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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
December 7, 2013
Shanghai blanketed in smog so dense that flights were canceled
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 6, 2013 7:54 EST
China’s commercial hub Shanghai was blanketed by dense smog Friday, delaying flights and spurring sales of face masks.
Levels of PM 2.5 — tiny particles in the air considered particularly hazardous to health — rose to more than 600 micrograms per cubic meter in the afternoon, Shanghai’s government said on its microblog.
That is 24 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) safety guideline of 25 micrograms, and reports said it was a record since such monitoring began.
Shanghai’s air quality is normally far better than that of Beijing and other major cities in the north, but environmental authorities declared the highest warning of “severe pollution,” issued when the ambient PM 2.5 concentration reaches 301 or more.
Shanghai blanketed in smog so dense that flights were canceled
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/06/shanghai-blanketed-in-smog-so-dense-that-flights-were-canceled/Shanghai blanketed in smog so dense that flights were canceled
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 6, 2013 7:54 EST
China’s commercial hub Shanghai was blanketed by dense smog Friday, delaying flights and spurring sales of face masks.
Levels of PM 2.5 — tiny particles in the air considered particularly hazardous to health — rose to more than 600 micrograms per cubic meter in the afternoon, Shanghai’s government said on its microblog.
That is 24 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) safety guideline of 25 micrograms, and reports said it was a record since such monitoring began.
Shanghai’s air quality is normally far better than that of Beijing and other major cities in the north, but environmental authorities declared the highest warning of “severe pollution,” issued when the ambient PM 2.5 concentration reaches 301 or more.
December 7, 2013
U.S. deadline looms over negotiations on Trans-Pacific Partnership
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 6, 2013 18:04 EST
Trade ministers from the United States and 11 other countries will open talks in Singapore on Saturday in an attempt to meet a US deadline to forge a trans-Pacific trade pact before the end of the year.
However, analysts said an agreement on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was unlikely to be reached during the four-day meeting, owing to differences on key issues such as intellectual property protection.
The TPP is being negotiated by 12 nations — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam — that together make up 40 percent of the global economy.
Washington has spearheaded the secretive talks, which have been denounced by non-government groups for their alleged lack of transparency.
U.S. deadline looms over negotiations on Trans-Pacific Partnership
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/06/u-s-deadline-looms-over-negotiations-on-trans-pacific-partnership/U.S. deadline looms over negotiations on Trans-Pacific Partnership
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 6, 2013 18:04 EST
Trade ministers from the United States and 11 other countries will open talks in Singapore on Saturday in an attempt to meet a US deadline to forge a trans-Pacific trade pact before the end of the year.
However, analysts said an agreement on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was unlikely to be reached during the four-day meeting, owing to differences on key issues such as intellectual property protection.
The TPP is being negotiated by 12 nations — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam — that together make up 40 percent of the global economy.
Washington has spearheaded the secretive talks, which have been denounced by non-government groups for their alleged lack of transparency.
December 7, 2013
U.S. Air Force secretly developed new stealth drone at ‘Area 51?: report
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 6, 2013 15:06 EST
The US Air Force has secretly developed a new stealth drone for long-range reconnaissance missions that could be operational by 2015, according to a report Friday in an industry magazine.
The unmanned drone, dubbed RQ-180, is currently in the testing phase at the top secret Groom Lake air base in Nevada — the infamous “Area 51? where the Air Force tested the U2 spy planes in the late 1950s, Aviation Week said.
~snip~
The new aircraft was reportedly built by Northrop Grumann, the company behind the Global Hawk and the X-47B drones, which landed on air craft carriers for the first time this summer.
The US company may have obtained in 2008 a secret contract on the order of $2 billion to develop the latest drone, according to Aviation Week.
U.S. Air Force secretly developed new stealth drone at ‘Area 51': report
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/06/u-s-air-force-secretly-developed-new-stealth-drone-at-area-51-report/U.S. Air Force secretly developed new stealth drone at ‘Area 51?: report
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 6, 2013 15:06 EST
The US Air Force has secretly developed a new stealth drone for long-range reconnaissance missions that could be operational by 2015, according to a report Friday in an industry magazine.
The unmanned drone, dubbed RQ-180, is currently in the testing phase at the top secret Groom Lake air base in Nevada — the infamous “Area 51? where the Air Force tested the U2 spy planes in the late 1950s, Aviation Week said.
~snip~
The new aircraft was reportedly built by Northrop Grumann, the company behind the Global Hawk and the X-47B drones, which landed on air craft carriers for the first time this summer.
The US company may have obtained in 2008 a secret contract on the order of $2 billion to develop the latest drone, according to Aviation Week.
December 6, 2013
Pension Theft: Class War Goes to the Next Stage
by Dean Baker | December 5, 2013 - 9:57am
In the past two days we've seen a federal judge rule that Detroit can go bankrupt, putting its workers' pensions in jeopardy, and we have seen Illinois' Legislature vote for substantial cuts in its retirees' pensions. Undoubtedly these two actions are just the tip of the iceberg. We have opened up a new sport for America's elite: pension theft.
The specifics of the situations are very different, but the outcome is the same. Public employees who spent decades working for the government are not going to get the pensions that were part of their pay package. In both cases we have governments claiming poverty, and therefore the workers are just out of luck.
Before getting to the specifics of these cases, it is worth dealing with a couple of points. First, there has been a huge media campaign to trumpet the generosity of public-sector pensions. The Washington Post once ran a major front-page article on public pensions in which its poster child was a former official in a small California city who was getting a pension of more than $500,000 a year.
Of course this sounds horrible, and it is. The official had been the city manager and had assigned himself several other top jobs, all of which came with generous pensions. He also was under indictment.
Pension Theft: Class War Goes to the Next Stage
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/dean-baker/53006/pension-theft-class-war-goes-to-the-next-stagePension Theft: Class War Goes to the Next Stage
by Dean Baker | December 5, 2013 - 9:57am
In the past two days we've seen a federal judge rule that Detroit can go bankrupt, putting its workers' pensions in jeopardy, and we have seen Illinois' Legislature vote for substantial cuts in its retirees' pensions. Undoubtedly these two actions are just the tip of the iceberg. We have opened up a new sport for America's elite: pension theft.
The specifics of the situations are very different, but the outcome is the same. Public employees who spent decades working for the government are not going to get the pensions that were part of their pay package. In both cases we have governments claiming poverty, and therefore the workers are just out of luck.
Before getting to the specifics of these cases, it is worth dealing with a couple of points. First, there has been a huge media campaign to trumpet the generosity of public-sector pensions. The Washington Post once ran a major front-page article on public pensions in which its poster child was a former official in a small California city who was getting a pension of more than $500,000 a year.
Of course this sounds horrible, and it is. The official had been the city manager and had assigned himself several other top jobs, all of which came with generous pensions. He also was under indictment.
December 6, 2013
Under the Global Shadow of Big Brother, Journalism Must Light Up the Political Sky
by Norman Solomon | December 6, 2013 - 8:16am
Every new revelation about the global reach of the National Security Agency underscores that the extremism of the surveillance state has reached gargantuan proportions. The Washington Post just reported that the NSA “is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world.” Documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden have forced top officials in Washington to admit the indefensible while defending it. One of the main obstacles to further expansion of their Orwellian empire is real journalism.
Real journalism is “subversive” of deception that can’t stand the light of day. This is a huge problem for the Obama administration and the many surveillance-state flunkies of both parties in Congress. What they want is fake journalism, deferring to government storylines and respectful of authority even when it is illegitimate.
In motion now, on both sides of the Atlantic, are top-down efforts to quash real journalism when and how it matters most. In the two English-speaking countries that have done the most preaching to the world about “Western values” like freedom of the press, the governments led by President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron are overseeing assaults on real journalism.
They’re striving to further normalize fake journalism—largely confined to stenographic services for corporate power, war industries and surveillance agencies. A parallel goal is to harass, intimidate and destroy real journalism. The quest is to maximize the uninformed consent of the governed.
Under the Global Shadow of Big Brother, Journalism Must Light Up the Political Sky
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/norman-solomon/53022/under-the-global-shadow-of-big-brother-journalism-must-light-up-the-political-skyUnder the Global Shadow of Big Brother, Journalism Must Light Up the Political Sky
by Norman Solomon | December 6, 2013 - 8:16am
Every new revelation about the global reach of the National Security Agency underscores that the extremism of the surveillance state has reached gargantuan proportions. The Washington Post just reported that the NSA “is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world.” Documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden have forced top officials in Washington to admit the indefensible while defending it. One of the main obstacles to further expansion of their Orwellian empire is real journalism.
Real journalism is “subversive” of deception that can’t stand the light of day. This is a huge problem for the Obama administration and the many surveillance-state flunkies of both parties in Congress. What they want is fake journalism, deferring to government storylines and respectful of authority even when it is illegitimate.
In motion now, on both sides of the Atlantic, are top-down efforts to quash real journalism when and how it matters most. In the two English-speaking countries that have done the most preaching to the world about “Western values” like freedom of the press, the governments led by President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron are overseeing assaults on real journalism.
They’re striving to further normalize fake journalism—largely confined to stenographic services for corporate power, war industries and surveillance agencies. A parallel goal is to harass, intimidate and destroy real journalism. The quest is to maximize the uninformed consent of the governed.
December 6, 2013
Glaciers Going, Gone
by Abby Zimet
Mind-boggling time-lapse photos of Alaska glaciers disappearing in decades from NASA's new Images of Change app. Frightening, galvanizing, show 'em to your skeptical relatives.
Glaciers Going, Gone
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/12/05-0Glaciers Going, Gone
by Abby Zimet
Mind-boggling time-lapse photos of Alaska glaciers disappearing in decades from NASA's new Images of Change app. Frightening, galvanizing, show 'em to your skeptical relatives.
December 6, 2013
As violence spirals in Central African Republic, UN authorizes deployment of African Union, French forces
Humanitarian Intervention, Or Militarized Quest for Resources?
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Thursday, December 5, 2013 by Common Dreams
As a "humanitarian crisis that has been largely ignored by the rest of the world" continues to grip the Central African Republic (CAR) on Thursday, new military forces are on their way to intervene, causing some to question the motives when a country with military might sends troops into its resource-rich, former colony.
The UN Security Council on Thursday authorized the deployment of African-led and French-backed forces there, the same day clashes in the capital of Bangui left over 100 dead.
The additional troops mean that France is doubling its number of forces there.
Reports about the current situation in the CAR are indeed dire. One AP photographer tweeted, "In 30 years I have rarely seen such scenes of desolation and despair." Over 400,000 people have been displaced, according to the UN, there have been reports of sexual violence, child soldiers and targeted assassinations, and the crisis has been called a "human catastrophe of epic proportions."
Humanitarian Intervention, Or Militarized Quest for Resources?
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/05-9As violence spirals in Central African Republic, UN authorizes deployment of African Union, French forces
Humanitarian Intervention, Or Militarized Quest for Resources?
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Thursday, December 5, 2013 by Common Dreams
As a "humanitarian crisis that has been largely ignored by the rest of the world" continues to grip the Central African Republic (CAR) on Thursday, new military forces are on their way to intervene, causing some to question the motives when a country with military might sends troops into its resource-rich, former colony.
The UN Security Council on Thursday authorized the deployment of African-led and French-backed forces there, the same day clashes in the capital of Bangui left over 100 dead.
The additional troops mean that France is doubling its number of forces there.
Reports about the current situation in the CAR are indeed dire. One AP photographer tweeted, "In 30 years I have rarely seen such scenes of desolation and despair." Over 400,000 people have been displaced, according to the UN, there have been reports of sexual violence, child soldiers and targeted assassinations, and the crisis has been called a "human catastrophe of epic proportions."
December 6, 2013
Women in Africa are making great strides in politics and business, and are considered more reliable partners for international aid projects than their male counterparts. Welcome to what the African Union calls the "African Women's Decade."
Taking Charge: How African Women Are Making Major Gains
By Bartholomäus Grill
December 05, 2013 – 03:10 PM
~snip~
The woman places her hands on her hips and smiles at the crowd. Then she begins speaking. She attacks the president, rattles off the latest corruption scandals and sharply criticizes the new Protection of Information bill that curbs press freedoms. "We must be alert, so that South Africa doesn't become a police state," she says.
The audience -- primarily older and white -- seems bowled over by this clever and eloquent young black South African woman.
Wherever she speaks in public, the nation takes notice. Her name is Lindiwe Mazibuko, and, at 33, she is the opposition leader in South Africa's National Assembly. She is the first black woman to hold that office in the history of country's overwhelmingly male-dominated parliament.
Mazibuko is liberal, pragmatic and courageous, and embodies a new type of female African politician. She is a role model for all African women who desire a voice in shaping the future of their continent.
Taking Charge: How African Women Are Making Major Gains
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/women-play-increasingly-important-role-in-african-life-and-politics-a-937146.htmlWomen in Africa are making great strides in politics and business, and are considered more reliable partners for international aid projects than their male counterparts. Welcome to what the African Union calls the "African Women's Decade."
Taking Charge: How African Women Are Making Major Gains
By Bartholomäus Grill
December 05, 2013 – 03:10 PM
~snip~
The woman places her hands on her hips and smiles at the crowd. Then she begins speaking. She attacks the president, rattles off the latest corruption scandals and sharply criticizes the new Protection of Information bill that curbs press freedoms. "We must be alert, so that South Africa doesn't become a police state," she says.
The audience -- primarily older and white -- seems bowled over by this clever and eloquent young black South African woman.
Wherever she speaks in public, the nation takes notice. Her name is Lindiwe Mazibuko, and, at 33, she is the opposition leader in South Africa's National Assembly. She is the first black woman to hold that office in the history of country's overwhelmingly male-dominated parliament.
Mazibuko is liberal, pragmatic and courageous, and embodies a new type of female African politician. She is a role model for all African women who desire a voice in shaping the future of their continent.
December 6, 2013
Central banks around the world are pumping trillions into the economy. The goal is to stimulate growth, but their actions are also driving up prices in the real estate and equities markets. The question is no longer whether there will be a crash, but when.
Feeding the Bubble: Is the Next Crash Brewing?
By Martin Hesse and Anne Seith
December 03, 2013 – 06:01 PM
When 42-year-old hedge fund manager Mark Spitznagel wants to forget about his high-stakes business for a while, he heads to the goat farm he and his wife Amy purchased in the bucolic hills of Michigan. There, he produces cheese according to environmentally sustainable methods, because he views modern agriculture, with its large-scale pesticide use and automated factory farms, as degenerate. In fact, he says, factory farming is "an ideal metaphor" for the economy.
In Spitznagel's view, the world's financial and equities markets are also dysfunctional, and what happens there is unhealthy and anything but sustainable. As a money manager, he has also opted for an alternative business model of sorts: He's betting on a crash.
For his customers, Spitznagel's multi-billion-dollar fund acts as an insurance policy against the next meltdown in the financial system. When the market is doing well, they lose modest amounts of money. But they cash in as soon as prices take a nosedive, even when all other investments are going up in smoke.
The hedge fund manager has made a lot of money in the past with his prognoses, and he is convinced that substantial turbulence is on the cards for the near future. "The setup is there for it," says Spitznagel.
Feeding the Bubble: Is the Next Crash Brewing?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/cheap-central-bank-money-contributes-to-dangerous-bubbles-a-936823.htmlCentral banks around the world are pumping trillions into the economy. The goal is to stimulate growth, but their actions are also driving up prices in the real estate and equities markets. The question is no longer whether there will be a crash, but when.
Feeding the Bubble: Is the Next Crash Brewing?
By Martin Hesse and Anne Seith
December 03, 2013 – 06:01 PM
When 42-year-old hedge fund manager Mark Spitznagel wants to forget about his high-stakes business for a while, he heads to the goat farm he and his wife Amy purchased in the bucolic hills of Michigan. There, he produces cheese according to environmentally sustainable methods, because he views modern agriculture, with its large-scale pesticide use and automated factory farms, as degenerate. In fact, he says, factory farming is "an ideal metaphor" for the economy.
In Spitznagel's view, the world's financial and equities markets are also dysfunctional, and what happens there is unhealthy and anything but sustainable. As a money manager, he has also opted for an alternative business model of sorts: He's betting on a crash.
For his customers, Spitznagel's multi-billion-dollar fund acts as an insurance policy against the next meltdown in the financial system. When the market is doing well, they lose modest amounts of money. But they cash in as soon as prices take a nosedive, even when all other investments are going up in smoke.
The hedge fund manager has made a lot of money in the past with his prognoses, and he is convinced that substantial turbulence is on the cards for the near future. "The setup is there for it," says Spitznagel.
December 6, 2013
The online station Hromadske.TV has become the go-to site for Ukrainians critical of the Yanukovych regime. As protests heat up, its journalists and volunteers cover the news that state-backed stations will not.
Rebel Broadcast: Web Channel a Key Source Amid Ukraine Protests
December 05, 2013 – 06:21 PM
The office of the online TV channel Hromadske.TV ("open TV"
is located on the fourth floor of an office building in an outer neighborhood of Kiev, Ukraine. At 100 square meters, with squeaky linoleum, a pitched roof and stale air, this is the unassuming headquarters of the main news organ of the protests against President Viktor Yanukovych.
When hundreds of thousands of people went into the streets on Sunday, over 1.5 million viewers watched the event on Hromadske.TV. The station was started by a group of journalists, most of whom used to work for the country's large TV stations, but left because of patronizing censorship by the government and the stations' owners, the powerful oligarchs. Hromadske.TV's strategy: What it lacks in money it makes up for in know-how.
~snip~
The station pays $2,000 (€1,470) in rent for the studio, which is located in the Vector business center. In one corner, Tatjana Danilenko, a 30-year-old news anchor from Channel 5, is speaking with guests about an attack on the president's office in which a bulldozer was used. The guests all agree the attack was caused by provocateurs the government paid to make the demonstrators look violent.
When the station went on the air for the first time, a few weeks ago, the plan was to do one show per week. About two dozen employees were involved in the launch, but now the station employs over 100 people, including many volunteers. Since the start of the protests, the station has been broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The station has locations set up everywhere in the city to report the movements of protesters and police units.
Rebel Broadcast: Web Channel a Key Source Amid Ukraine Protests
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/gromadske-tv-station-becomes-source-for-anti-yanukovych-protests-a-937470.htmlThe online station Hromadske.TV has become the go-to site for Ukrainians critical of the Yanukovych regime. As protests heat up, its journalists and volunteers cover the news that state-backed stations will not.
Rebel Broadcast: Web Channel a Key Source Amid Ukraine Protests
December 05, 2013 – 06:21 PM
The office of the online TV channel Hromadske.TV ("open TV"
is located on the fourth floor of an office building in an outer neighborhood of Kiev, Ukraine. At 100 square meters, with squeaky linoleum, a pitched roof and stale air, this is the unassuming headquarters of the main news organ of the protests against President Viktor Yanukovych.
When hundreds of thousands of people went into the streets on Sunday, over 1.5 million viewers watched the event on Hromadske.TV. The station was started by a group of journalists, most of whom used to work for the country's large TV stations, but left because of patronizing censorship by the government and the stations' owners, the powerful oligarchs. Hromadske.TV's strategy: What it lacks in money it makes up for in know-how.
~snip~
The station pays $2,000 (€1,470) in rent for the studio, which is located in the Vector business center. In one corner, Tatjana Danilenko, a 30-year-old news anchor from Channel 5, is speaking with guests about an attack on the president's office in which a bulldozer was used. The guests all agree the attack was caused by provocateurs the government paid to make the demonstrators look violent.
When the station went on the air for the first time, a few weeks ago, the plan was to do one show per week. About two dozen employees were involved in the launch, but now the station employs over 100 people, including many volunteers. Since the start of the protests, the station has been broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The station has locations set up everywhere in the city to report the movements of protesters and police units.
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