Spain Will Ask for Help

Spain's banks are under tremendous pressure as financial markets move against them and depositors withdraw money (Financial Times: draw down reaches €100 billion). The bond rating agency, Finch, cut Spain's credit rating by three notches to BBB today, contributing to the rising cost of borrowing. The spread, or premium, between Spanish and German 10yr bonds reached a historic high. Fitch says that Spanish banks need between €50 to €60 billion to cover losses on domestic loans.  The amount of Spain's non-performing loans alone exceed Greece's GDP at $273 billion. The Spanish finance minister said his government will wait to make an aid request until after an IMF report and an independent audit of Spanish banks, both due this month. His country objects to the imposition of austerity measures by the EU or IMF as conditions to financial aid since its deficit spending was not as extravagant as Greece's or Italy's. Meanwhile, Germany is making contingency plans to rescue Spain's bad-debt ridden banking sector. Financial analysts generally think that Spain is "too big to fail" if the single currency zone is too survive. There was some optimism today that the country could avoid the fate of Greece as Spain's auction of $2.5 billion in government bonds was deemed successful.

France Proposes Ban on Bee Killing Chemical

After studies showing the long term adverse effects of neonicotinoid pesticides the National Agency for Food, Safety and Environment is proposing to ban "Cruiser OSR", an insecticide manufactured by Sygenta and widely used on rape crops.  Rape is grown for oilseed and is prominent for its yellow flowers that bees pollinate.  The French government said it will give Sygenta two weeks to prove the pesticide is not linked to the disorder known as Sudden Colony Collapse. Neonicotinoids affect bees' central nervous system which in turn impairs their navigational abilities. Because this type of pesticide is systemic, meaning a plant absorbs the chemicals and residues remain in flowers and pollen, bees are particularly affected. Of course the profit making company denies their product has any adverse affect on bees. France will also take the matter up with the EU making a continent wide ban on the product a possibility. The evidence against neonicotinoids continues to accumulate. A US study published last month in the Journal of Experimental Biology found bees exposed to this type of pesticide changed behavior in food choices and communication. Exposed bees reduced their "waggle dances" which they use to show other hive members the location of food. Some exposed bees stopped dancing altogether. Sudden colony collapse was first recorded in North America in 2006, now the disorder has spread to Europe. Scientists suspect a number of causative factors are responsible including disease, mite infestations, habitat loss, and pollution as well as pesticides.

Money Re-captures Wisconsin

Money talks and it talked loud in Wisconsin yesterday as the union-busting Repugnant governor backed by the fascist, filthy rich Koch Brothers beat off the peoples' will in the recall election. It is time for some serious soul searching by the Democratic Party that seems to be again in disarray under the leadership of an incumbent president. Der leader, the Obamanator, aka Barry O'Bomber, did not come within a helicopter ride of the state. Curious! Does Wisconsin portend for the general election is the question of the moment. Wisconsin is a swing state and the Democrats need the state's 10 electoral votes to win the November election. Barry won Wisconsin by 14 points the last time, but now the state is in play. Independent voters, which are a third of the Wisconsin electorate, voted for Scott Walker perhaps in response to the $18 million poured into the state by super PACs. Unions failed to inspire their members to back the Milwaukee mayor, Tom Barnett. The failure of the recall means Citizens' United is apparently a better team than Citizens.

Finally, Flying Cars Are Here

via ENS

Ok, readers you will remember that we were promised flying cars in the future by kid TV programs like the "Jetsons" and science fiction movies like "Blade Runner". The future is now. Volkswagen, bless their little beetle, has come through at last. Its "Peoples' Car Project" in China led to the creation of a maglev vehicle that floats above the road surface using magnetic levitation technology similar to that now used by maglev trains. The idea for a maglev personal vehicle was submitted by a man from Chengdu, China.  The donut-shaped design reflects Chinese consumers' desire for safe, clean personal transportation that can maneuver overcrowded roads while providing a stimulating environment. Did US Person mention zero emissions? How is that for "top gear"? The People's Car Project in China is more successful than Volkswagen imagined. Because of the high quality of submissions the company has decided to extend the one-year program indefinitely and offer prizes to winning designs in future.

Guatemala Creates New Nature Reserve

The Sierra Caral Amphibian Reserve is Guatemala's newest wildlife reserve and will protect the homes of some of the world's most endangered and rare amphibian species (five found nowhere else).  The site, an isolated mountain ridge running along the Honduran border near the Caribbean Sea, is also an important stopover for migrating songbirds such as the Kentucky Warbler, Painted Bunting, Wood Thrush and Louisiana Waterthrush.  The habitat is especially lush because it is in a convergence zone of floras and faunas from North and South America. There are many unique species such as the stunningly aqua blue Merendon Palm pitviper (Bothriechis thalassinus) only recently identified by Guatemalan biologist Carlos Vasquez Almazan, who is also responsible for drawing international attention to the importance of the Sierra Caral. He received the prestigious Whitley Award for Conservation [video] for his efforts.

juvenile Bothriechis thalassinus, credit: Don Church

Another significance of the new reserve is that it will preserve a natural corridor used by large mammals to move between the continents which they have done before recorded time. Its 6,000 acres of primary montane forest was almost destroyed; each year Guatemala looses 70,000 hectares (270 square miles) of tropical forest to agriculture and logging. The area around Sierra Caral has been steadily denuded by clear cutting, exposing steep slopes to erosion and degrading water quality. Fifteen international conservation groups banded together to raise the funds needed to acquire the last stands of primary forest.  The government had declared the area protected but it lacked funds to purchase privately held tracts. The Sierra Caral Reserve was dedicated on May 2,2012.

Chart of the Week: Arctic CO₂ Levels Up

credit: P.Tans et al, NOAA

NOAA reports that their arctic monitoring stations in high latitudes have registered CO₂ levels of 400ppm this spring. Because of the stations' remoteness in Alaska, Canada, Finland, Norway and the North Pacific, the readings reflect a rising background level of global carbon dioxide consistent with human emissions.  A scientist with NOAA said the network is reporting what will become a global average in about 2016. More southerly stations have been reporting 400ppm for years in the early spring. As plant growth begins, concentrations fall, then rise in summer in an annual cycle.

The good news in an otherwise ominously warming world, is that natural carbon sinks such as tropical forests are still sucking up atmospheric carbon dioxide contrary to some recent studies suggesting these sinks have reached capacity [grey line, chart].  These latest, optimistic findings were reported at a May 15th conference hosted by NOAA's Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Boulder, CO. Exactly where the unused capacity is located is not clear given the worldwide destruction of forests. There may be sufficient forest regrowth to keep up with increasing levels of atmospheric CO₂ or the oceans may be absorbing more than previously estimated. Read outs from Mauna Loa on Hawaii show carbon dioxide levels rising steadily from 316 ppm in 1959 to 392ppm today.

'Toontime: The Dark Side

[credit: RJ Matson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Americans seem oblivious of the Obamatron's disregard of constitutional limitations on the power of the Presidency. Or is it because they fear the rival who appears so utterly reactionary as to be just as frightening? Better the ruthless "Muslim Kenyan" you know than the cultist vulture capitalist you don't.

[credit: Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune]