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Paint-on solar cells developed Paint-On Solar Cells DevelopedScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2011) — Imagine if the next coat of paint you put on the outside of your home generates electricity from light -- electricity that can be used to power the appliances and equipment on the inside.See Also: Matter & Energy Nanotechnology Solar Energy Energy Technology Earth & Climate Energy and the Environment Renewable Energy Environmental Science Reference Nanomedicine Solar cell Electric power Biomass A team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame has made a major advance toward this vision by creating an inexpensive "solar paint" that uses semiconducting nanoparticles to produce energy."We want to do something ..."This paste of cadmium sulfide-coated titanium dioxide nanoparticles could turn large surfaces into solar cells. (Credit: : ACS Nano)

by   Barry Ritholtz “Why there hasn’t been more robust prosecution is a mystery.” -Raymond Brescia, visiting professor, Yale Law School > Reuters has an  outrageous article  detailing the absurdity of the lack of prosecution of financial crimes in modern America. It is a shocking to watch the United States, a nation that once followed the Rule of Law, slip into a banana republic..."

by  Chris Puplava  Watch the TED Spread Portfolio Manager, Fundamental Analyst  at  PFS Group Like the Ted spread for the US, the euro equivalent also shows counter-party risk continues to rise in Europe as the spread is higher now than at any time except for the peak in the 2008 credit crisis. What is key to note is how quickly the credit spread jumped in 2008, rising from less than 1% to nearly 4% in a matter of days.... Summary It is my view that unless the ECB prints near the magnitude of trillions to support the European sovereign debt market and banks, then things are likely to get worse than better. Additionally, despite a US economic recovery, the message of my  technical monitor   and the general message from the credit markets suggests the US stock market is on shaky ground. If the ECB was going to come out with a massive quantitative easing program then spreads would contract and Europe would not pose the same threat to the curre...

By h.b. - Dec 18, 2011 - 11:15 AM The Sunday Times reports that the Foreign Office is preparing for the worst case scenario and a collapse of banks in the Eurozone   The Sunday Times has claimed that Whitehall has plans for a euro-evacuation. The paper claims that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is drawing up plans to ‘rescue’ thousands of British expats from Spain and Portugal in the event of a banking collapse. ... "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is drawing up plans to evacuate thousands of British expatriates from Spain and Portugal in the event that their banking systems collapse. It comes as credit rating agencies warn that the deal struck by EU leaders this month may not save the single currency from further turbulence and possible collapse. Officials from the Foreign Office and the Treasury are preparing contingency plans to help thousands of Britons get home if banks in Spain and Portugal — two of the most vulnerable eurozone economies — fail and people are u...

A good article on what is happening with the Euro and how to prepare you assets and investment portfolio Beware of Europe’s Backdoor Bank Run Here are four troubling signs the news media isn't telling you about Dec 18, 2011, 8:00 am EST   |     By  Keith Fitz-Gerald On Wednesday,   Fitch Ratings   downgraded its credit ratings on five of Europe’s biggest banks, and while that decision made headlines, it’s not the most important story to come out of Europe this week. The real story, which the mainstream media is neglecting, is about signs of an underground run on Europe’s banks. Almost nobody’s talking about it, but there are indications money is already moving out of the EU faster than rats abandoning a sinking ship...."

by Jess's Cafe' Americain Dec. 17 The customer assets were stolen " The bottom line is that apparently some warehouses and bullion dealers are not a safe place to store your gold and silver, even if you hold a specific warehouse receipt.  In an oligarchy, private ownership is merely a concept, subject to interpretation and confiscation. ... How more plainly can it be said? The US financial system as it now stands cannot be trusted to observe even the most basic property rights as it continues to unravel from a long standing culture of fraud. Get your money as far away from Wall Street as is possible.  And if you want to own gold and silver, take delivery and store it in a secure private facility outside the fractional reserve system. ..."

MF Global and the great Wall St re-hypothecation scandal 12/7/2011 By Christopher Elias (UK) (Business Law Currents) A legal loophole in international brokerage regulations means that few, if any, clients of MF Global are likely to get their money back. Although details of the drama are still unfolding, it appears that MF Global and some of its Wall Street counterparts have been actively and aggressively circumventing U.S. securities rules at the expense (quite literally) of their clients. ... http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Securities/Insight/2011/12_-_December/MF_Global_and_the_great_Wall_St_re-hypothecation_scandal/

MERS: The Elephant in the Foreclosure Room If you are a  homeowner  , chances are that the current owner of your mortgage is an entity known as MERS (Mortgage Electronic Recording System). This is true even though you are making your payments to one of the major banks or a dedicated mortgage servicing company. Nobody borrows from MERS in the first instance but somewhere in the chain of title the likelihood is that MERS became (and continues to be) the owner despite a series of transfers to banks, trusts, and investment vehicles. In legal parlance, MERS will be identified in your mortgage documents as the "mortgagee of record," and will also be identified as the "nominee," or agent for the purpose of making future transfers to other entities.  http://www.bankruptcyforeclosureblog.com/2011/03/mers-the-elephant-in-the-forec.html

.. MERS electronic system is an end run around registry of Deeds The mortgage industry was kissed by a witch in the night. Looking for their own selfish gain they came up with a cunning system to transfer mortgages and shortcut the public recording system. Washed clean by the market crash, mortgage holders insisted their title claims were true, and the system is nursing its pain..."

ref; Wiki: Were the Walls Necessary? - The New Rules of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act The limitations of the GSA on the banking sector sparked a debate over how much restriction is healthy for the industry. Many argued that allowing banks to  diversify  in moderation offers the banking industry the potential to reduce risk, so the restrictions of the GSA could have actually had an adverse effect, making the banking industry riskier rather than safer. Furthermore, big banks of the post-Enron market are likely to be more transparent, lessening the  possibility  of assuming too much risk or masking unsound investment decisions. As such, reputation has come to mean everything in today's market, and that could be enough to motivate banks to regulate themselves. Consequently, to the delight of many in the banking industry (not everyone, however, was happy), in November of 1999 Congress repealed the GSA with the establishment of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which eliminated t...