Get Out Of Town… Or, At Least Iraq
President Obama announced today that the USA would pull its military troops out of Iraq over the next 18 months.
The announcement comes one day after the Secretary of Defense announced a change to the Photographing of Caskets of Fallen Troops policy.
SEC. GATES: I’d like to address two subjects today.
[...]
Look to the Sea
It’s getting closer. Faster. Sea level rise, globally averaged over the last 15 years is twice that averaged over the last 50.
1.6-1.8 mm/yr over the last 50 yr., to 3.5 mm/yr. over the last fifteen, as much as 1cm(10mm, 0.4 inch)/yr in parts of the western Pacific. Not much, one would think. Consider [...]
The Hidden Link Between Factory Farms, Toxic Chemicals and Human Illness
* The Hidden Link Between Factory Farms and Human Illness
By Laura Sayre
Mother Earth News, February/March 2009
Straight to the Source
You may be familiar with many of the problems associated with concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. [...]
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Another Quarter, Another 25 Billion
Fannie Mae reports US$25 billion loss for 4Q2008. Wants another 15 billion. Cash flow statements are rather revealing of the political mandate of large puchases of MBS last year. Wonder how much cash brother Freddie blew ? Not to speak of cousin Ginnie, whose paper is explicitly guaranteed by the full faith and credit of [...]
Peter Schiff Responds to Obama Speech to Congress
Excellent message. Peter is 1000% correct that Obama’s speech reveals a total lack of understanding of basic economics:
Watch the Video:
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/84120
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Mining the Dead
This reminded me of the book, ‘Dead Souls’ by Nikolai Gogol.
Companies are taking out insurance policies on dying employees, writing off “the premiums and the interest on the loans to buy the policies as a business expense.”
But wait, there’s more:
“In addition, the investment returns and death benefits aren’t subject to federal income tax”
Do you [...]
Mo’ Bigger Loans
Made too many bad loans? Make bigger, badder, loans.
“loan limits will return to their late-2008 levels, which were up to $729,750 for one-unit properties”
From:
http://www.housingwire.com/2009/02/23/2009-conforming-loan-limit-jumps/
When the Levee Breaks
“Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good. When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move” — Led Zep
We learn today that “The 114 levees received unacceptable maintenance ratings in corps inspections, meaning their deficiencies are so severe that it can be “reasonably foreseen” that they will not perform properly in a [...]
EPA Invests $2 Million To Secure Philadelphia’s Drinking Water Supply
PHILADELPHIA (Feb. 23, 2009) – – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented a $2 million grant to Philadelphia to help the City address the risk of intentional contamination of its drinking water. The total funding available to the City for this project could be as high as $9.5 million, contingent upon EPA’s budget over [...]
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NASA: Launch Mishap Ends OCO Mission
from NASA
Several minutes into the flight of the Taurus rocket carrying NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory spacecraft, launch managers declared a contingency after the payload fairing failed to separate.