Headlines of the day
New Mexico first state to adopt Navajo textbook (MSNBC)
The first. As opposed New Jersey?
France launches inquiry into legality of 10-year-old bullfighter (AFP)
Too much time on their hands, government division
Diamonds May Have Been Life's Best Friend (Science Daily)
Marilyn Monroe’s only known journal article
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Making Science More Better For You on 07/30/08
Headlines of the day
Man charged in sex toy theft (Haywood County News)
There’s lonely and then there’s lonely.
Jerry Lewis cited for gun in luggage, police say (CNN)
La-la-la, nice weapon
Mystery woman found under van Gogh painting (MSNBC)
Alex, who is Courtney Love?
Man charged in sex toy theft (Haywood County News)
There’s lonely and then there’s lonely.
Jerry Lewis cited for gun in luggage, police say (CNN)
La-la-la, nice weapon
Mystery woman found under van Gogh painting (MSNBC)
Alex, who is Courtney Love?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Making science more better for you on 07/14/08
Headline of the day
Atheist soldier sues military (CNN)
For the abyss and country? No, that's not it...
A financial interlude...
Poker players and bundles of bad paper
A real poker player knows that if he's invited to a game and he doesn't see a sucker when he enters the room, well, he understands why he was called. The suckers in this case were the folks who signed up for the subprime loans that are being blamed for much of the current financial crisis.
We're not arguing that the borrowers, as a class , were victims. Maybe some were, clearly many weren't. More accurately, what they were was fuel for the machine. Keeping the focus of the story on the "kind of people" that got the loans—you know, risky types— is working the long con on the audience. The borrowers were the marks, not the banks.
Follow the money
Start with the basic question: "cui bono?"—who benefits? These mortgages were being offered by banks, not social workers trying to help the underclass. Would the banks have signed off on these mortgages if it wasn't in their financial interest? We think not. We think the banks got what they wanted, loans they could bundle together and sell off to investors as a financial product. That's where they were going to make the real money—not on the loan, but on what they could turn the loan into. Financial alchemy 101.
Assuming the banks would make most of their profit off of the interest paid on subprime loans is like believing that a newspaper makes it's profit off the money you drop in the coin box. In the case of the newspaper, the money is in the ads. In the case of the banks, the real money was in what the loans could be used for by the banks. The loan was the raw material.
They're called consumers, but actually they're what gets consumed
The borrower was the mark and the mortgage the key ingredient in an investment sausage that has started to spoil. Want a slice?
The Fed's hand wringing about the need for more controls and standards is fine as far as it goes. What about controls on the back end? It's seems like getting rid of the regulations that used to prevent this kind activity, such as the repeal of Glass-Stiegel in 1999 by the Clinton administration, has made for a real bad round of financial Jenga. And they're passing the savings on to the rest of us.
Oh yeah, can anyone say credit cards? Sure you can.
Atheist soldier sues military (CNN)
For the abyss and country? No, that's not it...
A financial interlude...
Poker players and bundles of bad paper
A real poker player knows that if he's invited to a game and he doesn't see a sucker when he enters the room, well, he understands why he was called. The suckers in this case were the folks who signed up for the subprime loans that are being blamed for much of the current financial crisis.
We're not arguing that the borrowers, as a class , were victims. Maybe some were, clearly many weren't. More accurately, what they were was fuel for the machine. Keeping the focus of the story on the "kind of people" that got the loans—you know, risky types— is working the long con on the audience. The borrowers were the marks, not the banks.
Follow the money
Start with the basic question: "cui bono?"—who benefits? These mortgages were being offered by banks, not social workers trying to help the underclass. Would the banks have signed off on these mortgages if it wasn't in their financial interest? We think not. We think the banks got what they wanted, loans they could bundle together and sell off to investors as a financial product. That's where they were going to make the real money—not on the loan, but on what they could turn the loan into. Financial alchemy 101.
Assuming the banks would make most of their profit off of the interest paid on subprime loans is like believing that a newspaper makes it's profit off the money you drop in the coin box. In the case of the newspaper, the money is in the ads. In the case of the banks, the real money was in what the loans could be used for by the banks. The loan was the raw material.
They're called consumers, but actually they're what gets consumed
The borrower was the mark and the mortgage the key ingredient in an investment sausage that has started to spoil. Want a slice?
The Fed's hand wringing about the need for more controls and standards is fine as far as it goes. What about controls on the back end? It's seems like getting rid of the regulations that used to prevent this kind activity, such as the repeal of Glass-Stiegel in 1999 by the Clinton administration, has made for a real bad round of financial Jenga. And they're passing the savings on to the rest of us.
Oh yeah, can anyone say credit cards? Sure you can.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Making Science More Better For You on 07/08/08
Headline of the day
Naked man arrested after hijacking Las Vegas bus...(Drudge)
Bet he lost his shirt.
Naked man arrested after hijacking Las Vegas bus...(Drudge)
Bet he lost his shirt.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Making Science More Better For You on 07/07/08
Today's headlines
For Better or Worse, Sex in Space Is Inevitable
(Space.com)
We guess that whether it’s better or worse depends on how much space is available.
Funeral industry is dying to be reformed (Newsweek)
Is that because it's a dead end profession?
Russians suspect Welsh arsonist stripper could be British spy (Telegraph.co.uk)
Talk about multitasking...
For Better or Worse, Sex in Space Is Inevitable
(Space.com)
We guess that whether it’s better or worse depends on how much space is available.
Funeral industry is dying to be reformed (Newsweek)
Is that because it's a dead end profession?
Russians suspect Welsh arsonist stripper could be British spy (Telegraph.co.uk)
Talk about multitasking...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Making Science More Better For You on 07/02/08
Today's headlines
Man arrested after beaning mom with sausage
(news-journalonline.com)
Ok, so Freud and Jung walk into a bar...
Man struck by lightening says it hurt. (CNN)
Also reveals that water is wet.
It’s not used. We like to call it pre-owned.
Who knew? Solar system is 'dented,' not round
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When viewed from the rest of the galaxy, the edge of our solar system appears slightly dented as if a giant hand is pushing one edge of it inward, far-traveling NASA probes reveal.
New data suggests our solar system is not as symmetrical as astronomers have long assumed.
Information from Earth's first space probes to hit the thick edge of the solar system -- called the heliosheath where the solar wind slows abruptly -- paint a picture that is not the simple circle that astronomers long thought, according to several studies published Thursday in the journal Nature.
A little Bondo and this baby is as good as new.
Man arrested after beaning mom with sausage
(news-journalonline.com)
Ok, so Freud and Jung walk into a bar...
Man struck by lightening says it hurt. (CNN)
Also reveals that water is wet.
It’s not used. We like to call it pre-owned.
Who knew? Solar system is 'dented,' not round
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When viewed from the rest of the galaxy, the edge of our solar system appears slightly dented as if a giant hand is pushing one edge of it inward, far-traveling NASA probes reveal.
New data suggests our solar system is not as symmetrical as astronomers have long assumed.
Information from Earth's first space probes to hit the thick edge of the solar system -- called the heliosheath where the solar wind slows abruptly -- paint a picture that is not the simple circle that astronomers long thought, according to several studies published Thursday in the journal Nature.
A little Bondo and this baby is as good as new.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Making Science More Better For You on 07/01/08
Today's headlines
Giraffe gathers troops, escapes circus (CNN)
We hear the chase was neck and neck.
National outbreak of grave robbing; stems from lagging economy. (Drudge)
Make no bones about it, they just can’t bury this story.
How does Mars taste? Salty, reports lander (MSNBC)
Did they find any peanuts? How about caramel?
He’s either hiding in a junior high school or at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Toilet-trained chimp on the run in Calif. forest
Animal served as owner's best man at wedding; linked to horrific attack (MSNBC)
“LOS ANGELES - A 42-year-old chimpanzee who is toilet-trained and can eat with a knife and fork is believed to be at large in a Southern California forest after escaping his cage.
The chimp called Moe disappeared Friday from Jungle Exotics, which trains animals for the entertainment industry. The chimp wandered into a house next door, surprising construction workers who saw him head for a nearby mountain.
A weekend search in the San Bernardino National Forest 50 miles east of Los Angeles came up empty.
"I yelled his name out for hours, for hours, with no one else around. Nothing. Not even a hoot," said LaDonna Davis, who owns Moe with husband St. James Davis.” (MSNBC)
We’re not sure about the wisdom of walking around in a forest near L.A. yelling “Hey Moe.” You might get more than you bargained for. No word about Curly or Larry.
This just in: Some products don’t deliver on advertised benefits. Film at 11.
Study: Some sunscreens overpromise on protection (CNN)
“The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based nonprofit, has released an investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreens that says four out of five don't adequately protect consumers and may contain harmful chemicals.
The group says some of the products of the nation's leading brands -- including Coppertone, Neutrogena and Banana Boat -- are the poorest performers.
Coppertone was named by the Environmental Working Group as having 41 products that failed to meet the group's criteria for issues ranging from failing to protect adequately to containing potentially harmful ingredients to making unsubstantiated claims.
But in a statement to CNN, the company says it "rigorously tests all its products in the lab and in the real world," to ensure they're safe and effective.” (CNN)
Breaking news: People with enough to eat tend to be happier
The world is getting happier, study says
(Science Daily) The World Values Survey (WVS) is the work of a global network of social scientists who perform periodic surveys addressing a number of issues. The latest surveys, taken in the United States and in several developing countries, showed increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries for which substantial time series data was available.
Researchers responsible for the analysis, from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) in Ann Arbor, say the overall rise in reported happiness is due to greater economic growth, democratization and social tolerance.
Denmark tops the list of surveyed nations, along with Puerto Rico and Colombia. A dozen other countries, including Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada and Sweden also rank above the United States, which maintains about the same relative position as it did in WVS's 2000 survey.
We hear they dropped Darfur’s questionnaires out of a plane.
Giraffe gathers troops, escapes circus (CNN)
We hear the chase was neck and neck.
National outbreak of grave robbing; stems from lagging economy. (Drudge)
Make no bones about it, they just can’t bury this story.
How does Mars taste? Salty, reports lander (MSNBC)
Did they find any peanuts? How about caramel?
He’s either hiding in a junior high school or at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Toilet-trained chimp on the run in Calif. forest
Animal served as owner's best man at wedding; linked to horrific attack (MSNBC)
“LOS ANGELES - A 42-year-old chimpanzee who is toilet-trained and can eat with a knife and fork is believed to be at large in a Southern California forest after escaping his cage.
The chimp called Moe disappeared Friday from Jungle Exotics, which trains animals for the entertainment industry. The chimp wandered into a house next door, surprising construction workers who saw him head for a nearby mountain.
A weekend search in the San Bernardino National Forest 50 miles east of Los Angeles came up empty.
"I yelled his name out for hours, for hours, with no one else around. Nothing. Not even a hoot," said LaDonna Davis, who owns Moe with husband St. James Davis.” (MSNBC)
We’re not sure about the wisdom of walking around in a forest near L.A. yelling “Hey Moe.” You might get more than you bargained for. No word about Curly or Larry.
This just in: Some products don’t deliver on advertised benefits. Film at 11.
Study: Some sunscreens overpromise on protection (CNN)
“The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based nonprofit, has released an investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreens that says four out of five don't adequately protect consumers and may contain harmful chemicals.
The group says some of the products of the nation's leading brands -- including Coppertone, Neutrogena and Banana Boat -- are the poorest performers.
Coppertone was named by the Environmental Working Group as having 41 products that failed to meet the group's criteria for issues ranging from failing to protect adequately to containing potentially harmful ingredients to making unsubstantiated claims.
But in a statement to CNN, the company says it "rigorously tests all its products in the lab and in the real world," to ensure they're safe and effective.” (CNN)
Breaking news: People with enough to eat tend to be happier
The world is getting happier, study says
(Science Daily) The World Values Survey (WVS) is the work of a global network of social scientists who perform periodic surveys addressing a number of issues. The latest surveys, taken in the United States and in several developing countries, showed increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries for which substantial time series data was available.
Researchers responsible for the analysis, from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) in Ann Arbor, say the overall rise in reported happiness is due to greater economic growth, democratization and social tolerance.
Denmark tops the list of surveyed nations, along with Puerto Rico and Colombia. A dozen other countries, including Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada and Sweden also rank above the United States, which maintains about the same relative position as it did in WVS's 2000 survey.
We hear they dropped Darfur’s questionnaires out of a plane.
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