University of Texas Physicists Figure Out How to Recycle Nuclear Waste

Well, I think it might be time for Mike Kotschenreuther, Swadesh Mahajan and Prashant Valanju, of the IFS, and Erich Schneider of the Department of Mechanical Engineering to win the Nobel Prize for Physics because they may have solved one of the only drawbacks left to nuclear power. Here's how they did it.

First, 75 percent of the original reactor waste is destroyed in standard, relatively inexpensive LWRs. This step produces energy, but it does not destroy highly radiotoxic, transuranic, long-lived waste, what the scientists call "sludge."

In the second step, the sludge would be destroyed in a CFNS-based fusion-fission hybrid. The hybrid's potential lies in its ability to burn this hazardous sludge, which cannot be stably burnt in conventional systems.

"To burn this really hard to burn sludge, you really need to hit it with a sledgehammer, and that's what we have invented here," says Kotschenreuther.

One hybrid would be needed to destroy the waste produced by 10 to 15 LWRs.

You could even make these hybrid reactors a part of the system so the act of destroying the waste will actually generate power as well. Now that is a cool deal. I wonder how they will be getting the sludge to the hybrid reactor though? I guess in barrels in the back of a truck or something. Either way these Physicists just earned themselves $1.5 million dollars and may have solved the global warming problem in one fell swoop. Hook 'Em Horns!

Read More

Republican Stimulus Plan Provides Immediate Relief

Unlike the Dem Plan which is all about the pork-barrel and $500 next year sometime. Here is the highlight of the GOP plan.

McConnell also said Republicans favor cutting the two lowest tax brackets as a way to " put money back in people's hands directly." If adopted, that would reduce the tax rate from 10 percent to 5 percent for the first $8,350 in individual income for the current year, and $16,700 for couples. The tax rate would be lowered from 15 percent to 10 percent on income between $8,351 and $33,950 for individuals and between $16,001 and $67,900 for couples.

So that means they will start getting more money in their next paycheck and not next year after we are already recovering from the recession. Nobody can argue against receiving more money each paycheck. The other part of the plan tackles mortgages:

The goal was to have banks lower the interest rate to 4 percent or 4.5 percent on 30-year fixed rate loans for many primary residences, by directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy the mortgages.

In other words the US Government will provide a low interest/fixed interest loan that is below the rates other mortgage brokers charge. That means Uncle Sam has become a mortgage market monopoly that will funnel all new mortgages into government controlled Fannie and Freddie. In other words nationalizing the mortgage industry in the US. Let's hope the cure is not more destructive then the cause.

Read More

Pork and Eugenics in Stimulus Bill?

That may be the case according to this CNN article. Here is the pork:

I'd settle for removing more of the ridiculous items that House Democrats slipped into the legislation to advance their sociopolitical agenda. Like $350 million for child care on military bases. Or $335 million to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

Here is the creepy eugenics part which amounts to $200 million for birth control funding to stimulate the economy.

When ABC's George Stephanopolous asked Pelosi to explain how birth control helps the economy, here's what the speaker said: "The family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now, and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those -- one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

You know the nation's cupboard is bare when politicians propose limiting the number of births as a way of improving the economy. That's a conversation we shouldn't be having.

The bad part is that the people with higher birthrates are usually Latino or Black. So Pelosi pretty much said she wanted to lower the birthrates of minorities in order for "states to meet their financial needs." Pelosi must really be losing it when she considers reducing the number of future Latinos and Blacks as a way to "reduce costs."

Read More

Michael Steel Elected GOP Chairman

He seems like a pretty decent choice for GOP chairman according to his background. He was an Air Force brat, has a international relations degree from Johns Hopkins and was a seminarian for 3 years. Then he pursued a law degree from Georgetown. Then he was a lawyer and then Lt. Governor of Maryland then failed at a Senate bid. He also has some fire in his belly as well judging from these comments:

"We're going to say to friend and foe alike: We want you to be a part of us, we want you to be with us, and for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over," Steele said.

I'm just waiting for the MSM to say that Steele got the job because he was black. Just like how the New York Times said that Sarah Palin got the VP nomination because she was a woman.

O.K., the women thing might have been a little bit of a selling point. Not nearly so much as the national guard commandership, of course. But if the millions of Democratic women who are still ticked off at Obama for stepping in front of Hillary in the line want to look elsewhere ...

Read More

Obama Creates Middle Class "Task Force"

It seems that this could have been part of Biden's stipulations on being the VP because he will be heading this thing up.

Obama set several goals for the task force, including expanding opportunities for education and training; improving the work-family balance; restoring labor standards, including workplace safety; and protecting retirement security.

The president and vice president said the task force will include the secretaries of commerce, education, labor, and health and human services because those Cabinet departments have the most influence on the well-being of the middle class. It also will include White House advisers on the economy, the budget and domestic policy.

Biden pledged that the task force will conduct its business in the open, and announced a Web site, http://www.astrongmiddleclass.gov, for the public to get information. He also announced that the panel's first meeting will be Feb. 27 in Philadelphia and will focus on environmental or "green jobs."

Read More

Amazon Kills Numbers: Could they be Cloud Computing King?

Now this is a real recession proof stock all right.

In North America, Amazon�s total sales rose 18 per cent, contrasting with the overall 3 per cent decline in US holiday e-commerce sales estimated by ComScore Media Metrics this month.

Amazon�s global net sales also rose 18 per cent to $6.7bn. International sales � including the UK, France, Germany, Japan and China � rose 19 per cent to $3.07bn. At constant currency rates, the international sales would have risen 31 per cent.

So their revenue rose 18% in the US and if not for dollar strength they would have gained 31% overseas? That is just nuts during a recession like this. It seems like Amazon and Netflix are the recipients of this nesting and hunkering down as people lose their jobs.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown on how many people are using their Amazon Prime service to buy everyday goods at a discount. It might be time to ride the Amazon rocket again because this stock trades great whenever they blow out numbers like this. This part is especially interesting as well.

Bezos said the environment was now ripe for Amazon to begin discussing providing web services for larger companies. Amazon provides a cloud computing platform that offers far-flung users access to storage and computing power in Amazon's data center.

"People in this macro environment, they're looking for ways to save money and cloud computing does that. There's a lot that can be done there," Bezos said, calling it a "silver lining" in the grim economic environment.

This is a high margin business because you are pretty much charging companies to store data and run applications on Amazons trusted servers. Amazon has the infrastructure in place so all they have to do is sign up companies that want to cut costs and they get a nice fat revenue stream in the process. Why would think that a web retailer has the chance to become the "king of cloud computing?"

Read More

Senator McConnell Tells it Like it is to GOP

I have to agree with some of the sentiments of Sen. McConnell.

McConnell called for the GOP to embrace its conservative principles � and resist diluting its message � to bring people back and attract new rank-and-file. Still, he added: "It's clear our message isn't getting out to nearly as many people as it should ... Too often we've let others define us. And the image they've painted isn't very pretty."

He acknowledged GOP fears that certain demographics from certain regions have shunned the party. And, he warned: "In politics, there's a name for a regional party: it's called a minority party."

I have to agree that the GOP needs to cleave back to conservative principles of small government, no more meddling in the private lives of Americans, low taxes for everyone, and a strong military presence in the world.

Also the letting others define them is as big a problem as any. The MSM has painted the GOP as a bunch of white war mongers, who torture people, and are listening to peoples private phone calls. The GOP is also portrayed as religious nutjobs who care more about gays getting married then they do about what the majority of Americans care about.

They aren't even the party of the rich anymore since billionaire hedge fund guys and upper middle class exurbanites are all switching to the Dems. They are currently the party of rural America and the South.

I think the demeanor of the party needs to go from Dick Cheney to Mike Huckabee. That means the GOP needs to be civil, respectful, and push their issues with a quiet forcefulness. No more in-your-face neocon wrestling matches.

When someone like Bill Maher says that Martin Luther King was deranged because of his religious beliefs Huckabee just said paraphrasing "do you really believe Dr. King was mentally insane?" Don't attack Maher as a person but attack his beliefs. Assume the Dems are nice enough people but they are just strait-up wrong when it comes to some things. Then go about telling people why the Republican way of doing things is better.

Read More

Stimulus Bill Passes the House: $819 Billion Final Tally

Now that is a lot of money but it seems that the Senate Bill may be much more palatable to GOP members.

Already a more bipartisan � and costlier � measure is taking shape in the Senate, and Obama personally pledged to House and Senate Republicans in closed-door meetings on Tuesday that he is ready to accept modifications as the legislation advances.

Rahm Emanuel, a former Illinois congressman who is Obama's chief of staff, invited nearly a dozen House Republicans to the White House late Tuesday for what one participant said was a soft sales job.

If there are no business tax cuts in this thing then I think it will just be a half-measure that won't prevent businesses from shedding yet more workers. It seems that the FED is working on the mortage side and the Congress is working on juicing the supply side. Let's hope John Maynard Keynes is right because $819 billion is quite a price to pay to be wrong.

Read More

Obama Disses Washington DC's Toughness

It he is critcal of Washington DC closing schools because of ice he must really be down on how Hawaii shut down schools and the entire state government because there was the threat of possible wind.

"Can I make a comment that is unrelated to the economy very quickly?" the new president told reporters at a gathering with business leaders. "And it has to do with Washington. My children's school was canceled today. Because of, what? Some ice?"

The president said he wasn't the only one who was incredulous.

"As my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never canceled," Obama said to laughter. "In fact, my 7-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess. You wouldn't even stay indoors. So, I don't know. We're going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness."

Read More

FED Thinking of Rewriting Mortgages

I'm glad the FED is now thinking of entering the mortgage work-out business.

Under the program, the Fed has a number of options to provide relief, including lowering the amount the homeowner owes on the mortgage, reducing the interest rate or lengthening the term of the loan.

It's unclear how many homeowners would benefit. However, the relief plan would apply to the billions of dollars of mortgage assets the Fed is holding on its books because of last year's bailouts of Bear Stearns and insurer American International Group.

I guess they can do that because they actually own these mortgages so they can do whatever they want to them to keep people out of foreclosure. I guess it is the FED equivalent of changing someones interest rate on a credit card. This was kind of funny though:

The Fed's Bear Stearns' portfolio is valued at $27 billion, although the central bank doesn't say how much of that is in home mortgages. The Fed's AIG assets include one portfolio valued at nearly $20 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities and a second portfolio valued at nearly $27 billion of collateralized debt obligations, which are complex financial instruments that combine various slices of debt.

I wonder how many of the home mortgages that the FED owns are covered by that $20 billion in mortgage backed securities? If it is a large amount then they are working both sides of the trade. They fix the mortgages by changing the interest rates or decreasing the amount that the person owes and then they reap the benefits when the security goes back up due to the reduction in default risk. Oh the power of a monopolist bank.

Read More

Obama Meets with GOP Leaders over Stimulus

I hope Boehner and the GOP firmly outlined their own middle class tax cut plan to Obama in this meeting. I want to see people making less then $33,950 but more then $8,350 get a larger then $500 tax cut. The GOP Tax Cut really does cut taxes for the middle class who are hurting from the recession.

"We think the country needs a stimulus," McConnell said on NBC's "Today" show. But he also said that he believes most people do not believe recovery be accomplished through projects like "fixing up the Mall," a reference to funding to repair the National Mall in Washington. He said Republicans want a bill that devotes 40 percent of its total to tax cuts.

Read More

Obama Needs to Go Back to Harvard and Take Professors Barro's Economics Class

All this talk of Keynesian multipliers the Obama Team has been throwing around has got some economists refuting his line of thinking. I was never sure how spending $800 billion was going to create 4 million jobs so I did a little research. It seems that Prof. Barro would rather take these actions instead:

Much more focus should be on incentives for people and businesses to invest, produce and work. On the tax side, we should avoid programs that throw money at people and emphasize instead reductions in marginal income-tax rates -- especially where these rates are already high and fall on capital income. Eliminating the federal corporate income tax would be brilliant. On the spending side, the main point is that we should not be considering massive public-works programs that do not pass muster from the perspective of cost-benefit analysis. Just as in the 1980s, when extreme supply-side views on tax cuts were unjustified, it is wrong now to think that added government spending is free.

In other words Prof. Barro is saying that a one-time $500 tax credit isn't such a good idea. Instead marginal taxes should be reduced for the middle class so they can use that money to buy things or invest. So instead of taking $2 of every $10 a person makes the IRS takes only $1 leaving you with an extra dollar to spend or invest that you didn't have before. I can see Americans appreciating a few hundred in each paycheck for years instead of seeing $500 in one chunk.

Also getting rid of corporate income tax would save some companies billions of dollars that they could use to retain workers or expand their businesses. Maybe the stimulus could enact a plan that a company does not have to pay corporate income tax if they agree to keep a certain amount of workers employed. Call it a Layoff Cap on employee firings. Or they can use that money to pay down debt or to ramp up R&D or something. As long as they don't hoard the money in their cash accounts it will stimulate growth.

I also agree that any new public works projects need to be looked at under a microscope in order to catch bridges to nowhere lurking out there. That money needs to be used only when it can have some kind of tangible benefit from the project. So a bridge about to fall down or a collapsing sewer system needs to be given the money instead of some park, fountain, or a bridge to 800 people on some island.

That bad highway building is what sunk the Japanese stimulus efforts in the 90s. They spent billions on projects that the Japan Highway Public Corporation wanted and not on things that people actually needed. So they ended up with massive highways that no one uses both due to super high toll prices and from competition from one of the best rapid transit systems in the world. If they used that money to cut their corporate taxes then who knows what good would have come from it?

Read More

Just As I Suspected: War Coverage Starting to Soften

I knew that if Obama won we will start getting more human interest stories out of American war zones and this is one.

One person determined to inject some normalcy into their lives is Oliver Percovich. A 34-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, he plans to open this country�s first skateboarding school, Skateistan, this spring. He sees sport as a way to woo students into after-school activities like English and computer classes, which are otherwise reserved for the elite.

Yup this is a story about a guy promoting skateboarding in Kabul. The story mentions how these kids love skateboarding despite suicide bombings and pressure from hard line Taliban-types that want to keep boys and girls activities separate.

This stuff seemed curiously absent when the Bushies were in charge of Afghanistan. Now that Obama is boss the human interest stuff starts to bubble out.

I think that is one of the best things that will come out of the Obama Presidency. The press is a valuable tool to let Americans know that good things happen in these war torn countries. It isn't just a drumbeat of suicide bombings, Taliban death squads, and civilian deaths.

Read More

Geithner in at Treasury: At Last!

It seems his idiotic tax problems hasn't derailed his chance to fix our economy.

In swift order reflecting the urgency, Obama was expected to attend Geithner's swearing in Monday evening at the Treasury Department. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Geithner has made amends � he has paid the taxes and penalties � and possesses the talent the nation needs to steer the nation out of the crisis.

If the GOP blocked this guys nomination I would leave the party permanently. I think Geithner might be one of the few people in this country that has faced these crises before and has come up with solutions to it.

If his nomination was killed due to not paying taxes that he has actually paid with interest and penalties then forget about the GOP. The GOP was rushing too fast toward being labeled as this generations' Herbert Hoovers and I'm glad that cooler heads prevailed in the Senate.

Read More

Netflix: It sure seems Recession-proof to me

It seems that people staying home and nesting to save money during the recession is really paying off judging from these quarterly numbers. I mean people out of work or cutting costs are going to nest as much as possible.

Netflix believes the weakening economy is still working in its favor. Management predicted it will attract 700,000 to 900,000 more subscribers during the current quarter, yielding earnings ranging from 25 cents to 33 cents per share on revenue of $387 million to $393 million.

I think some of this growth is from Xbox360 users using Netflix's streaming video option to "Watch it Now." I haven't used this feature much since I have the 3 DVD plan right now and it pretty much gives me all the DVDs I have time to watch at any given time. I do see myself using this more if I wasn't using my Xbox360 to play games.

Also I think Netflix is finally becoming the movie service of choice with many Americans. Blockbuster has always forced you to waste gas, park, and then stand in a line to rent movies. I know they have a Netflix-like mail service but it just isn't as popular for whatever reason. Blockbuster now offers a streaming service but it seems it is pay-per-view and not all you can watch like Netflix is.

So this recession might be the right time to cement Netflix as the leader in both mail-order DVD rentals and streaming rentals as well. The more nesting and saving that people do the more likely they will be saying "I'll just Netflix that movie instead of seeing it at the theatre or getting it from Blockbuster." I have been saying this for years but maybe a critical mass of Americans will be saying it as well.

Read More