Carabus (Eucarabus) monilis Fabricius, 1792
Familie: Carabidae
Groesse: 24 mm (17-32 mm)
Verbreitung: West- und Mitteleuropa, von den Britischen Inseln bis Norditalien
Oekologie: eurytop und thermophil
Fundort: England, Warwickshire
leg.det. D.J.Mann, 15.IV.1993
Photo: U.Schmidt, 2011
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Carabus, Fabricius, 24 mm, Mitteleuropa, Britischen Inseln, Nord, England
El islote de O Santo do Mar desde la playa
The islet of O Santo do Mar (literally: The Saint of the Sea) from the beach
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Mars Science Laboratory Rollout (201111250002HQ)
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden looks on as the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity begins rolling to Space Launch Complex-41, early Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The launch team continues working towards liftoff of the Atlas V on Saturday, Nov. 26. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)
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AVE por El Papiol
Aquell mat vaig anar amb en Pere a per el Cargometro amb la LMZ de Comsa, i una cosa si que la vam fer, pelar-nos de fred. L’estona no va estar malament, tot i que en mercants va ser una mica pobre, tenint la varietat a la LAV, ja que en l’estona que vam estar all, va passar un 112, un 121 en proves, algun Avant, algun Velaro com aquest fent serveis cap Madrid (en concret el de la foto fent un Barcelona Sants – Madrid Puerta de Atocha) i a l’inrevs, i el Tren Hotel de Galicia. Una salutaci al Pere pel fred mat que vam passar all.
Esa maana fui con Pere a por el Cargometro con la LMZ de Comsa, y una cosa s que la hicimos, pelarnos de fro. El rato no estuvo mal, aunque en mercante fue un poco pobre, teniendo la variedad de la LAV, ya que en el rato que estuvimos all, pas un 112, un 121 en pruebas, algn Avant, algn Velaro como este haciendo servicios hacia Madrid (en concreto el de la foto haciendo un Barcelona Sants – Madrid Puerta de Atocha) y viceversa, y el Tren Hotel de Galicia. Un saludo a Pere por la fra maana que pasamos all.
An electric high speed train of 103 series of Renfe made by Siemens and called Velaro, in a service between Barcelona Sants and Madrid Puerta de Atocha.
Un train de grande vitesse lectrique de la srie 103 de Renfe, fabriqu par Siemens et appel Velaro, dans un service entre Barcelona Sants et Madrid Puerta de Atocha.
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Ferry to Steward Island_sunrise_Ship
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St Ambrose Church, Gilgandra, New South Wales, Australia
South elevation of St. Ambrose Church
© Ray Christison, 2010
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Ray Christison ebook download, St Ambrose Church, Gilgandra, New South Wales, St. Ambrose ChurchпїЅ, Ambrose ChurchRay Christison, elevation
Warren County Court House
Lake George, New York
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Warren County Court HouseLake George, AmericaLeavesColorWarren County Court HouseAutumnCourt House
Frosty the Snowman
Berlin 2010
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CB526 Tubing
Tubing at Blue Mountain ski resort.
Winter vacation to The Poconos, Feb 2009.
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20111117-0006-Sunset in Windsor
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#201 in TEAMPHOTOBLOG 2011 = Sand in the wind. Lake Michigans shoreline during strong November winds.
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European authorities are treating Italy's debt problems as the product of a dysfunctional political culture. The chorus from Brussels and Frankfurt is that dispassionate technocrats, armed with help and advice from the euro zone, are needed to introduce essential reforms into a hidebound economic system.
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Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Italian Premier Mario Monti took his seat before a confidence vote Thursday.
But a closer look at the numbers reveals Italy's heavy debt burden isn't a result of recent government profligacy—certainly not compared with others around the world. Instead, it is in large part a consequence of policies introduced more than 30 years ago that laid the groundwork for the euro.
In 1979, European nations created the European Monetary System, the precursor of the euro zone. The EMS called on countries to keep their currencies trading within a fixed range of each other, with an eye toward limiting exchange-rate volatility and perhaps one day adopting a single currency.
That meant Italy, with one of the developed world's highest inflation rates, needed very high interest rates to keep the lira from falling against the German mark. In 1981, the Bank of Italy raised its discount rate to a peak of 19% and kept it above 10% until 1993.
This had a dramatic impact on Italy's public finances. Yields on 10-year government bonds peaked at over 20% in 1982 and averaged 14% between 1980 and 1993, way above inflation. (This does show Italy has paid current interest rates of about 7% before and lived to fight another day; the fear haunting investors today is that rates are unlikely to plateau at this level, but could rise frighteningly.)
Public debt exploded over that period, rising from under 60% of gross domestic product in 1980 to around 120% of GDP in 1994—very close to today's level. Interest payments rose from less than 4% of GDP to around 12% of GDP over the same time period.
Economists point to another reform adopted in 1981 that would anticipate the euro zone's monetary policy: The Bank of Italy was "divorced" from the Italian Treasury, and was no longer forced to buy bonds left over from Italy's debt auctions.
"The independence of the Bank of Italy, which started with the divorce, was the origin of the large public-debt burden," said Fabio Padovano, an economist at the University of Rome.
When Italian inflation levels surpassed 20%, as they did in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was understandable that the Bank of Italy would want to keep interest rates sky high. But even after inflation had fallen to under 6.5% in 1986 and stayed there, the bank kept its discount rate high. The rate stood at 15% in 1992, despite average inflation of just 5%. Italian real interest rates—the difference between interest rates and inflation—were sharply positive long after inflation ceased to be a major problem, which meant the real burden of the debt on the economy climbed sharply.
The desire to limit devaluation of the lira within the EMS weighed heavily on Italian policy makers—even though the Bank of Italy had to accept multiple instances of lira devaluation since the start of the EMS. And in the 1980s, sky-high inflation wasn't a distant memory.
"People were scared, in a sense," Mr. Padovano said. "Italy had a history of negative real interest rates."
With the Bank of Italy no longer forced to buy debt from Treasury auctions, "interest rates had to be kept at a pretty high level to encourage people to purchase bonds," he added. "Like the European Central Bank, the Bank of Italy had to establish a reputation for being an independent institution."
This doesn't mean Italy's debt problems are totally unrelated to lax budgets and reckless Italian politicians. Back in 1975, Italy's budget deficit did spike to around 12%. Its primary deficit—the shortfall if you exclude interest payments—was over 7%. But since then, Italy's control over its finances has steadily improved.
Those numbers, however, hold the beginnings of a troubling trend: Interest payments began to account for an increasing share of Italy's deficit. By 1985, Italy's budget deficit was around 12% of GDP, but its primary deficit was less than 5% of GDP. Italy's primary deficit would continue to fall, until the government began running surpluses around 1992. These primary surpluses remained until the crisis hit in 2009.
The harm caused by high Italian interest rates extends beyond the impact to Italy's debt. High rates also hurt Italian growth. Italy recorded one of the world's highest growth rates in the post-war era, averaging over 5.5% from 1950 through 1973. But growth averaged just 2.1% from 1980 to 1993. Since 1995 and the country's last devaluation, Italian growth has been by far the slowest of the major European countries. With no economic growth, a high debt burden becomes harder to shake off.
Italian central bankers didn't face an easy choice in the mid-1980s after beating down inflation several years earlier: Had they cut interest rates, they would risk reigniting inflation and sparking a potentially disruptive currency devaluation. So, yes, the Bank of Italy—like the U.S. Federal Reserve—needed to raise rates sharply in the 1970s and early 1980s to squeeze inflation out of the system. But the country is now coping with the burden of economic policies that set the stage for the euro, policies that, in retrospect, may have kept interest rates too high for too long.
Write to Matthew Dalton at Matthew.Dalton@dowjones.com
exchange rate volatility, european monetary system, mario monti, high interest rates, confidence vote, inflation rates, european authorities, bank of italy, current interest rates, government bonds, single currency, same time period, german mark, debt burden, public finances, euro zone, dramatic impact, technocrats, political culture, debt problems
This rock was at the top of the hill I climbed on November 5.
VIEW on BLACK or in LIGHTBOX. --- (hit "L")
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![[SB10001424052970204224604577032090354513990]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OD-AM184_CAR_D_20111111010405.jpg)
Pedro Guimaraes/4SEE for The Wall Street Journal
There are two very trick bits to this car: The first is its tomorrow-tech flywheel energy-storage system. Like other hybrids, the car has a motor/generator (actually two, worth about 100 hp each) attached to the front wheels. Under braking, these motor/generators convert kinetic energy otherwise lost as heat in the brakes into electrical current.
However, unlike battery-equipped hybrids, the Porsche stores its amperage mechanically, spooling up a 31-pound flywheel operating in a vacuum chamber in (one hopes) a crash-proof box beside the driver. Under acceleration, the flywheel's enormous kinetic energy is converted back to electrons and returned to the front-wheel motors, helping the car go farther and faster. There is also the not-inconsiderable thrust provided by the 4.0-liter, 470-hp flat-six in the back, churning the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox. This car can accelerate and decelerate at about 1 g and corner at nearly 2 g, which is pretty physical, let me tell you. Lisbon hasn't been this blurry since the earthquake of 1755.
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Pedro Guimaraes/4SEE for The Wall Street Journal
'There's very little drama in the steering, no unpleasant electrical pushback coming through the suede-wrapping steering wheel.'
At the American Le Mans Series' six-hour endurance race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in September, the GT3 R Hybrid walked away from the field, posting the fastest laps in the GT class and stopping only three times for fuel, compared with other competitors' five or more stops. Because the ALMS hasn't yet written the rules to cover this technology, the GT3 R Hybrid is ineligible for points. Porsche calls the car a "racing lab." I would like to publicly apply for the position of lab rat.
In racing, flywheels have a singular advantage of high power, which is to say, rapid discharge, compared with electrochemical storage. Batteries typically don't like deep power cycling (see your cellphone) and tend to get hot and fatigued.
The GT3 R Hybrid's flywheel device was built by Formula 1 constructor Williams as part of F1's pursuit of Kinetic Energy Storage Systems (KERS), which began in 2009. The date to remember, however, is June 2014, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That race will debut a new set of rules by the race organizers, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, and it will see many of the world's great car makers competing with advanced hybrid prototype sports cars. Porsche, the winning-est marque in endurance racing, will return to the P1 class for the first time since 1998, fielding its 918RSR Hybrid, which will almost certainly use a more evolved version of the flywheel system on the car I drove.
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Pedro Guimaraes/4SEE for The Wall Street Journal
'This is genius-level technology in the service of stupid fast.'
Set your TiVos now. This will be the race of the century, a battle of giants. It will also be the ultimate test of various hybrid technologies and arrays, and will ratify the wholesale hybridization of performance cars. In many people's opinion, and mine, too, this is the only direction big-time racing can go to save itself from its own vanity and irrelevance.
Why would Porsche put such an important piece of technology in the hands of an amateur like me? That brings me to the other trick bit: torque vectoring. The electric motors on the front wheels, where the steering gets done, can be driven at different speeds and power levels, with an articulation that's impossible with mechanically based torque-vectoring systems, like that on the McLaren MP4-12C. The Porsche can literally pull itself into a corner by over-driving the outside front wheel and under-driving the inside wheel.
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2012 Porsche 911 S: Another Best 911 Ever
It's like falling into some sort of weird asphalt gravity well. There's very little drama in the steering, no unpleasant electrical pushback coming through the suede-wrapping steering wheel. When you go back to the power and unwind the wheel, all 200 electric horsepower at the front wheels yanks you down the track as if on a magic cable, vectoring torque to take you precisely where you're pointing. The car blasts out of turns with a fierce, arcing inevitability, with its mountain of software helping to balance the car on the very knife-edge of tire adhesion.
This is genius-level technology in the service of stupid fast.
The amount of corner entrance and exit torque vectoring ("TV IN" and "TV OUT," according to the knobs on the steering wheel) can be preprogrammed by the engineers according to the track layout, the condition of the tires and the driver's style. Like an earlier version of the car, the GT3 R Hybrid 2.0 has manual-mode buttons ("REKUP" and "BOOST") for the drivers to capitalize on chances to recuperate energy or pass, but on this day Porsche's engineers declined to let journalists try them. Crucially, another dial controls the electric-motor "map," allowing drivers to dial down the rate at which the electric boost comes on—quite helpful in the rain.
Porsche GT3 R Hybrid
Price as tested: $1.5 million (est.)
Powertrain: Integrated gas-electric hybrid with flywheel energy recovery system; midrear-mounted, direct-injection 4.0-liter 24-valve dual-overhead cam flat six with variable valve timing and dry-sump lubrication; six-speed sequential dog-type gearbox with paddle-shift actuation and multiplate carbon clutch; dual AC synchronous electric motor/ generators mounted on front portal axle; full-time all-wheel drive with limited-slip differential in the rear and programmable torque vectoring in front
Peak system output: 760 hp (470 hp internal combustion, and 200 hp electric boost of up to 8 seconds)
0-60 mph: 2.5 sec (est.)
Top speed: 195 mph (est.)
Length/weight: 175.5 inches/2,860 pounds
Wheelbase: 92.7 inches
EPA fuel economy: N/A
It adds up to nothing less than a revolution in race-car dynamics, a virtually self-adjusting car, a dancing alloy algorithm of stunning pace and rip-your-head-off handling, an all-wheel-drive car with optimized traction control that knows the track as well as or better than the driver. Then it's just bang-bang-bang, up and down the paddle-shifted gears, topping out on the front straight of Estoril at about 160 mph before a 1-g braking event at Turn 1—and, believe me, it is an event.
Complaints? First and foremost, the noise of the fully charged flywheel, whirling at between 28,000 and 36,000 rpm in the passenger compartment, is unbearable, a stunning, suffocating 500 Hz at, I'm guessing, at least 100 dB. It's like sharing your helmet with a Harrier jet.
Second: Frankly, Mein Herr, I'd like more horsepower. Perhaps a taller final gear? This car is so exquisite dynamically that it actually cries out for more top speed. I'm sure Porsche can fix that.
Bottom line: There is nothing about this technology, that cannot migrate to Porsche's road cars, and as I unstrapped my sweating and woozy self from the driver's seat, I felt as if I had driven a Porsche 911, circa 2016 or so. Indeed, it seems inevitable, given Porsche's track-based product development, that the company's flagship sports car will one day be a hybrid.
I'll be counting the tenths of a second.
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N275DP Beechcraft King Air 65-90 National air and space museum kiad 20090606
N275DP Beechcraft King Air 65-90 National Air And Space Museum KIAD 20090606
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Rassemblement international de ballons Chambley en France
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Liquor of the Mountains
Shot in Vietnam in Ha Long Bay while been taken for a boat ride around a floating village.
I had quite an interesting time getting into Vietnam. I was told I didn’t need a visa by my travel agents and so didn’t think any more of it. However when we went to check in at the airport we were asked for our visa’s, which we obviously didn’t have. Luckily the next day we were able to get visa’s and catch a flight, arriving only a day late.
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Green Lake Falls Close Up (DSG_8570)
No idea if this one has a name, I doubt it. So I made one up.
Green Lake - Orchard Park, New York (NY)
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Lets have a drink?!
262|2011
LAnd Vineyards - Montemor-o-Novo - Alentejo - Portugal
© All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal
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