Showing posts with label globalwarming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label globalwarming. Show all posts

Monday, September 03, 2007

The 11th Hour













In The News

Toward a Realistic Peace by Rudy Giuliani Foreign Affairs The next U.S. president will face three key foreign policy challenges: setting a course for victory in the terrorists' war on global order, strengthening the international system the terrorists seek to destroy, and extending the system's benefits. With a stronger defense, a determined diplomacy, and greater U.S. economic and cultural influence, the next president can start to build a lasting, realistic peace. ....... We are all members of the 9/11 generation. ........ our old assumptions about conflict between nation-states fell away ....... Much like at the beginning of the Cold War, we are at the dawn of a new era in global affairs, when old ideas have to be rethought and new ideas have to be devised to meet new challenges. ........ an ever-widening arc of security and stability across the globe ..... balancing realism and idealism ..... Idealism should define our ultimate goals; realism must help us recognize the road we must travel to achieve them. ...... Terrorists' War on Us ..... the complex war of ideas and ideals ..... Our economy is the strongest in the developed world. Our political system is far more stable than those of the world's rising economic giants. And the United States is the world's premier magnet for global talent and capital. ....... tempering our expectations of what American foreign policy can achieve ...... They follow a violent ideology: radical Islamic fascism, which uses the mask of religion to further totalitarian goals and aims to destroy the existing international system. These enemies wear no uniform. They have no traditional military assets. They rule no states but can hide and operate in virtually any of them and are supported by some. ........ emboldened by signs of weakness ..... U.S. troops will still be fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan when the next president takes office ...... the international state system that is the primary defense of civilization ...... these are only two battlegrounds in a wider war. The United States must not rest until the al Qaeda network is destroyed and its leaders, from Osama bin Laden on down, are killed or captured. ...... intelligence operatives, paramilitary groups, and Special Operations forces ..... close relationships with other governments and local forces ..... local forces are best able to operate in their home countries ...... a national missile defense system. ..... chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapon ...... more robust human intelligence ...... Preventing a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack on our homeland must be the federal government's top priority. We must construct a technological and intelligence shield that is effective against all delivery methods. ....... more effective diplomacy, combined with greater economic and cultural integration ...... international cooperation, and cooperation requires diplomacy. ...... One side denigrates diplomacy because it believes that negotiation is inseparable from accommodation and almost indistinguishable from surrender. The other seemingly believes that diplomacy can solve nearly all problems, even those involving people dedicated to our destruction. ........ strength and diplomacy hand in hand ...... U.S. diplomacy must be tightly linked to our other strengths: military, economic, and moral. ...... Reykjavík in 1986: he was open to the possibility of negotiations but ready to walk away if talking went nowhere ....... never talk for the sake of talking and never accept a bad deal for the sake of making a deal .... undermining popular support for their regime, damaging the Iranian economy, weakening Iran's military, and, should all else fail, destroying its nuclear infrastructure. ....... the era of cost-free anti-Americanism must end. ..... not by imposing our ideas on others but by appealing to their enlightened self-interest ..... the Voice of America program must be significantly strengthened and broadened. Its surrogate stations, such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which were so effective at inspiring grass-roots dissidents during the Cold War, must be expanded as well. Our entire approach to public diplomacy and strategic communications must be upgraded and extended, with a greater focus on new media such as the Internet. We confront multifaceted challenges in the Middle East, the Pacific region, Africa, and Latin America. In all these places, effective communication can be a powerful way of advancing our interests. We will not shy away from any debate. And armed with honest advocacy, America will win the war of ideas. ....... World events unfold whether the United States is engaged or not, and when we are not, they often unfold in ways that are against our interests. The art of managing a large enterprise is to multitask, and so U.S. foreign policy must always be multidimensional. ........ There is no realistic alternative to the sovereign state system. Transnational terrorists and other rogue actors have difficulty operating where the state system is strong, and they flourish where it is weak. ....... NATO's role and character should be reexamined. For almost 60 years, it has been a vital bond connecting the United States and Europe. ....... think more boldly and more globally ..... We should open the organization's membership to any state that meets basic standards of good governance, military readiness, and global responsibility, regardless of its location. ...... Much of America's future will be linked to the already established and still rising powers of Asia. These states share with us a clear commitment to economic growth, and they must be given at least as much attention as Europe. ....... U.S. cooperation with India on issues ranging from intelligence to naval patrols and civil nuclear power will serve as a pillar of security and prosperity in South Asia. ....... U.S. relations with China and Russia will remain complex for the foreseeable future. ....... act shortsightedly, undermining their long-term interest in international norms for the sake of near-term gains ...... make clear that only if China and Russia move toward democracy, civil liberties, and an open and uncorrupted economy will they benefit from the vast possibilities available in the world today. ........ Some look to the governments of Bolivia and Venezuela, and their mentor in Cuba, and see an inevitable path to greater statism. But elections in Colombia, Mexico, and Peru show that the spirit of free-market reform is alive and well ....... helping Africa today will help increase peace and decency throughout the world tomorrow ...... help Africa overcome AIDS and malaria ...... Ultimately, the most important thing we can do to help Africa is to increase trade with the continent. U.S. government aid is important, but aid not linked to reform perpetuates bad policies and poverty. It is better to give people a hand up than a handout. ...... The UN has proved irrelevant to the resolution of almost every major dispute of the last 50 years. ........ mechanisms for international discussion. ...... Much of the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America remains mired in poverty, corruption, anarchy, and terror. ...... The number of functioning democracies in the world has tripled since the 1970s. ....... democracy cannot be achieved rapidly or sustained unless it is built on sound legal, institutional, and cultural foundations. ...... It can only work if people have a reasonable degree of safety and security. Elections are necessary but not sufficient to establish genuine democracy. Aspiring dictators sometimes win elections, and elected leaders sometimes govern badly and threaten their neighbors. ........ Too much emphasis has been placed on brokering negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians -- negotiations that bring up the same issues again and again. ....... America's commitment to Israel's security is a permanent feature of our foreign policy. ..... Economic development and engagement are proven, if not fail-safe, engines for successfully moving countries into the international system. America's robust domestic economy is one of its greatest strengths. Other nations have found that following the U.S. model -- with low taxes, sensible regulations, protections for private property, and free trade -- brings not only national wealth but also national strength. ......... Ever more open trade throughout the world is essential. ..... a truly global trading system. ..... Foreign aid can help overcome specific problems, but it does not lead to lasting prosperity because it cannot replace trade. Private direct investment is the best way to promote economic development. ...... Companies such as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Levi's helped win the Cold War by entering the Soviet market. Cultural events, such as Van Cliburn's concerts in the Soviet Union and Mstislav Rostropovich's in the United States, also hastened change. ...... Today, we need a similar type of exchange with the Muslim countries that we hope to plug into the global economy. Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are pointing the way by starting to interpret Islam in ways that respect the distinctiveness of their local cultures but are consistent with the global marketplace. ........ mutual respect and mutual benefit ..... Economic investment and cultural influence work best where civil society already exists. ....... helping build functioning civil societies with accountable governments ......... A hybrid military-civilian organization -- a Stabilization and Reconstruction Corps staffed by specially trained military and civilian reservists -- must be developed. ..... building roads, sewers, and schools; advising on legal reform; and restoring local currencies. ...... The United States did similar work, and with great success, in Germany, Japan, and Italy after World War II. ..... the rich civic traditions in these nations ....... America must play an even more active role to strengthen the international state system. ....... In this decade, for the first time in human history, half of the world's population will live in cities. ...... when security is reliably established in a troubled part of a city, normal life rapidly reestablishes itself: shops open, people move back in, children start playing ball on the sidewalks again, and soon a decent and law-abiding community returns to life. ....... Tolerating bad behavior breeds more bad behavior. ..... Eisenhower and his successors accepted Truman's framework, but they corrected course to fit the specific challenges of their own times ....... We must base our trust on the actions, rather than the words, of others. ..... evil must be confronted -- not appeased -- because only principled strength can lead to a realistic peace.
The Long Road to Pyongyang Foreign Affairs The outcome of the North Korean nuclear saga has been held up as an example of the Bush administration defying its bellicose reputation and using multilateralism and diplomacy to defuse a crisis. But in fact, the story is one of extremely poor policymaking and a persistent failure to devise a coherent strategy -- with the result that North Korea has managed to dramatically expand its nuclear capability. ..... North Korea will freeze its main nuclear reactor, at Yongbyon, and allow the return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. ..... The portrait that emerges is not one of a confrontational, militaristic administration; what instead becomes apparent is an image of a White House with extremely poor conceptual strategies and decision-making processes. ....... From the beginning, President George W. Bush, as the nation's chief strategist, has failed to articulate a coherent policy for dealing with North Korea. The administration as a whole entered office without a clear foreign policy doctrine. ....... the basic elements of strategy -- ends, means, and the balance between them -- were not lucidly expressed or rigorously debated at the most senior levels of the U.S. government. The result was a strategic muddle, a swirling debate not guided by any clearly calculated long-term vision. ....... after six years, the process has wound up almost exactly where it started -- except now North Korea appears to have tripled the amount of nuclear weapons material in its possession and has become a declared nuclear power. ...... During the transition between administrations in late 2000 and early 2001, a team of Clinton administration national security officials traveled to the home of the secretary of state designate, Colin Powell, to brief him and the national security adviser designate, Condoleezza Rice, on North Korea policy. Powell expressed a desire to pick up on the progress that had been made during the Clinton administration -- progress achieved through extensive bilateral negotiations culminating in a 1994 accord, the Agreed Framework, that froze the North's Yongbyon nuclear facility and its five-megawatt nuclear reactor.

Report: U.S. Workers Most Productive Time American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm ... they produce more per person over the year. .... They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians .... the United States "leads the world in labor productivity." ..... The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year .... The U.S.... also beats all 27 nations in the European Union, Japan and Switzerland in the amount of wealth created per hour of work ...... Norway .. inflated by the country's billions of dollars in oil exports and high prices for goods at home ..... third-place France. .... The U.S. employee put in an average 1,804 hours of work in 2006 ..... It pales, however, in comparison with the annual hours worked per person in Asia, where seven economies — South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Thailand — surpassed 2,200 average hours per worker. But those countries had lower productivity rates. ....... America's increased productivity "has to do with the ICT (information and communication technologies) revolution, with the way the U.S. organizes companies, with the high level of competition in the country, with the extension of trade and investment abroad ........ a lack of investment in training, equipment and technology ...... it was important to raise productivity levels of the lowest-paid workers in the world's poorest countries. ..... China and other East Asian countries are catching up quickest with Western countries. Productivity in the region has doubled in the past decade and is accelerating faster than anywhere else
Is Panama the Americas' Hong Kong? a $5.25 billion expansion of the Canal ...... demolition of their nation's century-old image as a U.S.-created banana republic. "This may even transform Panama into a First World country ....... The Canal was the country's reason for existence ..... dysfuncational political history .... will allow the world's new supersize container vessels to transit the Canal, potentially raising revenue to $5 billion a year by 2025. ..... "We are not like other Central American countries." ..... Panama's nagging reputation for corruption ..... Some 40% of Panamanians still live in poverty — and, in a recent poll, only 22% of them indicated they believed the project would bring economic benefits to the wider population. ..... promised that the lion's share of revenues generated by the Canal's expansion will go to anti-poverty programs such as education reform. ..... Former Foreign Minister Jorge Ritter recalls the domestic political cost paid by President Carter for agreeing to hand back the Canal
Global Warming's Next Victim: Wheat

Inside the Googleplex The Economist Marge Simpson types her name into Google's search engine and is amazed to get 629,000 results. (“And all this time I thought ‘googling yourself' meant the other thing.”) She then looks up her house on Google Maps, goes to “satellite view” and zooms in. To her horror, she sees Homer lying naked in a hammock outside. “Everyone can see you; get inside,” she yells out of the window, and the fumbling proceeds from there. ...... it is making enemies in its own and adjacent industries ..... Some users now keep their photos, blogs, videos, calendars, e-mail, news feeds, maps, contacts, social networks, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and credit-card information—in short, much of their lives—on Google's computers. And Google has plans to add medical records, location-aware services and much else. It may even buy radio spectrum in America so that it can offer all these services over wireless-internet connections. ....... “perhaps the most difficult privacy issues in all of human history ...... a force for good in the world, even in defiance of commercial logic. .... their biggest motivation is not to maximise profits but to improve the world. ..... Google is “arrogant” because it feels “invincible”, says a Xoogler who left to run a start-up firm. The internal attitude towards customers, rivals and partners is “you can't stop us” and “we will crush you” ....... Google worth $160 billion .... revenues of $16 billion and profits of $4.3 billion this year .... Google's success still comes from one main source: the small text ads placed next to its search results and on other web pages. ...... “All that money comes 50 cents at a time ..... three times the volume of its nearest rival, Yahoo!. .... it took a whopping 73% of the budgets of companies that advertise on search engines (versus 21% and 6%, respectively, for Yahoo! and Microsoft). ..... newspapers of the dead-tree sort. .... Its costs are mostly fixed, so any incremental revenue is profit. ..... Google has built, in effect, the world's largest supercomputer. It consists of vast clusters of servers, spread out in enormous datacentres around the world. ..... This infrastructure means that Google can launch any new service at negligible cost or risk. ...... “search, ads, and apps” ..... A new technology, called Google Gears, will make these applications usable even when there is no internet connection. .... constant rumours .... It used to be conventional wisdom that Google would build cheap personal computers for poor countries. This turned out to be nonsense, because Google does not want to make hardware. ....... It is planning to enter an auction for valuable radio spectrum in America, and thinking of radically new business models to make money from wireless data and voice networks, perhaps a free service supported by ads. ..... “It's axiomatic that companies eventually have crises,” says Mr Schmidt. And history suggests that “tech companies that are dominant have trouble from within, not from competitors.” In Google's case, he says, “I worry about the scaling of the company.” Google has been hiring “Nooglers” (new Googlers) at a breathtaking rate. In June 2004 it had 2,292 staff; this June the number had reached 13,786. ...... Google tends to win talent wars because its brand is sexier and its perks are fantastically lavish. Googlers commute on discreet shuttle buses (equipped with wireless broadband and running on biodiesel, naturally) to and from the head office, or “Googleplex”, which is a photogenic playground of lava lamps, volleyball courts, swimming pools, free and good restaurants, massage rooms and so forth. ....... One former executive, now suing Google over her treatment, says that the firm's personnel department is “collapsing” and that “absolute chaos” reigns. When she was hired, nobody knew when or where she was supposed to work, and the balloons that all Nooglers get delivered to their desks ended up God knows where. She started receiving detailed e-mails “enforcing” Google's outward informality by reminding her that high heels and jewellery were inappropriate. Before the corporate ski trip, it was explained that “if you wear fur, they will kill you.” ........... Google is a paradise only for some, she argues. Employees who predate the IPO resemble aristocracy. Engineers get the most kudos, people with other functions decidedly less so. Bright kids just out of college tend to love it, because the Googleplex in effect replaces their university campus—with a dating scene, a laundry service and no reason to leave at weekends. Older Googlers with families tend to like it less, because “everybody, even young mums, works seven days a week.” ....... by trying to create a “Utopia” of untrammelled creativity, Google ended up with “dystopia”. ..... Google has composed a rigorous algorithmic approach to hiring, based on grade-point averages, college rankings and endless logic puzzles on whiteboards. This “genetic engineering of their workforce,” he says, means that “everybody there is a rocket scientist, so everybody is also insecure” and the back-stabbing and politics are reminiscent of an average university's English department. ........ “Creativity comes out of people bumping into each other and not knowing where to go.” The most famous expression of this is the “20% time”. .... It still has only one proven revenue source and most big innovations, such as YouTube, Google Earth and the productivity applications, have come through acquisitions. ...... the 20% time works out to be 120% time .... The chances of ideas being executed, he adds, “are basically zero.” ..... The same phenomenon changed Microsoft in the 1980s, when allegedly T-shirts popped up saying FYIFV (“Fuck you, I'm fully vested”). Already some are going to even “cooler” start-ups, such as Facebook or Twitter. ...... the company's policy of not providing guidance to Wall Street on future earnings ..... Google is fast becoming something like a bank, but one that keeps information rather than money. ...... only a “tiny” number of engineers have access to the databases and everything they do is recorded. ........ could use a person's search history and advertising responses in combination with, say, his location and the itinerary in his calendar, to serve increasingly useful and welcome search results and ads. ...... The test comes when the good times end.
Scrumming down France's Nicolas Sarkozy helps to create a European energy giant ...... Sarkozy has shown his ability to loosen another industrial knot. ..... The French state will go from owning 80% of a medium-sized energy company to holding 35% of a new global energy giant. GDF Suez, as it will be called once shareholders rubber-stamp the deal, will be the leading gas company in Europe and the global leader in liquified natural gas. The merged group also owns nuclear power stations in Belgium and has strong positions in America, Brazil and the Middle East. ....... He accepts that France must adopt modern ideas such as Anglo-Saxon capitalism and globalisation.
Running fast, but where is he going? Pro-American, inspired by morals but pragmatic too: Nicolas Sarkozy sets out his ideas for a new foreign policy ..... Nicolas Sarkozy's hyperactivity .... Sarkozy has persuaded the European Union to adopt a “simplified treaty”, given a diplomatic push to peacekeeping efforts in Darfur, floated the idea of a “Mediterranean Union”, helped to free Bulgarian nurses on death row in Libya, lunched with George Bush at Kennebunkport, dispatched his foreign minister to Iraq, and, this week, delivered a landmark foreign-policy speech in which he issued a stern warning to Iran. ......... campaign promise of a “rupture” with the Chirac era ..... Sarkozy seeks to achieve these aims as a partner of America, not an antagonist .... He even spent his summer holiday in America, which he has called “the greatest democracy in the world”. ..... the stark choice over Iran, should sanctions fail: “an Iranian [nuclear] bomb, or the bombing of Iran.” ....... The choice of Bernard Kouchner, a former UN administrator of Kosovo and co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, as foreign minister was hugely symbolic. ..... end French paternalism in Africa. ..... He pushed hard, for example, for the UN Security Council resolution on a new peacekeeping force for Darfur. ...... the meeting on Lebanon that Mr Kouchner organised in July in Paris, inviting all Lebanese political groupings, including Hizbullah—a prospect that would have been unthinkable for the Americans. ...... Sarkozy, though, is nothing if not a risk-taker. ..... 71% thought Mr Sarkozy's first 100 days had been positive, and 75% approved of his efforts regarding France's place in the world. The world may still be sizing him up, but the French seem to like what they see.

Amitabh Bachchan rules hearts of Israelis and Palestinians Hindu Israelis and Palestinians, who differ on almost every issue, have a common love -- superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who rules over their hearts. The popularity that Bachchan enjoys here will be envied even by Hollywood stars. Walking through the streets of Jerusalem, one can hear songs from Bollywood movies, especially those starring the Big B. DVDs of Hindi movies are available in most video shops here, with films starring Bachchan a big hit among locals. A single DVD costs 50 Shekel (Rs 500). The challenge Bachchan faces here is only from Gabbar Singh -- the character played by late Amjad Khan in the classic film "Sholay" -- who is equally popular among people of all ages, from teenagers to the elderly. "I like watching the movies of Amit (Bachchan) and Amjad, I love their action movies," said 22-year-old Yassar, who runs a small shop near the church of Sepalca, where, according to Catholic beliefs, Jesus Christ was crucified. "My friends and I watch their movies at least once a week," he said. "'Lawaris', 'Kalia', 'Deewar', 'Parvarish', 'Zanzeer', 'Sahenshah', 'Sholay', 'Black' -- we have watched all these movies," he said and started singing, along with one of his friends, the song "Janu meri jaan, mein tere qurban, main tera tu meri jane sara Hindustan" from the movie "Shaan".
Someone lost the plot Hindustan Times For months if not years, every little thing about the Sholay remake made news. The final product did just the opposite. Critics watched in shocked silence, screamed blue murder and for once, the movie going public agreed wholeheartedly . ...... the disjointed script and direction, aggravated by hammy performances, and a dull music score ..... Shah Rukh Khan's Chak De! India continues to score across the country .
Resignation, and anger, over Becks' absence MSNBC
Overreliance on Beckham spells trouble for MLS ESPN
Oh Becks! America Hardly Knew Ye The Associated Press
Ghana: As We Enjoy Soccer
AllAfrica.com
Dell to expand Philippine operations
ZDNet Asia
NBC, Apple play game of brinkmanship
CNET News.com
We’re ready for baby no.5: Brad Pitt
Times of India he simply loves being a father ... "I love it and can't recommend it any more highly - although sleep is non-existent," he said. .... "It's the most fun I've ever had and also the biggest pain in the ass I've ever experienced. ... "It makes me much more efficient because when I work I really have to focus, I know I've less time to get things done. Actually I'm quite pleased by it," he added.

Pakistan's Bhutto, Sharif May Be Barred From Polls (Update1) Bloomberg Bhutto, 54, who leads the largest opposition Pakistan People's Party ..... Bhutto, prime minister from 1988 to 1990 and 1993 to 1996, has lived in self-imposed exile in London and Dubai since 1999 ..... Bhutto's demands ``require changes in the constitution that cannot be the subject of political arrangement,'' Aziz said. ...... the president could revoke Sharif's pardon and he may be arrested on arrival. ...... Under Aziz, record foreign investment has helped lift the stock market to an all-time high and economic growth to an average 7.5 percent in the past four years. ..... Aziz, a former global head of private banking and executive vice president at New York-based Citibank NA ..... this is the first time that we have shown such sustainable growth ..... Aziz, who was appointed finance minister by Musharraf in 1999 to help turn around an economy that had barely one month of foreign exchange reserves, was elected prime minister by parliament in 2004. ...... The president is elected by Pakistan's national and provincial lawmakers, while only national legislators elect the prime minister. ..... Pakistan is seeking $6.5 billion in foreign investment, which averaged $400 million in the decade of 1990s ...... The government plans to sell stakes overseas in the biggest lender National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd., the second- ranked by assets and Kot Addu Power Co., the biggest state-run electricity producer, this fiscal year. ...... ``Pakistan is a country which has transformed, which is recognized today as having a lot of potential,'' Aziz said. The size of the economy has doubled and foreign currency reserves have reached a record $16 billion, he said.
When moderates feel lost in the GOP Los Angeles Times In an announcement last month that left Missouri politicos agape, state Sen. Chris Koster, a rising Republican star and chairman of the Senate's GOP caucus, abruptly declared himself a Democrat. ....... slavishly following the dictates of "religious extremists." .... a speech he repeated three times as he hopscotched across the state .... "There's no precedent for it in the state of Missouri," said GOP consultant Paul Zemitzsch. But the move sounded like deja vu just across the state line in Kansas. ...... Three prominent Kansas Republicans moved into the Democratic column in late 2005 and 2006, voicing similar concerns about the influence of social conservatives. One of those defectors was elected attorney general. Another -- who once chaired the Kansas Republican Party -- now serves as lieutenant governor. ....... how effectively social and religious conservatives dominate the Republican Party across several Midwest states -- and how frustrating that can be to self-styled moderates who would prefer to focus on economic issues. ...... a national coalition of GOP moderates called the Republican Leadership Council. ...... critics see Koster's switch as opportunism, a way to bolster his expected candidacy for state attorney general in 2008 -- a year many pundits expect will be good for Democrats across the board. .... Koster responds that he jumped from the fourth-ranking GOP position in the state Senate -- with a cushy office and a chance at a still-higher leadership role -- to become the lowest-ranking Democrat in the state Senate. He will face stiff competition in the Democratic primary for attorney general. ...... When he made the switch, he announced he was no longer "pro-life" but would henceforth support legal abortion.
Hurricane Felix Heads for Honduras With 165-Mph Winds (Update3) Bloomberg
Bangladesh detains Hyderabad blasts accused Hindustan Times
North Korea to Be Removed From US Terrorism List (Update3) Bloomberg
India launches communications satellite
AFP
India seeks to capture 10% of world space launch market RIA Novosti
China reduces investment barriers
China Daily
China to report military data to UN Aljazeera.net
Google looks at payments by mobile phone
Times Online
As City-Wide WiFi Fall Apart, An Opening For WiMax
24/7 Wall St.

President Bush makes surprise visit to Iraq Los Angeles Times
Obscure Groups Claim Responsibility for Nepal Bombings Voice of America
Powerful Hurricane Felix threatens Central America
Reuters Canada
'Special treatment' for Bihar: FM Times of India
Ex-hostages say Taliban beat them for refusing to convert AFP
130 Missing Pakistani Troops' Fate Unclear
CBS News The Pakistani military and local officials in the country's tribal region along the Afghan border were still awaiting news Monday on the release of as many as 130 military and paramilitary soldiers kidnapped last week. ..... Peshawar, capital of the Northwest Frontier Province ..... The troops were kidnapped in Waziristan, a volatile region in the Northwest Frontier Province. ...... the militants were demanding the release of a number of hardline militants captured by the government ..... Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ..... The party has a large following in the province - Pakistan's most populous region, Punjabhome to more than 60 percent of the 165 million-strong population. ...... The U.S. and Britain are believed to have privately urged Musharraf to reach an agreement with Bhutto that would bring the support of a populist politician to his side, and help lift his increasingly sagging credentials. .... 90,000 Pakistani soldiers deployed in the region in support of the U.S.-led war on terror.
Clinton: Change is better with experience Los Angeles Times
Clinton Embraces Mantle of Change Washington Post
With a New Speech, Clinton Lays Out Goals as President
New York Times the “four big goals” she would have as president and saying she was willing to “work within the system” and make “principled compromises” to achieve them. ...... a pragmatist and an alliance-builder .... drawing a pointed contrast to the outsider messages of Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards. ...... Referring to the Roosevelts and Johnson, she said, “They got big things done because they knew it wasn’t just about the dream, it’s about the results.” ...... “You can’t pretend the system doesn’t exist.” ..... “You have to know when to stick to your principles and fight,” she said, “and know when to make principled compromises.” ...... a two-day kickoff for her fall push ..... the Clinton camp’s argument that she is the most experienced candidate and would still represent change, as a woman and an ideological opposite of President Bush. ..... “Change is just a word without the strength and experience to make it happen.” ..... she would unveil her universal health insurance plan in two weeks. ..... “restore America’s standing in the world,” “rebuild America’s middle class and the economy to support it,” “reform our government” and “reclaim the future for our children.”



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Monday, August 27, 2007

Arson, Terrorism, Land Mafia Or Global Warming






Virginia's governor, Timothy Kaine, cut short a visit to Japan and said: "It is difficult to comprehend senseless violence on this scale."

Virginia Tech Shooting: Hunting Must Be Regulated

"So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence," he said in a nationally televised address Saturday.

It is possible the fires in Greece were entirely to do with climate conditions. The temperatures were high enough. The woods were dry. It had already been a summer of thousands of small fires.

But speculations run rife.

One, local arsonists did it. Some have even been arrested. Perhaps those with arson criminal records have been rounded up.

Two, criminal gangs are trying to develop forest land for profit. So they had to destroy the forest first.

Three, I have not head the terrorism angle yet. I guess Arabs are not in sight. But some might argue the whole thing looks too coordinated.

Or it is just plain old global warming.

Global warming is a bigger threat than terrorism and nuclear proliferation put together. And the low points are going to be visually spectacular. Katrina, this fire in Greece. There will be more to come.

We are not ready. We are not being far-sighted enough. We have not build the decision making mechanisms that will help us counter the tide of global warming.

Global challenges ask for a world government. Frankly put, that is what it boils down to. But the idea has so far been anathema to the very powers that preach democracy.

Global Warming
Iraq, Energy, Global Warming: All Interlinked


In The News

'Half of Greece' on fire as blazes rage
NEWS.com.au, Australia "Fires are burning in more than half the country," fire department spokesman Nikos Diamandis said. ..... The blaze broke out on Friday afternoon and quickly engulfed villages .... On Saturday, new fronts had emerged as dozens of fresh fires broke out. ..... "So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence," he said in a nationally televised address Saturday. ...... A 65-year-old man was arrested and charged with arson and multiple counts of homicide in a fire that killed six people in Areopolis, a town in the southern Peloponnese. Two youths were arrested on suspicion of arson in the northern city of Kavala. Their parents are also likely to face charges.
Arsonists blamed as Greece burns BBC News, UK six planes, two helicopters, 15 fire engines and 45 firemen .... village after village succumbed to the flames ..... At one stage, the flames were racing at more than a mile every few minutes ..... The rapidly advancing fires caught many people unawares. Those who left the decision to flee too late were caught in their houses, cars, or as they stumbled through olive groves. .... Athens itself was shrouded in smoke that obscured the sun as several fires threatened the city's outskirts. ..... The front is 30km (19 miles) long
Greeks step up fire investigation Anti-terrorist squads have been questioning some of the 32 suspected arsonists arrested so far, as new fires continue to break out around Greece. ..... Greece has the feel of a country on a war footing. .... the country is awash with theories about who could have set fire to the land. .... fires could have been started as a way of getting around Greek laws forbidding development on areas designated as forest land. ...... 20 water-bombing planes and 19 helicopters. ..... "a tremendous solidarity" between EU member states. ..... Hot dry winds helped to spread the fires to the outskirts of Athens, shrouding the capital in smoke that obscured the sun.
Fires roar across Greece...Idaho fire grows...Mine search ... Reiten Television KXMB Bismarck, ND
Rewards offered in suspected Greek arson; seven arrested
Nation Multimedia, Thailand individuals or members of a criminal ring suspected of setting the fires .... France, Italy, Cyprus, Germany, the Netherlands, Israel, Romania, Norway and Slovenia were sending aid.
Fires tear through tinder-dry Greece International Herald Tribune, France the fires, Greece's worst in decades .... drought and three consecutive heat waves that sent temperatures soaring above 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). More than 3,000 forest fires have razed thousands of wooded hectares since June ...... Prayers were held in churches across the country for the blazes to relent. .... Greece's worst summer of wildfires. .... Among the victims in the area were a pair of French hikers who were trapped in a flaming ravine. Their charred bodies were found locked in an embrace
Greece fights fires across the country; Arson suspected in many ... Reiten Television KXMB Bismarck, ND wildfires burning in more than half the country are an "unprecedented disaster" for Greece. .... Crews are battling blazes on 42 major fronts, concentrated in the mountains of southern Greece and on an island north of Athens.

The Right Way to Use Web 2.0 BusinessWeek Technorati, Facebook, and Wetpaint
Innovative Corporate Cafeterias Bloomberg, the financial data business he founded in 1981 ....heavily subsidizing the salad bar in its cafeteria. ..... the success of the employee at work is related to a number of factors, [including] work/life balance, health, and connection to community
Which Way To The Future? The U.S. and the global economies are coming to a crossroads that no one could have anticipated just a few years ago. Globalization and technology together are creating the potential for startling changes in how we do our jobs and the offices we do them in. Offshoring, for one, means work can be broken into smaller tasks and redistributed around the world. And the rapid growth of broader, richer channels of communication—including virtual worlds—is transforming what it means to be "at work." ..... 34% of adult workers in the U.S. now have a bachelor's degree or better, up from 29% 10 years ago. .... the modern workplace no longer resembles the factory assembly line but rather the design studio, where the core values are collaboration and innovation, not mindless repetition. .... 82% of respondents said that self-fulfillment will be a more powerful motivator than fear if we look 10 years out. ....... Only 47% of workers were satisfied with their jobs in 2006, down from 59% in 1995. "The demands in the workplace have increased tremendously" ... especially as technology has made it ever harder to get away from the job. ....... wage stagnation, combined with the 60% rise in college tuitions since 2000 ...... the best way to manage a global virtual team .... how to avoid being "Bangalored" or "Shanghaied" ..... moving up the value chain to take advantage of new opportunities .... improved telecommuting .... In the future, advances in communication could enable new forms of workplace organization and mass collaboration of an unprecedented sort. ..... Will this be an invigorating "new world of empowered individuals encased in a bubble of time-saving technologies? Or will it be a brave new world of virtual sweatshops...?"
A Guide For Multinationals a flurry of online, BlackBerry, and cell-phone conversations across four continents. ...... weld these vast, globally dispersed workforces into superfast, efficient organizations ..... the swiftly shifting nature of competition brought about by the Internet .... getting workers to collaborate instantly—not tomorrow or next week, but now—requires nothing less than a management revolution. ..... something much more fluid ..... an ever-shifting network of suppliers and outsourcers ..... multinationals are hiring sociologists to unlock the secrets of teamwork among colleagues who have never met. .... an arsenal of new tech tools to keep them perpetually connected ..... software that helps engineers co-develop 3D prototypes in virtual worlds ..... thousands of online courses to develop pipelines of talent. ...... Age of Diffusion .... the era of standardized benefits and work requirements is vanishing ..... companies need to accommodate a wide range of cultural and generational idiosyncrasies ..... running these new operations requires much more effort than connecting staff by phone and e-mail ..... you lose the intimacy of talking things through at a local café ..... Members are encouraged to network online and share their photographs and personal biographies. ..... a spate of Web-based services that make it easier for its 360,000-member staff to "work as one virtual team" ..... an innovation portal, where any employee with a product idea can use online chat boxes to organize a team, line up resources, and gain access to market research ...... Developers in IBM labs around the world then can collaborate on prototypes and testing. ..... enterprising staff can build a global team in as little as half an hour and cut the time to start a business from at least six months to around 30 days. ..... Since IBM introduced the portal, in early 2006, 93,000 workers have logged on, leading to 70 businesses and 10 new products. ... Creating a seamless global workforce is hard. But certain multinationals are slowly figuring out how to do it.
The Five Faces Of The 21st Century Chief Citrin has watched CEOs of public companies fight a losing battle against the spiraling demands on their performance and time. "The job of the CEO has become so consuming and complex that if you actually list all the things a CEO is responsible for, no human being can do them all," he says. Add to that a tightening market for talent as more stars jump ship to private equity, and it's clear to him the model of the public-company CEO must change. .... CEOs with deep expertise in one or two crucial areas and enough knowhow in the rest to build a high-performing supporting cast. .... access to local governments, ruling families, and business tycoons .... Corporations' walls are only going to get more permeable, as companies form alliances with outsiders and turn to networks of innovators for ideas to put into practice. Meanwhile, the need for collaboration among corporate units will expand, since demand for new growth areas requires more creativity across divisions. Orchestra conductors will be skilled in getting everyone to play in the same key. ..... A.G. Lafley, who says half of all new Procter & Gamble (PG ) products should come from outside its R&D labs. ..... talent war is only expected to worsen ... emerging-markets managers remain scarce .... CEOs who can retain the best people and deploy them adeptly will be hot commodities. .... "She's been able to put the right people in the right jobs to spectacular effect."
Cog Or Co-worker? the future of work lies in creativity, flexibility, and individualism—broken molds and smashed time clocks .... organizations of the future will have to adapt to their employees, not the other way around .... hierarchy has persisted, in one form or another, to the present day. ..... Even in a creative economy, hierarchy will remain indispensable for getting the work done. That's because in many situations, a well-oiled corporate machine will beat a roomful of free thinkers. ...... "There's a veil of humanism," Leavitt says. "We call each other by our first names. But when the chips are down, the boss says: You're fired.'" ..... "system-centered thinking" will remain a potent rival to the "people-centered thinking" that imagines nearly unlimited freedom to work as you wish. ..... system thinking isn't the crude, man-as-ox discipline it was a century ago .... draws on the latest psychological research to break down barriers to collaboration and fresh thinking .....
aspires to improve hierarchy, not kill it.
No-Cubicle Culture the corporate paradise of the future. Workers organize themselves, coalescing around natural leaders and gravitating to the most exciting projects. There are no middle managers, no hierarchies, no fixed assignments. ..... transform the company's once-stodgy culture into a free marketplace of ideas. .... none of the 150 employees had a permanent desk or office, only filing cabinets on wheels that they pushed from project to project. Meeting areas had no tables or chairs. He called it the spaghetti organization, because the place had no fixed structure yet somehow held together. ..... Yet as the company grew and went public, many of the old structures crept back. .... A degree of freedom sparks creativity, but workers also crave leadership.
The Shape Of Perks To Come The workplace of the future will pay you to learn, move walls to fit projects, and replace pensions with perks. Oh, and did we mention on-site elder care? .... sculpting jobs to fit lives—instead of the other way around. ..... Google (GOOG ) gave new meaning to bringing the home into the workplace (three free meals a day and new T-shirts twice a week). .... offices at the likes of Procter & Gamble (PG ) and Microsoft (MSFT ) are beginning to resemble kitchens and living rooms. Nap stations, gaming rooms, and media lounges are also in the works. ...... more companies put a premium on what you achieve ..... variations of unlimited time off. ..... Wellness programs are the leading edge of a new kind of company paternalism. Companies will be interested in whether you are fat or thin, a fitness freak or a slug ...... If you are the picture of health, you'll get a break on health-care costs
How To Keep Your Job Onshore Young Chinese were intently studying English, science, and math. ........ First it was the software programmers, then call-center employees, then back-office personnel in accounting, banking, and insurance. .... Now it's financial analysts, pharmacists, lawyers, and research scientists. There's practically no limit to the types of white-collar jobs that can be shifted, as long as the work can be done via the Web and telephone. ....... The safest bet is having a job that absolutely requires your physical presence, such as being an electrician or brain surgeon. ..... those that involve deep relationships with customers and extensive knowledge of local market conditions ..... multidisciplinary skills that aren't yet common in many low-cost countries. (Think computer science plus biology, or law and international business.) ....... need to break down their jobs into the tasks that are easy to move and those that are not—and make sure they're excelling in the second category. ....... software programmers, data entry clerks, draftsmen, and computer research scientists ...... 8.2 million people's current jobs as highly offshorable and 20.7 million more as offshorable. ..... The bank's researchers "are moving up the value chain and providing more sophisticated pieces of research ...... LegalEase Solutions ..... The firm's 20 Indian lawyers handle everything from researching legal precedents to writing drafts of briefs. Clients submit requests by e-mail. A LegalEase lawyer in the U.S. reviews them and assigns them to lawyers in India. The Indians do the research, analysis, and writing but are supervised by the U.S. attorney...... legal grunt work. ..... It's the interpersonal and communication skills that will make them vital additions to a legal team in Detroit, New York, or London. ..... Accenture, the consulting giant, has a team of chemists, physicians, statisticians, and pharmacists in Bangalore helping Western pharmaceutical companies review and document the results of clinical trials. ...... craft a job that requires frequent interactions with customers or government labs—stuff that can't so easily be done by a brainiac in Bangalore.
Creating Brand You you should stand out as a well-defined brand the rest of us can sum up in 15 words or less. ...... reinventing yourself every few years while balancing a series of provocative, fascinating projects. ..... casts branding as 120 ways to promote yourself. Quietly doing a good job is cast as, well, pathetic. ...... "Most people aren't brands," Trump says, after noting that Trump Vodka is the hottest alcohol launch in years. ...... Smart brand-builders look around at the brands that work and adopt the best elements of them .... in the age of Google, MySpace, YouTube (GOOG ), and blogging, everyone is a brand. ..... how to market yourself internally without being "overly aggressive and perceived as a nonteam player." ...... self-branding will increasingly become the mantra of every ambitious individual. .... your co-workers aren't just your colleagues. They're your audience.

The End Of Work As You Know It Picture Apple's (AAPL ) slick iPhone shrunk down to the size of a credit card. Then imagine it can connect not only to your contacts on the latest social network but also to billions of pea-sized wireless sensors attached to buildings, streets, retail products, and your co-workers' and business partners' clothes—all sending data over the Net to you. .... You'll also be able to track events in the physical world, from production on a factory floor to colleagues' whereabouts to how customers are using products. All that information will be much easier to view and analyze, using hand and arm gestures to control commands and viewing results with special glasses that make it seem as if you're gazing at a life-size screen. And you will be able to produce detailed prototypes of your product or design ideas via a 3D printer that creates plastic models from computerized specs as easily as a paper printer spews out reports today. ....... the changes are coming fast and furious
....... telepresence systems, which feature life-size, is-it-real-or-is-it-Memorex (IMN ) videoconferencing ..... a 65-inch high-definition plasma screen with full stereo sound ...... "The line between our customers and our staff continues to blur." .... an emerging dynamic variously dubbed mass collaboration, peer production, or crowdsourcing ..... "Google and Wikipedia are just scratching the surface of whole new kinds of economic organisms." ...... use game psychology in business applications: "Enterprises will steal sensibilities from games and virtual worlds and embed them into business." ...... Companies parcel out small pieces of jobs online, such as transcribing podcasts and labeling photos, to people around the world. ..... Amazon is creating an on-demand workforce for companies that can't afford to hire staff for such quick or ephemeral jobs. ...... "A job is a bundle of privileges and obligations ... "All of these technologies .... aren't going to be a substitute for face-to-face interaction."
How To Heal A Sick Office Chemicals in carpet glue, cleaning supplies, and printer cartridges can cause headaches, dizziness, lethargy, rashes, nausea, and respiratory irritation. .... the windows in most modern office buildings are sealed shut ..... Healing sick offices is generally a matter of replacing synthetic materials with natural alternatives, improving the flow of fresh air, and letting some natural light shine in.
How to Resolve Deep-Rooted Conflicts start by sitting down individually with your company's leaders and getting an understanding from them of the political and communication obstacles that they perceive to be holding the company back. ..... You'll need to have a sense of the political landscape and the relationships between your managers ..... the unaddressed rips in the company's cultural fabric. ..... "Can you help me understand your comment, Jack? You're saying you're not surprised that Shari hated your proposal?"