.

I am looking for information on the world economy.
China seems to be falling apart.
The fuss with the Islands is probably nothing.
Japan has had a solid claim for several hundred years.
China gave up blue water in the fifteenth century.

Islam is trying again. The easy thing to do is let them rot.
I do not want to replay the Indian mutiny. It was really ugly.
I was afraid you were in or near the Levant.

Japan had a realestate crash. They are also having a population crash.
I think they are in trouble with sex selection.
Excessive males in the 0 - 20 cohort.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki did great damage. They are in no way recovered from the radiation poisoning of populations and their culture.
Giving up power reactors would be very foolish.
Giving up business management of them would be a better way.
It would take me far more than ten days study to understand Japan's button madness. It takes the Japanese months of study to learn their culture.
Fukushima has become a preferred site for new reactors.

I need to keep some reference to the working day. My caffeine intake is already high. I think I make good coffee.
Japan drinks green tea.

Good seals on windows are important. We learned thirty years ago that a triple glazed window facing north has a net solar gain. Insulating shutters inside will make even a single glazed window a gain. I am shocked by the waste heat from computers.

Unlimited Liability German Parties Offer Rival Interpretations of Euro Ruling

SPIEGEL ONLINE - September 17, 2012 The German government is pleased with the recent decision by the country's Constitutional Court that gave the green light to ratify the permanent euro bailout fund. But the celebration may be premature. Some of the conditions set by the court could prove prickly for the government and its final ruling on the case could come with unpleasant surprises. By SPIEGEL Staff more... [ Forum ]

Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Söder 'Everyone Wants Our Money'

SPIEGEL ONLINE - September 17, 2012 Germany's Constitutional Court cleared the way for the country to ratify the permanent euro rescue fund, the ESM, in a closely watched ruling last week. In a SPIEGEL interview, Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Söder expresses his concerns about the decision and calls for Germany's central bank to be given new supervisory powers. more... [ Forum ]

Croatian Prime Minister Milanovic 'Germany Is a Role Model for Us'

SPIEGEL ONLINE - September 17, 2012 Despite the euro crisis, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic is steering his country on a course toward European Union membership with great enthusiasm. In an interview, he discusses Zagreb's planned EU accession in July 2013 and his view of European leaders' efforts so far in managing the euro crisis. more...

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17 Sep 2012: Larry Elliott: China's use of subsidies has been less important than its manipulation of the exchange rate 6 comments
Italy's economy is tanking – we know, we're selling their building equipment
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http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/58246

News bites @ 5

by Dioni Vougioukli

17 Sep 2012

Greenpeace activists stage a protest outside Delta Dairy Products on Monday, September 17 (Eurokinissi)

1. GOVERNMENT TALKS Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Monday had a meeting with Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Labour, Social Insurance and Welfare Minister Yiannis Vroutsis. The meeting, described by Stournaras as 'routine', focused on issues concerning the labour ministry, the ongoing negotiations with the troika and the state of the economy. Stournaras will meet with the EC, ECB and IMF representatives at 5pm on Monday. The government and the troika have already agreed on 7.5bn euros worth of cuts in the 11.5bn euro austerity package, but talks are continuing as the troika is raising concerns about another 4bn euros of cuts.

2. BLEEDING MERKEL Referring to Greece's plight during her annual summer press conference on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that "our heart bleeds" for struggling Greeks demanded to make ever greater sacrifices. She underlined that Germany wants Greece to remain in the euro but also insisted that tough reforms must be "carried through". "It is a difficult path for Greece but it does not help to resist measures that must in any case be taken," she said.

3. SWISS CDS The government cannot seek to obtain data from a number of CDs purporting to list the details of foreign depositors with Swiss banks because the Swiss government says the CDs are the product of "industrial espionage" and subject to legal proceedings, a minister has said. Deputy Finance Minister George Mavraganis was speaking in the wake of the refusal of Swiss banks to say whether Greek MPs have deposits in the country. MPs were only informed of the Swiss position last week, months after the authorities had received the reply.

4. FOOD CONTAMINATION New research carried out by food scientists at Athens University shows that vegetables irrigated with water contaminated with nickel show a significant uptake of the dangerous heavy metal. The experiment set out to test what happens when food tubers - such as potatoes, carrots and onions - are irrigated with contaminated water. The findings, presented at the 3rd International Conference on Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management in the Cretan city of Chania on September 12, raise concerns about the safety of agricultural produce from certain areas where high levels of heavy metals have been recorded in the soil and water supply.

5. KOS PETITION Residents of the island of Kos have launched an online petition in order to pressure their mayor into making a decision about Ryanair flights to the island. According to Petition Action for Kos, the mayor has been stalling for several months on paying the agreed amount to the company, which has resulted in Kos losing its Ryan Air winter flights. The island’s residents fear that if action isn’t taken immediately they might also lose their summer flights, which would be detrimental for the island’s tourism. To learn more and/or sign the petition, go here.