A 300-year-old example of quantitative easing “IF FIVE hundred millions of paper had been of such advantage, five hundred millions additional would be of still greater advantage.” So Charles Mackay, author of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, described the “quantitative easing” tactics of the French regent and his economic adviser, John Law, [...]
Archive for August, 2009
Law of easy money
Posted in Economy and business, History on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
The dragon in the backyard
Posted in Economy and business, Politics on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Latin America is tilting towards China, Iran and the global “south”—and away from the United States IF ALL goes to plan, by 2012 the first shipments of copper from Toromocho, a mine in the Peruvian Andes, will be sent by train and truck to a new $70m wharf in the port of Callao. From there, [...]
Friend or foe?
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health, Politics on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
It is not wise for Democrats to bash America’s health insurers “I AM not a Nazi, I’m not being paid to be here, and I’m not un-American!” The elderly man who uttered those angry words on the afternoon of Monday August 10th was clearly boiling over. He and several hundred others had gathered in a [...]
At the Town Halls, Trivializing Evil
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
During live television coverage of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, novelist Gore Vidal famously called William F. Buckley a “crypto-Nazi.” To which Buckley famously replied (in addition to other choice words), “Stop calling me a crypto-Nazi, or I’ll sock you in the goddamn face and you’ll stay plastered.” Buckley later apologized. He also explained: [...]
Today’s papers – August 14, 2009
Posted in Today's Papers, tagged August 14 2009 on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
France, Germany Fend Off Recession The Washington Post leads, and the Wall Street Journal goes high, with news that Europe’s two largest economies have surprisingly escaped from the recession, raising hopes that the worldwide downturn may be on its final legs. Germany and France both reported modest recoveries that put them ahead of other industrialized [...]
Time-Traveling for Dummies
Posted in Arts and Entertainment, Physical sciences on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
You might say we’re living in a golden age of time travel. From television shows like Heroes, Lost, and Flash Forward to this summer’s Star Trek movie, punctures in the space/time continuum are turning up all around us. As a physicist—and, perhaps redundantly, a science-fiction geek—I’m particularly sensitive to the pleasures of these mind-bending narratives. [...]
Today in History – August 14
Posted in This day in history, tagged August 14 on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Today is Friday, Aug. 14, the 226th day of 2009. There are 139 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, which establishes federal old-age benefits, as well as other social programs such as employment insurance and aid to dependent children. [...]
Early Humans Used Heat-Treated Stone for Tools
Posted in Natural sciences, Physical sciences on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Tool manufacturers know that sometimes you have to heat-treat a material to make it harder or stronger. Ancient toolmakers learned that trick, too. And archaeological research from South Africa pushes back the date of the earliest use of heat treatment at least 45,000 years, to more than 70,000 years ago. Kyle S. Brown, a doctoral [...]
What to Do About Pre-existing Conditions
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Most Americans worry about health coverage if they lose their job and get sick. There is a market solution. Even if you don’t like the massive health-care package being considered in Congress, you have to admit that health insurance and health care in this country are not working well. There are two basic problems: First, [...]
Obama’s Senior Moment
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Why the elderly are right to worry when the government rations medical care. Elderly Americans are turning out in droves to fight ObamaCare, and President Obama is arguing back that they have nothing to worry about. Allow us to referee. While claims about euthanasia and “death panels” are over the top, senior fears have exposed [...]
A Decade of Putinism
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics, tagged Russia on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
In Russia, self-censorship has become a matter of survival. Ten years ago on Sunday, Russia’s Duma confirmed Vladimir Putin as prime minister. The vote took place only one week after then-President Boris Yeltsin had nominated the little-known former KGB operative for the post. Yeltsin’s surprise resignation only four months later left Mr. Putin as acting [...]
Bernanke in the Cross-Hairs
Posted in Economy and business, Editorials and opinion on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Benjamin Bernanke’s problems are now Team Obama’s. What to do when your plans to save the financial system from future disaster are being derailed by the guy who supposedly saved the financial system from current disaster? Someone hide Ben Bernanke. The Obama administration might be wishing it had a secure location for the Federal Reserve [...]
From ‘Yes, We Can,’ to ‘No! Don’t!’
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health, Politics on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Obama turns out to be brilliant at becoming, not being, president. Don’t strain the system. Don’t add to the national stress level. Don’t pierce when you can envelop. Don’t show even understandable indignation when you can show legitimate regard. Realize that the ties that bind still bind but have grown dryer and more worn with [...]
The Ghost of Protests Past
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Did the press give short shrift to Bush-haters? The popular rebellion against ObamaCare–and the Democrats’ counterattack against the voters–has turned out to be the political story of the year. But of course it’s far from the first time that America has seen protests against a president’s policies. Writing at FoxNews.com, Bill Sammon faults the media [...]
Worth It? The Sound of Silence
Posted in Other on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
The city is a noisy place, and sometimes I want a break from the honking taxis, shrieking trains, roaring buses, rattling jackhammers, screaming kids, and my downstairs neighbor who is perpetually composing his magnum opus. Putting in earphones and listening to a soundtrack of my own choosing is a way to cope. But in the [...]
Some Creative Destruction on a Cosmic Scale
Posted in Physical sciences on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Scientists Say Asteroid Blasts, Once Thought Apocalyptic, Fostered Life on Earth by Carrying Water and Protective Greenhouse Gas In a paradox of creation, new evidence suggests that devastating avalanches of cosmic debris may have fostered life on Earth, not annihilated it. If so, life on our planet may be older than scientists previously thought — [...]
The Birds of America
Posted in Birds of America, tagged 151, 152, 153 on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Cathartes aura Urubu à tête rouge / Turkey Vulture The Turkey Vulture is a nesting bird recently observed in Québec, but found more commonly in the United States where it can be observed in rocky environments and in the undergrowth of forests. A carrion eater, it has highly-developed senses of sight and smell that [...]
Why flamingoes stand on one leg
Posted in Animals, Natural sciences on August 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Staying cool, or keeping warm? It is one of the simplest, but most enigmatic mysteries of nature: just why do flamingoes like to stand on one leg? The question is asked by zoo visitors and biologists alike, but while numerous theories abound, no-one has yet provided a definitive explanation. Now after conducting an exhaustive study [...]
The ‘Prevention’ Myth
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
In the 48 hours of June 15-16, President Obama lost the health-care debate. First, a letter from the Congressional Budget Office to Sen. Edward Kennedy reported that his health committee’s reform bill would add $1 trillion in debt over the next decade. Then the CBO reported that the other Senate bill, being written by the [...]
Mystery deepens over missing ship
Posted in Other on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
The Arctic Sea is thought to have headed out into the Atlantic Ocean Russian navy ships are hunting in the Atlantic for a 4,000-tonne cargo ship that vanished more than two weeks ago, triggering an international mystery. Observers have suggested the ship was hijacked, possibly because of a Russian commercial dispute. The Maltese-flagged ship, the [...]
Today in History – August 13
Posted in This day in history, tagged August 13 on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
Today is Thursday, Aug. 13, the 225th day of 2009. There are 140 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History On Aug. 13, 1961, Berlin was divided as East Germany sealed off the border between the city’s eastern and western sectors and began building a wall in order to halt the flight of [...]
Can New Growth Save the Amazon Rainforest?
Posted in Energy and Environment on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
Is the Amazon rainforest recovering? New studies suggest that the long-term consequences of deforestation may not be as bad as predicted, as vegetation makes a comeback on abandoned agricultural land. Felipe Garcia’s shack backs up against a wall of forest. “My neighbors abandoned their farm seven years ago,” says Garcia, a farmer. “Now the jungle [...]
Sailing away
Posted in Economy and business on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
France and Germany are drifting out of recession. The rest of Europe is stuck in the doldrums AT LAST, a fairer wind. Figures released on Thursday August 13th showed that the euro area’s GDP shrank by just 0.1% in the three months to the end of June, far less than the 2.5% slump in the [...]
A sidekick sings
Posted in Law on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
Frank DiPascali will help prosecutors understand the Madoff fraud HOW did Bernie do it? With an old IBM computer, oodles of chutzpah and, it seems, help from multiple sidekicks. On Tuesday August 11th Frank DiPascali, the senior lieutenant in Bernard Madoff’s bogus fund-management business, admitted to fraud and was arrested. His willingness to confess and, [...]
The Notorious Mr. Bout
Posted in Conflicts and wars, Editorials and opinion on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
Will he tango to freedom with a pass from Thai courts? THE WIFE OF Viktor Bout, the international arms merchant nabbed last year by undercover American drug agents posing as weapons-hungry Colombian rebels, insists that her husband’s interest in South America extends only to “tango lessons.” Like his wife, Mr. Bout, a former Russian air [...]
Today’s papers – August 13, 2009
Posted in Today's Papers, tagged August 13 2009 on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
Poll: Health care views take sympathetic tilt USA Today leads with a new poll that found the loud protests at the town-hall-style meetings have helped increase opposition to overhauling the health care system. A total of 34 percent of Americans say the protests have made them more sympathetic to opponents of reform, while 21 percent [...]
Billy and the Beanstalk
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
Big Pharma’s lobbyist has sold his CEOs on a political fantasy. As a political strategist, Big Pharma lobbyist Billy Tauzin is starting to look less like Dr. Faustus and more like Jack, trading away his industry for magic beans. Last week Mr. Tauzin ostentatiously blabbed to the media that his industry’s deal to help fund [...]
Obama and the Permanent Campaign
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
Turning critics into enemies isn’t presidential. Team Obama is suffering from Extended Campaign Syndrome. In an election, campaign staffers are often just trying to survive until the next week or the next primary. They cut corners because they are fatigued or under pressure. They can be purposely combative and even portray critics as enemies. Carrying [...]
Will They Still Love Him Tomorrow?
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
President Everyman is starting to look like a salesman for the superstate. Amid the hot town halls of August, one’s mind keeps stumbling back to the astonishing presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Hadn’t finished one term in the Senate, 47 years old, former community organizer, and he had the mighty Clinton political machine against the [...]
End-of-Life Provision Loses Favor
Posted in Health on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off
The cost of caring for patients who are near death accounts for a big piece of the government’s medical spending. But a furor over a provision for government-paid counseling to plan for end-of-life care is steering lawmakers away from the issue. Tucked inside a sweeping House bill to overhaul the health system is a provision [...]
