Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Topic started by: BlaneckW on April 24, 2014, 11:50:11 AM

Title: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on April 24, 2014, 11:50:11 AM

http://rt.com/news/154168-brazil-internet-freedom-law-conference/ (http://rt.com/news/154168-brazil-internet-freedom-law-conference/)

Brazil passes ‘internet constitution’

"Ahead of a two-day Net Mundial international conference in Sao Paulo on the future of the Internet, Brazil's Senate has unanimously adopted a bill which guarantees online privacy of Brazilian users and enshrines equal access to the global network.

The bill known as the "Internet constitution" or Marco Civil was first introduced in the wake of the NSA spying scandal and has now been signed into law by President Dilma Rousseff - one of the primary targets of the US intelligence apparatus, as leaks by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden revealed.

Rousseff presented the law on Wednesday at a global Net Mundial Internet conference in Sao Paulo.

The bill promotes freedom of information, making service providers not liable for content published by their users, but instead forcing the companies to obey court orders to remove any offensive material.

The principle of neutrality, calling on providers to grant equal access to service without charging higher rates for greater bandwidth use is also promoted. The legislation also limits the gathering and use of metadata on Internet users in Brazil.

The final version bill states that companies collecting data on Brazilian accounts must obey Brazilian data protection laws even if the data is collected and stored on servers abroad. "

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on April 26, 2014, 09:50:59 PM

http://notrickszone.com/2014/04/25/german-interview-of-patrick-moore-greenpeace-living-in-an-absolute-dream-world-poverty-is-biggest-threat/ (http://notrickszone.com/2014/04/25/german-interview-of-patrick-moore-greenpeace-living-in-an-absolute-dream-world-poverty-is-biggest-threat/)

Poverty Is the Biggest Threat to the Environment

"Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore today is one of the environmental organization’s harshest critics.

Moore tells readers how things have run amok at the activist organization, claiming it has changed from one that “not only cared about the environment, but also about people” to one that has since transformed to today’s radical organization “that characterizes people fundamentally as enemies of the earth.”

"Poor people today cannot afford to treat wastewater, to clean the air, to reforest, etc. Poverty is a problem for man and for the environment. Fighting poverty helps both. There’s no contradiction.”

Moore says he left Greenpeace because the organization opted to follow a course based on confrontation and anti-development. He also believes that the organization’s popularity is because the environmental movement has indeed become a religion.

Two million children die annually from diseases related to Vitamin A-deficiencies. If I take the precautionary principle seriously, then I can only demand that golden rice be immediately approved. If Vitamin A deficiency were a disease like malaria and someone discovered a medicine to heal the disease, it would not be long before people would use it.”

The whole interview is well worth reading and it hopefully it will appear soon in English."

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on April 27, 2014, 03:07:44 PM

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/alaskan-polar-bears-threatened-too-much-spring-ice-0 (http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/alaskan-polar-bears-threatened-too-much-spring-ice-0)

"Five meters of ice - about 16 feet thick - is threatening the survival of polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea region along Alaska's Arctic coast, according to Dr. Susan J. Crockford, an evolutionary biologist in British Columbia who has studied polar bears for most of her 35-year career.

"Prompted by reports of the heaviest sea ice conditions on the East Coast 'in decades' and news that ice on the Great Lakes is, for mid-April, the worst it's been since records began, I took a close look at the ice thickness charts for the Arctic," Crockford noted in her Polar Bear Science blog on April 18th.

"The male seals arrive in the area in early spring to set up breeding territories. They drill a hole through the ice to maintain breathing holes close to the shore. But there's a limit. They can drill through two meters (about seven feet) of ice. But too much beyond that and they're in trouble."

"When those bears come out of their dens in the spring, they need to find seals right away because they will have gone six months without eating," Crockford said. "If there are no seals, they have to go further out, where there's thinner ice."

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on April 28, 2014, 08:35:33 PM

http://rt.com/news/154756-spanish-police-protest/ (http://rt.com/news/154756-spanish-police-protest/)

“The Spanish government is using the full force of the law to suffocate legitimate peaceful protest”

"The Spanish government and police are using legislation and force to snuff out peaceful public protest across the crisis-stricken Iberian nation, claims human rights group Amnesty International in a new report.

"The Spanish government is using the full force of the law to suffocate legitimate peaceful protest," said Jezerca Tigani, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Program Director for the non-profit organization.

"The police have repeatedly used batons and rubber bullets against demonstrators, injuring and maiming protestors and bystanders alike. The police act with complete impunity, while peaceful demonstrators and leaders of social movements are continually harassed, stigmatized, beaten, sometimes arrested to face criminal charges, imprisonment and fines."

According to government figures, there were more than 4,300 protests in Madrid alone last year, with thousands more across the country. Police statistics show that less than 1 percent of those turned violent.

Yet, Amnesty says, police use "excessive force in many cases, including inappropriate use and misuse of anti-riot gear, and when carrying out arrests."

But Amnesty says that it is not only during demonstrations themselves that police exceed their remit. The report outlines instances of incessant identity checks, harassment, and humiliation of female protesters as tactics used to dissuade demonstrators from attending in the future.


"They want to destroy the leadership of the movements, and so are seeking out the spokespeople. I keep participating in demonstrations and other activities, because I've been told we'd all pay the fine jointly; but you can see that there is fear. Young people who have no job cannot afford to pay the fines," Maria, one organizer who refused to give her name, told Amnesty.

The government is planning a reform of its penal code, which could see fines for demonstrations increase manifold.

"Spanish authorities have restricted the enjoyment of human rights in Spain, in particular the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of expression, in a way which is inconsistent with international human rights standards and with Spain's obligations under international law," sums up the report."

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2014, 08:51:58 PM

I'm correct in assuming these are articles?  If you'd put up a bolded headline at the top of these stories, it would be clearer what was copy/paste and what was your commentary.  In quotes is good too, unless there's a YouTube/Daily motion video to embed with it - that's why I didn't put the last Star Wars story in quotes.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on April 28, 2014, 09:37:23 PM

None of it is my commentary.  I would do commentary in a separate post, but I don't usually consider it necessary to comment on an article.  I will put them in quotes and add some titles if that helps you.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2014, 09:38:28 PM

Okydoke.  Just sayin'.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on April 28, 2014, 09:46:36 PM

Have you considered cutting bread and milk out of your diet, BUncle?

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2014, 09:59:34 PM

Do those make me stupid?  -Because I don't get it. ;)

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on April 28, 2014, 10:01:43 PM

Quote from: BUncle on April 28, 2014, 09:59:34 PM

Do those make me stupid?  -Because I don't get it. ;)

They do, they may also make you tired and may not be very good for you.

Grain can have immune system and inflammatory responses in the gut and brain.

if you are a sugar eater you should try to replace it with sweet fruits, though chocolate has health benefits.  Drop things like Soda and Cereal off of your diet altogether.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2014, 10:04:40 PM

Oh - you're serious.  There are a lot of RL factors in the mix, as well as running this place asking for more from me lately.  I appreciate your concern.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on April 28, 2014, 10:07:38 PM

Quote from: BUncle on April 28, 2014, 10:04:40 PM

Oh - you're serious.  There are a lot of RL factors in the mix, as well as running this place asking for more from me lately.  I appreciate your concern.

My dietary suggestions would be easy for you to implement.  Things like fat and meat have been demonized but they aren't bad for you and won't make you fat.  A diet of carbohydrates would do so much more easily.  If you like nuts, you might try eating those for your energy.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2014, 10:15:44 PM

I'm a pretty dedicated carnivore, so it's not that.  Speaking of which, supper; brb.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on May 02, 2014, 06:08:57 PM

Kiev Fascists Begins Army Offensive
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-02/ukraine-begins-army-offensive-regain-slavyansk-separatists-retaliate-shoot-down-heli (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-02/ukraine-begins-army-offensive-regain-slavyansk-separatists-retaliate-shoot-down-heli)

After a few days of extended verbal foreplay, it was only a matter of time before Ukraine finally snapped and resumed a military operation to regain the lost cities in the east, especially once the warmongering IMF made it explicitly clear that should Ukraine lose control of pro-Russian controlled cities the $17 billion bailout package would be lost too. Sure enough, early this morning Kiev launched a military operation to regain control of the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Slovyansk, overrunning numerous roadblocks and surrounding the city, officials said, but meeting stiff resistance from militants who managed to shoot down at least one helicopter.

Arsen Avakov said militant fighters fought back against the advancing Ukrainian units with heavy weaponry, including grenade launchers and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. There was no immediate sign that Ukraine's forces were moving further into the city.

Separatist leaders claimed to have shot down four Ukrainian helicopters in the clash, Russian state media reported, but Ukraine's defense ministry said two helicopters had been shot down and that two soldiers were killed and several more wounded. Ukraine's state security service confirmed only one Mi-24 chopper was taken down, with one pilot killed and the other taken captive. A spokeswoman for the separatists said one person was killed and another wounded on their side.

    Putin's spokesman heaped blame on the Ukrainian government, which took power two months ago after pro-Western protests forced the Kremlin-backed elected president to flee to Russia. Noting that Putin had warned before that any "punitive operation" would be a "criminal act", Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that this was what had now happened at Slaviansk, where separatists seeking independence or annexation by Moscow are holding seven foreign European military observers.

    "While Russia is making efforts to de-escalate and settle the conflict, the Kiev regime has turned to firing on civilian towns with military aircraft and has begun a punitive operation, effectively destroying the last hope of survival for the Geneva accord," he said, referring to a deal on April 17 signed by Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union.

    Putin's spokesman heaped blame on the Ukrainian government, which took power two months ago after pro-Western protests forced the Kremlin-backed elected president to flee to Russia. Noting that Putin had warned before that any "punitive operation" would be a "criminal act", Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that this was what had now happened at Slaviansk, where separatists seeking independence or annexation by Moscow are holding seven foreign European military observers.

    Saying Putin had sent an envoy, Vladimir Lukin, to southeast Ukraine to negotiate their release, Peskov said that Lukin had not been heard from since the Ukrainian operation began.

    "While Russia is making efforts to de-escalate and settle the conflict, the Kiev regime has turned to firing on civilian towns with military aircraft and has begun a punitive operation, effectively destroying the last hope of survival for the Geneva accord," he said, referring to a deal on April 17 signed by Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union.

Armed groups seeking union with Russia have seized a number of government buildings in towns in eastern Ukraine. The action in Slaviansk appeared to mark the heaviest military response by Kiev since it tightened a cordon around the city a week ago.

"They wanted to carry out some small-scale tactical operations just to scare the people," said a militant manning a checkpoint leading to the army-held airfield. "But so far things have not worked out the way they wanted."

The irony of course is that East Ukraine is for all intents and purposes lost to Kiev, and with the IMF ultimatum hanging over the acting government's head, a civil was is now all but inevitable, a war which will most certainly end up involving both Russia and NATO eventually:

    "Shells came into my garden," said one local man, Gennady. "They say that they have come to defend us. But who from?" he said of the Ukrainian forces. "Civilians must stop them."  On the town's southern outskirts, eight Ukrainian armored personnel carriers cut off the road but faced a cordon two deep of local residents shouting at them to go home

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 02, 2014, 07:26:00 PM

Your sense of humor isn't the easiest thing in the world to understand...

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on May 04, 2014, 05:29:16 AM

Quote from: BUncle on May 02, 2014, 07:26:00 PM

Your sense of humor isn't the easiest thing in the world to understand...

It is the driest in all the world.

Title: CIA/Mossad car bomb endangers world economic forum
Post by: BlaneckW on May 04, 2014, 05:29:41 AM

On the eve of the World Economic Forum, to be attended by world leaders, a car bomb attack in Nigeria's capital city has killed at least 19 people and injured another 60.  Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bears the hallmarks of CIA/Mossad sponsored Boko Haram, who set off another blast just yards away last month which killed a further 70 people.

The Nigerian government is deploying 6,000 police to deter further CIA incursions.  Nigeria is Africa' s biggest oil producer and is the continent's most populous nation. Its 170 million people are almost equally divided between Christians and Muslims. The forum is intended to discuss Africa's economic growth prospects.

President Goodluck Jonathan told a May Day rally in Abuja earlier yesterday that the perpetrators must be brought justice.

'We shall triumph over all this evil that wants to debase our humanity or obstruct our progress as a nation,' he vowed. 'Those who want to re-define our country to be seen as a country of chaos will never succeed.'

Last week, he assured the Chinese ambassador that the hundreds of delegates expected at the World Economic Forum on Africa 'will not have a problem with security during the summit'.

The CIA incursions pose the greatest threat to Nigeria's cohesion and security and imperils nearby countries where its fighters have gone to train. Fighters from Chad, Cameroon and Niger have been found among extremists in Nigeria.

In May 2013, Mr Jonathan declared a state of emergency and deployed thousands of troops to the north-east after the CIA took control of entire towns and villages.

Security forces quickly forced the insurgents out of urban areas but have been fighting to dislodge them from hideouts in forests and mountain caves along the border with Cameroon and Chad.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on May 09, 2014, 05:05:49 AM

Who destroys the free market? Not Moscow, but New York

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/05/05/u-s-businesses-are-being-destroyed-faster-than-theyre-being-created/ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/05/05/u-s-businesses-are-being-destroyed-faster-than-theyre-being-created/)
The Washington post points that during the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 businesses were collapsing faster than they were being formed; new businesses creation declined by about half from 1978 to 2011.

(http://s26.postimg.org/54yv5eivd/entrepreneurs.png)

The reasons for this are quite obvious: the "1%" oligarchy concentrates wealth in their own hands so that there isn't any money left over for any new competition, which is just how they like it.

It requires a concious decision and effort to preserve enterprise, just as they were destroyed consciously. The end-result of free-market is un-free monopoly.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on May 10, 2014, 11:04:26 AM

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/05/10/362022/ecuador-orders-usaid-to-leave/ (http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/05/10/362022/ecuador-orders-usaid-to-leave/)

Ecuador has called for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to leave the country by the end of September.

In a letter obtained by the Associated Press on Thursday, Ecuador’s government told the USAID that it “must not execute any new activity,” nor widen any existing projects in the country.

The letter, dated November 26, 2013, was signed by Gabriela Rosero of Ecuador’s international cooperation agency and was sent to the US Embassy in the Ecuadorean capital of Quito.

The letter was reportedly addressed to USAID program officer, Christopher M. Cushing.

Rosero said that the USAID must pull out by September 30, and that “the decision has been made.”

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa suggested in December that the USAID's programs were no longer welcome in Ecuador, saying on one of his regular Saturday programs on television and radio that "we don't need charity."

In April, Ecuador ordered 20 US military staff working at the US Embassy in Quito to leave the country by the end of the month.

In January, President Rafael Correa publicly complained that the United States had too many military officers in the country. He said Ecuador planned to order some to leave. Many observers say that the action was taken over concerns about Washington’s espionage activities.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on May 11, 2014, 10:46:05 PM

Africa needs Russia - Republic of the Congo President
http://rt.com/news/155776-congo-investment-russia-economy/ (http://rt.com/news/155776-congo-investment-russia-economy/)

The Republic of the Congo, a resource-rich state in central Africa, plans to attract infrastructure investment from Russia, President Denis Sassou Nguesso told Russian media.

"We plan to develop co-operation in all areas: hydrocarbons, agriculture, minerals, logging and education and training," he said to RIA Novosti.

Sassou Nguesso, who first became the leader of his country in 1979, was originally a committed Marxist, and relied on the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991.

He still thanks the USSR "for fighting for the freedom of the people of Africa," and speaks warmly of the thousands of Congolese who studied and married in the Soviet Union. However, he realizes that the relationship had to be rebuilt anew, following wide-scale political and economic transformations in both countries.

Sassou Nguesso believes the foundation was laid during an official meeting with Vladimir Putin in November 2012.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2014, 11:11:18 PM

Am I correct that the joke of this thread is roleplaying Yang-approved news?  Sorry to intrude reality, but curious.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on May 12, 2014, 04:03:55 AM

Quote from: BUncle on May 11, 2014, 11:11:18 PM

Am I correct that the joke of this thread is roleplaying Yang-approved news?  Sorry to intrude reality, but curious.

I'm not roleplaying anything.  I'm just relaying the news.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 12, 2014, 04:15:20 AM

Hail the Enlightened Chairman.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on May 12, 2014, 07:50:44 AM

http://rt.com/politics/157300-russia-government-putin-orders/ (http://rt.com/politics/157300-russia-government-putin-orders/)
The Russian government reports it has fulfilled about a half of the 218 “May Orders” – the points in the major social and economic program signed by President Putin right after his inauguration two years ago.

According to the report published on the government’s web-site on Wednesday, ministers have managed to execute 121 presidential orders in two years. The reports on the execution of 17 more orders are currently being reviewed by the Presidential Administration and 97 orders are still being worked on, the report reads.

The authors of the document add that the execution of three orders are overdue – they should have been implemented before December 2013. The work on the rest is on schedule and the program must be fully completed before 2020 – well beyond Vladimir Putin’s current presidential term that expires in 2018.

The government released a report a year ago that said it had managed to fulfill only two thirds of the presidential plans for the period, and President Putin said that he had deliberately set high objectives to make civil servants work harder.

The May Orders are the major guidelines for national development signed by Putin after his inauguration as president in May 2012. They include the plan for economic development, reforms in state administration, foreign policy, in science and the military, and also various social reforms, including healthcare, demographics and ethnic policies.

The orders are based on Putin’s 2012 electoral program and are used by the President’s political allies for promoting their course. The United Popular Front movement announced in late 2013 that its representatives would oversee the implementation of the May Orders and report all violations to officials, including the presidential administration. In early April this year the pro-Putin leftist party Fair Russia drafted a bill in which state officials responsible for failures in executing the presidential orders should be fined up to 200,000 rubles or even jailed for up to three years.

Title: Re: news with yang
Post by: BlaneckW on May 17, 2014, 12:28:22 AM

Florida woman works to defend child from mutilators.
http://rt.com/usa/159488-florida-circumcision-halted-court/ (http://rt.com/usa/159488-florida-circumcision-halted-court/)