Month: July 2007

Pending home sales index fall signals more weakness ahead – Jul. 3, 2007

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So the housing market is not yet worse than a terrorist attack.

Also note that this is pending sales, and there will be more cancellations today than in 911.

Banks are tightening credit today, Greenspan flooded the economy with liquidity after 911, so this is going to get a lot worse.

Pending home sales index fall signals more weakness ahead
Reading of pending home sales sinks to lowest since September 2001, suggesting more pain for the housing market.
July 3 2007: 10:33 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Existing home sales are likely to see more declines in coming months as a key reading of pending deals fell to nearly a six-year low in May, a real estate group said Tuesday.

The National Association of Realtors said its index of pending home sales, which reflects homes under contract, sank to 97.7 in May from 101.2 in April. The latest reading is 13.3 percent lower than May 2006.

The index was created in 2001 to be a more forward-looking reading on home sales than the group’s existing home sales report, which charts sales at the time of closing. The pending home sales index tracks when a sales agreement is signed, generally a month or two ahead of closing.

The index was set at 100 at the start in 2001. The May reading is the weakest since September 2001, the lowest on record, when the Sept. 11 attacks hit consumer confidence. The latest reading matches the third lowest.
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India Has Beaten the USA at It’s Own Game, F#$%ed Up Weapons Procurement.

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If you think that US defense procurement programs have a problem, you will get a chuckle out of the Indian Arjun MBT.

Indian Army to get 14 Arjun tanks for field trials

The Indian Army has agreed to take 14 indigenously developed main battle tanks (MBT) Arjun for field trials by September 30, it was announced on Monday.

The decision was taken after successful demonstration of all modifications including medium fording or crossing a water body to Defence Minister AK Antony and other senior officials at Avadi in Tamil Nadu where the tank is being built, a defence ministry statement said.

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While not officially going on record, the army is known to be extremely unhappy with the Arjun, having listed 14 defects that need to be rectified.

These include a deficient fire control system, inaccuracy of its guns, low speeds in tactical areas – principally deserts – and its inability to operate in temperatures over 50 degrees celsius.

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50°C is about 112°F. It’s a temperature that was seen in France during their killer heat wave.

And it appears that this saga will continue.

The Indian Army laid down its qualitative requirement (QR) for the Arjun in 1972. In 1982, the DRDO had announced that the prototype was ready for field trials. However, the tank was publicly unveiled only in 1995.

Arjun was originally meant to be a 40-tonne tank with a 105 mm gun. It has now grown to a 50-tonne vehicle with a 120 mm gun.

Wiki lists it as being a 58.5 tonn vehicle with a crew of 4, so it would be similar to the Leopard II. (It’s about 5 T lighter)

It’s main gun is rifled, which implies some British involvement, as they are only ones staying with rifled main guns.

It uses a hydropneumatic suspension. This probably does not gain much by way of performance, torsion bar seems to match that, but is more efficient space wise, as you don’t have to have a sub floor over the torsion bars, and it can kneel, possibly allowing for very low profile hull down positions.

35 years?????

UN Finds No WMDs in Iraq, Closes Up Shop.

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We’ve known that Iraq had no WMDs since before the invasion.

Took the UN 4 years to acknowledge this, though.

UN Closes Iraq Weapons Inspection Unit

UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. Security Council has closed down the agency charged with monitoring Saddam Hussein’s illicit weapons programs.

Fourteen of the 15 Security Council members voted to immediately abolish the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Committee, known as UNMOVIC. The 15th member, Russia, abstained.

Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, objected that the inspectors had not fulfilled their mandate of officially certifying that Iraq, at present, has no weapons of mass destruction. But he said Russia is willing to accepts that UNMOVIC serves no further purpose.

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Huge Indian Fighter Jet Tender Enters Final Stage : Military Aviation : Defense News Air Force Army Navy News

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The Russians have the cheapest plane of the lot, and transitioning crews and maintenance personnel from MiG to MiG should be easier.

As to the price issues mentioned at the end, I would think that the F-16 would be the next cheapest, but I think that the Gripen would be cheaper than the F-18E/F.

I’ve always been a fan of the Gripen, so that may color this.

Additionally, the US might use export restrictions to attempt to kill a potential Gripen sale.

They tried this is South Africa, when they attempted to use export restrictions to get them to buy a US plane, but the response from South Africa was to forbid any US companies from bidding on Defense contracts, and the US relented.

Huge Indian Fighter Jet Tender Enters Final Stage

A scramble for a piece of the world’s largest fighter plane deal in over a decade moved into its final stage Friday with India examining the final bids from global weapons giants.

Indian defense ministry and industry sources said the choice appeared to have narrowed down to the Russian-built MiG-35 and MiG-29 aircraft, and U.S. offerings the Lockheed Martin F-16 and Boeing F-18.

A top defense procurement committee meeting had been expected to result in an announcement of the vendor of the 126 war planes, but an official statement late on Friday only said the tender has been “fine-tuned.”

The deal is potentially worth $9 billion to $10 billion.

Also in the race to replace a chunk of India’s aging fleet of 700 MiG-21s are Eurofighter’s Typhoon, Saab’s Gripen and Dassault’s Rafale and Mirage — although price considerations have left these contenders at a disadvantage, defense officials and industry sources said.

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Obstruction of Public Access: UK Edition

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This is really about covering up pork, and outrageous uses of expense accounts by MPs.

UK gov fights public spending website
By Kablenet
Published Tuesday 3rd July 2007 09:27 GMT

The government is obstructing a bill aimed at establishing a new website for information on public sector spending.

The bill, which originated in the House of Lords, is now being led by Conservative MP David Gauke. It would require the Treasury to create a government expenditure website, as well as giving the government the power to extend it to other public sector bodies, but the government believes it would cost too much.

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PICTURE: Piasecki flies X-49A SpeedHawk compound helicopter-03/07/2007-Washington DC-Flightglobal.com

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FWIW, the counter-torque is done with rudders in the propulsion propeller.

I’m thinking that allowing the main wing to pivot might allow for greater hover capability.

Neat stuff though.

PICTURE: Piasecki flies X-49A SpeedHawk compound helicopter
By Graham Warwick

Piasecki Aircraft has flown the X-49A experimental compound helicopter for the first time. The modified Sikorsky YSH-60F, with wings and tail-mounted variable-thrust ducted propeller (VTDP), made the 15min flight on 30 June at Boeing’s Wilmington, Delaware test centre.

The first flight involved hovering, pedal turns and slow forwards and sideways flight using the Piasecki-designed VTDP for anti-torque, directional and trim control, says vice-president John Piasecki.

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SoundExchange Realizes that Congress Is Going Cut Them a New One

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I used to work at Jarvis Products corporation, and I worked on meat packing tools including the Bung Dropper.

It looks like this: , And it does this:

Here is the Youtube:

Yep, it literally cuts the animal a new asshole.

Sound Exchange decided to rape online radio stations, and now those stations have the US Congress’s ear. This means that it’s likely that they will get the deal that over the air radio has, which will lose them money relative to the status quo, so congress is poised to cut them a new asshole.

SoundExchange offers royalty compromise
By Austin Modine in Mountain View
Published Monday 2nd July 2007 23:15 GMT

Music industry taxman SoundExchange is offering a new deal to internet radio broadcasters who say upcoming royalty hikes will kill online broadcasting.

The proposed compromise puts a ceiling on the new set of hefty royalty rate hikes that takes effect July 15. Previously, the fee increase called for webcasters to be charged $500 per station per month in royalties. That would spell certain doom for stations such as Pandora and Live364 which offer thousands of streams over the internet.

Under SoundExchange’s latest olive branch, royalties would be capped at $2,500 per service, regardless of the overall number of stations or channels they are streaming.

“The idea that the per-channel minimum might have a disproportionate impact on certain internet radio stations was never presented to the Copyright Royalty Judges,” SoundExchange general counsel Michael Huppe said in a statement. “Nevertheless, at the request of Congress, we are trying to work with the small subset of affected webcasters, and are offering this proposal in the hopes of addressing those concerns.”

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Other Countries Now Throwing Economic Weight Around

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US unilateralism will be increasingly untenable as time goes on. This is one such example.

Free trade is generally sold as a series of restrictions on other governments, but the requirements of the current regime require compromises that strike at the heart of law enforcement, consumer safety, and worker protections.

The “soft economic power” (blaackmail) that the US uses to influence domestic policies of other nations, up to and including elections, will increasingly be directed back toward the US.

Banks want data pulled from US

By Mark Ballard
Published Tuesday 3rd July 2007 09:53 GMT

The central banks of China and Russia have joined private companies in calling on Swift, the international financial intermediary, to pull all non-US data from America, The Register has learned.

SWIFT has found itself caught between a rock and a hard place. The organisation secretly handed over personal data to comply with demands from the US to aid the country’s investigation into terrorist finances after the September 11 attacks. By doing so, it broke the data protection laws of many EU countries.

The move raises questions about the perceived security of commercial data held in the US. Swift conducts its own privacy audits of US counter-terrorism subpoenas on financial transactions it manages for the banking industry.

The EU also struck an agreement with the US last week to establish its own oversight of the US operation. SWIFT has also applied for Safe Harbor protection of its data in the US, yet is still taking pressure to withdraw from the US seriously.

“There are other countries that would like to see data situated in the EU rather than the US,” said a well-placed source.

China and Russia were “notable” among countries whose central banks had expressed their concerns to Swift. The European Central Bank, which also used Swift’s services, has been criticised by EU authorities for letting the EU look at European financial data in secret.

Swift is trying to break into the domestic banking markets in China and Russia and is keen to get off on the right foot with local authorities. In India, where Swift is also trying to make a splash, the banks are said to be investigating alternatives.

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It’s the Gameplay, Stupid

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The article mentions price, and lack of titles for the PS3, but it’s the Wiimote (what an in-bloody-credibly stupid name).

Having to do “rocker switch, left, left, a, b, a” to swing a golf club is simply inferior game play.

Six Wiis sold for every PS3 purchased in Japan
By James Sherwood
Published Tuesday 3rd July 2007 12:24 GMT

Nintendo’s Wii continued to reign supreme in Japan last month, with sales outstripping Sony’s PlayStation 3 by a staggering six to one. The Wii outsold Microsoft’s Xbox 360 by an even greater margin.

According to figures from Japanese market watcher and publisher Enterbrain, some 270,974 Wii consoles were sold in the four weeks to 24 June. This compares to just 41,628 PS3s and a measly 17,616 Xbox 360s, during the same period.

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The RIAA Has Me Rooting for the Russians

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Heck, if the choice was between the RIAA and Dick Cheney, I’m not sure how I’d choose.

Russian copyright wars to continue despite AllofMP3 shutdown
By Chris Williams
Published Tuesday 3rd July 2007 10:47 GMT

AllofMP3.com, the UK’s second most popular source for music downloads after iTunes, has been shut down after diplomatic pressure was piled on Russian authorities.

MediaServices, the combative firm behind the site, is still selling cut-price music however, meaning the international legal posturing is set to continue.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which had won the right to sue AllofMP3 in the UK, told The Reg this morning it was unsure how the shutdown would affect its legal attack.

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These are Called “Death Throws”

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Basically, all that the private equity firm was interested in was the dealer network. Chrysler will not be manufacturing cars in 5-10 years. It will simply be rebadging them.

Chrysler reportedly near import deal with Chinese automaker
greement to import Chinese subcompacts reportedly close to final approval; news comes as concerns linger over the safety of Chinese-made goods.
July 3 2007: 8:21 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Chrysler Group is set to give final approval to a deal that would have a Chinese automaker build small cars for it to sell in the United States and Western Europe, according to a newspaper report Tuesday.

The deal between Chrysler and China’s Chery Motor Co., which comes in the wake of growing concern among U.S. consumers over the safety of Chinese-made goods, was in question after DaimlerChrysler agreed to sell a majority stake in Chrysler to private-equity firm Cerberus Management.

But the Detroit News reports that Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda is in China finalizing the agreement.

The paper said the deal will be announced in Beijing on Wednesday, which, given the difference in times zones, is just before the Independence Day holiday here.

Chrysler had first confirmed that it was holding talks with Chery on the Friday before the New Year’s holiday here, another time that minimized news coverage.

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Under Achiever, and Proud of It

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I just want to say that Matt Groening is a bloody genius.

7-Elevens turn into ‘Simpsons’ Kwik-E-Marts
DALLAS, Texas (AP)– Over the weekend, 7-Eleven Inc. turned a dozen stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience stores of “The Simpsons” fame, in the latest example of marketers making life imitate art.

Those stores and most of the 6,000-plus other 7-Elevens in North America will sell items that until now existed only on television: Buzz Cola, KrustyO’s cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees.

It’s all part of a campaign to hype the July 27 opening of “The Simpsons Movie,” the big-screen debut for the long-running television cartoon, which loves to lampoon 7-Eleven as a store that sells all kinds of unhealthy snacks and is run by a man with a thick Indian accent.

For 20th Century Fox Film Corp. and Homer’s creators at Gracie Films, the stunt is a cheap way to call attention to their movie, since 7-Eleven is bearing all the costs, which executives of the retail chain put at somewhere in the single millions.

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Bambi, Don’t Bogart that Joint!

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In related news, 12 deer have been arrested on suspicion of breaking into a Quik-E-Mart and stealing 3200 ice cream sammiches. Authorities followed the path of discarded wrappers to catch the alleged thieves.

‘Unusually frisky’ deer blow lid on marijuana plantation

By Lester Haines
Published Monday 2nd July 2007 13:35 GMT

Italian police busted two would-be marijuana cultivators after “unusually frisky” deer alerted the authorities as to the presence of their mountaintop dope plantation, UPI reports.

Locals in Trento began telling tales of the abnormally high-spirited animals, while forest rangers began to wonder why the normally shy and straight-laced cervine population was letting it all hang out by day and “making great leaps on the mountainside”.

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Death Rays Due in a Few Years

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Unlike the chemical lasers used in the Boeing 747 demonstrator, solid state lasers are much more likely to be tactically usable.

Cooling could be a real bear though.

Northrop Grumman demonstrates high-power laser building block
By Graham Warwick

High-power solid-state lasers could be fielded within four years if the US military funds its growing interest in directed-energy weapons, believes Northrop Grumman. The company says it is on track to demonstrate a lethal 100kW-class solid-state laser late next year.

“With funding, we could put a 25kW laser out there in less than two years and 100kW in three to four years,” says Mike McVey, vice-president for directed-energy systems for Northrop Grumman Space Technology. A 10-20kW laser could blind sensors while a 100kW weapon would allow an airborne platform to take out radar sites and destroy vehicles, he says

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US Air Force General Guarantees Sweet Retirement Deal with Lockheed

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There are alternatives that work in Europe today. They should just cancel this, but some General is planning his retirement years at Lockheed..

US Air Force proposes reliability plan for Lockheed missile
By Stephen Trimble

The US Air Force has proposed a reliability improvement plan for Lockheed Martin’s AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, but has not yet followed through on a threat to cancel the troubled programme.

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The Joys of Family Communications

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When one has children, it is not uncommon for one to find one’s self saying unexpected things.

You have those things you swore you would never say, like “I’m the Daddy, that’s why“, and “Because I said so.“

You then have those things you never, ever, imagined you would say, like, “It’s not buffet time at the Wildebeest“.

Finally, occasionally, and you get that rare chance to say something that you’ve always wanted to say.

This happened today. I was driving with the family in the mini-van (I can’t believe I own a f$%#ing mini-van), and I was whistling to myself (the 1812 Overture, I think), and Natalie asked me how to whistle.

I, replied, “You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together and blow.“

Made my day.

So does any opportunity to say, “I’m an engineer, not a doctor, dammit!”

Liberals Don’t Get It, Women are Property

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This is a repulsive thing. It is about the idea that wives are property.

Stealing another’s man’s wife costs $4,802
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) — Stealing someone’s heart can cost you: Just ask German Blinov.

A Cook County jury ordered Blinov to shell out $4,802 last week after he was sued by a husband from a Chicago suburb for stealing the affections of the man’s wife.

Arthur Friedman used a little-known state law to mount the legal attack against Blinov. The alienation of affection law, one of eight across the country, lets spouses seek damages for the loss of love.

But Natalie Friedman, the woman at the center of it all, claims her husband asked her to have sex with other men and women — including Blinov — to spice up their relationship.

She supposedly began having feelings for Blinov, prompting her husband to file the lawsuit.

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