Global stock markets are going through a very volatile period, and some analysts believe that the volatility suggests fundamental weaknesses in the global economy. The German newspaper, Finanz und Wirtschaft, conducted an interview with Art Cashin, a long-time stock analyst, about what is going on, and the interview suggests that the weaknesses are more fundamental than they superficially seem to be. Nonetheless, the economies of the world continue to favor the rich at the expense of the poor and recent data indicates that there are 62 people in the world who command as much wealth as the bottom 50% of the human race (3.5 billion people).
The Economist has an article on the parallels between the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and the religious conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims. It is an intriguing essay, but one which overemphasizes the importance of religion in the struggles. By and large, religion is usually a veneer for power: one sect mistrusts the other, not because of religious differences, but because it fears that power will be used to favor one sect over the other. The fear of the abuse of power is usually the driver in conflicts that seem to stem from religious, ethnic, or ideological difference.
Hurricane Alex was the first Atlantic hurricane ever recorded in January. The event itself was highly unusual, but its effect on the ice pack in Greenland is proving to be even stranger. A number of researchers who study ice melt in Greenland have noticed suggestive evidence of ice melt because of the warm waters forced north by the hurricane. If the evidence becomes stronger, then the globe may be experiencing the first recorded winter ice melt–evidence that global warming has become virtually unstoppable.
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