"March 2, 2009"
http://www.spaceweather.com/
"Daily Sun: 02 Mar 09 The sun is blank--no sunspots. Sunspot number: 0"
"Far side of the Sun: This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far
side of the sun."
"Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet"

The face of the Sun is without blemish:
http://www.spaceweather.com/images20...5dn32l6p pa56

Please visit:
http://blog.nj.com/southjersey_impac...SolarCycle.jpg

The right panel shows the face of the Sun as it looked on a good day during
the late Modern Warm Period. Sunspots are the apparent size of craters on
the moon. The left panel shows a spotless Sun as it looks today.

Please write to Al Gore so that Al knows that the Sun is not living up to
his religious expectations. Al Gore is a divinity school dropout. George
Carlin had a better grasp of the true nature of God's creation, than does Al
Gore.

Please visit:
http://www.co-intelligence.org/newsl...es/sun-etc.jpg
which shows the relative sizes of the Sun and planets. Compared to the Sun,
Jupiter is the size of a pea, earth is the size of a grain of sand.

South Korea's Exports Drop 17.1% on Global Recession (Update1)

By Seyoon Kim

March 2 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's exports fell for a fourth month in
February, extending the longest run of declines since 2002, on weaker demand
from the U.S., Japan and Europe.

Overseas shipments decreased 17.1 percent to $25.8 billion from a year
earlier following January's record 33.8 percent slump, the Ministry of
Knowledge Economy said in Gwacheon today. The median estimate was for a 24.5
percent drop, according to a Bloomberg News survey of eight economists.

Today's report adds to signs the economy is headed for its first recession
in a decade and reinforces the need for policy makers to add to stimulus
measures and interest-rate reductions. LG Electronics Inc., the world's
third-largest maker of mobile phones, says industry shipments will fall more
than previously expected in 2009 and orders at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.,
the world's largest shipbuilder, dropped 54 percent in January.

"Demand will remain weak all across Asia and the world," said Lee Sang Jae,
an economist at Hyundai Securities Co. in Seoul. "The weakness in exports
will put the economy in a slump for a while."

The benchmark Kospi stock index fell 3.4 percent to 1,026.96 at 10:56 a.m.
in Seoul, extending this year's loss to 8.4 percent. The won slipped 2
percent to 1,564 against the dollar, touching the lowest level since 1998.

Asian Slowdown

Asia is being hit hard by the global recession as the region is almost twice
as reliant on exports as the rest of the world. That's prompted Asian
governments to unveil fiscal stimulus packages worth almost $700 billion to
kick-start local consumer and business spending.

Japan manufacturers cut production by a record 10 percent in January and
economic growth slowed in India and Malaysia in the fourth quarter,
according to figures released last week.

South Korean imports fell 30.9 percent in February from a year earlier to
$22.6 billion, today's report showed. The nation had a trade surplus of $3.3
billion last month. The figures matched those posted on the Korea Customs
Service Web site yesterday, which showed trade for January and February
combined.

Exports to Japan dropped 19.4 percent in the first 20 days of February,
shipments to the U.S. declined 2.5 percent and exports to the European Union
slid 5.7 percent, today's report showed. In contrast, Shipments to China,
the nation's largest overseas market, gained 3.3 percent.

"Exports to China are at least helping keep overall Korean exports from
sliding further," said Go You Sun, an economist at Daewoo Securities Co. in
Seoul. "Compared with the U.S. and other developed nations, consumption in
China seems to be somewhat alive."

Orders Decline

South Korea's government has allocated about 51 trillion won ($33.6 billion)
in tax cuts and spending and Finance Minister Yoon Jeung Hyun said he's
planning an extra budget package that may be unveiled this month. The
central bank reduced the benchmark interest rate to a record low of 2
percent on Feb. 12, the sixth cut since October.

Hyundai Heavy said last week that contracts fell to $863 million in January
from $1.86 billion a year earlier. The company has won no orders for new
ships since September as the credit crisis dried up funds, making it
difficult for shipping lines to get financing for new and existing
contracts.

LG Electronics, the world's third-largest maker of mobile phones, said
industry shipments will decline by 5 percent-to-10 percent this year because
of weaker demand in developed markets.

Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean automaker granted bankruptcy
protection in February, posted a full-year net loss after demand for its
sport-utility vehicles declined.

The economy shrank 5.6 percent last quarter from the previous three months,
the biggest quarterly drop since 1998. South Korea lost 103,000 jobs in
January, the most in five years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Seyoon Kim in Seoul at


Last Updated: March 1, 2009 21:11 EST