Blogotariat

Earth has a magnetic field, which begins at the core and stretches far out into space. Typically, this magnetic field is a useful shield for solar activity. However, if the Earth's magnetic field bumps up against the sun's magnetic field, all types of madness can ensue, including geomagnetic storms, or space weather that can affect the International Space Station. 

Last night the Australian dollar launched above the 91 cent resistance mark and is in free air to fly off its inverted head and shoulders bottom: The proximate trigger was a sagging US dollar which was down half percent and break support: This also sent gold back to $1350. On the surface,  that had noting to [...]

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Why are so many voters so reluctant to vote? The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) released figures after the last election that revealed 20 per cent of eligible voters did not cast their ballot in the last federal election and 25 per cent of young voters failed to enrol for the next election.

By Leith van Onselen In the week ended 6 March 2014, the RP Data-Rismark 5-city daily dwelling price index, which covers the five major capital city markets, rose by 0.92%. It was the biggest weekly increase in values since the daily index started in January 2012 (see next chart). Values rose in all major capitals [...]

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One year ago our daughter died and was born.

We called her Sakura, for the cherry blossom. Sakura is a thing of beauty that does not, and cannot last, longer than a short time. But we meet its brief time in this world with joy and not sorrow.

Not surprisingly, I guess, thinking about her this way doesn’t make it hurt any less.

The occasional sweaty bad dream is just a bother, but five percent of adults have frequent nightmares, which can disrupt sleep enough to interfere with waking life too. And for the 7.7 million American adults with PTSD, the proportion climbs to 71 percent. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recently came out with two official recommendations for how to chase away bad dreams. Both are commonly used in veterans’ hospitals.

The argument that Chinese steel output is at its peak gets some heavy-duty support today from Reuters: Zhang Wuzong, delegate at the National People’s Congress (NPC) and chairman of private steelmaker Shandong Shiheng Special Steel said there was no room for further expansion. “You can basically say that Chinese steel output has reached a peak…If [...]

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“This hand is not the color of yours. But if I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you also feel pain. The blood that will flow from mine will be the same color as yours. I am a man.”

Standing Bear to a Nebraska court, May 1879. More here. HT Three Quarks

Perhaps with the exception of Madame Speaker, – maintaining her now customary, stern impartiality – yesterday, various female members of the Government, including the Foreign Minister, captured by the cameras in the House of Reps Question Time were attractively fitted out in orange.

Presumably, this expressed  symbolic solidarity with the Ukraine’s Orange Revolution.

I recall seeing an exciting young player from Canberra at a Doberl Cup about seven or eight years ago. (The Doberl Cup is a regular fixture of the Canberra calendar. The comp was endowed by Mr Doberl with enough money so that the best from Australia and a few additional grandmasters from further afield come and fight for the cup.)