Geithner invites bloggers

NY Times: From Treasury, an Invitation to Financial Bloggers The Treasury Department opened its doors to economic bloggers this month, and the meeting was productive in at least one respect: as John Jansen of the blog Across the Curve concluded, “After meeting them, I feel I cannot refer to them as Timothy Geithner and his minions” anymore. Mr. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, was among the senior officials who talked with bloggers at an outreach session on Nov. 2. The two-hour round table was held on background, meaning that the bloggers could describe the sessions, but not attribute quotes to specific officials. Lengthy posts about financial system reforms — and the bloggers’ disagreements with the Treasury’s strategies — ensued. New-media scribes have gradually made their way inside most governmental institutions over the years, but the meeting was the first for bloggers at the Treasury. Tyler Cowen, an economics professor at George Mason University who has written at the Marginal Revolution blog for six years, said it was the first time he had heard from any Treasury official. The meeting “shows that the Obama administration is working very hard on outreach to a lot of different media sources,” he said. The Treasury invited about 20 bloggers. Eight attended — at their own expense — including some ardent critics of the department. Michael J. Panzner, who writes the Financial Armageddon blog, said the invitation “was totally out of the blue.” Andrew Williams, a spokesman for the Treasury who assembled the event, said that Mr. Geithner had “long valued the blogosphere” and mentioned that during Mr. Geithner’s tenure as the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, he had requested a daily compendium of relevant blog posts. Another reason for the outreach, Mr. Williams said, is that the blogs are influential, especially because they are read by reporters at more traditional outlets. For the Treasury officials, it was a break from the ordinary, as well. “I think we were much better informed than the groups they’re used to talking to,” Mr. Cowen said, citing politicians who visit and “ask for the impossible.” Mr. Cowen, also a regular contributor to the Sunday Business section of The New York Times, said that one of the senior officials remarked that the bloggers were a “welcome change of pace.” Some of the bloggers were acutely aware of the effects of being welcomed inside “the brain trust,” as Steve Randy Waldman put it on the blog Interfluidity. “The mere invitation made me more favorably disposed to policy makers,” he wrote in his summary of the event, even though he abstained from eating any of the cookies at the meeting, “on principle.” The above article was posted in www.singaporeanskeptic.blogspot.com

A post from an Australian pharmacist

I received this in my email. The author has provided his contacts and if in doubt you make check up with him. I am no medical doctor and is in no position to confirm the validity of the below post. Swine Flu Vaccination - Poison ? ? ? - From an Angry Australian Pharmacist. Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:34 AM "Guys, I'm Emailing you because I'm bloody scared about something. I created my Facebook group for fun, and to use it to market my businesses to people. What I'm doing now totally kills my ability to do that, but I don't care. This is important. I'm a qualified pharmacist. I've been researching the swine flu vaccine that our government has bought for us (using our money, by the way) and its DANGEROUS. Its easily a hundred times more dangerous than the swine flu itself, Imo. Something that freaked me out is that several swine flu vaccine manufacturers have asked governments to give them an exemption from lawsuits, in case the vaccine caused harm in people. If you made a vaccine that you knew worked, then why would you need a legal exemption in case it hurt people? Massive warning sign. They don't believe its safe. The swine flu itself has killed about 2/3000 people total. The regular flu kills 40 000 plus per year ? So why are we freaking out about swine flu, and not normal flu? Does that make sense? No. If the regular flu kills 40 000 plus per year, and the swine flu only killed 2/3 000 ? Then why are governments buying it in advance, giving it to us for free, and giving drug manufacturers immunity to legal cases against them? Does that make sense? No. The swine flu vaccine contains 2 horribly dangerous compounds ? One is called thimerosol. It is made 50% of mercury. It binds to receptors in your brain, and basically causes brain damage. Is it smart to be injected with thimerosol, and get brain damage, dropping 10 IQ points and going dumb, in order to avoid getting a flu that kills 95% less people than regular flu? No. The other horrible ingredient is called squalene. Squalene accidentally tricks your immune system into killing your own cells, which creates autoimmune diseases like asthma, multiple scelerosis, diabetes, and a bunch of diseases that we don't have a name for yet (because squalene hasnt been used for that long, and we have little data on its effects) ? Is is smart to inject yourself with that stuff, in order to avoid a relatively mild flu, like the swine flu? No. If you're a pregnant mother about to take Panvax, ask yourself this ? Why would you take Panvax, when it contains Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfate ? Both of which exhibit positive risk to unborn children ? So as to avoid what? A mild flu, that kills 95% fewer people than the regular flu? Look, I'm a funny guy. Yeah, I make good Facebook groups. People join them by the thousands, and laugh. But I'm also a qualified pharmacist. I scored in the top 0.1% of my state in school. I'm expert at critical analysis of drugs and their effects on humans. And let me be blunt ? If someone came up to me with a syringe full of swine flu vaccine, or came near my family with one ? I would take the needle off them and poke them with it myself ? Followed by several very hard punches. This stuff is poison. Don't take it. Don't let your friends take it. Don't let your family take it. If some idiot in a lab coat asks you if you want it, ask them about thimerosol, squalene, and why the company making it wants legal exemption from being sued, and watch their face go into ?omg I'm being asked serious questions that I don't have the answer to? Mode. Anyway. I hope you're all well. Chat to you on Facebook sometime Sincerely, George Mamouzellos Bachelor of Pharmacy University of South Australia" Adrian Abbott | Regional Manager In the business of climate change P: +61 7 3230 8801 +61 7 3230 8801 M: 0458 355 853 Contact http://mc/compose?to=Adrian.Abbott@energetics.com.au http://www.energetics.com.au/

Myth 214 - The myth of saving Gaia

Save the world, save the forest, save the animals, cut down on energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas, etc etc. These are the magical words of the new world, all crying for help to save the world from destruction by man. Who is the biggest destroyer of this world we live in? The economic formula of growth. High consumption + high construction + high production = High destruction of Gaia. The economic formula of growth is the most destructive force which man chose not to know. No country can afford to continue to chalk up high economic growth year after year without high consumption, high production and high construction, leading to the greater destruction of the earth. Can we be so blind? The world is being destroyed rapidly by the high growth developed countries. The less developed countries are paying the price for their own destruction by maintaining a green way of living How much energy and resources does adding a man into the population consumes? How much energy and resources does it take to build a car? How much energy and resources does it take to build a house of a flat? Imagine how destructive we are to increase our population, to scrap a usable car in good condition, to destroy a whole estate of flats and buildings only to rebuild, en bloc? And we tell our people to save silly plastic bags to save the world! How many plastic bags must one save to feed a man a year ,or to build a car that we scrap prematurely, or to pull down, en bloc, a whole estate? What the hell is going on?

A mini golden handshake for retired workers

CBF worker or CBF economy? I thought it was meant to be CBF workers, but the ST quoted Lim Swee Say this, 'He pointed to the labour movement's current focus on building a more inclusive workforce with a CBF(cheaper, better and faster) economy. But this really make sense with the mini golden handshake that is being introduced in a bill to pay an Employment Assistance Payment to retired workers that are not rehired. The new law will expect an employer to offer continued employment to workers on turning 62 and later up to 67 years of age. If the employer is unable to offer an alternative employment he would have to pay an EAP to help the worker tie over the period when he has to look for another job. This is something that only a tripartite formula of ours could work. Good for the workers.

How about celebrating Singapore?

Singapore has grown in size and stature after one week of APEC. The leaders of the world seemed to have descended on paradise. And we have never seen so many fine and powerful people gathering here for one whole week to enjoy our hospitality and the best Singapore could offer, from food, entertainment, infrastructure, arts and culture. The number of people involved in the event, including the organisers, must be tremendous. And our leaders worked extra hard. Many must have sore hands after shaking hands with do many dignitaries. And the successful conclusion of the APEC Meeting with world leaders reaching some agreements in climate control, how to tackle the recovering economies, fighting terrorism, are the results of what this little place could produce. More important, the US or Obama, has taken a big switch in their position against Myanmar, much to the credit of ASEAN and the host of the Meeting. Obama met and spoke to Asean members, including Myanmar. The days of aloofness and arrogance, of keeping Myanmar away, incommunicado is over. The US is prepared to use diplomacy instead of threats, sanctions and wars to solve international relations. Singapore could take credit for it. A new Obama Doctrine could have emerged from his visit here. And Obama is inviting Hsien Loong to attend the Nuclear Summit in Washington next year. We are in the nuclear power league! We are now big and moving in the right company. We have arrived. Netizens should stop talking about petty things like cost of living, low pay, ERPs, handouts and charities. Let's all act big and behave big. Work harder and buy up all the new and quality homes that are going to come into the market. Singapore is a big country where people are all big and successful. We are an affluent society and must lead a lifestyle appropriate of the first world countries. The whole of last week is a good peek into what life can be in paradise. Everything so beautiful and dignified.