…While White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the bankers agreed to take “second looks” at loans that had been denied, some executives cautioned that banks still needed to act judiciously.

“Not everyone is credit worthy in today’s world,” Robert Kelly, chairman and chief executive of Bank of New York Mellon said on CNBC after the meeting. The U.S. economy is recovering, he said, “but it’s really fragile.”

via Obama Says Banks Have Obligation to Aid in Recovery (Update3) – Bloomberg.com.

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Last night the LHC accelerated both beams to 1.18 TeV with 2 bunches per beam for the first time. -Dec 9, 2009

via CERN – the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The crazy astrophysicists are finally getting to play with their new toy, the Large Hadron Collider, and they announced a speed breakthrough last Wednesday morning. That day, a very strange light phenomenon appeared in the dark skies over Tromso, Norway, a spinning vortex light, the likes of which has never been seen before on Planet Earth. Initial reports suggested a failed Russian missile launch could have caused the spiral lights, but the Russians initially denied such an event had taken place. Later they admitted to rocket launch, but never did so officially.  One theory is now taking hold: that the light vortex was an actual mini-black hole, predicted by such serious theoretical physicists as Otto Rossler. But no worries, says CERN, any black holes they create with their LHC would be the benign type…. they’re quite sure of that.

Here are some images and video of the light show over Norway.

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Most people consider summer a time to wear shorts and thongs wherever one pleases, with little thought of ski jackets or snowboards. However Victoria’s Mount Baw Baw saw a light dusting of snow, and it’s already two weeks into summer.

A cold front crossed the nation’s southeast during Thursday, bringing gusty winds and some good falls to southern Victoria… Melbourne itself didn’t miss out. The city recorded 10 millimetres, now making a total (so far) of 30 millimetres.

via Weather News – A snowy dusting in Victoria’s summer.

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