Category Archives: Of Interest

Number of Verbs & Nouns As Indicators of Stock Market Trends?

Posted on by

Fewer Verbs and Nouns in Financial Reporting Could Predict Stock Market Bubble, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (July 19, 2011) — When the language used by financial analysts and reporters becomes increasingly similar the stock market may be overheated, say scientists.

After examining 18,000 online articles published by the Financial Times, The New York Times, and the BBC, computer scientists have discovered that the verbs and nouns used by financial commentators converge in a ‘herd-like’ fashion in the lead up to a stock market bubble. Immediately afterwards, the language disperses.

The findings presented at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Barcelona, Spain, on July 19, 2011, show that the trends in the use of words by financial journalists correlate closely with changes in the leading stock indices.

“Our analysis shows that trends in the use of words by financial journalists correlate closely with changes in the leading stock indices — the DJI, the NIKKEI-225, and FTSE-100,” says Professor Mark Keane, Chair of Computer Science in University College Dublin, who was involved in the research.

to read more, go to:    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110718101202.htm

Indonesia’s Mt. Lokon Erupts Twice

Posted on by
Double eruption at Indonesia volcano: vulcanologist

(AFP) – 1 day ago

JAKARTA — An Indonesian volcano erupted twice on Monday following its biggest eruption in weeks over the weekend, a government vulcanologist said, forcing people to remain in safety shelters.

“The two eruptions happened within ten minutes which sent a column of ash and smoke up to 600 metres (1,968 feet) into the air,” government vulcanologist Freddy Korompis told AFP from a monitoring post.

The 1,580-metre Mount Lokon experienced its biggest eruption on Sunday with huge clouds of ash propelled 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) into the sky.

to read more, go to:    http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iHkNq8gxx0wagcaNfO8iGj8m1-wA?docId=CNG.632dd3dcc1a56a277155541c2c08b556.91

Haboob Strikes Phoenix Again

Posted on by

Wall of dust known as a ‘Haboob’ strikes Phoenix again

Published on July 18, 2011 6:30 pm PT
– By Dave Tole – Writer
– Article Editor and Approved – Ron Jackson


No larger image

(TheWeatherSpace.com) — Reports are pouring into TheWeatherSpace.com of yet another dust storm in Downtown Phoenix.

Storms formed southeast of the area between Phoenix and Tucson this afternoon. These moved northwest and took a similar track as the last ones.

to read more and see the video, go to:    http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-07_18_2011_haboob.html

Thomas Berry Quote

Posted on by

It was an early afternoon in May when I first wandered down the incline, crossed the creek, and looked out over the scene. The field was covered with white lilies rising above the thick grass. A magic moment, this experience gave to my life something that seems to explain my life at a…profound level. It was not only the lilies. It was the singing of the crickets and the woodlands in the distance and the clouds in a clear sky…

…This early experience… has become normative for me throughout the entire range of my thinking. Whatever preserves and enhances this meadow in the natural cycles of its transformation is good, what is opposed to this meadow or negates it is not good…

That is good in economics fosters the natural processes of this meadow. So in jurisprudence, law, and political affairs—that is good which recognizes the rights of this meadow and the creek and the woodlands to exist and flourish in the ever-renewing seasonal expression.

– from The Great Work

to find out more about the works of Thomas Berry, go to:    http://www.thomasberry.org/Biography/

And in response to “What does the earth desire?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUnvd9hhpyE&feature=related

 

 

Manhattanhenge????

Posted on by

Just what is Manhattanhenge?

By Virginia BrownBBC News Magazine

Sun setting

New Yorkers have witnessed an urban solar phenomenon, with the Sun setting in alignment with the city’s skyscrapers and giving an effect fans say is reminiscent of Wiltshire’s Stonehenge. Welcome to Manhattanhenge.

Twice every year amateur photographers gather in carefully-selected spots to set up tripods and wait to capture the ultimate sunset.

On Wednesday night at 2025 local time (0125 BST), the east-west lying streets of the city’s famous grid system neatly framed the setting sun, creating golden glows New Yorkers rarely see.

During the phenomenon, the Sun appears to be nestled perfectly between the skyscraper corridors, illuminating the north and south sides of the streets.

to read more, go to:    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14150550

North Italian Earthquake

Posted on by

Ferrara (Italy) earthquake July 17 : minor damage reported

Last update: July 18, 2011 at 2:52 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell

 

Earthquake Overview : At 20:30 Italian time, a moderate shallow earthquake shook fiercely the Ferrara area, sending people out of their houses in fear of aftershocks.  The very populated area had a fresh memory of the destructive l’Aquila earthquake where on April 6  2009; 308 people were killed. @ Earthquake-Report.com we are always alerted if a magnitude 5 earthquake hits a Mediterranean country, including Italy.  
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the bottom of the page (earthquake data).

 

Intensity Map courtesy INGV

 

UPDATE : In Poggio Rusco, the bell tower of the church was damaged. Other reports talk of some collapsed chimneys.
The railway line from Venice to Emilia Romagna was stopped for about 2 hours to allow Railway personnel to inspect the lines. No damage was found.

To read more, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2011/07/18/ferrara-italy-earthquake-july-17-minor-damage-reported/

 

 

 

CERN Experiment Results Stifled

Posted on by

CERN ‘gags’ physicists in cosmic ray climate experiment

What do these results mean? Not allowed to tell you

By Andrew Orlowski  Posted in Science, 18th July 2011 12:01 GMT

 

The chief of the world’s leading physics lab at CERN in Geneva has prohibited scientists from drawing conclusions from a major experiment. The CLOUD (“Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets”) experiment examines the role that energetic particles from deep space play in cloud formation. CLOUD uses CERN’s proton synchrotron to examine nucleation.

 

CERN Director General Rolf-Dieter Heuer told Welt Online that the scientists should refrain from drawing conclusions from the latest experiment.

 

“I have asked the colleagues to present the results clearly, but not to interpret them,” reports veteran science editor Nigel Calder on his blog. Why?

 

Because, Heuer says, “That would go immediately into the highly political arena of the climate change debate. One has to make clear that cosmic radiation is only one of many parameters.”

To read more, go to:   http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/18/cern_cosmic_ray_gag/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Sacred Economics”

Posted on by

Homepage for Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition

SacredEconomicsFrontCover3.jpg
 

Welcome to the on-line version of Sacred Economics. This is a book that explores, on a social, political, and personal level, the transition in money and economy that is upon us today. With the agreement of the publisher,EVOLVER EDITIONS/North Atlantic Books, I am making the full text available on line one chapter at a time over a period of about six months. By the end of 2011, the complete book will be on this website.

I am doing so, first, in order that this information can spread as widely as possible in a time of mounting crisis; secondly, to align the book with the spirit of the gift that lies at the heart of a sacred economy; and third, because it no longer feels right to attempt to profit through creating an artificial scarcity of things, like digital content, that are fundamentally abundant.

Of course, the book is also available in print, through your local bookstore or online, and in ebook versions at online booksellers. I also intend, again with the bold agreement of the publisher, to make a you-choose-the-price ebook available on my website.

Why serialize the book rather than putting the whole text up at once? First, I wrote the book to be read linearly – it is very much a book, not a website. Secondly, I would like to use this serialized version of the book as a way to deepen the conversation around it by responding to readers’ comments, chapter by chapter. It will be as if we are reading it together. Over time, the sum of the text plus the comments and responses will constitute a larger, cocreated, book.

to read more and follow the publication of the book, go to:  http://www.realitysandwich.com/homepage_sacred_economics

Psychedelics in the News

Posted on by

This Week in Psychedelics

temp1.jpg“This Week in Psychedelics” is a Reality Sandwich column that follows the multifaceted media appearances of this class of chemicals and their effects in popular culture.

  • A Johns Hopkins study suggests that “magic mushcrooms” can reliably induce transcendental experiences, offering long-lasting psychological growth without negative effect. (Time)
  • A sold-out panel at the Los Angeles Public Library discusses Aldous Huxley’s relationship to psychedelics. (LA Times)
  • An article suggests that psychedelic drugs could become prescription medications within 10 years. (AlterNet)
  • Portugal celebrates its 10 year anniversary of decriminalizing drugs, which has resulted in “decreased youth drug use, falling overdose and HIV/AIDS rates, less crime, reduced criminal justice expenditures, greater access to drug treatment, and safer and healthier communities.” (AlterNet)
  • Study demonstrates that a nonhallucinogenic analog of LSD alleviates cluster headaches. (Science)
  • The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration released a decision claiming that marijuana has no medical uses. (NY Magazine)
  • Author of The End of Faith, discussing drugs and the meaning of life, argues that “[o]ne of the great responsibilities we have as a society is to educate ourselves…about which substances are worth ingesting, and for what purpose, and which are not.” (Huffington Post)
  • Buyers raced to purchase synthetic substances that mimic marijuana and LSD before a Minnesota ban went into effect. (Star Tribune)
  • An opinion piece warns that the current generation of teenagers lacks knowledge about the risks of LSD, “mak[ing] them vulnerable if the drug returns to popularity.” (New Brunswick Patch)
  • Leaf Fielding’s memoir, To Live Outside the Law, discusses LSD dealing in Britain in the 1970s. (Independent)
  • Former mob boss Whitey Bulger is arrested after an extensive FBI search; defense might link killings to LSD tests performed on Bulger by the CIA. (Boston Herald; Modern Times
  • Marijuana, mushrooms, LSD, and ecstasy are confiscated from suspects headed toward the Electric Forest Music Festival. (Holland Sentinel)