NEW YORK — A build-up of bearish data fuelled fears of a US economic slowdown on Tuesday as consumer confidence slumped to a two-year low and house prices in big cities suffered their biggest drop in 16 years. The growing evidence that the credit squeeze and housing meltdown are spreading to the rest of the domestic economy will increase pressure on the Federal Reserve to set aside concerns over rising inflation and cut interest rates on Wednesday. Blue chips such as Procter & Gamble and US Steel added to the gloom with results that disappointed investors and contributed to a 0.7 per cent fall in the S&P°500 by the close in New York trading. The negative reaction to earnings by two companies with global operations reflects deepening investor concerns that the weak dollar and solid global economic growth might not be enough to help corporate America offset a slowdown. With experts warning that the next few months will bring more bad news from consumers and the housing market, investors will be looking to the monetary authorities’ decision, and their closely watched comments, to boost sentiment. ‘The housing market, credit problems and high gasoline prices are […]
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to past use of marijuana but said the substance is ‘not a drug. It’s a leaf.’ Schwarzenegger told a GQ magazine interviewer that he ‘didn’t take any drugs’ and explained when asked about his past admissions of marijuana use that ‘that is not a drug. It’s a leaf,’ The Daily Mail reported Monday. ‘My drug was pumping iron, trust me,’ he said. ‘I did smoke a joint and I did inhale. The bottom line is that’s what it was in the 70s, that’s what I did. I have never touched it since,’ Schwarzenegger said. The governor also told the interviewer that he doesn’t think it is necessarily the public’s concern when a politician uses Class A drugs. ‘What would you rather have? A politician taking stuff and not saying but making the best decisions and improving things? ‘Or a politician who names all the drugs he or she has taken but makes lousy decisions for the country?’ he asked during the GQ interview. ‘A politician’s job is to do what’s best for the people and to improve the country, the economy, the environment. Why should I care […]
The Power and Interest Report (PINR), an independent organization that provides conflict analysis services, has published a new paper analyzing the rising cost of oil and efforts to free the United States from relying on foreign oil sources. The paper, authored by Michael Piskur, is titled ‘Record Oil Prices and Washington’s Desire for Energy Independence’ and is available on the PINR web site. The recent rises in oil prices clearly demonstrate the frequency of fluctuations in the costs of energy resources, PINR says, giving nations sufficient cause to explore non-traditional means for energy supplies. In the United States, the paper reports, the popular trend is toward unconventional fossil fuels and ethanol, with PINR noting that the ethanol industry in the United States will increase production by 40 percent this year over last year’s figures. The use of ethanol to free the United States from dependence on foreign oil is increasingly gaining popularity, and PINR says the U.S. government has been working with Brazil to further ethanol research and development efforts and to codify rules and regulations for ethanol production. The paper says Brazil’s goal is to be the supplier of 75 percent of global ethanol by 2012. Brazil […]
Abstract The Kyoto Protocol is a symbolically important expression of governments’ concern about climate change. But as an instrument for achieving emissions reductions, it has failed1. It has produced no demonstrable reductions in emissions or even in anticipated emissions growth. And it pays no more than token attention to the needs of societies to adapt to existing climate change. The impending United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Bali in December – to decide international policy after 2012 – needs to radically rethink climate policy. Kyoto’s supporters often blame non-signatory governments, especially the United States and Australia, for its woes. But the Kyoto Protocol was always the wrong tool for the nature of the job. Kyoto was constructed by quickly borrowing from past treaty regimes dealing with stratospheric ozone depletion, acid rain from sulphur emissions and nuclear weapons. Drawing on these plausible but partial analogies, Kyoto’s architects assumed that climate change would be best attacked directly through global emissions controls, treating tonnes of carbon dioxide like stockpiles of nuclear weapons to be reduced via mutually verifiable targets and timetables. Unfortunately, this borrowing simply failed to accommodate the complexity of the climate-change issue2. Kyoto has failed in […]
The world’s first large-scale wave farm will be given planning approval today. Wave Hub, a £28m project off the Cornish coast, is expected to be in place and producing renewable energy by 2009. Funding for the scheme – described as a giant electrical socket on the seabed – has already been approved by the South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA). The wave farm, which has been on the cards for four years, will boost the industry worldwide and become a centre of research. Generators attached to Wave Hub’s infrastructure by other developers will produce enough electricity for 7,500 homes, directly saving 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over 25 years. This will support the South-west’s target of generating 15 per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2010. Wave Hub could create 1,800 jobs and contribute £560m to the British economy over 25 years, according to an independent economic impact assessment, commissioned by the RDA. It will include an onshore substation connected to electrical equipment on the seabed 10 miles off Hayle via an under-sea cable. Companies developing wave energy technology will be able to plug into Wave Hub to test […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
