How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival [Excerpt]

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This book excerpt traces the history of quantum information theory and the colorful and famous physicists who tried to figure out "spooky action at a distance"


How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival [Excerpt] Image: W. W. Norton & Company

Editor's Note: Reprinted from How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival by David Kaiser. Copyright (c) 2011 by David Kaiser. Used with permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Click here to see a Scientific American?video that explains quantum entanglement.?

[from Chapter 2, pp. 25-38:]
The iconoclastic Irish physicist John S. Bell had long nursed a private disquietude with quantum mechanics. His physics teachers?first at Queen's University in his native Belfast during the late 1940s, and later at Birmingham University, where he pursued doctoral work in the mid-1950s?had shunned matters of interpretation. The "ask no questions" attitude frustrated Bell, who remained unconvinced that Niels Bohr had really vanquished the last of Einstein's critiques long ago and that there was nothing left to worry about. At one point in his undergraduate studies, his red shock of hair blazing, he even engaged in a shouting match with a beleaguered professor, calling him "dishonest" for trying to paper over genuine mysteries in the foundations, such as how to interpret the uncertainty principle. Certainly, Bell would grant, quantum mechanics worked impeccably "for all practical purposes," a phrase he found himself using so often that he coined the acronym, "FAPP." But wasn't there more to physics than FAPP? At the end of the day, after all the wavefunctions had been calculated and probabilities plotted, shouldn't quantum mechanics have something coherent to say about nature?

In the years following his impetuous shouting matches, Bell tried to keep these doubts to himself. At the tender age of twenty-one he realized that if he continued to indulge these philosophical speculations, they might well scuttle his physics career before it could even begin. He dove into mainstream topics, working on nuclear and particle physics at Harwell, Britain's civilian atomic energy research center. Still, his mind continued to wander. He wondered whether there were some way to push beyond the probabilities offered by quantum theory, to account for motion in the atomic realm more like the way Newton's physics treated the motion of everyday objects. In Newton's physics, the behavior of an apple or a planet was completely determined by its initial state?variables like position (where it was) and momentum (where it was going)?and the forces acting upon it; no probabilities in sight. Bell wondered whether there might exist some set of variables that could be added to the quantum-mechanical description to make it more like Newton's system, even if some of those new variables remained hidden from view in any given experiment. Bell avidly read a popular account of quantum theory by one of its chief architects, Max Born's Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance (1949), in which he learned that some of Born's contemporaries had likewise tried to invent such "hidden variables" schemes back in the late 1920s. But Bell also read in Born's book that another great of the interwar generation, the Hungarian mathematician and physicist John von Neumann, had published a proof as early as 1932 demonstrating that hidden variables could not be made compatible with quantum mechanics. Bell, who could not read German, did not dig up von Neumann's recondite proof. The say-so of a leader (and soon-to-be Nobel laureate) like Born seemed like reason enough to drop the idea.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=4c023befa2bbe01a0af386c8ee4039f4

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Video: Romney-Gingrich war heats up

>> our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd joins me from our washington news room. it seems gingrich and romney see the path to the nomination is on this question of elect ability. who can face down barack obama in the general election . is that's what's driving this increasingly heated rhetoric we're hearing?

>> it seems to be driving romney 's numbers up. the number one issue, quality in our poll, elect ability. romney had even a bigger lead on gingrich on that one. yes, electability is driving this a little bit, particularly in florida . these big, larger states, unlike iowa and new hampshire, south carolina , where you get more of a chance to know niece candidates, in florida it's all about tv ads. that's been another advantage for romney . he's carpet-bombed the state in a way you can tell it's gotten under gingrich 's skin. the question i have, lester, what does gingrich do after florida if he indeed does lose? because there's an awful lot of space and time before he can get to a state that he has a good chance of winning.

>> we've seen the stop gingrich movement among mainline republicans. at the same time, tea party movements seem to be circling the wagons around gingrich . are we moving up to a day of reckoning in the republican party here?

>> reporter: not yet but i establishment really is nervous about this issue of romney not having more time to basically fix his general election problems. this process is not been good to him. he is upside down in his personal rating. a net negative right now. that's not good. he needs time to fuks that. gingrich clearly isn't going away. what we saw in new hampshire, sort of the revenge of the tea better and the anti-establishment, rallying around newt, don't be surprise tuesday me see that again. this thing is destined to go at least until mid-march. you've got southern primaries and gingrich is going to want to see if he can get some momentum back there and that's where i think the data party's going to try to carry him through. we'll see.

>> chuck todd in our washington

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46183163/

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Iowa State stuns No. 5 Kansas, 72-64

Iowa State forward Melvin Ejim drives to the basket past Kansas forward Justin Wesley (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Iowa State forward Melvin Ejim drives to the basket past Kansas forward Justin Wesley (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Iowa State guard Scott Christopherson (11) passes the ball under Kansas center Jeff Withey during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Kansas forward Thomas Robinson (0) is fouled by Iowa State forward Royce White while driving to the basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Kansas center Jeff Withey, center, fights for a rebound with Iowa State forward Royce White (30) and guard Chris Allen, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

(AP) ? Royce White has been so bad from the free throw line lately that his struggles have literally turned into nightmares.

A few hours after waking up from a dream in which he couldn't hit anything from the line, White sank the two biggest freebies of his career to give Iowa State a landmark win for coach Fred Hoiberg.

White had 18 points and nine rebounds as the Cyclones upset fifth-ranked Kansas 72-64 on Saturday, snapping the Jayhawks' winning streak at 10 games.

White, the versatile big man who entered shooting an abysmal 39 percent from the line in Big 12 games, hit a pair that rattled in to put Iowa State up 64-59 with 1:47 left.

Kansas then threw the ball away and Chris Babb drained a backbreaking 3 to give the Cyclones an eight-point lead with 55.6 seconds left.

"I woke up this morning dreaming about missing free throws. So I was in the gym this morning and shot free throws trying to get it right," White said. "Teammates keep encouraging me and telling me, 'You can make free throws.'"

Tyshawn Taylor led five players in double figures with 16 points and 10 assists for Kansas (17-4, 7-1 Big 12), which hadn't lost since Dec. 19 against Davidson.

Big 12 player of the year favorite Thomas Robinson had 13 points, but he committed five turnovers and the Jayhawks were outrebounded 36-23.

"I thought we got stops, but I didn't think we cleaned up. How many times did they miss a shot and the ball go off of us and us not secure or whatever?" Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Obviously, we didn't do a good last 3 minutes defensively at all."

Melvin Ejim had 15 points and Scott Christopherson added 14 for the Cyclones (15-6, 5-3), who had lost 13 straight to Kansas since their last victory in 2005. Iowa State students celebrated the program's biggest win in years ? and first over Kansas at home since 2004 ? by storming the floor.

"It was a great win for our program. But like I told our guys, you know, you've got to expect to win your home games," Hoiberg said. "I told the guys to enjoy it and get refocused."

This was Kansas' toughest true road test of the year so far ? and it ended with the Jayhawks' first true road loss of the season.

But Kansas caught the Cyclones napping to start the second half and took its biggest lead to that point, 45-39, thanks to an 11-0 run. Big man Anthony Booker brought Iowa State back, sinking a rare 3-pointer to put the Cyclones ahead 50-49 with 12:13 left.

Neither team could get much going over the next 6 minutes, but Tyrus McGee's three-point play gave Iowa State a 56-53 lead with just over 6 minutes left. Robinson then blew an open dunk and White hit two layups ? one a reverse he spun off the glass ? to make it 60-55 Iowa State with 3:42 left.

"This was our first true road game with a good crowd, a good atmosphere. So, we're going to be seeing that from now on," Taylor said. "Our emphasis this week in practice is just going to be taking care of the ball and just rebound and rebound. You can't lose on the boards like that."

Iowa State fed off the energy of its second sellout crowd of the year and jumped on the Jayhawks early.

Booker drilled a 3 and Babb followed with a steal and layup that put Iowa State ahead 19-11, prompting Self to call timeout.

Kansas finally took a 31-29 lead on an impressive scoop through traffic from Taylor with 3:31 left before the break. Iowa State rallied to grab the halftime advantage, 37-33, despite committing 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

The Cyclones led in part because of their defense on Robinson. He was 1-of-6 shooting in the first half and traveled three times trying to free himself up for shots in the paint.

Jeff Withey, Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford each scored 10 points for Kansas.

"Just not playing my game. Speeding up the game and not taking my time. I'm just not playing the same right now," Robinson said.

Kansas certainly knew what Iowa State was capable of after the Cyclones threw a scare into the Jayhawks in Lawrence two weeks ago.

Iowa State led at halftime back on Jan. 14 and pushed its lead to as many as 12 points before Kansas stormed back for an 82-73 win. The Cyclones might have been able to pull off that upset had they shot better than 2 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half.

Iowa State didn't let the opportunity pass by this time around ? and it now has a marquee win that will look great on its resume come March.

"It definitely feels good to beat them. We felt like we should have won the first time," said White, who finished 6 of 11 from the line. "We knew that it was basically a must-win for us."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-28-T25-Kansas-Iowa%20St/id-7b08447858e14678b218950a0c1856e2

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Administration nominees awaiting next move by GOP (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Senate Republicans are returning to Washington in an angry mood over President Barack Obama's appointments to two key agencies during a year-end break.

More than 70 nominees to judgeships and senior federal agency positions are awaiting the next move from Republicans, who can use Senate rules to block votes on some or all of Obama's picks.

While Republicans return Monday to discuss their next step, recess appointee Richard Cordray is running a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the National Labor Relations Board ? with three temporary members ? is now at full strength with a Democratic majority.

Obama left more than 70 other nominees in limbo, well aware that Republicans could use Senate rules to block them.

The White House justified the appointments on grounds that Republicans were holding up the nominations to paralyze the two agencies. The consumer protection agency was established under the 2010 Wall Street reform law, which requires the bureau to have a director in order to begin policing financial products such as mortgages, checking accounts, credit cards and payday loans.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the five-member NLRB must have a three-member quorum to issue regulations or decide major cases in union-employer disputes.

Several agencies contacted by The Associated Press, including banking regulators, said they were conducting their normal business despite vacancies at the top. In some cases, nominees are serving in acting capacities.

At full strength, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has five board members. The regulation of failed banks "is unaffected," said spokesman Andrew Gray. "The three-member board has been able to make decisions without a problem." Cordray's appointment gives it a fourth member.

The Comptroller of the Currency, run by an acting chief, has kept up its regular examinations of banks. The Federal Trade Commission, operating with four board members instead of five, has had no difficulties. "This agency is not a partisan combat agency," said spokesman Peter Kaplan. "Almost all the votes are unanimous and consensus-driven."

Republicans have pledged retaliation for Obama's recess appointments, but haven't indicated what it might be.

"The Senate will need to take action to check and balance President Obama's blatant attempt to circumvent the Senate and the Constitution, a claim of presidential power that the Bush administration refused to make," said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is his party's top member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Grassley wouldn't go further, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky hasn't tipped his hand after charging that Obama had "arrogantly circumvented the American people." Before the Senate left for its break in December, McConnell blocked Senate approval of more than 60 pending nominees because Obama wouldn't commit to making no recess appointments.

Republicans have to consider whether their actions, especially any decision to block all nominees, might play into Obama's hands.

Obama has adopted an election-year theme of "we can't wait" for Republicans to act on nominations and major proposals like his latest jobs plan. Republicans have to consider how their argument that the president is violating Constitutional checks and balances plays against Obama's stump speeches characterizing them as obstructionists.

Senate historian Donald Ritchie said the minority party has retaliated in the past for recess appointments by holding up specific nominees. "I'm not aware of any situations where no nominations were accepted," he said. The normal practice is for the two party leaders to negotiate which nominations get votes.

During the break, Republicans forced the Senate to convene for usually less than a minute once every few days to argue that there was no recess and that Obama therefore couldn't bypass the Senate's authority to confirm top officials. The administration said this was a sham, and has released a Justice Department opinion backing up the legality of the appointments.

Obama considers the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a signature achievement of his first term. Republicans have been vehemently opposed to the bureau's setup. They argued the agency needed a bipartisan board instead of a director and should have to justify its budget to Congress instead of drawing its funding from the independent Federal Reserve.

Cordray is expected to get several sharp questions from Republicans when he testifies Tuesday before a House Oversight and Government Reform panel.

The NLRB has been a target of Republicans and business groups. Last year, the agency accused Boeing of illegally retaliating against union workers who had struck its plants in Washington state by opening a new production line at its non-union plant in South Carolina. Boeing denied the charge and the case has since been settled, but Republican anger over it and a string of union-friendly decisions from the board last year hasn't abated.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_go_co/us_nominations_spat

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AUTOMOTIVE - AUTOS: 6-Figure Winners At Barrett-Jackson

An Atomic Orange custom 1962 Chevy Corvette rang the bell early Friday evening, gaveled at $325,000 (plus bidder fee) to become the top sale so far at Barrett-Jackson?s Scottsdale auction.

This lavishly customized 1962 Corvette roadster became the auction's top-seller so far at $325,000. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson) The absolutely gorgeous Vette powered by an LS3 GM performance crate V8 engine is a hand-made custom creation with every up-to-date go-fast enhancement imaginable, plus a 1,100-amp sound system and a paint job so glossy you could fall right into it.

Friday?s prime-time sales brought out the deep-pocket bidders, with a number of the customs, restored originals and famous drag racers climbing into six figures. The total sales for Friday reach $19 million with 251 collector cars sold.

By the end of Friday's bidding, 912 cars have been auctioned off for a total of $41,260,510, according to Barrett-Jackson figures.

A 1964 Ford Thunderbolt drag racer with a 427 aluminum-head hemi V8 built by none other than famed racer Mickey Thompson ? a car that Barrett-Jackson president Steve Davis called ?true drag-racing history and Americana? ? provoked excited bidders to run the sale up to $220,000, plus bidder fee.

?This is a real-deal Thunderbolt,? Davis said. ?Everything about this car is 100 percent incredible.?

A historic 1964 Ford Thunderbolt drag racer with a Mickey Thompson hemi V8 was launched to a $220,000 sale. (Photo: Bob Golfen) The Thunderbolt was followed by a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda Super Stock race car, the first Barracuda with a 426 Hemi V8 and a ?one-of-one piece of drag-racing history,? Davis said. That psyched up the Mopar fans and equaled the Thunderbolt bidding at $220,000, plus fee.

A lovely 1937 Ford custom woody wagon from the Ron Pratte collection also ran up the bids, reaching $154,000, including fee. It was followed by another Pratte car, a Candy Apple Red 1941 Willys Americar custom coupe that was a Rod and Custom magazine ?classical gasser? project car that quickly flew up to a top bid of $180,000, plus bidder fee.

But it was Ron Pratte?s super-rare 1968 Shelby GT500 convertible, one of just 153 built and restored to perfection, that set the room on fire. It was bought for $220,000, with the bidder fee.

Later in the evening, another 1968 Shelby GT500, this one a coupe, scored a solid $143,000 sale.

Fifteen 1955-57 two-seat Ford Thunderbirds were sold Friday, with two of them going into the hundreds of thousands. (Photo: Bob Golfen) Ford Thunderbird two-seat convertibles wowed the crowd with strong bidding. A 1957 T?bird restored by the famed Amos Mintor in Sea Spray Green and with a porthole roof scored $200,200 including bidder fee.

It was immediately followed by another pristine Thunderbird, a white 1956 model, that reached $106,700, with fee. Earlier, a Mintor-restored 1957 Bird sold for $95,700. In all, 15 of the 1955-57 T?birds were sold Friday.

An absolutely incredible custom 1955 Chevy Nomad powered by a fuel-injected 555cid, 677-horsepower Edelbrock Musi V8 was another huge seller, going for $181,500 including bidder fee.

A sporty 1954 Buick Skylark convertible, gorgeous after its frame-off restoration and gleaming with chrome accents, became another top seller when the bidding reached $175,000.

A 1967 Austin Healey 3000 restored by marque expert Kurt Tanner moved up the ladder to a $126,500 sale. (Photo: Bob Golfen) A 1967 Austin Healey 3000 BJ8 restored by marque expert Kurt Tanner returned the British sports car to its former auction-star glory with a $126,500 sale. A rare 1970 Pontiac GTO judge convertible, perfectly restored, hit $144,000 on the block, plus bidder fee.

A 1965 Ford Mustang 427 fastback drag car with eight velocity stacks poking high out of itshood, sold for $121,000.

Another six-figure winner was a 1958 Corvette custom convertible that hit $100,000 on the block, or $110,000 with the fee. A primo 1967 Corvette 427/435-horsepower classic hit $102,000.

The charity sale of a custom SPX 2012 Mustang GT raised $160,000 for St. Jude?s Children?s Research Hospital. The Mustang, powered by a supercharged 5-liter V8, was built by Ford racing and Galpin Auto Sports.

A 1933 DeSoto sedan driven by Warren Beatty in 'Bonnie and Clyde' was a runaway hit at $80,300. (Photo: Bob Golfen) A couple of Hollywood celebrity cars roused the crowd Friday evening, including a 1970 Plymouth Cuda convertible that was driven by Don Johnson on the TV show Nash Bridges that sold for $88,000.

And a 1933 DeSoto used to run from the cops in the 1967 movie hit Bonnie and Clyde was introduced with a clip from the film with Warren Beatty at the wheel, and Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman on board. That fun piece of Hollywood memorabilia robbed the bank for $80,300, including fee.

On Saturday, the big dogs of the Scottsdale auction will hit the stage including some highly desirable classics, with a number of them expected to cross into seven-figure territory. SPEED will broadcast the action live from 2 p.m. to midnight ET.

Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at

Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-6-figure-winnners-at-barrett-jackson/

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Summer Coding: U.S. CTO Wants You to Get Tech Skills This Year (Mashable)

Missed out on that New Year's resolution to learn a programming language -- the goal that 300,000 people signed up for, including New York Mayor Bloomberg? Too busy with school to make it happen? You'll get another, even easier shot at that goal this summer. Codecademy, the brand-new entity behind that plan, has announced "Code Summer +" -- a condensed version of its curriculum, starting this May. The announcement was part of an event with U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.

[More from Mashable: Meme Machine: Top 5 Viral Topics This Week]

The White House CTO was in San Francisco on Tuesday to push President Obama's Summer Jobs + plan -- and to rack up some new commitments from the tech industry.

"Codecademy is accessible to everyone," Chopra said. "I'm very bullish on encouraging these tools."

[More from Mashable: 6 Startups to Watch in 2012]

Standing alongside Chopra and Codecademy co-founder Zach Sim was Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus and head of a number of foundations that he pledged to help Summer Jobs +. The Level Playing Field Institute and the College Bound Brotherhood will place disadvantaged and minority students in top Silicon Valley firms and Universities.

Kapor recounted that his own career began with a summer job in 1966 that had provided him access to a computer for the first time. "Half the battle with young people is getting the idea that there's a world they can aspire to," he said. "We can do a much better job in Silicon Valley of being open to the people knocking on our doors, and overcoming our hidden biases."

Chopra also announced that the government would create a Schema.org database of summer jobs within 60 days -- similar to one that has already been created for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

What do you think? How important are summer jobs in shaping the future of employment and education? Do Chopra's commitments go far enough, and what else could the government be doing? Let us know in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20120118/tc_mashable/summer_coding_us_cto_wants_you_to_get_tech_skills_this_year

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Whaddya Mean Google Can't Translate Pages into Elvish? [Just Me?]

So what if Google Translate knows over 60 languages? Who cares that I can change text from Urdu to Haitian Creole? Where are the languages I need—like Klingon, Orc, or Sindarin? I mean, come on, there's not even an option for English to Jive! More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Ytqn0FSzIRk/whaddya-mean-google-cant-translate-pages-into-elvish

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Documents show how Fed missed housing bust (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Ben Bernanke presided over his first meeting as Federal Reserve chairman in March 2006 believing the nation's economy could pull off a "soft landing" from falling home prices. Three months later, Bernanke had begun to grasp that he and others had underestimated the risk housing posed to the economy.

Newly released transcripts of Fed meetings during Bernanke's first year as chairman show that, among Fed officials, he often expressed the most concern about housing. But no official, according to the transcripts, recognized the extent of the damage a housing bubble would cause. A year later, the housing market's collapse helped send the nation into its worst recession since the Great Depression.

In fact, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, then a Fed official, expressed confidence in September 2006 that "collateral damage" from housing could be avoided. The transcripts released Thursday covered the eight meetings of the central bank's chief policy-making body, the Federal Open Market Committee, during 2006. That included the last meeting of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in January of that year and Bernanke's first meeting in March after he had succeeded Greenspan as chairman.

The Fed releases minutes of the FOMC discussions three weeks after the meetings but full transcripts do not come out until five years later.

The transcripts for 2006 show that at first Bernanke did not express concern about the cooling of the housing market after a boom that had pushed sales and home prices to record levels.

"I agree with most of the commentary that the strong fundamentals support a relatively soft landing in housing," Bernanke told his follow FOMC members at his first meeting as chairman in March.

Also in March, Bernanke said, "I think we are unlikely to see growth being derailed by the housing market, but I do want us to be prepared for some quarter-to-quarter fluctuations,"

At his second meeting as chairman in May, Bernanke still seemed fairly confident. "So far we are seeing, at worst, an orderly decline in the housing market; but there is still, I think, a lot to be seen as to whether the housing market will decline slowly or more quickly.

However, by the June meeting, Bernanke was expressing more caution saying that the slowdown in housing was "an asset price correction" that bore watching.

"Like any other asset-price correction, it's very hard to forecast, and consequently it's an important risk and one that should lead us to be cautious in our policy decisions," Bernanke said.

By the September meeting, Bernanke sounded even more concerned about the impact on the broader economy from the slowdown in housing.

"I don't have quite as much confidence as some people around the table that there will be no spillover effect," Bernanke said.

By contrast, Geithner, who was then president of the Fed's New York regional bank, expressed more confidence that the economy could weather the troubles in housing, saying the issue would be the impact on consumer and business spending.

"We just don't see troubling signs yet of collateral damage and we are not expecting much," Geithner said at the September FOMC meeting.

The discussion by the members of the FOMC, the Fed board members in Washington and 12 regional bank presidents, gave no indication that any of them foresaw the devastating impact that the collapse of the housing bubble would have. The country fell into a deep recession and severe financial crisis that led to the loss of more than 8 million jobs.

Bernanke and other Fed officials have said that they failed to see the severity of the shock waves from the housing bust. But the transcripts of their closed-door discussions in 2006 provide new details about how the central bank was responding to the unfolding crisis.

The transcripts of the final meeting of the year, in December, showed that Bernanke was still expecting that the economy would experience a "soft landing" in which growth would slow enough to cool inflation but not drop into a recession.

His comments came a year before the start of the Great Recession, which economists say began in December 2007 and lasted until June 2009.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fed_housing_bubble

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Coca-Cola says it told US about fungicide in juice

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Coca-Cola Co. acknowledged Thursday it was the company that alerted federal regulators about low levels of fungicide in its own orange juice and in competitors' juice, prompting juice prices to rise and increased government testing for the residue.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have said orange juice is safe to drink and the levels found are below levels of concern.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, which makes the Minute Maid and Simply Orange brands of orange juice, said Thursday it had notified FDA of the low levels of the fungicide carbendazim in the company's orange juice and in competitors' juice. The FDA had said Monday that an unnamed company had told the agency about the fungicide and confirmed Wednesday the company was Coca-Cola.

Neither the FDA nor the company said which orange juice products tested positive. Carbendazim is not currently approved for use on citrus in the United States, but it is used to combat mold on orange trees in Brazil, which exports orange juice to the United States. Fungicides are used to control fungi or fungal spores in agriculture.

"This is an industry issue that affects every company that produces products in the U.S. using orange juice from Brazil," said Coca-Cola spokesman Dan Schafer.

The FDA said Coca-Cola found levels up to 35 parts per billion of the fungicide, far below the European Union's maximum residue level of 200 parts per billion. The U.S. government has not established a maximum residue level for carbendazim in orange juice, though the Environmental Protection Agency has said a risk assessment showed no risks of concern at up to 80 parts per billion.

Most orange juice products made by Coke and other companies contain a blend of juice from different sources including Brazil. In addition to Coca-Cola, Pepsico Inc.'s Tropicana brand is one of the largest U.S. orange juice producers. A spokesman for Tropicana declined to say whether the company had done its own testing for the fungicide.

The FDA has begun testing shipments of orange juice at the border and will detain any that contain more than 10 parts per billion of the chemical. Because the fungicide is not approved for use in the United States, any amount found in food is illegal, but FDA spokeswoman Siobhan Delancey said any amount below 10 parts per billion isn't measurable. All tests released by the agency so far have been negative, she said.

The agency said it won't remove any juice currently on store shelves because it doesn't believe the levels of residue are harmful, though that juice is also being tested.

In the letter to the Juice Products Association earlier this week, FDA official Nega Beru asked the industry to ensure that suppliers in Brazil, the world's largest orange producer, and other countries stop using the fungicide.

"If the agency identifies orange juice with carbendazim at levels that present a public health risk, it will alert the public and take the necessary action to ensure that the product is removed from the market," he said.

Orange juice for March delivery fell 10 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $1.781 per pound on Wednesday. Coca-Cola Co. shares fell 49 cents to close at $67.57 and Pepsico Inc. shares fell 39 cents to close at $64.62.

The fungicide discovery comes after the FDA said it would also step up testing for arsenic in apple juice. FDA officials said last year that the agency is considering tightening restrictions for the levels of arsenic allowed in the juice after consumer groups pushed the agency to crack down on the contaminant.

Studies show that apple juice has generally low levels of arsenic, and the government says it is safe to drink. But consumer advocates say the FDA is allowing too much of the chemical ? which is sometimes natural, sometimes man made ? into apple juices often consumed by children.

Patty Lovera of the advocacy group Food and Water Watch said the FDA and the Agriculture Department, which also oversees food imports, should have a better system for tracking potential contaminants in food.

"It seems like we keep playing catch up chemical by chemical," she said. "As we import more and more, this isn't going to be the last time this happens."

___

AP business writers Mae Anderson and Sandy Shore contributed to this report from New York.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-12-Orange%20Juice-Fungicide/id-a1703d0b617e480cb5c874efe8445196

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