According to this story from National Public Radio, data from autonomous ocean probes have detected no aggregate ocean warming since the probes came online in 2003. The Argo system comprises 3,000 probes in all of the world’s oceans that dive as deep as 1-2000 meters every ten days and then ascend, taking continuous temperature and salinity measurements in the process. There is no sign of overall oceanic heating in the data since 2003, leading researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the National Center for Atmospheric Research to wonder where all the energy supposedly being dumped into the ocean via global heating is actually going. Full story »
First there’s this quote from Bloomberg about why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are having their surplus capital requirements eased:
The worst housing slump since the Great Depression is being exacerbated by the limited ability of Americans to get mortgages or refinance loans amid tightened standards at money-losing banks.
Then this uplifting tidbit from Reuters:
Democrat Barack Obama’s big national lead over Hillary Clinton has all but evaporated in the U.S. presidential race, and both Democrats trail Republican John McCain, according a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Given that McCain sees himself as another war president, and blithely dismisses the economic problems of our country as beneath his interest, what can we expect? Full story »
What is it with George Bush and his halfwitted predilection for declaring victory before the fight is over?
Bush speech hails Iraq ‘victory’President George W Bush has delivered a speech to mark the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Speaking at the Pentagon, Mr Bush said “removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision”.
And he went on to say that the recent “surge” of US troops to Iraq has brought about “a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror”.
Mr. President, if they’re still shooting at you, you should be careful about declaring victory. Full story »
A lot of Americans have heard the word “Kosovo” but aren’t sure what it means. Some of those who know a little more on the subject are still fuzzy on the finer details.
Thanks to our new friend George Turner, we now have a pretty helpful little primer to get everybody up to speed.
