Buying spree sees US stocks soar

It's interesting. I am not impressed. The ? recovery ? is still a little soft globally. Some of the markets only recovered in single digits or less while others had this enormous bounce. It tells me that prudent investing is still a good idea and a less volitile market would be better.

Realizing 'the bottom' is at 8500 on the DOW, the current level of 9065.12 should bring about confidence that investors know where they stand in regard to any 'faux' fall in the markets. This is far from over. As monetary stability becomes reliable, the markets will start to stabilize and then perhaps move forward.

We're getting there. It's been interesting.

NOTED: Bailout money is still in the global treasuries.

There can't be any 'definitive' confidence yet. We don't know where exactly the currencies of countries will stabilize and until that is known the level of debtedness compared to value and the country's ability to pay that debt is still very much in play.

Sorry to say the 'markets' have little to do with things right now.

The 'stability' of anything economic depends on governments doing nothing more to dump monies into the global coffers while blostering their infrastructure to enhance their ability to build their tax base and pay off their debts. So, while stockbrokers like to have control; at this point it isn't possible and their 'fate' is still within the calibrations of debt load and a country's ablility to pay it as their currencies return to an equilibrium.

Things are looking better. It is a little to early to tell where the USA dollar falls into this yet.

...The rand strengthened as much as 4.9 percent to 11.4487 per dollar, the strongest level since Oct. 21. It traded at 10.7200 by 12:47 p.m. in Johannesburg, from 10.9900 yesterday, when it fell as low as 11.4737. It also climbed versus 14 of the 16 most-actively traded currencies monitored by Bloomberg, appreciating 2.5 percent against the euro to 13.3868....

Sea levels 'to rise a metre this century'

27/10/2008 3:25:00 PM
...Those restrictions call for halving greenhouse emissions by 2050 and eliminating CO2 emissions entirely by the end of the century. But the German researchers said the resulting limited increase in temperature is predicated on strict adherence to those restrictions without exception, and even then there are many variables which could thwart the goals.
Schnellnhuber, who is official adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on climate-change issues, said the new findings employed data unavailable to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for its most recent global warming report.
The two experts said the IPCC report had been based on data up to 2005 only, but since then ice loss in the Arctic had doubled or tripled. Schnellhuber charged that 20 per cent of the loss of the ice sheet on Greenland could be directly linked to the added carbon dioxide emissions from new Chinese coal-fired power stations.
The new sea level predictions, according to Schellnhuber, are based on studies of melting Himalaya glaciers and the shrinking Greenland ice cap....


This is the satellite view of the 'melt ponds' which can be seen in the center left of picture. The ice is breaking up and flowing into sea on a regular basis. Noted the broken ice sheets in the Greenland Sea, above.


Melt Ponds, Northeastern Greenland (click here)
...Melt ponds have played a role in the breakup of the Larsen Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, where dense pools of water sliced through sections of the shelf like a wedge. In Greenland, melt ponds ultimately find their way into crevasses or moulins—chutes that carry melt water through the ice sheet. Many glaciologists suspect that the melt water finds its way to the bottom of the ice sheet where it lubricates the base of the ice, reducing friction between the ice and the underlying rock, and speeding glacier flow. As the glacier accelerates, it pushes ice into the ocean. This introduction of additional ice into the ocean can raise sea level, just as dropping extra ice cubes into a glass raises the level of a drink.


Ducky Science (click here)
When a science probe failed to return data about melting glacial ice, a researcher from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory labeled 90 rubber ducks with an email address and the words "science experiment" and "reward" written in English, Danish and the native Inuit language, then set the toys loose in the glacier. The idea was that fisherman would find the ducks and notify him where they were found.



The Jakobshavn Glacier (click here)
The retreat of the Jakobshavn Glacier, pictured here, has been recorded since 1850. It is one of the fastest-moving glaciers on Earth, and over the last decade scientists have reported that it is speeding up, sometimes sliding dozens of feet per day toward the Ilulissat Fjord....

The Ozone Hole of 2008

Ozone Hole Reaches Record Size (2006 click here, thank you)
“From September 21 to 30, [2006], the average area of the ozone hole was the largest ever observed, at 10.6 million square miles,” said Paul Newman, atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Newman was joined by other scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in reporting that the ozone hole over the polar region of the Southern Hemisphere broke records for both area and depth in 2006....


On September 12, 2008, the Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum size for the year. (see below) Represented by blues and purples in this image from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite, the ozone hole covered about 27 million square kilometers, making it larger than North America, which is about 25 million square kilometers. Though larger than it was in 2007, the 2008 ozone hole was still smaller than the record set in 2006....







June 29, 2006
SCIENTISTS FIND ANTARCTIC OZONE HOLE TO RECOVER LATER THAN EXPECTED (click here)
Scientists from NASA and other agencies have concluded that the ozone hole over the Antarctic will recover around 2068, nearly 20 years later than previously believed.
Researchers from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have developed a new tool, a math-based computer model, to predict the timing of ozone hole recovery. Their findings will be published tomorrow in Geophysical Research Letters.
The Antarctic ozone hole is a massive loss of ozone that occurs each spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The ozone hole is caused by chlorine and bromine gases in the stratosphere, an upper layer of the atmosphere, that destroy ozone in an annually recurring process that takes place in the unique meteorological conditions of the Antarctic stratosphere. Those gases come from human-produced chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons....

McCain demands Stevens to step down, but, ethics violations are okay.

From a McCain statement issued Tuesday:
It is clear that Sen. Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that he should now step down. I hope that my colleagues in the Senate will be spurred by these events to redouble their efforts to end this kind of corruption once and for all.



One has to wonder whom Stevens' cell mate might be, perhaps Abramoff.

Typical of Republican Mavericks, they only call for 'culling the Republican herd' when facing jail or a sex scandal. The most outrageous is all too obvious. McCain's Vice Presidential candidate is GUILTY of Alaskan Ethics Violations.

No jail. Just personal and governmental lawsuits as well as impeachment from the Governorship.

Is John McCain actually assessing his circumstances for what they are?

Republican 'denial' of 'the truth' also known as SURVIVING THE DAY.



Franken's Race (click here)...Meantime, an Allstate/National Journal poll of 402 registered voters, conducted Oct. 16-20, shows Franken with 36 percent, Coleman with 35 percent and Barkley, with 18 percent. The survey has a 5-point error margin. Both Franken and Coleman have seen their poll numbers fluctuate between the mid-30s and low 40s....


October 27, 2008 6:01
Here is our latest update on Senate races around the country. (click here)
New Hampshire: Shaheen 49, Sununu 38. (WMUR/UNH)
North Carolina: Hagan 48, Dole 45, Cole 4. (Public Policy Polling)
Oregon: Merkley 49, Smith 42, Brownlow 5. (SurveyUSA)
Alaska: Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, is statistically tied with Republican Ted Stevens 46 percent to 45 percent in an Ivan Moore poll Oct. 17-19. Begich's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 55 percent to 31 percent, a negative swing of 7 points since early October. Stevens' favorable to unfavorable ratio is 49 percent to 41 percent, slipping 2 points. Moore says, "Stevens' rating has been very stable over the last six weeks, despite both his ongoing trial in Washington DC and being a target of a barrage of negative media funded by the DSCC... Given the closeness of the race, it appears that Alaskans are giving Stevens the benefit of the doubt for now, and are reserving judgment until a verdict is read in his trial."
Colorado: Democrat Mark Udall is leading Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer 51 percent to 44 percent with 2 percent preferring "other" and 3 percent undecided in a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Oct. 16. The margin of error is 4 points. Udall's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 53 percent to 44 percent while Schaffer is seen unfavorably by 48 percent and favorably by 47 percent. The candidates run closely among men but Udall leads by 9 points among women and 25 points among unaffiliated voters. a Quinnipiac University/Wall Street Journal/Washington Post poll conducted Oct. 8-12 had Udall ahead 54 percent to 40 percent with 1 percent preferring someone else and 6 percent undecided.
Georgia: First term Republican Saxby Chambliss is statistically-tied with Democrat Jim Martin , an Atlanta attorney and former legislator, leading him 46 percent to 45 percent with 5 percent for Libertarian Allen Buckley and 5 percent undecided in a Strategic Vision poll conducted Oct. 20-22. The margin of error is 3 percent.
Kentucky: Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell's is leading Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford), a Louisville businessman, 47 percent to 43 percent with 10 percent undecided in a Lexington Herald Leader/WKYT-TV poll conducted Oct. 19-21. The margin of error is 4 points.
Louisiana: Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu, seeking a third term, opened a 54 percent to 41 percent lead over Republican challenger John Kennedy in a Rasmussen Reports pollconducted Sept. 25. Two percent chose "other" and 3 percent were undecided. The margin of error is 4.5 percent
Mississippi: Roger Wicker, appointed to fill out the term of retired Sen. Trent Lott, is statistically-tied with former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, leading him 47 percent to 46 percent with 7 percent undecided in a Research 2000 poll conducted Oct. 14-15. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.
Oregon: Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley, the speaker of the state House, is leading two-term Republican Gordon Smith 49 percent to 42 percent with 5 percent for Constitution Party candidate Dave Brownlow and 4 percent undecided in a SurveyUSA poll conducted Oct. 25-26. The margin of error is 3.8 percent.

DEMOCRATS taking Senate Seats after November 4th :: Virginia, South Dakota, New Mexico, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Michigan, Iowa and Colorado.

REPUBLICANS taking up Senate Seats after November 4th :: Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

Bush hopes to destroy The Endangered Species Act while his abuse of power is still intact.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said yesterday that changes it wants to make to endangered species rules before the president leaves office will have no significant environmental consequences.
That's the conclusion of a draft assessment released by the Interior Department that represents one of the last remaining hurdles for the regulations to become final before Jan. 20.
The administration in August proposed letting federal agencies approve power plants, dams, and other projects without consulting government wildlife specialists in some cases.
Current regulations require government biologists to be consulted in all cases - even when a project is unlikely to harm threatened wildlife or the places they live.
The administration acknowledges the change will reduce the number of consultations required under the 35-year-old law.
But in its evaluation, it concludes that the new regulations will focus government expertise on cases where it is most needed and result in no harm to species or habitats protected by the statute.
Environmentalists, however, say the review - which was completed by lawyers and political appointees rather than scientists - failed to consider all of the environmental repercussions.

The Top Ten Reasons Conservatives Should Vote For Obama

...9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won't touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain's plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama's. Fiscal conservatives have a clear choice....

...1. The War Against Islamist terror. The strategy deployed by Bush and Cheney has failed. It has failed to destroy al Qaeda, except in a country, Iraq, where their presence was minimal before the US invasion. It has failed to bring any of the terrorists to justice, instead creating the excrescence of Gitmo, torture, secret sites, and the collapse of America's reputation abroad. It has empowered Iran, allowed al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan, made the next vast generation of Muslims loathe America, and imperiled our alliances. We need smarter leadership of the war: balancing force with diplomacy, hard power with better p.r., deploying strategy rather than mere tactics, and self-confidence rather than a bunker mentality.

Those conservatives who remain convinced, as I do, that Islamist terror remains the greatest threat to the West cannot risk a perpetuation of the failed Manichean worldview of the past eight years, and cannot risk the possibility of McCain making rash decisions in the middle of a potentially catastrophic global conflict. If you are serious about the war on terror and believe it is a war we have to win, the only serious candidate is Barack Obama.

Military wife ponders her vote for next president

By ELISABETH KADLEC
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Until a few years ago, I am almost embarrassed to say, I never voted. Then I became the wife of an Army officer. For me, choosing a candidate is not based on which party I tend to side with, but which candidate will make the best choices for the armed forces and my family....
...On Nov. 4, my vote will be counted along with all military families. Not all military families’ political beliefs are the same as mine. However, I believe that we can all agree on the following: We miss our spouses. We want our soldiers to be safe. We want smart decisions to be made. Does that mean that Obama or McCain is the right choice? I have chosen to vote for Obama.
• Elisabeth Kadlec, a mother of two, lives in Fayetteville.

Troops Deployed Abroad Give 6:1 to Obama (click here)