March 20, 2013 0

About as good as I can get

By News Desk

Eli Rabett Eli Rabett Eli Rabett is a not quite failed professorial techno-bunny, a chair election from retirement, at a wanna be research university that has a lot to be proud of but has swallowed the Kool-Aid. The students are naive but great and the administrators vary day-to-day between homicidal and delusional.

March 20, 2013 0

Cypriot Lawmakers Overwhelmingly Reject EU Demands; What’s Next?

By News Desk

From the library of genuine news, Reuters reports Cyprus parliament rejects deposit tax for bailout . Cypriot lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected a deeply unpopular tax on bank deposits on Tuesday, throwing into doubt an international bailout for the troubled euro zone member needed to avert default and a banking collapse

March 20, 2013 0

EU Blinks Already? Staged Vote? Cyprus Finance Minister Proposes Deal with Russia; Will That Fly?

By News Desk

Staged Vote? In spite of the 1-Not Present, 36-No, 19-abstentions vote in the Cypriot parliament, one really has to wonder if this was a staged vote to show solidarity with Cypriot citizens, with some sort of face-saving deal already approved for tomorrow (in which the Cypriot parliament votes yes by a slim majority in return for minor concessions from the ECB and Germany). In short, it is unclear if we really know what is happening in the Cypriot parliament.

March 19, 2013 0

Rose gets stuck on statistical significance

By News Desk

Too many takedowns to count for David Rose who doesn’t realize that short-term fluctuations in temperature tell you little about long term trends.  The latest case is that according to one computer model, the temperature sequence ending in 2012 is close to the bottom edge of the statistical uncertainty range, a point where there’s only supposed to be a 5% chance that random variation produces a temperature below the modeled range.

March 19, 2013 0

Straight from the Rumor Mill

By News Desk

Speculation on Cyprus is rampant. It is difficult to separate fact from fantasy as reports as to what is happening vary widely. For example Ekathimerini reports ” Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris is about to be replaced upon his return from his current trip to Moscow, Kathimerini understands, as he no longer enjoys the support of President Nicos Anastasiades following his handling of the crisis