Wednesday 09-08-10

More on the Korean 3006 M1 Garands.

Washington Vetoes Korea's Re-Sale of Old Rifles to U.S.
The U.S. administration has vetoed the Korean government's plan to sell some 100,000 old M1 rifles used during the Korean War back to the United States. It also banned 850,000 M1 rifles already imported from Korea and other countries from being sold to civilians.

In order to save some W300 million (US$1=W1,181) on storing old weaponry a year, the Korean government decided to sell the 86,000 M1 Garands and 22,000 M1 Carbines to the U.S. and repeatedly asked Washington to approve the deal. The expected price was W130 billion in total, with one M1 Garand fetching US$220 and a M1 Carbine US$140. But the U.S. objected to the plan fearing that they could land in the hands of terrorists.

A Korean government official said, "It's difficult to understand why the U.S. opposes the deal now, when we already shipped tens of thousands of these firearms to the U.S. in the early 1990s. We are trying to grasp the real underlying cause of this reversal through diplomatic channels." He added that because these firearms were originally made in the U.S., selling them back needs approval from Washington.

A U.S. State Department spokesman told Fox News on Wednesday, "The transfer of such a large number of weapons... could potentially be exploited by individuals seeking firearms for illicit purposes."

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/09/03/2010090300985.html

More than 400 US Banks Will Fail: Roubini
Even if the US and European economies manage to avoid a double dip, it will still feel like a recession, while more than half of the 800-plus US banks on the "critical list" are likely to go bust, according to renowned economist Nouriel Roubini of Roubini Global Economics.

The second half of the year will remain weak as tailwinds become headwinds, Roubini told CNBC on the shores of Lake Como, Italy at the Ambrosetti Forum economics conference.

"In the second half, fiscal policy becomes a headwind, no more cash for clunkers," Roubini said. "The positive scenario is that growth will be below par."

Roubini recently said the chance of a double-dip recession in the US was now more than 40 percent.

"The big risk is that there will be a downturn in markets that could impact the bond, the equity and the credit markets," he said.

“Job losses have been higher, the US jobs number will show that. There is no private sector jobs growth," he said. "Consumption is weak, exports are weak and housing is weak."

"If there is no final sales and no final demand, companies will not invest," he added.

New Normal Coming and More Banks Will Fail

Roubini said he believes hopes of decoupling will be dashed as the slowdown in the US impacts China, Japan and the euro zone.

"In Europe, Germany is strong but the rest of the continent is pretty dismal," he said. "The rest of the world cannot cope without the prop of the US consumer. Chinese growth in the second half will be 7 percent."

“Get used to it," Roubini said. "Deleveraging has to continue as governments and consumers deleverage in the developed world."

“The biggest banks have been backstopped, but 800-plus small- and medium-sized banks in the US remain on the critical list and half of those will go bust."

"We have to expect the new normal," he added. "We do not need a double dip for it to feel like recession."

“The biggest banks have been backstopped, but 800-plus small- and medium-sized banks in the US remain on the critical list and half of those will go bust," Roubini said.

Roubini said corporate and consumer debt problems will get worse and that there are more problems ahead in the commercial and residential property market.

"Policy makers are running out of bullets, the problem is we need fiscal consolidation, fiscal policy is constrained by the debt problem, monetary policy is becoming ineffectual," he said.

Roubini, known as Dr. Doom to most and voted as Roubini the Realist by CNBC.com readers, said further quantitative easing is pointless as interest rates are already low.

"We are in a liquidity trap and we have insolvency problems," he said.

“What we need is credible spending plans over the medium term on health care, welfare and retirement age," Roubini said. "This will create a fiscal constraint lasting well into next year."

"The best growth over the next 18 months will come from the domestically-focused Brazil, which will outgrow China for the first time in 20 years," he added.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/38986777

Super bar codes gaining popularity in U.S.
What do Manor, Texas and Japan have in common?

Perhaps more than you think.

Both places heavily use QR codes, or quick response codes, a more advanced bar code, in order get information out to the public.

Simple bar codes are nothing new. They're on nearly everything we purchase in a store. But there's a new kind of bar code that's taking off overseas, and it's starting to gain popularity here as well.

Chris Bennett is the founder and CEO of GovLive. He joined the Dorobek Insider to talk about his blog post about QR codes and when the codes will become popular in the U.S.

"The bar code only stores a few numbers, when you check out something in the grocery store you'll see a couple numbers in case it doesn't scan, the cashier can enter into the register."

A QR code, Bennett explains, is more complex.

"They can hold usually a couple hundred, but even up to a couple thousand characters of information within a tiny square. So if you think about it, you can store names, contact information, date of birth, URL, or an advertising message."

Bennett explained that the primary way people are able to use and read QR codes is through smart phones and a special application.

"You point your camera phone at the code and it instantly decodes that message and it displays it on the screen and it's often used to put a website or URL address in that code so that you could, for example, point your camera phone at an ad for a new music single that came out, and that QR code would link you directly to iTunes to download it."

The QR codes are not only used for fun though. Bennett discussed the benefits of the codes during crisis situations.

"Let's say somebody is either getting onto an evacuation bus or checking into a shelter, assume there's no communication, the phone lines are down, you can simply type up on your smart phone device who the evacuee's name is, date of birth, city they're coming from, where they're going to, any information you want and print it out right there. You instantly just stored all of that information about that evacuee and when they get to their destination somebody else could scan that information."

Bennett and GovLive are hoping to bring the power and convenience of the QR code to more people. Currently you need to have a smartphone in order to read and access the codes, but with new technology, people with regular phones with cameras will be able to take pictures of a code, text message them to the GovLive website, which will in turn reply with a text message of the information.

Bennett said it won't take long for the technology to take off in the U.S.

"I think it take something that reaches the general public in a big way, someone to use it for the first time and get people's attention. There's been rumors that Facebook will put QR codes on bars and restaurants to scan them with your phone and essentially check in the same way you do with Four Square. If Facebook were to do that, then overnight everybody would know what QR codes were."

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=150&sid=2042158