Hard hitting global and local news
Image: Aung San Suu Kyi’s “Saffron Monks” are committing genocide in Myanmar.
The Egg Was First, No, the Chicken, No Never Mind An evergreen in Eli’s business is which came first exiting the ice age, the temperature or the greenhouse gas concentrations. Since the forcing is orbital changes, it is reasonable to expect at least some initial lag in the greenhouse gas and that includes water vapor, but the length of this lag has been an issue ever since Monnin, et al’s analysis of the EPICA Dome C core inferred a lag of 800 + 200 years. This has become an evergreen amongst the less serious, and indeed, there has even been considerable discussion by reasonable folk . Jeff Severinghaus provided an answer So one should not claim that greenhouse gases are the major cause of the ice ages. No credible scientist has argued that position (even though Al Gore implied as much in his movie)
Continue Reading: Regrets Pour In; Cyprus Parliament Passes Bailout Plan; Will Her Highness Approve?
Backing up what Ambrose Evans-Pritchard said with hard data, the Italian site Il Sole 24 Ore reports New Fall in Bank Lending to Households and Businesses . Loans to businesses and non-financial families continue to face strong decrease
Sticking with his economically insane campaign promise to construct 500,000 new homes in 2013, Hollande Announces 20 Measures to Support Home Building . Advocating a “confidence shock” to revive the building “against the Emergency Economic, social and environmental” the head of state has shown its desire to remove “all obstacles to construction”, while there was about 340,000 starts of new homes in 2012, below the target of 500,000.
The understatement of the day comes from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke who essentially says: I’m Dispensable . “I don’t think that I’m the only person in the world who can manage the exit,” Bernanke said when asked at a news conference in Washington if he’s discussed his plans with President Barack Obama. What Bernanke said is best translated as ” I’ll get while the gettin’ is good.
Back at the beginning of time, well, to be honest Rabett Run, but did anything exist before, Eli had two excellent rants ( Rant I and Rant II ) about textbook prices and the machinations of the publishers. As you may have noticed in the US when your kid goes to college, the price of General Chemistry textbooks has shattered the $200 barrier. On the other hand, in markets where students are free to buy their own books, the price is much lower. For example, the International paperback edition (you can only get the hardcover in the US) costs ~$80 list and you can get it discounted. It is even less expensive in less expensive countries, which brings Eli to the law.
Denial is Everywhere (About Increasingly Important Things!) Posted by Michael Shedlock at 6:09 PM Disclaimer: The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice.
Flash Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index at 46.5 (47.9 in February). Four-month low
Le Monde Headline "No, France is Not Bankrupt" This amusing headline story by Bruno Moschetto, a professor of economics at the University of Paris in the French newspaper Le Monde has me laughing out loud this morning: " No, France is Not Bankrupt " No, France is not bankrupt …