"Grätzel was selected for his research in development of a new solar cell termed the Grätzel Cell, which imitates photosynthesis converting light energy into electric energy that can be used for electrical propulsion, or to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, a process useful for fuels. The cells have the highest efficiency in using solar energy, and are much cheaper than normal solar cells."
Scratches to Sketches
Monday, 6 October 2014
ISIS Will Try for Tunisia Next - Op-Eds - Arutz Sheva
"For the last two years, a group of Jihadists in the border areas between Tunisia and Libya are sporadically destroying Tunisian army vehicles and killing a good many of their occupants. This group calls itself – charmingly – "The Uqba ben Nafi Brigade". Its Jihadist agenda has been known from the first, as has its ability to recruit fighters, equip itself with varied weapons and sow fear and trembling in its ever-widening surroundings. The Brigade is seen as part of the widespread and familiar "Al Qaeda of the Islamic Magreb" – Al Qaeda's North African branch."
Israel Ready as 'Global Leader' in Alternate Fuels - Technology & Health - News - Arutz Sheva
"Grätzel was selected for his research in development of a new solar cell termed the Grätzel Cell, which imitates photosynthesis converting light energy into electric energy that can be used for electrical propulsion, or to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, a process useful for fuels. The cells have the highest efficiency in using solar energy, and are much cheaper than normal solar cells."
News is bad for you – and giving up reading it will make you happier | Media | The Guardian
"In the past few decades, the fortunate among us have recognised the hazards of living with an overabundance of food (obesity, diabetes) and have started to change our diets. But most of us do not yet understand that news is to the mind what sugar is to the body. News is easy to digest. The media feeds us small bites of trivial matter, tidbits that don't really concern our lives and don't require thinking. That's why we experience almost no saturation. Unlike reading books and long magazine articles (which require thinking), we can swallow limitless quantities of news flashes, which are bright-coloured candies for the mind. Today, we have reached the same point in relation to information that we faced 20 years ago in regard to food. We are beginning to recognise how toxic news can be."
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Resisting nationalist polarization and Russian invasion Building a Democratic Left Party; A leftist feminist point of view - International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine
"Nina Potarskaya is one of the leading Ukrainian leftist feminists, founder of the feminist squadron at Maidan, and member of the Left Opposition, which helped organize three successive conferences of left forces in Kiev, in November 2013, March 2014, and September 2014. The most recent conference decided to build a new democratic Left party, which is the first electoral effort of its kind in Ukraine. She was interviewed in Geneva by Jean Batou, with the help of Kirill Buketov, for solidaritéS."
Saturday, 4 October 2014
The Koch Brothers’ War on Transit | BillMoyers.com
"Transit advocates around the country were transfixed by a story in Tennessee this April, when the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity made a bid to pre-emptively kill Nashville bus rapid transit. It was an especially brazen attempt by Charles and David Koch's political network to strong-arm local transportation policy makers. But it was far from the only time the Kochs and their surrogates have taken aim at transit."
Thursday, 2 October 2014
Housing bubble will force Bank of Canada to renew rate hike warnings soon, Pimco says | Financial Post
What do bad governments do to stay in power pretending they have a growth economy?
"The Bank of Canada will be forced to renew warnings of the possibility for higher interest rates in order to halt a "bubble" from forming in the housing market, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Ed Devlin."
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Apple Upgrade and Backup a complete disaster
The Moscow Times about rich Russian dads and their sons being in America
Not a very happy individual, nor all that friendly...
Jailing Climate Deniers » EcoWatch
" Last week, that canard leapt from the wingnut echo chamber into New York magazine, which reported, under Jonathan Chait's by-line, that "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. shares the opinion that climate denial should be criminalized."
It's Official: Plastic Bags Banned in California » EcoWatch
"California Gov. Jerry Brown added his signature this morning and made it official: single-use plastic bagsare being banned from many of the state's retail establishments. SB 270, passed by the legislature and sent to Gov. Brown's desk for final approval in late August, phases out the bags, starting with large grocery stores and pharmacies in July 2015, and in convenience and liquor stores one year later. California is the first state to ban the bags, although many cities across the country have done so. This came despite heavy lobbying and spending from "Big Plastic," led by out-of-state bag manufacturers."
Tuesday, 30 September 2014
Beijing says YES, GIVE US the iPHONE 6 even if it spies for the NSA • The Register
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..
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."
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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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