On its website (via Google Translate), the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it was satisfied that the devices were not just elaborate ways for spooks to spy on the People's r..
Scratches to Sketches
Tuesday 30 September 2014
Chinese Hackers Are Targeting Pro-Democracy Protestors In Hong Kong Through Their iPhones - Business Insider
"BOSTON (Reuters) - Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a computer virus that spies on Apple Inc's iOS operating system for the iPhone and iPad, and they believe it is targeting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-hackers-are-targeting-pro-democracy-protestors-in-hong-kong-through-their-iphones-2014-9
The malicious software, known as Xsser, is capable of stealing text messages, photos, call logs, passwords and other data from Apple mobile devices, researchers with Lacoon Mobile Security said on Tuesday.
They uncovered the spyware while investigating similar malware for Google Inc's Android operating system last week that also targeted Hong Kongprotesters. Anonymous attackers spread the Android spyware via WhatsApp, sending malicious links to download the program, according to Lacoon."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-hackers-are-targeting-pro-democracy-protestors-in-hong-kong-through-their-iphones-2014-9
Berkeley drafts cell phone health warnings | KALW
"Bocook spoke at a San Francisco news conference a year after he collapsed in the shower because a brain tumor the size of a baseball had stopped his heart.
This month, the 50-year-old Palo Alto lawyer and father of three young children was diagnosed with a second brain tumor.
He blames the cell phones that he pressed against his ear for hours a day for decades. And he believes the warnings buried in tiny type in printed user manuals and behind layers of menus on smart phones should be posted on stickers right on the devices, or at least on their packaging."
http://kalw.org/post/berkeley-drafts-cell-phone-health-warnings-0#.VCkrhf-Eu8s.facebookLiveLeak.com - Difference between weapon-grade bearings made in China and Germany
This is incredible footage? You may not understand the language but the point is incredibly clear. Price is not everything...
GE to construct massive solar power plant in Japan- Nikkei Asian Review
" The U.S.-based industrial conglomerate will sell all the electricity generated at the site to Chugoku Electric Power Company. Income from power sales is expected to total roughly 10 billion yen annually. The General Electric Group will invest 60% in the special-purpose company that will manage the plant, which is scheduled to be operational in 2019. The project's overall cost is estimated at $1.1 billion."
Navy tests new vehicle-mounted laser weapon | Fox News
"Using volumetric radar, command and control systems and a laser kill platform, the GBAD is a small, compact mobile weapons system designed to integrate onto a HMMWV or Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, said Mastroianni.
The GBAD is being prepared for a 10-kilowatt laser weapon demonstration in February of next year, Mastroianni explained."
The GBAD is being prepared for a 10-kilowatt laser weapon demonstration in February of next year, Mastroianni explained."
The Arrest Of A Billionaire Does Not Bode Well For Russia's Economy - Business Insider
"As a result, there have been repeated attempts since then to bring Bashneft under Rosneft's control. This interpretation can be folded into a broader theory that the Yevtushenkov affair represents a further episode in the running battle between the siloviki-the "strong men" in the Russian elite-and the liberal (at least in economic terms) technocrats. Significantly, all the prominent figures who have spoken out publicly against the treatment of Mr Yevtushenkov belong to the latter group."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-arrest-of-a-russian-billionaire-does-not-bode-well-for-russias-economy-2014-9
Tackling Student Debt and the Privatization of Education | BillMoyers.com
"On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced a bill addressing two of her top legislative priorities: The crushing burden of student debt and tax loopholes that allow the wealthiest Americans to shell out a smaller share of their incomes than do many of those in the middle class. The measure would allow people who took out student loans at a higher rate than they could get today to refinance their debt the same way one might refinance a home mortgage. It would also give people with high-interest private loans to roll them over into the Federal Direct Loan program."
Ex-Spy Vindicated After Protesting Hillary | BillMoyers.com
McGovern is a changed man. He started out in the Army, then he worked for the CIA from the Kennedy administration up through the first Bush presidency, preparing the president's daily intel brief. He was a hell of a spy. McGovern began to see the evil of much of the government's work, and has since become an outspoken critic of the intelligence world and an advocate for free speech. He speaks on behalf of people like Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden.
FireChat – the messaging app that’s powering the Hong Kong protests | World news | The Guardian
How to avoid using cell towers, as in Hong Kong... A way round controls and totalitarianism?
GMO Crops Accelerate Herbicide and Insecticide Use While Mainstream Media Gets It Wrong » EcoWatch
"Rather than reduce pesticide inputs, GMOs are causing them to skyrocket in amount and toxicity."
Kale is King: 5 Reasons You Should Eat It » EcoWatch
"We've heard over and over that kale is the most nutrient-dense food you can get your hands on. It's been called the world's healthiest food. And it's become one of the trendiest ingredients in quality restaurants, so we've had the chance to taste it prepared in more different ways, including in smoothies, desserts and cocktails."
Monday 29 September 2014
Netanyahu Likens ISIS to Iran at U.N. General Assembly - NationalJournal.com
"Netanyahu also compared "militant Islam" to the Nazis' ambitions for a master race free of Jews during the Holocaust. It "seems mad," he said. "But so, too, did the global ambitions of another fanatic ideology that swept into power eight decades ago."
Naming his enemies personally, he denounced earlier U.N. General Assembly speeches by Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Last week, Rouhani compared the spread of global terrorism to a "contagious disease.""
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/netanyahu-likens-isis-to-iran-at-u-n-general-assembly-20140929Sunday 28 September 2014
The Looming Death of Homo Economicus by Dennis J. Snower - Project Syndicate
KIEL – The world seems to be on the verge of another "great transformation," with changes far more profound than news-grabbing economic or geopolitical headlines about Asia's economic rise or the fires in the Middle East. The coming changes will fundamentally redefine the nature of our economic interactions – and the social dynamics that underlie them.
This is a transformation on the scale of the shift, more than 8,000 years ago, from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural ones, which eventually led to the rise of cities. A similar transformation occurred in Europe in the tenth century, with the emergence of guilds – associations of skilled workers who controlled the practice of their craft in a particular town – which paved the way for the Industrial Revolution.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/dennis-j--snower-insists-that-humans--economic-self-interest-cannot-be-separated-from-their-capacity-for-care
Selfishness for All? by Simon Zadek - Project Syndicate
"AMSTERDAM – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has just hosted a special summit in New York intended to spur action on climate change. Ban's message was simple: Beyond the long-term shared benefits of such action, countries and businesses would benefit in the short term. In other words, there are no losers in the fight to mitigate climate change and its consequences.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/simon-zadek-explores-the-potential-of-self-interest-to-spur-action-on-climate-change
For some, the "win-win" character of climate action seems finally to be sinking in. At the UN summit, hundreds of political and business leaders from around the world outlined commitments that constitute practical steps toward enhancing their countries' economic prospects, improving their citizens' quality of life, and benefiting firms' bottom lines."
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/simon-zadek-explores-the-potential-of-self-interest-to-spur-action-on-climate-change
Europe’s Austerity Zombies by Joseph E. Stiglitz - Project Syndicate
"NEW YORK – "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the theory," goes the old adage. But too often it is easier to keep the theory and change the facts – or so German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other pro-austerity European leaders appear to believe. Though facts keep staring them in the face, they continue to deny reality.
Austerity has failed. But its defenders are willing to claim victory on the basis of the weakest possible evidence: the economy is no longer collapsing, so austerity must be working! But if that is the benchmark, we could say that jumping off a cliff is the best way to get down from a mountain; after all, the descent has been stopped."
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/joseph-e--stiglitz-wonders-why-eu-leaders-are-nursing-a-dead-theory
(What’s Left of) Our Economy: A Trade Theory Mystery | The Wall Street Examiner
"Proponents of the theory – who include nearly all economists for centuries, living and dead, along with numerous fakeonomists from think tanks and elsewhere and most major newspaper editorialists and media pundits – insist that the freest possible global competition, fostered by the freest possible trade flows, will help produce the greatest possible global efficiencies and the best possible array of products and services. Here's my starting question: Why does it have to be global competition? Why can't it be purely domestic competition, especially in the case of the United States?"
Saturday 27 September 2014
A Wealthy Capitalist on Why Money Doesn't Trickle Down | BillMoyers.com
"The fundamental law of capitalism is: When workers have more money, businesses have more customers. Which makes middle-class consumers — not rich businesspeople — the true job creators. A thriving middle class isn't a consequence of growth — which is what the trickle-down advocates would tell you. A thriving middle class is the source of growth and prosperity in capitalist economies.
Our economy has changed, lest you think that the minimum wage is for teenagers. The average age of a fast-food worker is 28. And minimum wage jobs aren't confined to a small corner of the economy. By 2040, it is estimated that 48 percent of all American jobs will be low-wage service jobs. We need to reckon with this. What will our economy be like when it's dominated by low paying service jobs? What proportion of the population do we want to live on food stamps? 50 percent? Does this matter? Should we care?"
http://billmoyers.com/2014/09/11/a-wealthy-capitalist-on-why-money-doesnt-trickle-down/Inside the New York Fed: Secret Recordings and a Culture Clash | BillMoyers.com
"New York Fed President William Dudley had to answer two questions quickly: Why had his institution blown it, and how could it do better? So he called in an outsider, a Columbia University finance professor named David Beim, and granted him unlimited access to investigate. In exchange, the results would remain secret.
After interviews with dozens of New York Fed employees, Beim learned something that surprised even him. The most daunting obstacle the New York Fed faced in overseeing the nation's biggest financial institutions was its own culture. The New York Fed had become too risk-averse and deferential to the banks it supervised. Its examiners feared contradicting bosses, who too often forced their findings into an institutional consensus that watered down much of what they did."
http://billmoyers.com/2014/09/26/inside-new-york-fed-secret-recordings-culture-clash/BRUCE: How ISIS already threatens America - Washington Times
"The New York Daily News covered the warnings of New York Police Commission Bill Bratton that the Islamic State is targeting the city, "The terror group responsible for the videotaped executions of two American journalists and a British aid worker are calling for 'lone wolf' attacks on Times Square. The recent call for terror — found in an online chat room that claims to be affiliated with the Islamic State — came with directions on 'how to prepare a bomb in the kitchen' as well as a list of tourist spots that will create 'pictures of horror.'"
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/22/bruce-how-isis-already-threatens-america/
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/22/bruce-how-isis-already-threatens-america/
Germany's Jewish Problem
"The wave of modern anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence inundating Germany in recent months jolted Chancellor Angela Merkel and religious and political leaders to participate in a "Stand-Up: Jew-Hatred-Never Again!" rally organized on Sept. 14 by the Central Council of Jews in Germany in the heart of Berlin's government district, not far the country's national Holocaust memorial."
Friday 26 September 2014
Putin Plays Chicken with U.S. Farmers, and Russians Lose - NBC News.com
"Russian consumer inflation is higher generally. The country's central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina, said on Thursday that inflation could exceed 7.5 percent this year "and may be even higher." The central bank has directly implicated sanctions against food imports for that rise."
Russia is taking measures to avoid internet crisis - I Know Today
"Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman stated that the relationship between the USA and Europe has recently been quite hard to predict, and they believe it is their duty to prepare for any worst case scenario. The Western countries have sanctioned Russia for the manner in which it managed to destabilize Ukraine. The targets were mainly Russian officials, the Russian oil industry, state banks and arms manufacturers. The USA and European Union are accusing Russia of supplying heavy weaponry, food supplies and soldiers to the pro-Russian separatist forces placed in eastern Ukraine."
Thursday 25 September 2014
Oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov to remain under house arrest | Business | The Guardian
"Yevtushenkov is accused of helping to launder stolen state assets when Sistema purchased Bashneft and other energy companies from structures controlled by Ural Rakhimov, the son of the former president of Russia's Bashkortostan republic. A Moscow court said on Thursday Rakhimov had illegally acquired the assets. The republic allegedly lost more than $5bn when its energy companies were bought by Rakhimov in a privatisation deal more than a decade ago.
Many have compared Yevtushenkov's case to that of another oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whose Yukos oil company was broken up and acquired by the state oil giant Rosneft after he was imprisoned on charges of privatisation fraud. Last week, the head of the major business group Russian Federation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs called the Yevtushenkov case "Yukos 2.0". According to economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev, the case has damaged Russia's business climate and would increase capital flight."
ATO amnesty project targets tax evaders, unlocks money stashed in havens, inherited offshore accounts - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
"Jews who fled Nazi Germany and stashed money in old Swiss bank accounts are among more than 1,000 people taking advantage of an Australian tax amnesty.
The Tax Office has learned of about $550 million worth of assets stored in offshore havens in Europe, Israel and Asia, as part of a project called DO IT."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-25/tax-amnesty-for-offshore-evaders/5767492Wall Street Banks and Their Critics Were Disappointed in Eric Holder - Businessweek
"In March of last year, Holder seemed to reiterate his earlier point when he told the Senate Judiciary Committee: "I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult to prosecute them." Only a few months later, after much criticism, he revised his statement, saying, "There is no such thing as 'too big to jail.' No individual or company, no matter how large or how profitable, is above the law.""
China's Norinco Is Defense Giant on Global Growth Path - Businessweek
"With foreign sales of $7.4 billion over the past five years, China overtook France in 2013 to become the world's fourth-largest arms exporter, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Besides Norinco, the country's arms makers include Aviation Industry Corp. of China, Poly Technologies, and China South Industries Group. Norinco is the biggest of the bunch."
Half of Earth's water may be older than the Sun › News in Science (ABC Science)
"Up to half of all the water on Earth may be older than the solar system itself, suggests a new study.
The research, reported in the journal Science, may help settle a debate about when and how our water formed, and offers hope of finding water in other solar systems."
The research, reported in the journal Science, may help settle a debate about when and how our water formed, and offers hope of finding water in other solar systems."
President Obama’s airstrikes against ISIS: Bombing the jihadist Islamic State may be more effective than expected.
Obama's leadership is extraordinary a very effective ....
"President Obama's air war against terrorist targets in Syria has begun, sooner and more deeply inside Syrian territory than expected. The question: Will the strikes—which mark the mere "beginning of a credible, sustainable, persistent campaign," as the U.S. military's operations chief put it at a Pentagon press conference Tuesday morning—really degrade and destroy the jihadist group known as ISIS?"
Russia employs terrorist methods and is expected to target Baltic States next: The Washington Post
"Do you feel the lack of leadership in your part of the world?
Yes. Lack of leadership has allowed terrorist groups such as ISIS [the Islamic State] to grow, and on the question of Ukraine, it has allowed Russia to become a state with terrorist elements.
How do you see the situation in Ukraine?
The situation is still deteriorating. Russian troops are still on the territory of Ukraine. That means that Europe and the world are allowing Russia to be a country which is not only threatening its neighbors but is also organizing a war against its neighbors. It is the same international terrorism as we have in Iraq and Syria."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lithuanias-president-russia-is-terrorizing-its-neighbors-and-using-terrorist-methods/2014/09/24/eb32b9fc-4410-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.htmlIslamic State: US-led airstrikes target oil assets in Syria - CSMonitor.com
"US-led jet fighters launched new airstrikes overnight, targeting Syrian oilfields under the control of the self-declared Islamic State, in an effort to degrade the group's financial assets."
Woman uses hidden camera to expose life under Islamic State - CSMonitor.com
"The footage, narrated in French and dubbed in English, offers glimpses of daily life: busy streets filled with cars and bicycles, a market with piles of vegetables, and the predominance of men in public areas, many of them brandishing guns."
Planning for job growth in enterprises that can stand up to international competition. ..The Toronto Star
"Canadians need a plan for jobs and growth. After nearly a decade of Conservative government, unemployment is still stubbornly high and economic growth is sluggish. In the past 12 months, only 15,000 full-time jobs have been created in Canada. That's why Liberals are focused on a jobs and growth agenda."
'I was terrified we'd lose all our money': banks tell US customers they won't work with Americans | Money | theguardian.com
"Thousands of Americans abroad are giving up their citizenship as the implementation of a complex new tax law causes banks to shut down accounts for US expatriates"
Sarah Beeny: I don't care if people tune in for my boobs
"I'm a massive Prince Charles fan. He was talking about saving the planet 40 years ago – before anyone knew the word "green" – and he has this amazing regeneration trust, which takes important buildings and finds new uses for them. I don't know why people are so mean about him. Government policy should be based on what he sees because he has a very clear perspective."
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Sketches from scratches is a provocative blogspot that has grown out of the Wuh Lax experience. It is eclectic, which means that it might consider just about anything from the simple to the extremely difficult. A scratch can be something that is troubling me or a short line on paper. From a scratch comes a verbal sketch or image sketch of the issue or subject. Other sites have other stuff that should really be of interest to the broad reader. I try to develop themes, but variety often comes before depth.
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