben también en nuestro país, como ha pasado con el Dacia Logan. No sólo Europa del Este y el norte de África tiene una demanda de coches decentes y baratos.
Vía | Motorpasion
The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act? Really? Even by the disingenuous standards of Capitol Hill, calling the $174 billion spending package making its way through the House “a jobs bill” takes some real moxie.
Die-hard Keynesians, of course, will contend that so long as money gets pushed into the economy, how it gets spent isn’t so critical. But for a government running trillion-dollar budget deficits, at least every billion or so should count. And it’s hard to argue that this bill is optimized for job creation or economic growth.
1) For instance, the bill includes a one-year, $6.7 billion extension of the federal research and development tax credit. By not making it permanent, the credit is less likely to foster long-term investment. The bill also extends tax breaks for NASCAR and Hollywood, ensuring both Red and Blue state residents get fed their respective helpings of pork.
2) More than a quarter of the spending — $47 billion over 10 years — goes toward extending unemployment insurance benefits. Economists worry the increased availability of such assistance may reduce the intensity with which the jobless look for work and lengthen the duration of unemployment by nearly 10 percent. It’s also tough to pin down the job-creating impact of spending $63 billion to increase Medicare payments to doctors and $24 billion for higher Medicaid spending.
3) Even worse, the proposal enlarges the budget deficit. Less than a quarter of the tab is paid for, showing again just how easy it is for Congress to avoid self-imposed limits on deficit spending. And increased Medicare spending was excluded from healthcare reform so the bill could get a better score from the Congressional Budget Office.
4) The White House will argue that given the high unemployment rate, bringing down the deficit is less of a priority. But listen to what economist Carment Reinhart told the president’s deficit panel today (via The Hill):
The gross U.S. debt is approaching a level equivalent to 90 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, the level at which growth has historically declined, said Carmen Reinhart, a University of Maryland economist. When gross debt hits 90 percent of GDP, Reinhart told the commission during a hearing in the Capitol, growth “deteriorates markedly.” Median growth rates fall by 1 percent, and average growth rates fall “considerably more,” she said.
Reinhart said the commission shouldn’t wait to put in place a plan to rein in deficits. “I have no positive news to give,” she said. “Fiscal austerity is something nobody wants, but it is a fact.
5) Barack Obama’s original stimulus plan was $787 billion (though costs have pushed it up to $862 billion). While some advisers argued for $1.2 trillion, the president sided with those who believed an amount of such Brobdingnagian size would alarm financial markets — and probably voters, too. This latest legislation, combined with a $17 billion jobs bill passed in March, would put the tally at around $1 trillion, not counting interest. In due course, the math will be easy enough for the markets to understand.
Here’s another great chart from Doug Short (dshort.com), the master of overlaying markets on top of each other.
Short explains:
Here is a new overlay of five world markets since March 9, 2009. The start date is arbitrary: The S&P 500 hit a low on March 9th, the Nikkei 225 on March 10th, the DAX on March 6th, the FTSE on March 3rd, and the Hang Seng 4.4 months earlier on October 27, 2008. However, by aligning on the same day, we get a better sense of the present-day synchronous behavior of the markets than if we align the lows.
You almost have to feel sorry for Japan, the world’s biggest loser, once again.
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BP has started operation “Top Kill,” and we’ve embedded here the live videostream of their latest attempt to plug the well. The maneuver involves pumping heavy drilling mud and cement into the well. While routine on surface wells, it’s never been attempted at 5,000 ft underwater. And if it goes south and the blowout preventer cracks under the pressure, it could make matters worse. Bust out the popcorn! I just saw a robot arm!
UPDATE: The camera has changed. Now we are looking at valves instead of the plume.
UPDATE 2: Now we are floating around the blowout preventer.
UPDATE 3: Now we’re back to the valves.
UPDATE 4: Lots of floating and panning now.
UPDATE 5: I just saw a robot arm! Science is happening!
UPDATE 6: You know, by not showing the plume we don’t know what effect, if any, the operation is having on the leak rate.
Here is an animation of how Operation Top Kill is supposed to work:
Live video link from the ROV monitoring the damaged riser [BP]
Patrik Ervell will always have some items in his collection that will leave you in awe. From jackets, tops, even to the accessories, the designer always finds a way to construct pieces that seems totally out there, yet still applicable to our daily fashion. The Copper Oxyde Jean is one of those items. It’s a slim fitting and tapered jean-cut pant that has a medium rise along with a reinforced stitching at its stress points. It’s unique copper oxyde green print gives it that original Ervell touch and will not stretch at the waist because of its waistband lining. Available now at Hunting and Collecting.
Following up on the news that we posted yesterday about Verizon’s DROID Incredible disappearing from the Verizon Wireless site, it seems that the device is back up after a short delay. Customers can once again order the Incredible, but the site says that the phone won’t ship until June 16th. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam was at the Barclays Capital Global Communications, Media & Technology conference in New York today and explained the situation, saying that HTC is suffering component shortages, specifically with the screen that is made by Samsung. McAdam continued by saying that Samsung has ramped up production and that Verizon should be able to meet demand for the Incredible within 30 to 60 days. The offer for an included 2 GB microSD card with the purchase of an Incredible is still available, so while you may have to wait a few weeks for a device, now is still a good time to get yourself one of the best Android devices on the market.
Via Fierce Wireless
