Eideard

Geothermal power plant in Iceland

Indonesia is hosting what is being called the world’s biggest Geothermal energy conference.

The congress in Bali is an attempt to look at how to better develop geothermal power as an environmentally friendly fuel for the future…

It is often dubbed volcano power but the correct scientific explanation for geothermal energy is power extracted from the heat stored in the Earth’s core.

Indonesia has ambitious plans to tap geothermal power…The archipelago of more than 17,000 islands sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – one of the most active regions in the world for volcanic activity…

Scientists say that in theory the planet’s geothermal power is enough to supply mankind’s energy needs and could certainly help to solve Indonesia’s fuel problems.

But the issue is cost. While environmentally friendly, the harnessing of geothermal power is also a very expensive endeavour.

Reports from the conference just might provide some info, some hope, some idea of folks realizing that a little extra time and money means a great deal to the future of energy production.

Or we can continue with the same short-sighted analysis of commerce and production that gets the world – repeatedly – into disaster-laden corners.

An Islamic court in Nigeria has banned a rights group from hosting debates on the Twitter and Facebook websites on the use of amputations as a punishment.

The court, in the northern city of Kaduna, backed a case brought by a pro-Sharia group arguing that the forums would mock the Sharia system. The rights group, the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, said it would appeal against the ruling.

Sharia judges can order amputations of limbs for petty crimes in some states…

The newspaper ThisDay quoted the judge’s ruling as saying:”An order is hereby given restraining the respondents either by themselves or their agents from opening a chat forum on Facebook, Twitter, or any blog for the purpose of the debate on the amputation of Malam Buba Bello Jangebe.”

In 2000, Jangebe made history as the first person in Nigeria to have an amputation carried out under Islamic law after being found guilty of stealing a cow.

The Civil Rights Congress said it had started a Twitter feed, blog and Facebook debate on Jangebe so “Nigerians could air their opinions on Sharia law as a whole”…

The Sharia code runs alongside the secular state system in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, and citizens can choose which system they deal with.

You might think I’d tire of outrage after a half-century of political activism. Between the jingoism, deceit and corruption of the land I live in – and the hypocrisy and greed parceled among political flunkies in the rest of the world, I’ve had enough to be concerned with.

Still, nothing trips my trigger like some backwards bugger with a special hat on his head making life and death decisions founded upon ignorance from several centuries in the dimly-lit past. And whole chunks of the world nodding their heads in agreement.

“Big wheel keeps on turning, Proud Mary keeps on burning…”
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

The Group of 20 is set to become the premier coordinating body on global economic issues, reflecting a new world economic order in which emerging market countries like China are much more relevant, according to a draft communique.

Leaders of the G20 developed and developing nations also agreed to make the International Monetary Fund more representative by increasing the voting power of countries that have long been under-represented in the world financial body, said the draft G20 communique obtained by Reuters…

Following are some of the implications of the decisions:

* By making the G20 the new global economic coordinator, countries are committing to maintaining cooperation even after the global financial upheaval and recession recede. The G20 was upgraded from a ministerial to a leaders-level forum only last year as the crisis deepened…

* Adopting the G20 as the new economic steering committee raises questions over the whether or not the Group of Eight, which makes up the world’s industrial countries, will eventually be faded out. Diplomats said the G8 would continue to function but would focus on non-economic issues…

* The shift of at least 5 percentage points in voting power is the largest increase ever seen in the IMF’s voting structure and is likely to see China overtake old European powers Britain and France which have long resisted the move.

* The G20 also agreed the head of the IMF should be selected based on qualifications and not nationality, according to the draft communique obtained by Reuters. The decision is significant because the head of the IMF has always been a European, while the president of the World Bank has always been an American.

That last change should be enough to piss off neocon nutballs for a decade.

Daylife/Getty Images used by permission

Central bankers from around the world have expressed growing confidence that the worst of the financial crisis was over and that a global economic recovery was beginning to take shape…

“The prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good,” declared Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, offering optimism both about the United States and the worldwide outlook.

Though the Fed chairman repeated his warning that the economic recovery here was likely to be slow and arduous and that unemployment would remain high for another year, he went beyond the central bank’s most recent statement that economic activity was “leveling out.” Speaking to central bankers and economists at the Fed’s annual retreat here in the Grand Tetons, Mr. Bernanke echoed the growing relief among European and Asian central bankers that their own economies had already started to rebound…

At almost the same time that Mr. Bernanke spoke, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes jumped 7.2 percent in July — the biggest monthly increase in more than a decade and much bigger than analysts had expected…

Here in Jackson Hole, the mood of relief and cautious confidence among central bankers and economists on Friday was almost palpable — a stark contrast to the anxiety and tension that permeated their retreat here one year ago.

“It is reasonable to declare that the worst of the crisis is behind us, and that the first signs of global growth have appeared earlier than we generally expected nine months ago,” said Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel and a top former official at the International Monetary Fund.

RTFA. Lots of detail. Lots of thought and response. You ain’t going to hear it on Fox Snooze or from most of the other TV talking heads.

Credit where credit is due – will only be spoken of in quiet corners of the White House. Albeit with big smiles and a little smugness. Off camera for a little while longer.

Ma Yun and George Soros in Hangzhou

Financier George Soros said this week that China’s global influence is set to grow faster than most people expect, with its isolation from the global financial system and a heavy state role in banking aiding a relatively swift economic recovery.

He reiterated his cautious views regarding the surge in global stock markets, although he said it may have further to go given liquidity in the markets and that many investors are still sitting on the sidelines.

“In many ways, Chinese banking has benefited from being isolated from the rest of the world and is in better shape than the international banking system,” he told an audience at Shanghai’s Fudan University.

China’s extensive capital controls have helped to shield its financial institutions from the worst of the global financial crisis.

“The influence of the state is also greater. So when the government says ‘lend’, banks lend,” Soros added. “This puts China in a better position to recover from the recession and that is in fact what has happened…”

“China is going to be a positive force in the world and the market, and as a consequence, its power and influence are likely to grow. Personally, I believe it’s going to grow faster than most people currently expect,” Soros said…

He also noted that China’s aggressive $586 billion economic stimulus programme, announced last year, had bolstered the economy.

“If that programme proves inadequate, it is in a position to apply additional stimulus. China is also in a position to foster a revival of its exports by extending credit and investing abroad,” he said.

A fair piece of my retirement investments are in China. Plus a little bit of “fooling around and making believe I know what I’m doing” money.

The latter is doing better than the former. Maybe I should listen to myself more often.