trillion dollar showdown A great deal can unfold in the span of 24 hours in Davos. That certainly was the case on the issue of banking regulation. The annual meeting of the forum opened with a panel of financiers pulling out their crystal balls for 2010/11. One in particular stood out, Bob Diamond, CEO of Barclays, who takes issue on the effort by the Obama administration to separate out or govern proprietary trading by banks who collect deposits. He says it will stifle innovation and the economic recovery. French President Nicholas Sarkozy was on the other end of the financial spectrum and sounded like he wants to ban market making forces altogether. Again President Obama made it a central issue of his State of the Union address, right along job creation. The news cycle was rounded out when Diamond came on CNN today sounding almost like a statesman when he noted, “creating an environment conducive to economic growth and job creation is critical.” One needs to read between the lines here. These power players are marking their turf. Diamond did not borrow money from G-7 governments to get bailed out during the crisis – he took investments from Middle East sovereign funds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi instead. As a result, he feels freer to speak his mind about what banking might be faced with after the high profile bonuses being paid out in the shadow of the worst downturn in 60 years. As one high profile banker said to me before we took the stage on a plenary session, don't forget these ideas have to become law. The banking sector is already marshalling forces against such a move – as the multi-trillion dollar showdown gets underway. Tune In Friday: 12:15 Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait Saturday: 10:15 Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait UAE Friday: 13:15 UAE Saturday: 11:15 UAEDeer hunt As young Wisconsin sportsmen and women ponder a career path that could potentially lead them to the military, I wonder if recruiters will be able to use the new special gun deer hunt as a carrot to make them commit. State lawmakers recently approved a virtual year-round opportunity to hunt for soldiers returning from overseas duty and missed the regular deer season. The program will put returning soldiers in touch with landowners whose crops are being damaged by nuisance whitetails. While the scope of the original bill had a much shorter – three days – hunting opportunity, the final version that was approved will allow veterans to hunt any day they want between now and September provided they have registered landowners' permission. While warm-weather hunting probably isn't a huge draw for most true deer-hunters, no doubt, plenty of the 3,000 returning Wisconsin soldiers will enjoy taking advantage of an opportunity to hunt this year, particularly if they were away during the traditional time to be in the woods. If nothing else, it's a great way to thank these men and women for their service to the state and to our country as a whole. In fact, while we're on the topic. I'd like to just say thanks to all of you vets for your sacrifice and dedication whether it has been during the current conflicts or in service as far back as almost 70 years ago. outdoorlife.com Marine marvels A rich and surprisingly diverse array of marine animals has been discovered living in total darkness in the deepest parts of the Atlantic where no sunlight ever penetrates. They range from a giant octopus-like creature with eight legs and fins that flap like an elephant's ears to tiny crustaceans that shine like gold-encrusted jewels. Marine biologists have been astonished by the range of animals they have found during an underwater expedition that that took them down 5,000 meter (three miles) where they have now identified 17,650 deep-sea species. One of the most surprising animals was a rare specimen of a primitive creature called a cirrate, or finned octopod, commonly called a “Dumbo” because they swim by flapping a pair of ear-like fins, rather like the Disney cartoon character. But the particular species the biologists found is now called “Jumbo Dumbo”, because it grows up to 2 meters long and weighs about 6 kg, the largest specimen of the type ever discovered, records the Census of Marine Life, the umbrella organization overseeing the global survey of the oceans. The Dumbos collected by the scientists were found between 1,000m to 3,000m (0.6 to 1.9 miles) down on the mid-Atlantic ridge, a vast chain of underwater mountains that stretch north-south along the seabed. The scientists also took samples of mud from the seabed and found that it contained a surprisingly rich collection of fauna. Most of these animals are only a few millimetres in size, and they live on the sediments that fall from above, ranging in size from dead plankton to the residue of the carcasses of massive whales. — blogs.news.sky.com/editors/tags/lif __
