Daily Archives: August 6, 2010

A Galactic Spectacle


SPACE WATCH
Galactic collisionNASA – The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red).

The collision, which began more than 100 million years ago and is still occurring, has triggered the formation of millions of stars in clouds of dusts and gas in the galaxies. The most massive of these young stars have already sped through their evolution in a few million years and exploded as supernovas.

The X-ray image from Chandra shows huge clouds of hot, interstellar gas that have been injected with rich deposits of elements from supernova explosions. This enriched gas, which includes elements such as oxygen, iron, magnesium and silicon, will be incorporated into new generations of stars and planets. The bright, point-like sources in the image are produced by material falling onto black holes and neutron stars that are remnants of the massive stars. Some of these black holes may have masses that are almost one hundred times that of the Sun. more> http://bwbx.io/nhz4

Basel Rules May Push Banks to Slash Trading: Dugan


By Yalman Onaran – Higher capital requirements that international regulators plan to impose on banks worldwide are likely to push firms to shrink trading activities in favor of lending, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan said.

The new rules being negotiated by regulators in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision would have a greater impact on the firms’ so-called trading books, which include stocks, bonds and other securities, Dugan said in an interview. Loans and other debt held until maturity in their banking books would be less affected. more> http://bwbx.io/20KC

The FCC’s Dangerous ‘Let’s Make A Deal’


Art BrodskyBy Art Brodsky – There is a simple reason that the FCC leadership feels it has been forced into this no-win negotiation scenario. The Telecom Empire has persuaded them that it has them surrounded and the Commission is desperately looking for a way out of what they see as a tightening circle of enemies. Of course, most of those enemies are controlled by the Telecom Empire – those members of Congress beholden to the Empire for financial sustenance. And there are many, including quite a few in the President’s own party who would take Telecom Empire coin and sell out from greed, or who go along with the Empire out of sheer ignorance by not taking the time to realize the harm they are doing. more> http://bwbx.io/CxXP

related>

FCC Cancels Backroom Meetings with Telecoms on Net Neutrality


FCCBy David Dayen – The FCC had been meeting with lobbyists for the telecoms, broadcasters and Internet giants like Google for the past week, trying to accommodate them in selling out the Internet. This only worked in getting net neutrality activists to recognize what a disaster was looming in just a few short weeks. Free Press and others engaged the FCC directly with a variety of methods. more> http://bwbx.io/EqnB

related>

New York Times’ Story is Mistaken


David FishBy David Fish – The NYT article regarding conversations between Google and Verizon is mistaken.  It fundamentally misunderstands our purpose. As we said in our earlier FCC filing, our goal is an Internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, and incorporates specific FCC authority, while maintaining investment and innovation. To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect.  more> http://bwbx.io/VBe0

related>