China’s Off-The-Charts Air Pollution Is Making Its Way To The U.S.

China’s pollution has shut down schools and shortened lifespans in the country — but according to a new study, its not just Chinese residents who should be worried about their smog.






On the West Coast of the U.S., pollution blown in from China can account for 12 to 24 percent of sulfate concentrations on any given day, a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found. That pollution caused Los Angeles to experience an extra day of smog levels that were above the federal health standards for ozone in 2006.

But though the pollution comes from China, the U.S. still bears part of the responsibility. That’s because about a fifth of China’s air pollution comes from the manufacture of goods for export to other countries, including the U.S., China’s second-largest trading partner. The study found that manufacturing for the export sector contributed to 36 percent of China’s sulfur dioxide emissions, 27 percent of its nitrogen oxides, 22 percent of its carbon monoxide and 17 percent of its black carbon — a pollutant linked to cancer, emphysema and asthma.

“When you buy a product at Wal-Mart, it has to be manufactured somewhere,” Steve Davis, co-author of the study and University of California at Irvine scientist told the Washington Post. “The product doesn’t contain the pollution, but creating it caused the pollution.”

China’s pollution has been setting records recently — in December, Shanghai was hit with a week of air pollution so bad that it cancelled flights and sporting events and forced children and the elderly indoors. And last week, Beijing experienced its first off-the-charts air pollution of 2014. China has implemented pollution reduction targets and a carbon trading scheme in some major cities, but in 2013 the country also approved the construction of $10 billion worth of new coal production capacity.

http://robinwestenra.blogspot.com/2014/01/chinese-pollution.html

China is asking the Obama administration to lift sanctions on five Chinese state-run companies that were hit with U.S. sanctions in the past for arms sales and other illicit transfers to rogue states.

According to Obama administration officials, the request to lift sanctions on the five companies was made within the past two months by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce as part of preparations for an upcoming meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission of Commerce and Trade. The next commission meeting will be held in November or December.

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The company was also linked to a plot in 1996 to smuggle Chinese-made AK-47 assault rifles to Los Angeles street gangs.

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The Chinese told U.S. officials that the sanctions on the five companies should be lifted as part of “requirements” from the fifth round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held in July in Washington.

http://freebeacon.com/china-asks-u-s-to-lift-sanctions-on-arms-proliferators-iran-traders/

Arming Africa - The China Connection

In reading about the arms trade and speaking with U.N. officials, I knew that the most notorious arms smugglers -- like Victor Bout -- were Russian or from former Soviet states. Typically, these people were best able to profit from corrupt officials and poor oversight of the vast arsenals that were left unattended when the USSR fell. But as I looked through U.N. stockpiles of captured weapons, the majority of Kalashnikovs were made in China.

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The Chinese link to Africa has existed since the 15th century, when an armada of massive junks is reputed to have followed the African coastline as far as modern-day Somalia, trading laquerware silk and ceramics for exotic spices, jewels and timber. For almost 600 years after this ambitious exploration, China turned inward, but today, the country's imprint can be found all over the African continent. Aided by central banks, government loans and Beijing's offers of massive infrastructure projects, Chinese oil companies have invested heavily in Guinea, Nigeria and Sudan, and resource-extraction companies are active across sub-Saharan Africa.

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/08/congo_on_the_trgen.html

Free trade not a licence to rip off Australia

Australians have long known that multinational corporations' regional pricing tactics deny them a fair price for many consumer products. We did not need a federal parliamentary inquiry to confirm we pay far too much for medicines, computer software and hardware, movies, music and computer games, as well as old-fashioned books. Still, in July, the inquiry called for an end to the market manipulation. It is alarming, then, that leaked details of a draft treaty among a dozen Pacific nations suggest Australia is not strongly resisting pressure to rewrite trade rules to enforce regional disparities.

The Age believes in free and fair trade. We also condemn the pirating of copyrighted or patented products. This is theft from the creators of intellectual property, which discourages further product development and innovation. But the draft of a Trans Pacific Partnership shows the US favours trade rules that will help multinational companies to continue charging more for consumer technology products in certain markets such as ours. The inquiry found we pay 42 to 66 per cent more than people overseas for software and hardware; about 60 per cent more for music downloads; and two to four times as much for computer games.

Intellectual property law expert Matthew Rimmer says the draft has ''little focus on the rights and interests of consumers, let alone broader community interests''. Australians elect their governments to put their interests first. Prime Minister Tony Abbott hopes a deal will be reached next month, yet consultation has been limited to ''industry sectors that could be impacted by the agreement''. The affected consumers, the vast majority of us, would be in the dark if not for WikiLeaks. Journalists were barred from industry briefings on the next round of talks starting this week.

The draft treaty's leaked details suggest a possible motive: in only one area is Australia clearly opposing US and Japanese trade interests. That is pharmaceuticals, for which the Commonwealth pays about $20 billion a year. The US is seeking ways to extend patents, which would restrict production of cheaper generic drugs.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-age-editorial/free-trade-not-a-licence-to-rip-off-australia-20131117-2xp5n.html#ixzz2pxF950pq

A man shot and killed Saturday by Gwinnett County police was unarmed, and an officer was injured by police gunfire, authorities said.

Robert Coleman was shot by police officers responding Saturday afternoon to reports of a stabbing at one home and a burglary about three blocks away near Lawrenceville, police said.

A pair of responding officers determined that the 30-year-old Coleman was a suspect in the stabbing and followed him to a second home, in the 3800 block of Smokemist Trace, where they found the front door kicked open, according to police.

Gwinnett County police spokesman Cpl. Jake Smith said Coleman “charged and physically attacked” one officer inside the home, and the officer – who feared for his life – opened fire.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/police-officer-involved-shooting-victim-unarmed-of/ncgZw/

SANTA ROSA (BCN) — More than 100 people packed the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors chambers this afternoon to continue their protest of the killing of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a sheriff’s deputy in October.

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The 20-page amended complaint alleges Sonoma County was aware Gelhaus had racist and extremist tendencies and beliefs, and attended and was an instructor at a shooting academy whose founder held extremist and homophobic, racist and separatist views.

The complaint alleges Gelhaus was a regular contributor to online shooting and firearms tactics magazines and blogs, and he “instructed and advised others on questionable tactics,” including “how an officer must respond to justify shooting a kid with a toy gun.”

After Gelhaus shot Lopez, he immediately tried to erase, conceal and otherwise destroy evidence of his racist, separatist and extremist beliefs, and he wrongfully erased his own commentary, postings in chat rooms and other writings in an effort to conceal his beliefs, according to the amended complaint.

http://news.kron4.com/news/new-allegations-against-erick-gelhaus-added-to-andy-lopez-lawsuit/

A new report claims that Wal-Mart’s wages could be costing taxpayers $900,000 to $1.75 million per year, per store.


“Wal-Mart’s The Low‐Wage Drag on Our Economy: Wal‐Mart’s low wages and their effect on taxpayers and economic growth” was prepared by the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce and released today. The document claims to have calculated the cost to taxpayers in social services for workers paid the minimum wage.

It’s not the kind of summer blockbuster the American public expects, but it likely will become one.

It’s an update to the 2004 report: “Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart.” That report sought to capture the public costs Wal-Mart’s business model imposes upon the nation’s taxpayers. It found that a hypothetical 200-person Wal-Mart store cost taxpayers an estimated $420,750 per year.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauraheller/2013/05/31/are-wal%E2%80%90marts-low-wages-a-drag-on-the-economy-new-report-says-yes/