Attack of the Tiny Particles – be slightly afraid

Attack of the Tiny Particles – be slightly afraid

• On the one hand, I want to say, “Well, okay, this is something the EPA can address in the Obama administration.”
• On the other hand, I have to keep reminding myself that environmental problems have long ceased to be a merely national concern.
• So I guess I’d wish for leadership on a new wave of environmental treaties from the new President.

Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes

Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes

• So, how much nuclear waste is going to be produced by those 4,000 plants, and where do they propose to put it?
• Let me guess: waste disposal is “somebody else’s problem”.
• If outlawing nuclear power is the only way to protect the commons, then that’s what needs to happen. It would have to be an international treaty, since waste emissions don’t respect national boundaries.

It’s the macroeconomy, stupid!

It’s the macroeconomy, stupid.
Fri Oct 03, 2008 at 09:33:30 AM PDT

Tell me again how borrowing 10B/wk from China to fight the war in Iraq, with money on the ground in Iraq, was a good idea? With the world facing credit swaps in the high trillions, and no liquidity, banks and agencies globally are addressing the problems of It’s a Mad, Mad World.

The Great American Yard Sale

The Great American Yard Sale

• So, maybe most of these acquisitions have been speculating on the future strengthening of the dollar. Then again, maybe not — and it sounds more like wishful thinking from an American point of view. Why would Italians, Swiss and Saudis expect their own currencies to weaken against the dollar?
• Back when Americans and American companies still had the wherewithal to acquire foreign companies, were they doing so because they expected the foreign currency to strengthen and the dollar to weaken?
• Foreign ownership of US companies is really cool because the new investment from overseas provides jobs in the US? Well, that’s true only as long as the foreign owners choose to leave the company where they found it. As they have more and more difficulty finding employees with triple-digit IQ’s in this country, they’re likely to move their operations elsewhere.
• Then the US can go back to being a nice, laid-back agrarian economy and leave the rest of the world alone.

Le Pen’s National Front sells Paris headquarters to Chinese university

Le Pen’s National Front sells Paris headquarters to Chinese university

• This has to be one of the most ironic turns of events I’ve heard of lately.
• I guess their hatred of a foreign presence on French soil wasn’t great enough for them to be willing to default on their debt.