Catalina Mountains at dusk. Oro Valley AZ
Bob Morris @ Jul 5th 2008 22:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
Oro Valley is just north of Tucson, this was taken right before a thunderstorm rumbled through.
Archive for July 5th, 2008
World Bank: Biofuels behind rise in food prices
Bob Morris @ Jul 5th 2008 16:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
The Flat Earth Society in the White House may deny it, but even the World Bank is now saying that using cropland to grow corn and other crops for biofuel is a primary reason for the worldwide rise in food prices.
Rumors that Cheney wants the authors of this World Bank report detained in Gitmo are probably erroneous.
Walmart now largest buyer of locally grown produce
Bob Morris @ Jul 5th 2008 11:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
When Walmart moves, others follow. Maybe becaue they have to. Walmart pushed hard for CFLs and was a major force in them becoming a mainstream product. Will they now do the same for locally grown produce? Or maybe they already have.
Collateral damage from bond insurer downgrades
Bob Morris @ Jul 5th 2008 04:31 - Category: Credit crisis ;
An individual bond is rated based on the rating of the company that insures it. A bizarro concept, when you think about it. Shouldn’t a bond be rated on its own merits? But they aren’t.
This cozy system worked fine, generating lots of income for all concerned, until the bond insurers got downgraded. This meant that all the bonds they insured got downgraded too, which in turn forced higher the interest that municipalities, hospitals, and the like must pay to bondholders.
Their financial situation hasn’t changed, but they must pay more.
The interest rate on $44 million of bonds for the San Francisco Ballet more than doubled to 12 percent last month as Financial Guaranty Insurance, which insured the debt, was cut below investment grade.
Isn’t insurance is supposed to decrease risk, not increase it?
