XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 08/05/11

Friday, 5 August 2011

US Postal Service warns it could default - said it lost $3.1 billion in the period from April to June -

The US Postal Service warned on Friday that it could default on payments it owes the federal government, just days after the US government itself narrowly averted a default.

The government's mail service said it lost $3.1 billion in the period from April to June, blaming "the anemic state of the economy" and the growing popularity of electronic communications over old-fashioned letters.

As a result of its mounting losses, the US Postal Service said it would not be able to make a legally required $5.5 billion payment in September to a health-benefits trust fund.

"Absent substantial legislative change, the Postal Service will be forced to default on payments to the federal government," it said in a statement.

Dating back to 1775, the US Postal Service was once a crucial branch of the federal government, but in recent years it has come under increasing fire from critics who consider it bureaucratic and inefficient.

In July, it unveiled plans to identify nearly 3,700 under-used post offices around the United States for possible closure. The Post Office has been hemorrhaging billions of dollars in recent years.

Standard and Poor's has downgraded the U.S. from a top AAA rating to AA+, the first debt downgrade in U.S. history -

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the United States' credit rating for the first time in the history of the ratings.

The credit rating agency said that it is cutting America's top AAA rating by one notch to AA-plus. The credit agency said that it is making the move because the deficit reduction plan passed by Congress on Tuesday did not go far enough to stabilize the country's debt situation.

A source familiar with the discussions said that the Obama administration feels the S&P's analysis contained "deep and fundamental flaws."

S&P said that in addition to the downgrade, it is issuing a negative outlook, meaning that there was a chance it will lower the rating further within the next two years. It said such a downgrade to AA would occur if the agency sees less reductions in spending than Congress and the administration have agreed to make, higher interest rates or new fiscal pressures during this period.

S&P first put the government on notice in April that a downgrade was possible unless Congress and the administration came up with a credible long-term deficit reduction plan and avoided a default on the country's debt.

After months of wrangling and negotiations with the administration, Congress passed this week a debt reduction package that averted a possible default.

In its statement, S&P said that it had changed its view "of the difficulties of bridging the gulf between the political parties" over a credible deficit reduction plan.

S&P said it was now "pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consolidation plan that stabilizes the government's debt dynamics anytime soon."

MLB trying to curtail use of deer antler spray as steroid alternative - velvet from antlers includes growth factor -

Baseball sent a warning to its major and minor league players last week that may sound odd, if not comical, but is a sign of these drug-testing times: stop ingesting deer antler spray.

Until the warning went out, baseball players, taking their cues from the body-building and NFL cultures, felt safe using a deer antler spray as an alternative to steroids with almost no risk of flunking a drug test.

Deer antlers? Yes, chemists have figured out that the velvet from immature deer antlers includes insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1, which mediates the level of human growth hormone in the body, and is also banned by MLB and the World Anti-Doping Agency, among others, for its muscle-building and fat-cutting effects.

The antlers are harvested from young deer, ground up and packaged into spray form. The substance is sprayed under the tongue. One manufacturer touts among its benefits "anabolic or growth stimulation," "athletic performance" and "muscular strength and endurance."

IGF-1, like HGH, cannot be detected in the urine tests used by baseball. Under the right circumstances, it could be detected in a blood test, but the players association has not agreed to blood testing.

Major League Baseball issued its warning about a specific brand of deer antler spray not because it contains IGF-1, but because it added the product to its list of "potentially contaminated nutritional supplements."

Wreck of Capt. Morgan's Pirate Ship Found - clearly hoping there's liquor in there.... -

The lost wreckage of a ship belonging to 17th century pirate Captain Henry Morgan has been discovered in Panama, said a team of U.S. archaeologists -- and the maker of Captain Morgan rum.

Near the Lajas Reef, where Morgan lost five ships in 1671 including his flagship "Satisfaction," the team uncovered a portion of the starboard side of a wooden ship's hull and a series of unopened cargo boxes and chests encrusted in coral.

The cargo has yet to be opened, but Captain Morgan USA -- which sells the spiced rum named for the eponymous pirate -- is clearly hoping there's liquor in there.

"There's definitely an irony in the situation," Fritz Hanselmann an archaeologist with the River Systems Institute and the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University and head of the dive team told KVUE Austin. The Captain Morgan rum group stepped in on the quest for Captain Morgan after team -- which found a collection of iron cannons nearby -- ran out of funds before they could narrow down the quest.

The new funding allowed the team to do a magnetometer survey, which looks for metal by finding any deviation in the earth's magnetic field.

"When the opportunity arose for us to help make this discovery mission possible, it was a natural fit for us to get involved. The artifacts uncovered during this mission will help bring Henry Morgan and his adventures to life in a way never thought possible," said Tom Herbst, brand director of Captain Morgan USA, in a statement.

In the 17th century, Captain Henry Morgan sailed as a privateer on behalf of England, defending the Crown's interests and pioneering expeditions to the New World. In 1671, in an effort to capture Panama City and loosen the stronghold of Spain in the Caribbean, Morgan set out to take the Castillo de San Lorenzo, a Spanish fort on the cliff overlooking the entrance to the Chagres River, the only water passageway between the Caribbean and the capital city.

Although his men ultimately prevailed, Morgan lost five ships to the rough seas and shallow reef surrounding the fort.

The underwater research team included archaeologists and divers from Texas State University, volunteers from the National Park Service's Submerged Resources Center and NOAA/UNC-Wilmington's Aquarius Reef Base. And pirate booty or no, they said the story of Captain Henry Morgan was the real treasure.

"To us, the ship is the treasure -- the story is the treasure," Hanselman told MSNBC's Alan Boyle. "And you don't have a much better story than Captain Henry Morgan's sack of Panama City and the loss of his five ships."

Berry Farms Fined a total of $73,000 For Hiring Kids as young as 6 years old as pickers -

The U.S. Labor Department has fined three Washington state strawberry farms a total of $73,000 for employing children as young as 6 years old as pickers.

The department's Portland, Ore., office says Thursday the violations include failing to maintain proof-of-age records and pay minimum wage. A total of nine underage workers were found during a child labor investigation in June at farms in Woodland, Wash., and Ridgefield, Wash.

The department says all three employers removed the underage workers and agreed to attend wage and hour training for the next three years.

Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, lost about $6.7 billion this week - as S&P 500 Index Fell 7.2% -

Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, lost about $6.7 billion this week.

The Mexican billionaire’s stock portfolio, measured in U.S. dollars, has dropped about 9.5 percent since July 29 and is valued at about $64.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a 7.2 percent slide in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Slim, 71, has taken a hit as Mexico’s benchmark IPC index dropped 6.4 percent and the peso slid 2.3 percent against the dollar on concerns that the flagging U.S. economy will hurt demand for assets in its southern neighbor. The removal of three of Slim’s companies from the IPC index has made matters worse for the billionaire.

“He’s been particularly hurt by those companies leaving the IPC,” said Leon Cabrera, a trader at Mexico City-based Vanguardia Casa de Bolsa. “It reflects the nervousness out there. It’s part of being in the market.”

America Movil SAB, the biggest wireless carrier in the Americas and Slim’s largest asset, has declined a relatively benign 6 percent this week. Its Telefonos de Mexico SAB unit has been Slim’s only gainer in Mexico, rising 11 percent on the parent company’s offer to buy out minority shareholders.

The Standard & Poor’s index extended its decline today, falling 0.1 percent at close. The IPC rose 1.1 percent, and America Movil gained 1.1 percent.

Secret to a longer life: Drink more and exercise less? -

Taking regular exercise, drinking only in moderation and watching what you eat makes no difference to one's chances of reaching 100, research has found.

Those who are lucky enough to qualify for a telegram from the Queen have simply been dealt a good genetic hand at birth, the study indicates.

Academics studied almost 500 people between 95 and 109 and compared them with over 3,000 others born during the same period.

They found those who lived extremely long lives ate just as badly, drank and smoked just as much, took just as little exercise and were just as likely to be overweight as their long-gone friends.

The study was carried out by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who interviewed 477 very long lived Ashkenazi Jews.

Prof Nir Barzilai, director of the college's Institute of Ageing Research, said previous studies of this group had identified certain genes which protected them from the effects of a normal Western lifestyle.

But critics argued the individuals themselves had lived healthier lives than others, and it was this that was more important for longevity.

This research, published today (Wednesday) in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, indicates it really is the genes that matter.

"In previous studies of our centenarians, we've identified gene variants that exert particular physiology effects, such as causing significantly elevated levels of HDL or 'good' cholesterol," said Prof Barzilai.

He explained that this study provided evidence that these and other "longevity genes" helped "to buffer them against the harmful effects of an unhealthy lifestyle".

He said the first woman he interviewed, an 109-year-old, told him she had smoked 40 cigarettes a day for 90 years. While most people would have died of lung cancer or heart disease, she soldiered on.

Prof Barzilai emphasised that the research did not mean most people could live unhealthy lives and not expect to pay a price in the end.

He said: "Although this study demonstrates that centenarians can be obese, smoke and avoid exercise, those lifestyle habits are not good choices for most of us who do not have a family history of longevity.

"We should watch our weight, avoid smoking and be sure to exercise, since these activities have been shown to have great health benefits for the general population, including a longer lifespan."

He said he was horrified when, after a television appearance, a man addressed him in Starbucks and said he would never exercise again, because his grandmother had lived to 102.

Gingrich calls Obama "Most Effective Food Stamp President In History" -

GOP Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich reacts to the news that the number of those who use food stamps has jumped to 45,800,000 or nearly 15% of the nation's population.

"You don't get out of 9.2% unemployment, you don't get out of -- today it was announced [that] the largest number of Americans [are] on food stamps in history. I've said now for six months, this is the most effective food stamp President in history. That sounds like it is an attack, it's just a statement of fact. It's just that his administration kills jobs. They are driving Americans onto food stamps. Most Americans would rather have a paycheck," Gingrich told FOX News' Greta Van Susteren in an interview on Thursday night.

Gingrich says Obama's upcoming Midwest bus tour is a "fantasy tour."

Read more -
http://realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/08/05/gingrich_obama_most_effective_food_stamp_president_in_history.html

Solar Flares Expected to Disrupt GPS...this weekend -

Energy released from solar plasma blasts will reach Earth throughout Friday and Saturday, potentially disrupting communications and electrical grids, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The explosion on the sun’s surface could affect precision satellite systems such as GPS and high-frequency radio waves, which airlines use for communication.

“High-precision GPS navigation systems may not work as well today,” said Joseph Kunches, a space scientist for the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

Friday’s explosion is second of three recent blasts on the sun’s surface directed toward the Earth. The experts said the current wave could go on until Saturday night at the latest.

“You can think of them as sort of tsunamis in space,” said SWPC Director Tom Bogdan. “The first one was fairly weak, and we’re now seeing the next one coming in.”

However, Bogdan said these effects will be more potent throughout the next few years, adding that Friday’s storm is a “two or three out of five” in terms of its potential impact. This kind of activity will increase in frequency, he said, peaking sometime around 2013.

Chilean miners live in poverty a year after saga -

They have an exhibit at the Smithsonian and a line of toys depicting their epic rescue. But most of the 33 men whose saga in a collapsed mine captivated the world a year ago face a new crisis today: poverty.

The miners became celebrities of sorts as soon as the details of their underground ordealbegan to trickle out. The men were greeted by a burst of fanfare when they emerged after 69 days, and many expected their lives would improve with their newfound fame.

But back home in the mining town of Copiapo, most of the men have been unable to find a new way to earn a living, forcing them back into a life underground. They still live in their old rickety houses, where the cold desert nights and scorching days have compounded mental and physical health problems stemming from the accident.

And while Chileans mostly seem to ignore them these days, some of the miners have been publicly criticized for speaking engagements while simultaneously suing the government that rescued them, on allegations that it allowed a dangerous mine to operate. Although their trips have been all-expenses paid, few of the men say they have made money off their appearances.

“There are people, for example, in a store who walk up and get angry at you. I didn’t choose to travel, I don’t have the money to travel,” Edison Pena said in a radio interview. “And if we had remained underground? And if there were only a big cross with our pictures on it? Would that be better?”

Swedish man arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen; says it was only a hobby -

A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby.

Richard Handl told The Associated Press that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorized possession of nuclear material.

The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.

Only later did he realize it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden’s Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.

“I have always been interested in physics and chemistry,” Handl said, adding he just wanted to “see if it’s possible to split atoms at home.”

Debt Crisis? Italy resorts to online gambling - Rome exploits a national addiction to solve its budget crisis -

In a small roadside cafe in southern Tuscany, a loud metallic sound, like the crash of many bells, shatters the Sunday afternoon silence. A couple has just won at a slot machine-like game.

They have been playing for nearly an hour. Now they plan to stay longer, at least until they have spent all the money they have just won. This is a typical way of killing long summer afternoons, they say. They’re unsure exactly how much they have spent so far. “Less than 100 euros, that's for sure,” the man says. “And now we've won!”

It’s a scene that, at any given time, plays out all over this gambling-addicted country. The “macchinette mangiasoldi” (money eating machine) the couple has been playing has become ubiquitous in Italy over the past several years. There are now 380,000 of them, producing 31.1 billion euros in revenue in 2010, or about 500 euros per Italian, according to official data.