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We’ve seen the tech demos of The Fight: Lights Out for the PlayStation Move, which Kevin Butler lovingly points out (qjnet/playstation-3/playstation-move-ad-takes-a-jab-at-the-wii-and-natal.html) to show how you should fight using a motion controller. Here today is the game’s

by Jeff Goodell

So yesterday was the official publication day for my new
book How to Cool the Planet, an event
that I’d like to mark by … taking a long nap.
I’m only a few days into the book tour, but I’m already exhausted.

Not that
I’m complaining. Being worn out by your
book tour is a nice problem for a writer to have. Part of my fatigue is the result of  a bumpy redeye from LA to NYC the other
night; part of it can be blamed on a flood of questions from chemtrails conspiracy cultists who believe that Dark Forces are engaged in a secret plot
to reduce the population of the planet by poisoning millions of people with
aluminum particles dispersed in the sky. I’d like to have a sense of humor about this, but it’s hard enough to
have a serious discussion about geoengineering without having to fend off the
black helicopter crowd.

I’m not
bashing chemmies. I just want to talk about something more
interesting: money. 

Not surprisingly, the question of
what role private capital might play in developing and deploying the hardware
to cool off the planet came up at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference in southern California
I attended earlier this week. After all,
geoengineering is the mother of all engineering projects. If we move forward with any of the various
technologies that are now being discussed (a very big if), there’s gonna be a
lot of cash flying around. An obvious
question: who will be the financial winners in a geoengineered world?

Here’s my top five:

Lobbyists: 
Right now, because geoengineering is not much more than a twinkle in James Lovelock’s
eye, nobody on K street
is pushing for Department of Energy funding of stratospheric aerosol injection
devices. But in the future, they might
be. Geoengineering could turn out to be
the 21st century equivalent of industrial agriculture … or a
government project that has a lot in common with the overwrought, overfunded
Star Wars missile defense system. Either
way, lobbyists make out.

Carbon-sucking entrepreneurs: 
Here’s a simple truth: anyone who figures out a cheap, simple way to
suck CO2 out of the air is going to make a lot of money. Not surprisingly, a number of scientists/entrepreneurs
are working on it, including David Keith, a physicist at the University of
Calgary. Keith’s company, called Carbon
Engineering, uses a simple chemical process borrowed from the pulp industry,
and has attracted $5 million in funding from investors, including Bill Gates. Right now, the cost of sucking carbon out of the
air is up around $150 a ton, but if Keith—or anyone else—can cut that cost
in half, things start to get interesting.
And when it comes to geoengineering, CO2 removal is the one area where
the profit motive is clearly lined up with the public good. 

Early investors in albedo engineering companies:  Manipulating the earth’s albedo (a
fancy word for reflectivity) by brightening clouds or injecting particles into
the stratosphere is the most dangerous and complex type of geoengineering
researchers are currently exploring. 
Among the many questions: Who is going to end up doing the actual work
of brightening clouds or injecting aerosols? Maybe governments will be in charge, maybe a Richard Branson-like
billionaire. Either way, the hardware
is likely to be built by private contractors, just as the fighter planes used
by the U.S. Air Force are built by private concerns like Lockheed Martin—a
company with a market cap right now of about $32 billion. 

Geoengineering conference organizers:  The
whole idea of geoengineering is so fraught with technical, political, moral,
and cultural complexities that, no matter how the future of geoengineering
plays out, there are going to be plenty of issues to fret about. So we may as well gather up and fret
together, even if we have to pay for the privilege.

Fundamentalist preachers:  I’m
not suggesting that religious leaders are motivated by money (or sex). However, if we start trying to deliberately
manipulate the earth’s climate, you can be sure that some will see this as
trespassing into forbidden realms, and they will raise their voices against
it. Imagine the war over abortion played
out in the stratosphere and you’ll have a pretty good idea where we might be
headed.

——-

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of posts from Jeff Goodell, author of How to Cool the Planet: Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix Earth’s Climate. Here’s his first and second posts. And here’s an interview with Goodell about his book, and an earlier interview about Big Coal.

Related Links:

What does coal mining have to do with geoengineering?

Can a book on geoengineering change the climate conversation?

Sole “Strategic Partner” of landmark geo-engineering conference is Australia’s “dirty coal” state of

This is all well and good, until a pedestrian rips your iPad out of the plastic pocket, jumps on their flame-throwing moped and speeds off, leaving you bereft and without visible turning aids. More »

There’s no surer sign of an improving economy than a jump in home renovations. So applaud the latest news from the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity, compiled by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The indicator measures U.S. homeowner spending on improvements during the preceding year. It fell off a cliff in 2007 and staggered through 2008 and 2009, but is finally showing signs of life. It is expected to grow nearly 5% this year. “It may be that people who can’t sell their homes are deciding that, if they have to stay put, they might as well renovate,” says Richard Florida, a professor at the University of Toronto. If so, now might be a good time to book a contractor—or bet on a stronger economy.
 
Freelance business journalist Ian McGugan blogs for the Financial Post

Something important to keep in mind when you write to us: Unless you say it is off the record, we reserve the right to publish the email. If it’s a tip, however, we’ll keep your personal information completely confidential. More »

[JURIST] The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit on Friday alleging securities fraud against Goldman, Sachs & Co.. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Goldman made misleading statements and omissions to investors in early 2007 in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Goldman’s alleged conduct in marketing collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) to investors lies at the core of the controversy. Goldman responded to the allegations by denying all wrongdoing. The SEC is seeking “injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, prejudgment interest, civil penalties and other appropriate and necessary equitable relief from both defendants,” remedies considered appropriate in securities fraud cases.
The SEC action continues a trend in bringing action against financial corporations and their agents that engaged in allegedly illegal conduct at the start of the subprime mortgage downturn in 2007. Last year, two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were acquitted of securities-related charges. The June 2008 SEC complaint alleged that the managers had taken leveraged positions in financial derivatives based on subprime mortgage-based assets and then taken steps to conceal ensuing losses from investors.

[JURIST] Internal Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents released Thursday reveal that the former head of the agency Porter Goss may have agreed with the destruction of videotapes showing harsh interrogations of terror suspects. The heavily redacted documents reveal that, despite being unaware of the order before it was carried out, Goss agreed with the order from Jose Rodriguez, then head of the CIA clandestine services, to destroy videotapes of the interrogations of two terror suspects. Some of the documents reveal an e-mail in which Rodriguez said that “the heat from destroying is nothing compared to what it would be if the tapes ever got into the public domain … they would make us look terrible; it would be devastating to us.” The documents were released as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Ben Wizner, senior staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project said that the “documents provide further evidence that senior CIA officials were willing to risk being prosecuted for obstruction of justice in order to avoid being prosecuted for torture. If the Department of Justice fails to hold these officials accountable, they will have succeeded in their cover-up.”
Last year, it was revealed that 12 of the 92 videotapes destroyed by the CIA contained evidence of “enhanced interrogation techniques.” The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had previously acknowledged that the CIA destroyed 92 videotapes, in response to an August 2008 judicial order that the CIA turn over information regarding the tapes or provide specific justifications on why it could not release the information.

Yes, Namco Bandai is publishing Demon’s Souls for Europe. But hold on, they’re only releasing the title in the region as a limited edition.

Oh Philadelphia, we know you love the whole “we boo Santa” image, but we must say that intentionally vomiting on an 11-year-old girl is a bit much, even for you.

CBS3 reports that a man was arrested at the Phillies game Wednesday and has been accused of intentionally vomiting on the 11-year-old daughter of an off-duty police officer.

“When I say disgusting, there was not only insults and vulgarities directed at us, but also beer was thrown at us,” the girl’s father told CBS 3.

“I actually heard the individual behind me say, ‘I’m gonna get sick’, then I couldn’t believe what I saw. He actually had his fingers down his mouth and into his throat to make himself vomit. He vomited and lurched forward and it was hitting my daughter,” he explained.

The police officer and several other fans subdued the man until police arrived. He’s been charged with simple assault, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, harassment, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

In brighter news, a nice fan caught a ball and gave it to the girl, who apparently slept with it like a Teddy Bear. Awwww.

Do you worry about taking your kids to sporting events because of people like “vomit-fan”, or does “nice-ball-catching” fan make up for it?

Cops: Man Purposely Vomited On Girl At Phils Game [CBS3]

A few thoughts on the SEC charges against Goldman Sachs:

1) Goldman Sachs gave the Obama campaign $994k during the 2008 election, his biggest donor. Doesn’t this undercut the theory just a bit that Washington is under the thumb of Wall Street?Even a tiny bit? (No, say Simon Johnson and James Kwak.)

2) I can’t help but think this boosts the odds of financial reform passing and a shift it to the left, as well. You might even see more GOPers advocate for breaking up the banks, as do some Fed regional presidents.

3) Certainly under the leadership of a new chairman and enforcement director, the SEC’s Obama years have marked a hard switch from the posture of the Bush SEC. In 2009, the regulator opened twice as many investigations as in 2008, with fines up 35 percent. The new assertiveness helped cool talk the Hill that the SEC should be merged with the CFTC pushed into a giant super-regulator

4) But its aggression can also lead to unforced errors. A judge threw out a $33 million SEC fine against BofA regarding bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch employees. The SEC also failed to execute in its case against Cohmad Securities and the firm’s involvement with Bernard Madoff. In February, a federal court dismissed the SEC’s “flimsy” charges that Cohmad helped enable the notorious Ponzi schemer.

5) A failed case against Goldman for alleged securities fraud might leave the SEC in worse shape. It would also open the watchdog to charges that the timing of its charges, right in the middle of a debate over financial reform, was merely an attempt by the Obama administration to intimidate Wall Street into supporting its get-tough legislation.

6) This is exactly the sort of scenario a bank exec outlined to me a few months back. The exec worried that the longer FinReg reform dragged on, the odds increased that some bolt-from-the-blue news would change the political calculus and push the bill to the left.

Anthony Polini of Raymond James was on CNBC this morning and chalked up Bank of America’s earnings to positive moves in the broader economy and active management.

• 1:00 The economy is good, but Bank of America is managing itself well, and took a lot out of its loan loss reserves (JP Morgan and Bank of America have removed a $1 billion from loan losses)
• 1:45 Bank of America close to getting back to even on its Merrill deal
• 2:20 Feels this is just the beginning for the recovery, but suggests people need to start taking short term profits
• 3:35 Low loan demand, housing still a problem
• 4:00 Countrywide will eventually be seen as a good deal

Join the conversation about this story »

Posiblemente Alfa Romeo ya no es lo que era, pero la marca todavía guarda un lugar muy especial en tu afición por los coches, o tal vez tengas un Alfa Romeo (de cualquier año y modelo) y cierto tiempo libre los días 26 y 27 de junio, cuando el registro italiano de Alfa Romeo celebre la concentración más grande de la marca, como parte de los festejos por los 60 años de vida de Alfa.

El objetivo de la concentración es reunir a 3000 coches en un encuentro que parece que abarcará a todo el centro de la ciudad de Milán, en Italia, cuna de Alfa Romeo. Entre las celebraciones y la oportunidad de conocer a más fanáticos de todo el mundo de Alfa Romeo, así como modelos históricos, se organizarán visitas guiadas al Museo Alfa Romeo en Arese.

La fecha clave del centenario será el día 24 de junio, fecha de la fundación de la marca, en el año 1910. Y si ya has decidido darte la oportunidad de mostrar tu Alfa y ser parte de un capítulo de la historia de Alfa Romeo, no tienes más que pasarte por el enlace de Alfisti, en donde encontrarás más información.

Fuente | Prensa Alfa Romeo

Más información | Alfisti

One month after long-time Ning CEO Gina Bianchini was replaced by COO Jason Rosenthal, the company is making some major changes: It has just announced that it is killing off its free product, forcing existing free networks to either make the change to premium accounts or migrate their networks elsewhere. Rosenthal has also just announced that the company has cut nearly 70 people — over 40% of its staff.

via Ning’s Bubble Bursts: No More Free Networks, Cuts 40% Of Staff.

The Los Angeles Times follows up on Attorney General Eric Holder’s moment of consensus Wednesday with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on creating new indefinite detention rules for a post-Guantanamo effort against al-Qaeda. It’s a consequence of the Obama administration’s decision not only to close Guantanamo but to renounce the CIA’s long-term secret indefinite detention facilities, colloquially known as “black sites.” And the State Department is uneasy about creating a new framework for extrajudicial indefinite detention outside routine battlefield detention in war zones like Afghanistan:

[A]pproval of the guidelines is being delayed, primarily by State Department officials who are concerned that formalizing the rules will lead inevitably to greater use of long-term detention by the administration under conditions similar to those at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, which President Obama has pledged to close.

You have to figure that’s Harold Koh, the State Department legal adviser, taking that position. Since the absence of a new detentions framework for outside Afghanistan — like for, oh, I don’t know, Pakistan and Yemen — creates an incentive for the Obama administration to kill terrorism suspects rather than capture them and put them … somewhere … it casts a new light on Koh’s legal blessing of the administration’s drone strikes. (And, perhaps, assassinations.)

Attorney General Holder briefly touched on a similar point about the geopolitical implications of a terror-detentions system last night, although I didn’t really view what he said as particularly significant. After reading the Los Angeles Times’ piece, however, I wonder if he was sticking up for State’s viewpoint here. You make the call:

[T]here is the issue of international cooperation.   Our civilian courts are well respected internationally.   Our allies are comfortable with the formal and informal mechanisms to transfer terrorism suspects to the United States for trial in civilian court.   As we prove the effectiveness and fairness of military commissions, I expect our allies will take notice.   And I hope they will grow more willing to cooperate with commission trials.

But if the allies aren’t comfortable with the commissions yet, how comfortable will they be with indefinite detention? Especially after the hard-fought battle to close Guantanamo?

Finally, the paper identifies some of the advocates of a new indefinite detention system as coming from the Pentagon. That would make sense, given Col. William Lietzau’s mandate, as Pentagon detentions chief, to come up with new post-Guantanamo detentions policy for the department.

The fist photos of the pre-production Chevrolet Camaro Convertible surfaced back in 2008, and since then, the development has taken a pretty long time. GM has finally revealed the first images of the production ready 2012 Camaro Convertible prototype through social media outfit Facebook. The convertible looks similar in design to the Coupe and a few noticeable changes include a repositioned third brake light, a trunk-mounted antenna, and a key slot for opening the rear trunk. The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible will feature the same engines as the coupe including a 312hp 3.6L V6, a 400 hp 6.2-liter V8, and a 426hp 6.2L V8 option. We expect the convertible to arrive by April 2011.