Published on Monday, October 6, 2008 by Reuters
One In Four Mammals Risks Extinction

by Alister Doyle

BARCELONA, Spain - A quarter of the world's mammals are threatened with extinction, an international survey showed on Monday, and the destruction of habitats and hunting are the major causes.

[The Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica) moved from vulnerable to endangered. Its population has declined by 90% in the last 100 years due to unsustainable hunting and habitat degradation and is still decreasing Photograph: Simon Goodman/IUCN]The Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica) moved from vulnerable to endangered. Its population has declined by 90% in the last 100 years due to unsustainable hunting and habitat degradation and is still decreasing Photograph: Simon Goodman/IUCN
The report, the most comprehensive to date by 1,700 researchers, showed populations of half of all 5,487 species of mammals were in decline. Mammals range in size from blue whales to Thailand's insect-sized bumblebee bat.

"Mammals are declining faster than we thought -- one in four species is threatened with extinction worldwide," Jan Schipper, who led the team, told Reuters of the report issued in Barcelona as part of a "Red List" of threatened species.

He said threats were worst for land mammals in Asia, where creatures such as orang utans are suffering from deforestation. Almost 80 percent of primates in the region were under threat.

Click here to see additional photos.

Published on Monday, October 6, 2008 by The East African (Kenya)
Kenya: Government Wants to Impose GMOs 'By Force'

by John Mbaria

NAIROBI - The grand scheme to introduce genetically modified foods into Kenya seemed to shift into top gear after the Ministry of Agriculture launched a campaign last month to make the country appreciate them.

[Genetically-modified corn in this Greenpeace file photo.]Genetically-modified corn in this Greenpeace file photo.
First, Minister for Agriculture, William Ruto, who has on several occasions publicly expressed his support for the introduction of GM foods into the country, launched the National Biotechnology Awareness Strategy last month.

According to a statement Ruto sent to the press, the strategy was aimed at offering Kenyans "accurate and reliable information and knowledge" about such branches of biotechnology as tissue culture, molecular breeding and genetic modification.

"This will enable Kenyans to make informed decisions and be involved in determining the pace of adoption of biotechnology in the country," he said.

However, Ruto went ahead to state that Kenya will embrace GMOs, making it appear the government had launched the awareness campaign merely to state its pro-GMO stance.

This has led to fresh fears that the government has irrevocably decided on introduction, cultivation and commercialisation of GMOs in the country.

Monday, October 6, 2008
The Paulson Plan for Survivor Bias by 'London Banker'

As I re-post this from The RGE Monitor, markets are crashing in Asia, Russia, and Europe. It is clear from the conference call transcript below that market participants who are not insiders with the Bush Admin. and may not receive "survivor bias" are reacting very negatively Friday and Monday. These are certainly interesting times. Thanks to David of Kauai and RGE Monitor, or I wouldn't know what is going on.

From: http://www.rgemonitor.com/financemarkets-monitor/253850/financial_eugeni...
"Financial Eugenics: The Paulson Plan for Survivor Bias" by London Banker

"As I write this I don’t know the outcome of the attempt to ram through legislation for looting the US Treasury of $700 billion before the end of the Bush administration. I suspect that Congress will force the passage of the bill in some form because the media and political narrative on the necessity of the measure is unremitting and so horribly biased.

No alternatives will be considered.

No constraints on the unilateral executive authority of Hank Paulson will be considered.

No assurances that funds will be used to unlock credit markets or promote lending to the real economy (as opposed to the financial robber barons) will be considered.

Instead, the bill will get laden with an additional 300 pages of pork to sway the dissenters, adding to the tab imposed on the American taxpayer.

Monday, October 6, 2008

This is an example other Pacific islands should follow:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/new-zealand-transition-towns.php
"New Zealand's Transition Movement Gains Strength"
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 09.30.08

See video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMTXrIL48A

"Transition Towns Spread Throughout New Zealand"

"It seems like only yesterday that I wrote about Transition Towns reaching New Zealand. Well, a lot can happen in a short time – as the above video/slideshow shows, the people of New Zealand/Aoteoroa have been remarkably busy. Transition groups are appearing all over the country, and events and workshops are being held on everything from community food production to renewable energy. On a brief visit to the Transition Town New Zealand web page we counted 52 communities that are actively engaged in the transition process, either formally or informally. Click below the fold for further links and reading on Transition Towns. Given the recent fuel crisis in the southern United States, Transition Town Atlanta may be a good idea…"

::Transition Town New Zealand::via Transition Culture::

Further Reading on Transition Towns
Transition Towns Reach Japan
Transition Towns Reach New Zealand
Transition Town Plants Up Nut Trees for Food Security
Interview with Rob Hopkins, founder of the movement
Transition City Bristol
The Transition Handbook
Transition Towns Reach Australia
The Virtual Orchard Project

Aloha, Brad

Sunday, October 5, 2008
The economist who forecasted all of this...in 2006

"The claim by the Fed and Treasury that spending $700bn of public money is the best way to recapitalise banks has absolutely no factual basis or justification. This way of recapitalising financial institutions is a total rip-off that will mostly benefit - at the huge expense of the US taxpayer - the common and preferred shareholders and even unsecured creditors of the banks." -- Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at NYU Stern School of Business

First, for who is Dr. Nouriel Roubini, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouriel_Roubini

And: "Dr. Doom" By STEPHEN MIHM August 15, 2008 New York Times

"On Sept. 7, 2006, Nouriel Roubini, an economics professor at New York University, stood before an audience of economists at the International Monetary Fund and announced that a crisis was brewing. In the coming months and years, he warned, the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession. He laid out a bleak sequence of events: homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unraveling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt. These developments, he went on, could cripple or destroy hedge funds, investment banks and other major financial institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Published on Sunday, October 5, 2008 by The Independent/UK
Charles Targets GM Crop Giants in Fiercest Attack Yet
In a provocative address to an Indian audience, the Prince echoes Gandhi with a stinging attack on 'commerce without morality'.

by Geoffrey Lean

It is less than two months since Prince Charles was on the receiving end of a fusillade of scientific, political and commentariat criticism for voicing, yet again, his concerns about GM crops and foods. He was widely accused of "ignorance" and "Luddism"; of being too rich to care about the hungry, and even of trying to increase sales of his own organic produce. It was put about that Gordon Brown was angered by his intervention.

[Prince Charles has again stirred controversy with his strong views over GM crops.(Getty Images)]Prince Charles has again stirred controversy with his strong views over GM crops.(Getty Images)
Yet the Prince has responded by stepping up his campaign, making his most anti-GM speech yet, in delivering - by video - the Sir Albert Howard Memorial Lecture to the Indian pressure group Navdanya last Thursday. And he made it clear that he was going to continue. "The reason I keep sticking my 60-year-old head above an increasingly dangerous parapet is not because it is good for my health," he said " but precisely because I believe fundamentally that unless we work with nature, we will fail to restore the equilibrium we need in order to survive on this planet."

Published on Sunday, October 5, 2008 by The Observer/UK
Seas Turn to Acid as They Soak Up CO2

by Robin McKie

The Bay of Naples is renowned for its breathtaking beauty and glittering clear waters. For centuries, tourists have flocked to the region to experience its glories.

[In Ischia's highly acidic water Algae vital for binding coral reefs have been wiped out. (REUTERS/HO/Great Barrier Reef National Park Authority)]In Ischia's highly acidic water Algae vital for binding coral reefs have been wiped out. (REUTERS/HO/Great Barrier Reef National Park Authority)
But beneath the waves, scientists have uncovered an alarming secret. They have found streams of gas bubbling up from the seabed around the island of Ischia. 'The waters are like a Jacuzzi - there is so much carbon dioxide fizzing up from the seabed,' said Dr Jason Hall-Spencer, of Plymouth University. 'Millions of litres of gas bubble up every day.'

The gas streams have turned Ischia's waters into acid, and this has had a major impact on sea life and aquatic plants. Now marine biologists fear that the world's seas could follow suit.

'Every day the oceans absorb more than 25m tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,' said Hall-Spencer. 'If it were not for the oceans, levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would be far higher than they are today and the impact of climate change would be far worse. However, there is a downside: it is called ocean acidification.'

Friday, October 3, 2008

$700 Billion Flush...Now What?

Check this out, TED spreads, indicate increased interest rates on banks lending to each other relative to short-term treasury rates, have gone up since the $700 Billion "bailout," or "flush" was passed today. TED spread is something that is not easily manipulated as other things can be, so it is a good measure of expert sentiment on global risk. Check out the following chart and set it to one day to see what happened the day the $700 Billion Flush was passed by Congress. I know it's a longshot, but I think Congress will pay at least a few cents on this coming Election Day a few short weeks away. TED spread: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/cbuilder?ticker1=.TEDSP%3AIND

Here are some short videos of statements made in Congress today: http://alohaanalytics.blogspot.com/2008/10/700-billion-flushnow-what.htm...

The following article, esp. at the end, has some good ideas for...Now What?:
http://rushkoff.com/2008/05/03/riding-out-the-credit-collapse/
"Riding Out the Credit Collapse"
Arthur Magazine, Spring 2008

"There’s two kinds of people asking me about the economy lately: people with money wanting to know how to keep it “safe,” and people without money, wanting to know how to keep safe, themselves.

Maybe it’s the difference between those two concerns that best explains the underlying nature of today’s fiscal crisis.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

This is outstanding, timely analysis:

http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/engdahl/2008/1001.html
"FINANCIAL TSUNAMI: The End of the World as we Knew it"
by F. William Engdahl October 1, 2008

"The unexpected US Congress’ rejection of the Bush Administration financial rescue plan, TARP on September 29 has opened up the spectre for the first time of a 1931-style domino wave of worldwide bank failures. That is already underway across the US banking spectrum with the failure, nationalization or forced liquidation in the past two weeks of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, of the giant Washington Mutual mortgage lender, of the nation’s fourth largest deposit bank, Wachovia. That was on top of a wave of smaller bank failures that began with IndyMac in the spring. For some it is appealing and more simple to grasp the magnitude of these titanic events in the US-centered financial world by assuming it is all part of a pre-planned grand conspiracy by the Money Masters, what in the 1920s in the USA was termed the Money Trust, to control the entire financial world.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

There has been some interesting things about FASB 157 requirements of "mark to market," and further information about TED spread measures of expected risk in the markets, but the most interesting things I found over the past day came from Rep. Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks, CA. Others have done the work, so I'm just gonna repost them. First, watch this if you have only 1 minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi9vXKWYaZ8

http://www.cafemom.com/journals/read/1233733/Bailout_Bill_USA_bails_out_...
"Bailout Bill = USA bails out the world! ***READ PLEASE!***"
September 30, 2008 at 11:26 PM by Cecropia

"This is huge.

Watch: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=873682522&play=1

"Brad Sherman (D-CA): The fact is, Larry, if you read the key provisions of this bill, you would have voted against it. It provides hundreds of billions of dollars of bailout to foreign investors. It provides no real control of [Henry] Paulson's power. There is a critique board, but not really a board that can step in and change what he does. It's a $700 billion dollar program run by a part-time, temporary employee, and there's no limit on million-dollar-a-month salaries....

Kudlow: Mr. Sherman, I appreciate your points of view. Foreign investors, I think you are referring to foreign banks headquartered in the United States or essentially that are domiciled here. I don't see how foreign investors get bailed out.