WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Atrazine, one of the most commonly used and controversial weedkillers, can turn male frogs into females, researchers reported on Monday.

The experiment is the first to show such complete effects of atrazine, which had been known to disrupt hormones and which is one of the chief suspects in the decline of amphibians such as frogs around the world.

"Atrazine-exposed males were both demasculinized (chemically castrated) and completely feminized as adults," Tyrone Hayes of the University of California Berkeley and colleagues wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The chemical had been shown to disrupt development and make frogs develop both male and female features -- termed hermaphroditism. This study of 40 male frogs shows the process can go even further, Hayes said.

"Before, we knew we got fewer males than we should have, and we got hermaphrodites. Now, we have clearly shown that many of these animals are sex-reversed males," Hayes said in a statement.

"Atrazine has caused a hormonal imbalance that has made them develop into the wrong sex, in terms of their genetic constitution."

SIMILAR EFFECTS ON HUMANS?

Whether the effects translate to humans is far from clear. Frogs have thin skin that can absorb chemicals easily and they literally bathe in the polluted water.

The European uni0n banned atrazine in 2004. The finding may add pressure to the United States to more closely regulate the chemical, used widely in agriculture.

We previously wrote about the possibility of a bank run in Greece following unsubstantiated reports that Greek citizens don''t trust the Greek financial system all that much anymore, courtesy of the whole bailout and GDP reporting fraud thing. The rumor was not only just confirmed and also quantified: Dow Jones reports that in the past three months Greeks have moved about €8 billion out of local banks "fearing a possible new tax on bank accounts, increased government scrutiny on assets and a run on the banks if Athens is forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund." This represents over a quarter of the money held by private banks in the country. This also represents about €400 billion in total money leaving the system courtesy of fractional reserve banking and the money multiplier. Yet the worst news for Greeks: money controls are coming.

"There is a lot of uncertainty out there," said a senior private banker at a Greek bank. "We''ve had a number of customers asking to move funds out of Greece, mostly to Cyprus, Luxembourg and Switzerland."

Clients of private banks also fear that Greece may be unable able to raise the EUR54 billion it needs this year to pay back maturing bonds and will therefore have to turn to the IMF for help.

"Some of our clients are concerned about a run on the banks if the IMF gets involved," said another private banker, this one from a foreign bank. "They believe the situation in Greece will get worse before it gets better. There is also very little clarity from the government about its intentions on new tax measures."

"We estimate that €8 billion has moved out of Greece to accounts abroad since December. It''s money from bank accounts, stock sales, property sales and other sources. This is pretty substantial considering that there is only €30 billion under management in private banks here," he added. All is fine and well if this was all: just your plain vanilla run on the bank. But it''s not - the Greek response to this capital outflow: upcoming money controls.

Wealthy individuals may have good reasons to be concerned, however. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou earlier this month urged Greeks with accounts abroad to repatriate their money and said the capital will be taxed at a 5% rate. He said those who choose to keep their money abroad should declare their deposits and pay a tax of 8% for the first six months.

Thereafter he threatened that Greece will use all laws at its disposal, such as double-taxation agreements, to ask foreign banks for information on Greek account holders.

"For us this is the first step towards taxing all accounts in Greece," said the chief financial officer of a major Greek shipping company. "The line is minimum deposits here and moving all assets abroad," And now back to your regularly scheduled program of curling and no mention of the imminent collapse of Greece in the mainstream media whatsoever.

February 25, 2010

Billionaire financier Jim Rogers, former George Soros partner, predicts GB Pound is on the brink of a collapse, foreshadowing a huge global economic shakedown, worse than 2008/9.

PRESS DISPENSARY - Thursday, Feb 25, 2010 - The UK Pound is on the brink of a collapse which will herald a downturn worse than 2008/9, it could well happen within weeks and the British government is powerless to prevent it. And this in turn will foreshadow a global economic winter that could come before the end of 2010 and make the last two years seem like a mild spring day.

This is the dire prediction of the legendary George Soros'''' former business partner, respected billionaire financier Jim Rogers, together with millionaire investment adviser and best-selling author Dr Marc Faber and the controversial millionaire trader and coach Vince Stanzione, ahead of their keynote appearances at next month''''s Global Trading Day seminar in Westminster.

As the UK economy stands on the brink of its much heralded double dip after a dismal January and rumblings about its credit rating, as Swiss Bank UBS speculates the risk of a run on the pound*, and as sterling hit a nine month low against the dollar on Friday, the three experts - who all have reputations for making much of their fortunes from predicting and riding economic downturns - are forecasting that a currency crash and then a full scale global "shakedown" are almost inevitable.