Monkeyfister

Labels: Gardening

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Executives and insiders at U.S. companies are taking advantage of the steepest stock market gains since 1938 to unload shares at the fastest pace since the start of the bear market.

Gap Inc.’s founding family sold $45 million of shares in the largest U.S. clothing retailer this month, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings compiled by Bloomberg. Daniel Warmenhoven, the chief executive officer at NetApp Inc., liquidated the most stock of the storage-computer maker in more than six years. Sales by the co-founders of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. were the highest since at least 2001.

While the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 28 percent from a 12-year low on March 9, CEOs, directors and senior officers at U.S. companies sold $353 million of equities this month, or 8.3 times more than they bought, data compiled by Washington Service, a Bethesda, Maryland-based research firm, show. That’s a warning sign because insiders usually have more information about their companies’ prospects than anyone else, according to William Stone at PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

“They should know more than outsiders would, so you could take it as a signal that there is something wrong if they’re selling,” said Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC’s wealth management unit, which oversees $110 billion in Philadelphia. “Whether it’s a sustainable rebound is still in question. I’d prefer they were buying.”

Insiders Sell

Insiders from New York Stock Exchange-listed companies sold $8.32 worth of stock for every dollar bought in the first three weeks of April, according to Washington Service, which analyzes stock transactions of corporate insiders for more than 500 institutional clients.

Labels: Collapse, Wall Street Casino

Labels: Another Republican Hypocrite

WORLD WAR Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (Crown Publishers, September 12, 2006), is a recounting of these apocalyptic and horrifying years that will make sure we never forget how close we came to total annihilation. Told from the perspective of numerous survivors from all over the world, from Denver to South Africa, Sydney to Yonkers, Malibu to India, WORLD WAR Z captures the sacrifices and, toward the end, the ingenuity of our race to defend and save our cities, towns, and villages from a plague that seemed virtually impossible to stop.
Brooks tells a moving story of courage and survival and gives us insight into the key military strategies that helped us take our world back. To this day, controversy and conversation still revolves around some key issues that WORLD WAR Z addresses such as:

- How the Walking Plague was initially covered up by corrupt governments
- Why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services downplayed the Great Panic
- A zealous American President's mistake in putting his party's needs in an election year ahead of the safety of his people

While WORLD WAR Z does remind us of our past mistakes and the vulnerability of the human race, it also serves as a reminder that the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as the "living dead" is the human factor. WORLD WAR Z also warns us not to let our guard down, to be ever vigilant, and to learn from the mistakes made in the past. Indeed, as Brooks records from a survivor in Burlington, VT: "The numbers [of zombies] are declining, thank heavens, but it doesn't mean people should let down their guard. We're still at war, and until every trace is sponged and purged and if need be, blasted from the surface of the earth, everybody's still gotta pitch in and do their job. Be nice if that was the lesson people took from all this misery. We're all in this together, so pitch in and do your job."

Labels: Books, Zombies

Shep--

I saw you on "The Strategy Room" the other day, and applauded your standing up for REAL American Values. I was jaw-dropped by your colleague's moral dishonesty. His specious argument that because some amoral, yet powerful people say that torture works, it is OK for Americans to torture simply hurt my soul.

If EVER there was a proper time for table-pounding and an "F" bomb, it was clearly that moment, and for that reason.

The very fact that there is even a DEBATE about America's use of torture is nothing short of a horrible stain on our Nation. We are America-- we're better than that.

During WWII, we got the information we needed from captured Nazis by giving them fine cigars, good booze and thick steaks. How, in the 21st Century, did we end up here? Why are so many of your colleagues at FOX News, and elsewhere, defending the former Administration's torture policies? I cannot comprehend how anyone could try and justify such terrible actions.

Were I still Active Duty, I would have accepted punishment and whatever type of discharge I was given, and would have refused the order to torture. Hearing fellow Veterans speak so highly in support torture is like a kick in the teeth. HOW did we get here?

You've got a good soul, Shep. I often wonder why you stay with FOX News, but, I am glad to know that there is at least one decent Human Being at FOX.

Thank you for your Moral Strength.

A Disabled Navy Veteran salutes you.


Sincerely yours,

Monkeyfister

Labels: FOX News, Shepard Smith, Torture

In many ways today, the Fed is in uncharted waters.

So why shouldn’t the Fed just keep cutting interest rates? Why not lower the target interest rate to, say, negative 3 percent?

At that interest rate, you could borrow and spend $100 and repay $97 next year. This opportunity would surely generate more borrowing and aggregate demand.

The problem with negative interest rates, however, is quickly apparent: nobody would lend on those terms. Rather than giving your money to a borrower who promises a negative return, it would be better to stick the cash in your mattress. Because holding money promises a return of exactly zero, lenders cannot offer less.

Unless, that is, we figure out a way to make holding money less attractive.

At one of my recent Harvard seminars, a graduate student proposed a clever scheme to do exactly that. (I will let the student remain anonymous. In case he ever wants to pursue a career as a central banker, having his name associated with this idea probably won’t help.)

Imagine that the Fed were to announce that, a year from today, it would pick a digit from zero to 9 out of a hat. All currency with a serial number ending in that digit would no longer be legal tender. Suddenly, the expected return to holding currency would become negative 10 percent.

That move would free the Fed to cut interest rates below zero. People would be delighted to lend money at negative 3 percent, since losing 3 percent is better than losing 10.

Of course, some people might decide that at those rates, they would rather spend the money — for example, by buying a new car. But because expanding aggregate demand is precisely the goal of the interest rate cut, such an incentive isn’t a flaw—it’s a benefit.

Labels: Batshit Crazy, Collapse, Greed, Greedheads, US Federal Reserve

That what doesn't kill ya, makes ya stronger.

Trouble is brewing for King Cotton, and it goes by the name of Roundup-resistant Palmer amaranth, aka the dreaded pigweed.

Some weed specialists are calling pigweed the worst threat cotton has faced since the boll weevil. Reports first started surfacing a few years back about cotton fields in Georgia getting hammered by a fast-growing, drought-resistant, incredibly prolific weed that scoffed at Monsanto's best attempts to quash it, but this summer, the pigweed menace has exploded.

From South Carolina's Times & Democrat

Palmer amaranth crowds out cotton plants, starving them of sunlight, nutrients and water, and is a very productive weed. Each female produces as many as 500,000 seedlings, meaning just one plant can birth an entire field.

Unlike other pests, pigweed can continue to grow an inch a day even without water, making it particularly adept during the drought gripping the region. It also thrives in hot weather, continuing to grow when temperatures top 90 degrees and other plants shut down.

The weed can even damage cotton pickers, the huge machines that pluck natural fiber from the cotton bolls.

From the Delta Farm Press:

The rapid spread of the resistance has "absolutely shocked" [University of Tennessee weed specialist] Larry Steckel. "It's hard to believe how quickly and strong the resistance has become and spread."

Having been an Arkansas Extension weed specialist for years, Ken Smith thought he'd "quit being surprised at what weeds are capable of. But, let me tell you, these resistant pigweeds are so much worse than we thought they'd be"

How did this happen? Simple -- over-reliance on a single herbicide -- Roundup -- used in conjunction with genetically modified cotton that included built-in resistance to Roundup. Both products, incidentally, brought to you by Monsanto. At first, it seemed like a great deal for farmers. Plant the cotton, douse the field with Roundup, and watch everything besides the cotton seedlings die. But just as many scientists have long predicted, monocrop agriculture in combination with reliance on just one herbicide turned out to be the most effective way to develop super-weeds that would spit in Roundup's face that farmers could have devised

Labels: BigAgra, Cotton, Monocropping, Monsanto

All Things Considered, April 20, 2009 · There's a surge of public interest in legalizing marijuana as a partial answer to a host of problems. Last week, Mexico's congress debated legalizing cannabis as a way to undermine cartel income. And when President Obama held his online town hall last month, he was swamped with the question: Why not legalize pot as a way to help the economy?

NPR came up with a hypothetical scenario and asked experts to play along, commenting on their imagined outcomes. The scenario: Marijuana has been legal for two years throughout the U.S. It is treated, in the eyes of the law, similar to alcohol. It is taxed and regulated, and users must be 21 or older. Pot smokers can buy it by the gram at licensed dispensaries. Predictably, the law change would make some people very happy — and others deeply concerned.

Imagine if you turned on the radio and heard this: "From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell. After 70 years of prohibition, marijuana becomes legal today for personal consumption throughout the United States for persons 21 and older …"

How would the world change if cannabis finally came out of the closet, if it were fully legal to possess, sell and cultivate?

Willie Nelson, the 76-year-old iconic balladeer and cannabis connoisseur, says there are pros and cons.

"We don't worry about going to jail anymore for smoking it," he says. But, "a lot of our old friends who dealt it are out of work."

Should marijuana be legalized?

* Yes
91%
* No
4%
* Yes, but only for medical purposes
4%

Created on Apr 20, 2009

Total Votes: 11,408

Labels: Legalize It, Marijuana, NPR, What If

Become a Charter Patron in the Arbor Day Foundation's Hazelnut Research Project now and get 3 free hazelnut bushes - for your own lifetime supply of hazelnuts. You'll also get a 6-month membership, including a free subscription to our Arbor Day newsletter. Each year we will survey your results, too. Don't miss this chance to be a valued participant in this important woody agriculture research project. When you do, you're helping to fight global warming.

Labels: Arbor Day, Hazelnuts

Users in our security forum have discovered that advertisements delivered via the FoxNews.com website have been using popup malware to force-deliver artificial anti-virus malware onto the PCs of unsuspecting visitors (of which Fox has countless millions). One of our more skilled scambusters and "malvertising" gurus has further dissected (with photos) the exact scumware delivery mechanism at work here -- and notes that users don't even need to click on an ad banner at the website in order to get infected. The vsm_free_setup.exe forced download the ads are instituting originates from Russia or the Ukraine, and appears to involve a keylogger.

Labels: Computer Viruses, Malware

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed vast Martian glaciers of water ice under protective blankets of rocky debris at much lower latitudes than any ice previously identified on the Red Planet.

Scientists analyzed data from the spacecraft's ground-penetrating radar and report in the Nov. 21 issue of the journal Science that buried glaciers extend for dozens of miles from edges of mountains or cliffs. A layer of rocky debris blanketing the ice may have preserved the underground glaciers as remnants from an ice sheet that covered middle latitudes during a past ice age. This discovery is similar to massive ice glaciers that have been detected under rocky coverings in Antarctica.

"Altogether, these glaciers almost certainly represent the largest reservoir of water ice on Mars that is not in the polar caps," said John W. Holt of the University of Texas at Austin, who is lead author of the report. "Just one of the features we examined is three times larger than the city of Los Angeles and up to one-half-mile thick. And there are many more. In addition to their scientific value, they could be a source of water to support future exploration of Mars."

Scientists have been puzzled by what are known as aprons - gently sloping areas containing rocky deposits at the bases of taller geographical features - since NASA's Viking orbiters first observed them on the Martian surface in the 1970s. One theory has been that the aprons are flows of rocky debris lubricated by a small amount of ice. Now, the shallow radar instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has provided scientists an answer to this Martian puzzle.

"These results are the smoking gun pointing to the presence of large amounts of water ice at these latitudes,” said Ali Safaeinili, a shallow-radar instruments team member with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Labels: Mars, Water

There may finally be some good news when it comes to colony collapse disorder. Starting a few years ago, apiarists began noticing that honey bee colonies were dying off in record numbers. A whole host of suggestions were put forward as to why—some reports even attempted to link cell phone usage with the loss of honey bees. Oddball suggestions aside, detailed studies into the DNA and health of the bees found that fungal invaders or viruses were potential causes of the large-scale collapses.

A new study published in the journal Environmental Microbiology Reports may clarify things, as a team of Spanish researchers report the cause of the colony collapse disorder, and also suggest a cure. The researchers isolated the parasitic fungi Nosema ceranae from a pair of Spanish apiaries, while finding none of the other proposed causes—Varroa destructor, IAPV, or pesticides. With the identification of the invading pathogen, the team treated other diseased colonies with fumagillin—an antibiotic—and observed a complete recovery of the colony.

Honeybees play a key role in horticulture as they are significant pollinators of fruit, crops, and wild flowers. They are indispensable to many sustainable agriculture farms, so keeping them healthy is of great concern. While they are important, other research has suggested using wild bees—those that are solitary cavity- or soil-nesting insects—as opposed to large colonies of honey bees, can result in successful pollination as well.

While honey bees are presumably under constant attack from a variety of pathogens, many of these parasites have unknown or, at best, poorly understood molecular features. "Now that we know one strain of parasite that could be responsible, we can look for signs of infection and treat any infected colonies before the infection spreads," said Dr Higes, principle researcher on the project. While this may not be a global solution to the colony collapse disorder, if it can save a few hives, it will be cause for celebration in the apiarist community.

Labels: Bees

Labels: Fucking Republicans

1. What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become too big to fail.

2. No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains. Whatever may need to be bailed out should be nationalised; whatever does not need a bail-out should be free, small and risk-bearing. We have managed to combine the worst of capitalism and socialism.

3. People who were driving a school bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given a new bus. The economics establishment (universities, regulators, central bankers, government officials, various organisations staffed with economists) lost its legitimacy with the failure of the system.

4. Do not let someone making an “incentive” bonus manage a nuclear plant – or your financial risks. Odds are he would cut every corner on safety to show “profits” while claiming to be “conservative”.

5. Counter-balance complexity with simplicity. The complex economy is already a form of leverage: the leverage of efficiency.

6. Do not give children sticks of dynamite, even if they come with a warning.

7. Only Ponzi schemes should depend on confidence. Governments should never need to “restore confidence”. Be robust in the face of them.

8. Do not give an addict more drugs if he has withdrawal pains. Using leverage to cure the problems of too much leverage is denial.

9. Economic life should be definancialised. Citizens should not depend on financial assets or fallible “expert” advice for their retirement.

10. Make an omelette with the broken eggs. We need to rebuild the hull with new (stronger) materials; we will have to remake the system before it does so itself.

Labels: Black Swans, Collapse

Labels: Fuck You Republicans