Droht den USA eine Invasion?

Torsten Mann

Vielen Lesern dürfte bereits bekannt sein, dass der KGB-Oberst und Experte für Informationskrieg und Desinformation Igor Panarin das Auseinanderbrechen der USA für den Sommer 2010 angekündigt hat, doch kürzlich ergänzte Panarin seine Prognose und erklärte, der Zerfall der USA würde bereits in zwei Monaten, d.h. im November 2009 einsetzen. Panarin sagte, Obama sei der Präsident der Hoffnung, aber in einem Jahr werde es für die USA keine Hoffnung mehr geben. Obama sei ein netter Kerl, der nett daherredet, aber er sei keine Führungsfigur und er werde Amerika in den Zusammenbruch führen. Sobald die Amerikaner dies erkennen, würde es wie eine »Bombe« einschlagen ( Mehr…. )

The Fifth Carnival of Feminists

Welcome to the Fifth Carnival of Feminists. I’m Chally, blogger here at Zero at the Bone, and I’m very pleased to be your host for this edition. We’ve got all sorts of fabulous writing of feminist interest from around the world. Let’s get started, shall we?

Objectification

RosieRed23 takes on the bizarre preoccupation with breasts in No boobs for you! posted at Spare Candy. It’s in response to the wailing over Megan Fox not revealing her breasts in new film Jennifer’s Body as well as the fascination with celebrity nudity in general.

Amanda of The Undomestic Goddess writes Esquire: Strike Three. She’s taking on the treatment of women in Esquire: ‘Congratulations, your induction into the world of male lust, and thusly, second-class citizenship, is complete.’

Racialicious’ Thea Lim writes about some imagery that manages to dehumanise both the white woman and the man of colour involved. The post’s called Kanye West: Using interracial sex to sell concert tickets.

Reproductive justice

factcheckme presents a collection of videos related to reproductive rights. The post’s at femonade, featuring Hillary Clinton being full of win and a documentary on the work of the Fistula Foundation in Ethiopia (an amazing organisation I’ve been following for years, see their website).

Over at Feministing we have Rejecting “population control” as a way to fight climate change. Ann thinks that ‘given the history of population policy, to me the only acceptable international family planning policy is one that is motivated by increasing the empowerment and choices for women.’

Parenting

Kate of Rebel Raising has something to say in Is that child crazy? ‘How much of the time are children behaving in the way an adult would if their life were like a child’s life?’

“How Can Feminist Mums Avoid Being Humourless Childhood-Ruiners?” Lauredhel and the Hoyden About Town commentariat have a few things to say on the subject.

Parenting means that boundaries aren’t always as secure as one would want. You can read some of Arwyn’s thoughts on this at Raising My Boychick in Toddlers are triggering.

Violence against women

In “Corrective” Rape Is Not Foreign., piecesofstring takes on the idea that homophobic violence is just a problem “elsewhere”. It’s vital to take this on everywhere it happens.

Cara from The Curvature writes Protecting Your Safety While Speaking Out is Not Irresponsible. It’s in response to feminist assertions that Katie Price should name her rapist.

Women who make false rape accusations *don’t* make it harder on real victims. says SarahMC at the Pursuit of Harpyness. Lots of other factors do.

Angry-making

The Czech gives us an update on Jamie Lee Jones’ incredible and horrific story in Halliburton Gang-Rape *Not* a Work-Related Activity?. I hope she gets the justice she deserves.

Trans-misogyny? There’s an app for that. Helen from Bird of Paradox shares a pretty nasty Apple ad.

The Australian Immigration Department is refusing to grant refugee status to two women who fled Kenya to escape FGM. Natalie at She Speculates writes Fear of Genital Mutilation Doesn’t Warrant Refugee Status in response.

Paid work

Deborah obliterates an opinion piece arguing against women serving on the front line in the Australian military in Look out! Incoming brain-fart!! posted at her blog In a strange land.

In Promoting women is up to the companies, Jemima Aslana at Jem’s Lair discusses workplace gender equality and quotas in Denmark.

As part of her Feminism in Schools series, Ashley of Small Strokes writes Feminism in Schools: Teaching Feminism When You’re Not a Feminist. She discusses both course content and some factors that are less often thought of explicitly.

Illustrations from life

At Catspaw, Lucy talks about her experiences at university as a trans woman, including dealing with fellow students, professors and study material. The post is called I’m (Mostly Not) Coming Out.

Veronica, writing at Viva La Feminista, is wondering about the times when speaking up might make things worse. The post is called My privileged nose & reporting a slap to a baby.

Here are some reflections on (particularly racial) identity, figuring out experience and finding connections: This is [not] who you are by T. R Xands.

Disability

Ouyang Dan writes Where I jump in and defend pills…. Posted at random babble…, it’s a defence of meds and the people who take them in a world in which PWD are shamed for managing their own health.

amandaw hits it out of the ballpark with Domestic violence, C-sections considered pre-existing conditions at three rivers fog. It’s about ableism, healthcare, ableism, misogyny and ableism.

Popular culture

Next up is Disability & Television by Anna Overseas at her blog Trouble is Everywhere. She tackles the, ahem, questionable representations of PWD in Glee and Supernatural.

Laura is pondering Bisexuality on TV? at Adventures of a Young Feminist. Particularly concerned with Thirteen on House, Laura explores both the problematic and the positive.

Language

meloukhia makes a solid argument as to Why Inclusionary Language Matters over this ain’t livin’. Includes a rundown on intersectional feminism.

Chally of Zero at the Bone (what do you know, that’s me!) wants to share what’s Next on the list of things that really annoy me. Namely, progressives using ableist language.

Metafemming

At The Fem Spot, Femspotter writes So what kind of feminist are you anyway?. It’s her ruminations on the different branches of feminism, tied into a discussion of Hillary Clinton and the US election.

Dori of A Truly Elegant Mess has Important Thinky Thoughts. ‘There is a danger in making an identity out of an ideology. It leads to fighting about identities instead of discussing actions.’

A little bit of 101

At Criss writes…, Criss L. Cox presents Emotional Intelligence FAIL: Victim-blaming 101. ‘This is one of the problems in our society, the blame is always on the other guy.’

‘As a woman you can eschew or embrace femininity, but you will be rewarded and punished in equal amounts no matter which option you choose. You can never win.’ Exactly so. You can read the rest of tor’s post femininity: damned if you do, damned if you don’t at adrift and awake.

Not fitting in the patriarchal box

ashinynewcoin writes ticking all the boxes means not talking politics. She’s been thinking on the phrase “high maintenance”.

Marjorie Morgan at Girls Outdoors wants to draw your attention to Freya Hoffmeister. Freya is paddling her sea kayak around Australia, trying to be the first woman and the second ever person to achieve this task. That’s pretty amazing.

Three more for the road

Over at The Bitch Who Roared, Linda Radfem shares The Marriage Thing. It is an institution of which she is not a fan.

The Angry Black Woman wants to know What Do You Do When You Experience or Witness Street Harassment?

Kim Powell of the news with nipples keeps us up to date on the latest in super sciencey laydee studies. Apparently women can’t keep secrets and, well, Women drink so they can’t smell vaginas?.

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Now for an extra bit of fun: Here’s a visual representation of the most common words used in all these posts (including the carnival itself (the meta! it’s too much!)) I made using Wordle.

The folks at WordPress have been having a bit of trouble with links lately, so I predict some of you finding the same. Let me know if you have any problems, please. Thank you for coming by; do stick around and check out my other posts. The next carnival is being held at RMJ’s Deeply Problematic so don’t forget to submit.

זה עינוי זה ?

טוב , היה צפוי לקרות משעשע שרק עכשיו.

שנים אחת מהגנות תומכי העינויים הייתה שזה לא יפה אבל עובד.

כולם אז ביקשו : תוכיחו.

עכשיו מסתבר שכמה מדענים חוצפנים ניסו לבדוק את השאלה האם טכניקות העינויים של המימשל האמריקאי עובדות למעשה. והשבוע הם פירסמו מאמר ב : Trends in cognitive science

מסתבר שטכניקות העינויים האלו לא רק שאינם מעודדות זיכרון אלא אף מדכאות זיכרון טיבעי.

המדענים בדקו את השפעת הטכניקות על המבנה הפיסי של המוח ומצאו שלא רק שהטכניקות מדכאות זיכרון טיבעי אלא אף מדכאות אותו ומעוותות אותו על ידי החדרת זיכרונות מזויפים.

דהיינו לא רק שלא תקבל מידע מועיל אלא אף הרסת את היכולת לקבל אותו בהמשך הדרך. מדהים!

מסביר למה הטכניקות היו מוצלחות ליצירת וידויי שווא מזויפים אבל לא ממש יעילות לאיסןף מידע מודיעיני.

Tor med hammaren !

I dag har det vore ein bra dag, eg og har ikkje følt meg så lonely som eg vanlegvis er på vekedagane. I dag rett etter skulen var eg med Sammi på sjukehuset. Ho skulle ta ein test eller noke, og vi venta der i ein og ein halv time. Men det var kos Vi rakk berre ein halvtime av cheerleading practise etter det, noke som betydde at eg fekk springe Jaja, gjer opp for det i mårra med å ta dobbelt så mange runda!

Det har forresten vore skikkelig thunderstorm her i dag, med masse masse regn og vind og bølger på vatnet. Nesten som i Norge berre dobbelt så gale… Men eg synst faktisk at det er litt koselig eg, for då kan ein kose seg inne i varmen! Deilig med litt change og på ein måte. I natt var det skikkelig masse lyn og torden. Eg våkna og såg ut av vindauget mitt i løpet av natta og det var heilt kvitt ute (fordi alt var opplyst av lynet). Strømmen har gått mange plassa i dag og, men heldigvis ikkje her.

Etter cheerleading for eg og Sammi heim til meg og lagde spagetti med tomatsaus. Eg må innrømme at det egentlig ikkje smakte så veldig godt hahaha.. Men mat var det vertfall, og vi har kjempesvolte begge to så det gjekk ned kjappt uansett. Sida begge vi har Com. Thru Writing (berre at eg har 5.hour og ho har 4.hour) har vi dei samme leksene. Så vi øvde på test i lag i dag og gjorde diverse lekse mens vi spiste drue og kjeks! Eg hadde det vertfall morsomt.

Miss you sweetie <3

Cheney - Nästa stjärna?

I  republikanska kretsar finns det just nu en person som går hem på andra sidan “the pond”. Liz Cheney drar ner stora applåder på de event som hon deltar på:

By speech’s end, the crowd was standing, and the former vice president’s daughter was being mobbed for photos and hounded to run for office.

Liz Cheney is “a red state rock star,” declared Rebecca Wales, one of the organizers of this event, the “Smart Girls Summit.”

Liz Cheney har blivit en samlingspunkt för Republikanernas säkerhetspolitik, tillsammans med sin far som efter att han avgick gav stark kritik mot Obama’s säkerhetspolitiska ställningstaganden. Efter att ha lyssnat på svensk media så är det lätt att tro att namnen Bush/Cheney skulle vara ett rejält sänke. I Liz Cheneys fall verkar det dock vara tvärtom och namnet Cheney bär hon med sig med stolthet.

Jag tänker inte göra några förutsägelser om vad hon kan tänkas ställa upp till val som eller vad hennes framtid kommer att bli, men jag rekommenderar artikeln i NY Times om henne. Mycket läsvärd.

Tub Thumping

My wife, like most women (I think), has a small clothing problem. She can never have enough clothes. She has a walk-in closet that is 15 feet high, has 43 rods for hanging clothes, contains 132 pairs of shoes, boots, slippers, cleats, clogs, sandals, flip-flops, and two pairs of Scuba Diving Flippers (Though she hates the water). This closet is of course, too small. You cannot step more than 3 inches into the closet due to the large plastic tubs, filled with clothes, that are stacked on the floor.

There are only 365 days in a year (see…I paid attention in 11th grade!)….yet my wife currently has over 14,380 DIFFERENT outfits.

At this rate, given her age, she would have to change clothes about 18 times a day in order to wear everything she owns before she turns 90…..

My own walk-in closet, identical in size to hers, is located on the other side of the bathroom. It too is stuffed to the gills with clothes and boxes……most of which are not mine. Me, I have 7 outfits. Three pairs of shorts, three shirts, and one sweatshirt and I am set. Down the hall, in the computer/autograph museum room there is another closet. This one is packed floor to ceiling with clothes and none of them are mine.

Our garage contains about 28 tubs and plastic containers, all packed with women’s clothes. These clothes are “the garage sale clothes” that my wife is somehow content to part with and which she intends to sell to other “clothesaholics” at her next garage sale.

(The factory in Indonesia where the Wal-Mart plastic tubs are made had to add a third shift to keep up the increased demand once we started buying tubs.)

The only problem with the clothes is that for the most part, they do not sell. These clothes have been placed out in successive garage sales for about the past 12-15 years.

I could throw a single blood-stained dirty tube sock of mine out onto a table at our garage sale and it would sell in minutes. (Fat man clothes sell really good)

My wife’s problem is that the poor thing is not even five feet tall and barely weighs enough to defy gravity and stay planted on the ground. She is also over 40 ye….I mean 30 years old. Given her height and weight, a lady shopper with a 7-8 yr old daughter would probably be eagerly looking for clothing for her kid….but that young girl would not want to wear what a ….30 year old….woman normally wears.

So the boxes pile up. Clothes that do not sell in a garage sale are placed into a tub for the next garage sale. The cycle never stops. Adding to the pain is the fact that my wife’s sister only adds to the misery. My dear Sister-in-Law passes much of her wardrobe down to my wife. The clothes arrive in our home in a number of buckets and tubs, the wife tries them all on, and then they are sent off to new homes either on the overcrowded racks of our closets…..or are placed into more tubs.

We have tubs stacked seemingly in every room of the house except the dining room. I take that back, I just looked under the table and sure enough….two tubs! (that explains the lack of legroom)

I opened up our pantry one night and reached up onto a high shelf only to be knocked unconscious by a falling plastic tub labeled “Garage Sale November 1994″.

We have no end tables in our living room, just tubs stacked on tubs on which we place lamps, drinks, magazines etc.

I don’t blame my wife. It is in her blood. My Father-in-Law is a successful self-employed business tycoon (Insurance King of the Southwest) who owns two Insurance Agencies. At one of his offices there is a large room in the back of his building. This huge storeroom is about 20 yards wide by 40 yards long.

In it…..are about 1,000 plastic tubs.

All filled with my Mother-in-Law’s tubs of clothing.

Upon reading this, she will rant and rave that the room is in fact, filled floor to ceiling with the junk of her married daughters and their spouses….but the reality is that we only have about 2 small boxes stored in there……. There was simply no more room in between all the tubs.

My wife recently brought home one of those plastic portable clothes hanging contraptions that people use to hang clothing for garage sales. I don’t know where the thing came from. Maybe her office at work is now so crowded with clothes, and tubs of clothes, that there was no longer room for the rack. I suspect that she has devious plans that would include that plastic rack now becoming the new home of all MY clothes.

It is only a matter of time before the plastic clothes rack, placed right next to my side of the bed, becomes my new “Walk-in” closet.

Of course to get that “closet” I have to round the corner of the bed, step over 2 tubs of her clothing, sidestep some shoes and flippers on the floor, and then I might reach my area of the bed.

After she reads this, I would not be surprised to find my clothes piled in a nasty heap out on the front porch…….just past the 3 tubs of clothes that she already stores out there.

The cycle never ends.

My wife is planning the 189th Garage Sale of her married life for later this year in late October or early November.

This next weekend, her and her friend Teresa are going shopping,

Clothes shopping.

Me, I have orders to go to Wal-Mart….to buy 4 more plastic tubs.

White Water Rafting in the Grand Canyon

Scotty’s words are still echoing in my head: “Whatever happens, don’t go in the hole.”

It is too late. We are in the hole. A towering wall of water engulfs the kayak and flips it around. Suddenly, we are pointing upstream and being sucked backwards. I glance around to discover my brother is no longer behind me. He has been washed out but has managed to grab the rope at the back. Somehow he hauls himself back in and we paddle like madmen, crashing through a series of huge waves to make it to calmer water.

Scotty is waiting there, smiling and shaking his head. “I told you not to go in the hole.”

The rapid at mile marker 209 might only be a grade five on the Grand Canyon’s white-water rating system of one to 10, but I feel as though we have just paddled through Niagara Falls. I am not normally a high-five kinda guy but I can’t stop myself from shrieking and pumping my fists in an explosion of adrenalin and relief. It is quite simply one of the most thrilling things I have ever done.

Rafting through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River has become one of those life-changing, must-do-before-you-die travel experiences.

Read the rest of this article on the Sydney Morning Herald’s website here.

Meg Whitman Governor 2010

Support Meg Whitman with Meg Whitman for Governor t-shirts, mugs, bumper stickers and more.

For Meg, the 2010 gubernatorial election is about restoring California. It’s about fixing the economy. It’s about creating jobs. And it’s about committing to education once again. Be a part of it and help Meg Whitman build a new California by wearing Meg Whitman for Governor t-shirts.

Geheimtreffen zu Afghanistan: Wo war General Petraeus?

CommonDreams.org berichtete am Freitag auf Basis einer AFP-Meldung:
Der Vorsitzende der Vereinten Stabschefs der US-Army, Admiral Mike Mullen traf sich am Freitag zu einem Geheimtreffen mit dem Oberbefehlshaber in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal auf der Air-Force-Basis Ramstein in Deutschland um dessen Ersuchen um Truppenverstärkung zu besprechen. Ein anonymer Offizieller teilte dazu mit, Mullen wollte das Ersuchen des Generals “besser verstehen”!
Das nicht angekündigte Treffen kam zu einem kritischen Zeitpunkt des Krieges, denn Präsident Obama bewertet seine Strategie neu angesichts steigender US-Verluste, einer heftig diskutierten Wahl in Afghanistan und schwindender öffentlicher Unterstützung für die Mission auf beiden Seiten des Atlantiks. Mc Chrystals Anforderung neuer Truppen und Ausrüstung sollte am Samstag vom Militär an Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates übermittelt werden, aber Gates entschied sich, den Antrag nicht an Obama weiterzuleiten bis dessen Administration die Strategie neu bewertet habe. Die Details von McChrystals Antrag bleiben unklar, aber es wird berichtet, dass er zwischen 10.000 und 40.000 zusätzliche Truppen anfordere! McChrystal, der das Kommando im Juni von seinem gefeuerten Vorgänger übernahm, warnte in einem Anhang, der in dieser Woche an die US-Medien gelangte davor, dass die NATO-geführte Mission binnen eines Jahres zu scheitern drohe, wenn die Kräfte nicht erhöht würden!
Amerkung almabu: Ich finde es besonders bemerkenswert, dass anscheinend der direkte Vorgesetzte McChrystals, der von George Bush protegierte General David Petraeus, bei diesem Treffen übergangen wurde! Was hat das zu bedeuten?
Stress innerhalb des US-Militärs? Die anonyme Stimme betonte, es gäbe keine Spannung innerhalb der Militärführung und dem Weissen Haus über das Tempo der Entscheidungsfindung zu Afghanistan.

USA, Pittsburg, G20

USA, Pittsburg, G20 – G20 : l’Europe marque des points sur la réglementation financière – lefigaro.fr – Alexandrine Bouilhet – La France a obtenu gain de cause sur la limitation des bonus. Les normes comptables entre Européens et Américains seront harmonisées en 2011. Perdants sur la réforme du FMI, déçus par le manque d’avancées sur le climat, les Européens peuvent au moins se féliciter d’avoir marqué des points, à Pittsburgh, sur la régulation financière. «Nous avons un accord global qui permettra de contrôler les banques et les bonus», s’est félicité Nicolas Sarkozy. Le président français n’a pas hésité à parler d’un changement «historique» et «complet» sur la réglementation financière. «Pour la première fois, les banques centrales disposeront du pouvoir de limiter le montant global des bonus» a insisté Nicolas Sarkozy. La France a arraché aux Américains un accord sur limitation des bonus «en pourcentage du revenu net bancaire», lorsqu’une banque «ne dispose pas de fonds propres suffisants». Lorsqu’une banque fait des profits, la priorité ira aux fonds propres plus qu’aux bonus. Mais aucun plafond chiffré ne sera imposé au montant global des primes versées. Le compromis trouvé n’empêchera pas la banque américaine Goldman Sachs de distribuer 20 milliards de dollars de bonus cette année, si ses fonds propres le lui permettent. Mais il encadrera sévèrement, à l’avenir, les primes des traders. Les règles retenues par le G20 pour encadrer les primes des traders reprennent point par point les normes en vigueur en France depuis cet été. A savoir : pas de bonus garantis au delà d’un an ; un versement différé sur trois ans ; introduction d’un «malus» en cas de contre-performance du trader. La vérification de ces bonnes pratiques sera du ressort des régulateurs nationaux, lesquels pourront imposer des sanctions s’ils ne souhaitent. Les Européens ont également obtenu que des «sanctions» puissent être prises à partir de mars 2010 à l’encontre des paradis fiscaux qui n’auront pas signé les douze conventions fiscales aux normes OCDE. Une victoire facile, car la Chine s’est assuré, en marge du G20, que ces sanctions ne menaçaient pas Hong-Kong. La place financière chinoise ne figure pas sur la liste des paradis fiscaux de l’OCDE. Et la Suisse, comme Monaco, viennent d’être blanchies. «Le secret bancaire, les paradis fiscaux c’est fini» s’est réjouit Nicolas Sarkozy. De nouvelles règles prudentielles – Champions pour imposer leurs normes régulatrices au reste de la planète, les Européens ont eu beaucoup de mal à vaincre les réticences américaines sur deux points techniques mais importants : les normes comptables et les fonds propres des banques. De nouvelles règles prudentielles verront le jour en 2011. Mais les Américains ont imposé aux Européens l’ajout d’un «ratio d’endettement» dans le calcul des fonds propres, un détail qui risque de coûter cher aux banques européennes. La bataille sur les normes comptables, qui divergent de part et d’autre de l’Atlantique, et gonflent artificiellement le bilan des banques américaines, n’est pas, non plus, a progressé à Pittsburgh, mais le diable se cache toujours dans les détails. «Les règles seront harmonisées en 2011» concède-ton côté français. «Il n’y aura plus d’un côté le monde anglo-saxon, de l’autre l’Europe : les règles de bonnes pratiques vont se généraliser» a résumé Nicolas Sarkozy. USA, Pittsburgh, G20 – G20: Europe scores points on financial regulation – lefigaro.fr – Alexandrine Bouilhet – La France has succeeded in limiting bonuses. Accounting standards between Europeans and Americans will be harmonized in 2011. Losers on IMF reform, disappointed by the lack of progress on the climate, Europeans can at least congratulate itself on having scored points in Pittsburgh on financial regulation. “We have a comprehensive agreement that will control the banks and bonuses, welcomed Nicolas Sarkozy. The French president has not hesitated to speak of a change “historic” and “complete” on financial regulation. “For the first time, central banks will have the power to limit the total amount of bonus” Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted. France has pulled the Americans an agreement on limiting the bonus as a percentage of net banking income “, when a bank” does not have sufficient capital. When a bank makes profits, the priority will go to capital more than bonuses. But no numerical limit will be imposed in the amount of premiums paid. The compromise will not prevent the U.S. bank Goldman Sachs to distribute $ 20 billion in bonuses this year, if its own funds allow. But he will oversee severely in future premiums traders. The rules adopted by the G20 to regulate premiums traders resume point by point the standards in force in France this summer. Namely: no bonus guaranteed beyond one year, a deferred over three years, introducing a “penalty” if cons-performance trader. The verification of these good practices will be the responsibility of national regulators, which could impose sanctions if they wish. The Europeans have also obtained that “sanctions” could be taken from March 2010 against tax havens that have not signed the twelve tax treaties with OECD standards. An easy win, as China has assured the sidelines of the G20, these sanctions did not threaten Hong Kong. The Chinese financial market is not on the list of tax havens by the OECD. And Switzerland, like Monaco, just blanched. “Banking secrecy havens is finished” was welcomed Nicolas Sarkozy. New prudential rules – Champions to impose their standards regulating the rest of the world, Europeans have had a hard time overcoming U.S. reluctance on two technical points but important: accounting standards and bank capital. New prudential regulations will emerge in 2011. But the Americans have forced the Europeans to add a “debt ratio” in the calculation of own funds, a detail that could be costly for European banks. The battle over accounting standards, which differ from both sides of the Atlantic, and artificially inflate the stock of U.S. banks, is not, nor has progressed in Pittsburgh, but the devil is always in details. “The rules will be harmonized in 2011,” concedes your French side. “There will be more than one side the Anglo-Saxon, one of Europe: the rules of good practice will become widespread,” summed Nicolas Sarkozy. USA, Pittsburgh, G20 – G20: Europa punktet zur Regulierung der Finanzmärkte – lefigaro.fr – Alexandrine Bouilhet – La France hat in der Einschränkung der Prämien gelungen. Rechnungslegungsstandards zwischen Europäern und Amerikanern wird im Jahr 2011 harmonisiert werden. Verlierer zu IWF-Reform, durch das Ausbleiben von Fortschritten auf das Klima enttäuscht, können die Europäer zumindest beglückwünschen sich auf unter punktete in Pittsburgh zur Regulierung der Finanzmärkte. “Wir haben ein umfassendes Abkommen, dass die Banken und Boni Kontrolle wird begrüßt Nicolas Sarkozy. Französisch Der Präsident hat nicht gezögert, eine Änderung der” historischen “zu sprechen und” vollständig “zur Regulierung der Finanzmärkte.” Zum ersten Mal, müssen Zentralbanken die Macht, den Gesamtbetrag der Prämie zu begrenzen “Nicolas Sarkozy hat darauf bestanden. Frankreich hat die Amerikaner eine Vereinbarung über die Begrenzung der Tantieme als Prozentsatz der Nettoertrag aus dem Bankgeschäft”, wenn eine Bank “nicht über ausreichend Kapital gezogen. Wenn eine Bank Gewinne , wird die Priorität gehen an das Kapital mehr als Prämien. Aber keine zahlenmäßige Beschränkung in der Höhe des eingezahlten Prämien erhoben werden. Der Kompromiss wird nicht verhindern, dass die US-Bank Goldman Sachs bis zu $ 20 Milliarden an Boni verteilen in diesem Jahr, wenn ihre eigenen Mittel zu ermöglichen . Aber er wird in Zukunft stark Prämien Händler zu überwachen. Die von der G20 hat zu regeln Prämien Händler Lebenslauf Punkt für Punkt den geltenden Normen in Frankreich in diesem Sommer. Nämlich: kein Bonus über ein Jahr garantiert, eine latente über drei Jahre, die Einführung eine “Strafe”, wenn Wider-Leistungs-Händler. Die Prüfung dieser guten Praktiken wird die Zuständigkeit der nationalen Regulierungsbehörden, die Sanktionen zu verhängen könnte, wenn sie dies wünschen. Die Europäer haben auch erreicht, dass “Sanktionen” vom März 2010 gegen Steueroasen getroffen werden könnten nicht unterzeichnet haben, die zwölf Steuerabkommen mit der OECD-Standards. Ein einfach zu gewinnen, als China Rande des G20 hat versichert, haben diese Sanktionen nicht gefährdet Hongkong. Die chinesische Finanzmarkt ist nicht auf der Liste der Steuerparadiese der OECD. Und die Schweiz, wie Monaco, nur blanchiert. “Bankgeheimnis Oasen ist vollbracht” wurde begrüßt Nicolas Sarkozy. Neue Aufsichtsregeln – Champions ihre Standards zur Regelung der Rest der Welt, die Europäer haben eine harte Zeit zu überwinden Widerstreben der USA auf zwei technische Punkte waren zu verhängen aber wichtig: Rechnungslegungsstandards und Bankkapitals. Neue Aufsichtsregeln wird im Jahr 2011 entstehen. Aber die Amerikaner haben die Europäer gezwungen, eine “Schuldenquote hinzufügen” in die Berechnung der Eigenmittel, ein Detail, das teuer werden für die europäischen Banken könnten. Der Kampf über Rechnungslegungsstandards, die von beiden Seiten des Atlantiks unterscheiden, und künstlich aufzublähen der Bestand an US-Banken, nicht, noch in Pittsburgh hat Fortschritte gemacht, aber der Teufel steckt immer im Detail. “Die Regeln werden im Jahr 2011 in Einklang gebracht werden”, räumt Ihr Französisch Seite. “Es wird mehr als nur eine Seite der Anglo-Saxon, ein in Europa: die Regeln der guten Praxis wird inzwischen weit verbreitet”, bilanzierte Nicolas Sarkozy. EE.UU., Pittsburgh, G20 – G20: Los resultados de Europa por la regulación financiera – lefigaro.fr – Bouilhet Alexandrine – La Francia ha tenido éxito en la limitación de las primas. Las normas de contabilidad entre los europeos y los estadounidenses se armonizarán en 2011. Los perdedores de la reforma del FMI, decepcionado por la falta de avances en el clima, los europeos pueden, al menos felicitarse por los puntos después de anotar en Pittsburgh el Reglamento financiero. “Tenemos un acuerdo integral, que controlan los bancos y las bonificaciones, dio la bienvenida, Nicolas Sarkozy. El presidente francés no ha dudado en hablar de un cambio” histórico “y” completa “en la regulación financiera.” Por primera vez, los bancos centrales tendrán que la facultad de limitar el importe total de la prima “Nicolas Sarkozy, ha insistido. Francia se ha retirado a los estadounidenses un acuerdo sobre la limitación de la prima como un porcentaje de los ingresos bancarios netos”, cuando un banco “no tiene suficiente capital. Cuando un banco obtiene beneficios , se dará prioridad a los más capital que los bonos. Pero no hay límite numérico se impondrán en el importe de las primas pagadas. El compromiso no impedirá que el banco de EE.UU. de Goldman Sachs para distribuir $ 20 mil millones en bonos este año, si sus propios fondos permiten . Pero él se encargará de supervisar rigurosamente en el futuro, las primas de los comerciantes. Las normas aprobadas por el G-20 para regular las primas de los comerciantes reanudar punto por punto las normas en vigor en Francia este verano. saber: ninguna prima garantizada más allá de un año, un aplazamiento de tres años, la introducción de una “multa” si los contras comerciante rendimiento. La verificación de estas buenas prácticas, será responsabilidad de los reguladores nacionales, que podría imponer sanciones si lo desean. Los europeos también han conseguido que las “sanciones” se podría tomar de marzo 2010 contra los paraísos fiscales que no han firmado los doce tratados fiscales con las normas de la OCDE. una victoria fácil, ya que China ha asegurado al margen del G-20, estas sanciones no era una amenaza para Hong Kong. El mercado financiero de China no está en la lista de paraísos fiscales por la OCDE. y Suiza, como Mónaco, sólo palideció. “paraísos El secreto bancario ha terminado” fue acogida favorablemente, Nicolas Sarkozy. nuevas normas cautelares – Campeones de imponer sus normas que regulan el resto del mundo, los europeos han tenido dificultades para superar la renuencia de EE.UU. en dos puntos técnicos pero las normas contables importantes, y el capital bancario. Los nuevos reglamentos cautelares saldrá en 2011. Sin embargo, los estadounidenses han obligado a los europeos a añadir un “ratio de deuda” en el cálculo de los fondos propios, un detalle que podría resultar costosa para los bancos europeos. La batalla sobre normas contables, que difieren de ambos lados del Atlántico, y de inflar artificialmente el balance de los bancos de EE.UU., no es, ni ha progresado en Pittsburgh, pero el diablo siempre está en los detalles. “Las normas se armonizarán en 2011″, reconoce el lado francés. “Habrá más de un lado a los anglosajones, uno de Europa: las normas de buenas prácticas se generalizará”, resumió Nicolas Sarkozy.

Pound Gets Hammered by King and Euro Slumps

The greenback climbed higher against the majors amid weaker US data and a pullback in commodities prices. The major stock indexes drifted lower, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 sliding by over 1% and the Dow Jones drifting lower by 0.5%.

Weekly jobless claims improved from the previous week, declining to 530k from 545k. However, August home sales eased up, slipping 5.1 million units from 5.3 million units a month prior.

The pound sold off sharply in the Thursday session as government jawboning hammered the currency against the euro and the dollar.

The sterling plunged to its lowest level in 6-months at 91.55 and a 2-month low against the dollar at 1.6020.

The catalyst for the sharp sell-off was comments from Bank of England that suggested a weaker currency would be beneficial to stabilizing the economy. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed a similar tone, saying “all factors that make for a stable economy” are welcome.

Euro Slumps against USD

The euro tumbled lower to the 1.4620 mark versus the dollar amid a general slump in commodities and equities in the Thursday session.

Germany’s September Ifo sentiment survey missed consensus estimates, improving to 91.3 instead of forecasts for an increase to 92.0 from 91.3.

The Ifo expectations component improved to 95.7 from 95.0 in August, albeit less than the expected improvement to 96.5 and the current conditions index improved to 87.0 from 86.1.

 

Mots clés Technorati : American Economy,Currencies,Euro,GBP,USD,Employment,fvtaiwan

Obama Protecting America From Terrorist - Our Saviour

I was watching the news tonight, not sure which channel, but they covered three stories of recent terrorist being captured in the USA while planning to use WMD in busy places within the USA.  It seems that while under Obama, our government has been successful in just the last few days.  I think we should look at how many attacks have been stopped since Obama has become our leader.  Unlike Bush, he has managed to protect us from any major attacks.

Notice, even though Obama has captured several terrorist recently in the USA, he didn’t create a lie so he can go invade some country for oil and defense profits while he kills someone that doesn’t believe in his God.  Wow, what a change from the last president.

My first entry

Well I never really written anything to be published but I am thinking that in today’s world if your not writing your not really there. So here I go for it. I’m not really sure what ill be writing about, but I’m assuming as times goes by I will figure it out. Hope you enjoy yourself.

I just got back from 2.5 months in the US, and all I can think about is when am I going back. It’s not that I don’t like it here in Israel but I feel like I just need a big change in my life, you know start anew somewhere else. Sometimes I think it’s also the girls in my life that make me wanna go. I mean for the past year there was one girl in particular. It’s not that we were going out or anything but it was obviously going that way, and Gd did I love her. A few years ago there was another girl and she broke my heart you know the story. After her I closed myself to love completely until she came around. It was a good year, I would say one of the best years of my life, and it was going so well. I’m not sure what happened but when I got back to Israel at first she was so excited for me to come home but very quickly after one day she suddenly said hey please don’t call or talk to me again. Why? No clue. So once again I walk around heart broken. But hey who am I to complain I know lots of you had it worst than me, just kinda hard to care about others when you are thinking about yourself. So I’m thinking maybe this is just another sign that I need to make a big move.

That’s my next big plan and I’m gonna make it happen.

Anyhow i think ill write next about happier stuff and probably more about my line of work, but for a start this is me.

A New York, un Sarko (trop) parlant

Nouveau rebond dans l’affaire Clearstream. Le tout-petit-président s’est offert un dérapage indigne de sa fonction. Une phrase qui ridiculise au passage l’avocat qu’il fut. Parce que tout lecteur d’un “Que sais-je” sur la justice connaît la différence entre le présumé innocent qu’est le prévenu et le coupable qu’il peut devenir s’il est condamné par le tribunal (et encore, il faudrait attendre que la sanction soit définitive et qu’il ait donc épuisé toutes les voies de recours : appel, cassation). Bref, gentiment questionné sur le procès Clearstream et Villepin, voilà notre Naboléon qui lance : “au bout d’une longue enquête, deux juges indépendants ont estimé que les coupables devaient être traduits devant le tribunal correctionnel…Eh bien moi, je vais vous dire une chose: je fais totalement confiance à la justice.”

Pour Sarkozy Villepin est coupable [news] FR24 220909
envoyé par peanutsie. -

Pour le reste, le nain élyséen a été impeccable, maîtrisant son sujet, volontariste et ayant les choses bien en main pour nous prendre pour des cons pour faire changer le monde (rien que ça). La preuve via Systaime :

C’est peut être du délit de sale gueule (mais c’est sa spécialité après tout) mais même comme ça j’ai du mal à le supporter et le trouve pitoyable, nuisant à l’image de la France.

Bahamas prosecutors say 2 extortion defendants threatened John Travolta

By: JUAN McCARTNEY Associated Press NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prosecutors said a paramedic who treated John Travolta’s son shortly before he died in the Bahamas threatened to release private information unless the movie star paid $25 million. Travolta is among those expected to take the stand during the trial, but he did not appear in the courtroom Tuesday during the first day of testimony in the island chain off the Florida coast. “Contact was made with certain persons to communicate a threat to John Travolta,” Bernard Turner, chief prosecutor in the Bahamas, said in his opening argument. Ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamas senator Pleasant Bridgewater, a co-defendant who allegedly acted as an intermediary, have pleaded innocent to extortion charges. Defense lawyers had not yet presented opening arguments. Police say the alleged scheme involved a document related to the treatment of Jett Travolta, a chronically ill teenager who died Jan. 2 following a seizure at a family vacation home on Grand Bahama island. It would have released emergency responders from liability if the family refused an ambulance but police said that did not happen. The first trial witness, police inspector Andrew Wells, testified that after 16-year-old Jett was loaded into an ambulance, Lightbourne told him that Travolta wanted his son taken directly to the local airport instead of the hospital. Wells said Travolta signed a release form. It was unclear why Jett Travolta was not taken to the airport and why the defendants allegedly believed the actor would pay to keep the document secret. Another paramedic, Derrex Rolle, testified Tuesday that Jett was unresponsive and showed no signs of life when he arrived at the actor’s home inside a resort community. Travolta, who has kept a low profile since his son’s death, is on a list of 14 witnesses who could be called to testify. Prosecutors have not said when the actor might take the stand. The other potential witnesses include lawyers and friends of Travolta as well as five police inspectors and detectives. A jury of six women and three men was seated in the Supreme Court case Monday.

By: JUAN McCARTNEY

Associated Press

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prosecutors said a paramedic who treated John Travolta’s son shortly before he died in the Bahamas threatened to release private information unless the movie star paid $25 million.

Travolta is among those expected to take the stand during the trial, but he did not appear in the courtroom Tuesday during the first day of testimony in the island chain off the Florida coast.

“Contact was made with certain persons to communicate a threat to John Travolta,” Bernard Turner, chief prosecutor in the Bahamas, said in his opening argument.

Ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamas senator Pleasant Bridgewater, a co-defendant who allegedly acted as an intermediary, have pleaded innocent to extortion charges.

Defense lawyers had not yet presented opening arguments.

Police say the alleged scheme involved a document related to the treatment of Jett Travolta, a chronically ill teenager who died Jan. 2 following a seizure at a family vacation home on Grand Bahama island. It would have released emergency responders from liability if the family refused an ambulance but police said that did not happen.

The first trial witness, police inspector Andrew Wells, testified that after 16-year-old Jett was loaded into an ambulance, Lightbourne told him that Travolta wanted his son taken directly to the local airport instead of the hospital. Wells said Travolta signed a release form.

It was unclear why Jett Travolta was not taken to the airport and why the defendants allegedly believed the actor would pay to keep the document secret.

Another paramedic, Derrex Rolle, testified Tuesday that Jett was unresponsive and showed no signs of life when he arrived at the actor’s home inside a resort community.

Travolta, who has kept a low profile since his son’s death, is on a list of 14 witnesses who could be called to testify. Prosecutors have not said when the actor might take the stand. The other potential witnesses include lawyers and friends of Travolta as well as five police inspectors and detectives.

A jury of six women and three men was seated in the Supreme Court case Monday.

Please visit us :                                  

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New solar power plant in Arizona

Albiasa Corporation, subsidiary of Spanish based Albiasa Solar, has chosen Arizona as the new location for the renewable energy firm’s development headquarters and has selected a site near Kingman as the future location of its 200 megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power (CSP) plant.

The Albiasa project uses parabolic CSP technology similar to that at the SEGS I-IV power plants in the California Mojave Desert. These plants have reliably operated since the 1980s using the sun to generate electricity via parabolic collectors.

Albiasa Solar has worked for years in Spain to improve the parabolic trough technology, making overall operation and cost of CSP more efficient. The Albiasa trough collector has been assessed as the most efficient parabolic trough system in the world.

“The Albiasa Kingman project involves over $1 billion capital investment and will generate annually, with molten salt thermal storage, more than 665,000 MWh of renewable solar energy when completed in 2013,” said Albert Fong, Albiasa Corporation’s Chief Project Engineer.

- from azcommerce.

USA: Video-Barack Obama TV show from Letterman!

Ospite del talk show della Cbs, Obama show nella famosa trasmissione USA di David Letterman, tra battute varie, ha anche sdramattizzato sul tema sempre difficile delle discriminazioni razziali anche in politica.

Dopo un’estate all’insegna delle proteste dei conservatori contro il progetto di riforma dell’assistenza sanitaria, si dice che questo sia anche dovuto anche ad un progetto di sottofondo razziale.Ad una particolare domanda di Letterman , come al solito al vetriolo, Obama ha anche avuto il tempo di sfoggiare una battuta esilarante : «E’ importante capire che io ero di colore anche prima delle elezioni

Ein Treffen der oberen Klasse

Wenn tätig ist Ihr Hobby und Sie möchten Karriere in der handelnden Bereich machen dann Schauspielunterricht sind notwendig, um Ihre schauspielerischen Fähigkeiten zu verbessern. Schauspielunterricht spielt eine entscheidende Rolle zu Ihrem Handeln Ziele zu erreichen. Diese Klassen helfen Ihnen bei der Bereitstellung der Fähigkeiten, die notwendig sind, um in der Branche erfolgreich tätig. Der amtierende Klassen helfen Ihnen, die grundlegenden handeln Tipps. Das erste, was Sie brauchen, um sich selbst fragen, welche Art von Handeln Sie sich gleich zu kommerziellen Handeln, Handeln im Fernsehen, Filme, Acting on Broadway etc. und dann entsprechend handeln können Sie Klassen passender Ihrem Interessengebiet zu tun. John Robert Powers Acting and Modeling Klassen bieten Ihnen die wunderbare Gelegenheit, in der Modellierung Welt Schritt und Handeln der Industrie.

Sie haben es wieder getan...

Diese Spezialausgabe der New York Post wurde heute morgen von etwa 2000 freiwilligen Helfern der Yes Men und anderer Aktivisten in New York City ausgetragen. Die Schlagzeilen verkündeten, dass die Stadt womöglich von tödlichen Hitzewellen, extremen Überschwemmungen und anderen Auswirkungen der globalen Erwärmung heimgesucht werden wird…
Morgen beginnt ein UN-Gipfel bei dem sich 100 Politiker aus aller Welt in Vorbereitung der Klimakonferenz in Kopenhagen im Dezember eine Reduzierung der Kohlenstoffemisionen einigen wollen.
Obwohl die 32seitige New York Post ein Fake ist, ist ihr Inhalt wahr, denn alle Fakten wurden sorgfältig von Herausgbern und Klimaexperten geprüft.

“This could be, and should be, a real New York Post,” sagte Andy Bichlbaum, einer der Yes Men. “Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the problem.”

Como bajar Aplicaciones de iPhone gratuitas del USA App Store

¿Alguna vez te has encontrado con el Mensaje: “Esta aplicación no está disponible en la tienda española”? Pues bien, hay una forma de solucionar eso, pero sólo para las aplicaciones gratuitas. Descargar aplicaciones de pago de una tienda que no sea la de nuestro país requeriría forzosamente tener una tarjeta de crédito basada en una dirección de pago del país en cuestión.

En teoría también lo requeriría bajarse una aplicación gratuita, pero tenemos un pequeño truquito para engañar al sistema. Primero vamos a ver como saltarnos las reglas y luego veremos que aplicaciones o en que situaciones hacer esto nos resultará interesante.

Ahí podéis ver algunas de las aplicaciones que me bajé en mi primera incursión a la USA App Store. Algunas se quedarán como residentes definitivas en mi iPhone, otras estarán a la espera de sacarles partido en mi próxima visita a ese país y otras, una vez satisfecha mi curiosidad irán directamente a la papelera

Esta es la forma de conseguir la TARJETA VERDE de residentes cibernéticos en yankeelandia y engañar a los agentes de inmigración de la App Store:

- En iTunes vete a la página principal de la App Store. Si en la parte superior derecha aparece tu identificador de cuenta (el correo electrónico que te identifica al pagar en iTunes) vete al menú Store y selecciona Desconectarse. Ya eres un ciudadano anónimo.

- Vete a gmail.com y create una cuenta de correo nueva.

- Busca en google un hotel o una tienda de cualquier marca conocida en una ciudad norteamericana, por ejemplo puedes buscar Outlets en cualquier ciudad grande y te aparecera el mapa con un montón de tiendas de fábrica de marcas conocidas, dale al enlace de la derecha donde te pone “Más” y así podrás ver la dirección completa. Sólo nos hace falta el código postal que aparece a la derecha del nombre de la población y las iniciales del estado. Usa las 5 primeras cifras que hay antes del guión, si no te funciona usa entonces las 9 con el guión incluido. Ya tienes tu código posta del residencia norteamericana.

- Volvamos a la App Store. En la parte inferior derecha tienes la banderita de tu país. Haz click sobre ella. Aparece una página con las banderas de todos los paises que tienen App Store. Haz click sobre la de USA.

- Ya estamos en el iTunes norteamericano. Dale a la pestaña del App Store para abrirla.

- En el lateral derecho busca el listado con el ranking de aplicaciones gratuitas y presiona descargar una de las que no tengas (da lo mismo en este paso que te interese o no, sólo es un formalismo para colarnos dentro y crear una cuenta nueva como ciudadano de ese país).

- Nos pedirá que conectemos con nuestra cuenta de usuario o que creemos una cuenta nueva. Así que escogemos crear una cuenta nueva. En la primera pantalla usaremos la nueva dirección de correo que acabamos de crear en gmail. Introducimos la contraseña que queremos utilizar y los datos que nos permitan recuperarla en caso de olvido. Y pasamos a la siguiente pantalla.

En los datos que nos pide que rellenemos pondremos el nombre, edad, sexo, etc… que nos de la gana y tenemos que prestar especial atención a 2 puntos concretos:

1. No introducir datos de tarjeta de crédito, señalar la última opción indicando que ninguna.
2. En la casilla del código postal introduciremos el de la tienda, hotel o establecimiento que hemos escogido en nuestra búsqueda previa en google. Si queréis poner también los restantes datos de dirección física obtenidos en google, pero os podéis inventar las calles y tal. En las tiendas de algún país es mejor no arriesgarse y poner bien los datos de población y provincia (o región, condado, land, estado, lo que toque). Confirmar dando a Continuar y terminar con el formulario.

Ya está, tenemos nuestra TARJETA VERDE visada y somos ciudadanos USA para la App Store. Ahora podemos bajar las aplicaciones gratuitas disponibles sólo para los norteamericanos y que antes nos estaban vedadas.

A partir de ahora lo único que deberemos hacer para cambiar de la tienda de nuestro país a la de USA y viceversa será desconectar de un Store y conectar en el otro e introducir la dirección de correo que nos identifica en cada una de las tiendas cuando así se nos requiera.

INSISTO: Nunca para aplicaciones de pago, porque entonces te pedirá la tarjeta de crédito y te dirá que esa tarjeta no corresponde a una dirección de pago de ese país.

¿Porqué necesité buscar esta triquiñuela para entrar en la App Store de USA? Porque algunas aplicaciones gratuitas que me interesaban de entre las listadas en AppShopper al presionar el botón de descarga directa o al buscarlas directamente en iTunes me dijeron que “Naranjas de la China” que de eso en España nada.

Eso quiere decir que algunas versiones Lite de algunos programas sólo están disponibles para los norteamericanos, y que algunas otras aplicaciones lo mismo. Así que me puse a darle vueltas al tema hasta que descubrí esta solución. ¿Cómo que no puedo bajarme la aplicación de Amazon si soy cliente desde 1996? No me jodas, anda. ¿Que tampoco puedo hacer un pago con Paypal directamente desde mi teléfono? ¿Porqué no, si también tengo una cuenta registrada allí?

En la imagen puede verse mi pantalla de bienvenida a Amazon.com (he borrado los apellidos por razones obvias) y a la derecha parte de mi cuenta de usuario mostrando alguno de los vinilos que tengo pendientes de recibir.

Y, esta es una de las que más toca los huevos, ¿Porqué los códigos gratuitos que de vez en cuando regalan en algunas páginas o foros dedicados al iPhone son sólo para los yankees? Ahora, con nuestra TARJETA VERDE de iTunes también nosotros podemos aprovecharnos de esos regalitos. Eso si, con los códigos gratuitos hay que andar muy listos porque tenemos que dar varios pasos más que ellos para conseguirlos y si hay pocos disponibles es muy probable que lleguemos siempre tarde.

Desde ya os aviso que aunque vais a poder bajaros Pandora -por ejemplo- la detección del país de origen por I.P. de acceso va hacer imposible que uséis esta fantástica y gratuita app de radio, ya que no tiene un acuerdo con nuestros amigos de la SGAE y por eso debieron retirarla en su día. Pero en un viajecito de trabajo o vacaciones a USA no habrá problema para usarla. Y lo mismo digo con aplicaciones tan útiles como Yelp que por ahora sólo están disponibles para usuarios norteamericanos e ingleses, podéis usar el mismo código postal con el que habéis engañado a la App Store y así tenerla disponible para que os sirva de guía de lugares interesantes cuando viajéis a estos paises.

También hay unas cuantas guías de ciudades americanas de la serie “At a Glance” que sólo están disponibles gratis desde la tienda USA. Y, ¿Qué pasa si vas a ir a los USA y quieres reservar un coche de AVIS desde tu iPhone? Como no puedes descargarte la App no puedes hacerlo. Pero si con nuestra nueva TARJETA VERDE.

Hay que tener en cuenta que estas aplicaciones no podríamos descargarlas ni aunque estuviesemos en USA de viaje, porque seguiríamos sin tener una tarjeta de crédito con dirección e pago en aquel país, así que para aprovechar esas herramientas que nos serían útiles en un viaje nos las descargamos aquí y las usaremos allí. Otras como la de Amazon la usaremos en cualquier momento y lugar, en las imágenes podéis ver mi pantalla de bienvenida (he borrado los apellidos) y una pantalla mostrando alguno de los pedidos pendientes de recibir en mi cuenta de usuario.

Pero también podéis usarlas para planificar vuestro viaje. En Yelp, por ejemplo, basta con que no le dejéis acceder a vuestra ubicación actual y que le indiquéis el código postal del que os interese obtener información para que podáis ver que lugares os está recomendando la gente en cada ciudad, barrio, etc…

También podéis bajaros alguna App sólo por diversión (a ver como es la carta de comida para llevar de tal restaurante) o para curiosear los interfaces de usuario si eres un desarrollador de aplicaciones para iPhone y crees que así puedes obtener nuevas ideas que trasladar a tu trabajo.

En fin, que puede haber muchas razones, aparte de lo que mola tener lo que en principio te prohiben, ¿No es cierto?. En mi caso prevalece es espíritu práctico. Sean cuales sean tus razones ahora tienes la posibilidad de descargarlas o no. Al menos ahora ya sabes como puede hacerse, aunque esta sea una más de las gilipolladas inútiles que obligamos a almacenar a nuestros cerebros.

Y finalmente, y no menos importante, el uso más frecuente que yo le doy a mi TARJETA VERDE iTunes de falso residente norteamericano: leer los comentarios y valoraciones de las aplicaciones que me interesan. En la App Store española hay muy pocos comentarios, en algunas aplicaciones ninguno, así que para documentarme mejor antes de gastar mis euros, me gusta tener la máxima información posible sobre las aplicaciones, incluso de las gratuitas. Evidentemente la tienda USA es la que más usuarios tienes y por tanto la que más valoraciones y comentarios acumula, así que es una fantástica fuente de información. No hay que dejarse llevar sólo por las pantallas de muestra o por la información del vendedor, al final los usuarios son los que muestran la verdadera utilidad, uso y aprovechamiento que puede obtenerse de una aplicación, así que yo recomiendo encarecidamente usar este método para documentarse.

Comparar los números entre esta imágen de la versión española y los de la imagen de abajo de la versión USA. Evidentemente cuantos más usuarios y más comentarios se lean mejor criterio se tendrá para hacer la elección apropiada.

En este caso se trata del Navigon y pudiera ser diferente en ambos países, pero supongamos que fuesen exactamente iguales.

Optional Practical Training (OPT) Rules for F-1 Students

New OPT Rule

As of April 8, 2008, a new interim final rule regarding OPT has been established by the Department of Homeland Security. The highlights of this new rule are:

Extension of OPT for students in specific fields

Student’s, who have completed a degree program in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) are eligible for a 17 month extension of the OPT approval.

STEM Fields include:

- Actuarial Science
- Computer Science Applications
- Engineering
- Engineering Technologies
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Military Technologies
- Physical Sciences
- Science Technologies
- Medical Scientist (MS, PhD)

Additional eligibility requirements include:

-  You must be currently authorized for a 12-month period of OPT and working for a US employer in a job directly to your field of study
- You must have successfully completed a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in a field on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program
- At the time of application for the 17-month extension, you must have a job-offer or be employed by an employer registered with the “E-Verify” federal employment verification system.
- You must not have previously received a 17-month OPT extension after earning a STEM degree.

Reporting requirements for students

All students on OPT are required to report and update the following information to the ISS office:

- Change of name
- Change of residential or mailing address
- Name and address of employee
- Change in the name or address of employer
- When employment changes or terminates

In addition, students with an approved 17-month OPT extension must report to the student’s DSO within 10 days of any change of:

- legal name
- residential or mailing address
- employer name
- employer address, and/or
- loss of employment

You must also provide a report every six months to the ISS office to verify the above information.

Limits period of unemployment while on OPT

During post-completion OPT, F-1 status is dependent upon employment. Students may not accrue an aggregate of more than 90 days of unemployment during any post-completion OPT. Students granted a 17-month OPT extension may not accrue an aggregate of more than 120 days of unemployment during the total 29-month OPT period.

Changes in OPT application deadlines

The rule now allows student to apply up to 90 days before program completion and 60 days after program completion.

Helpful web resources available on the new OPT rule:

Department of Homeland Security Announcement click here

US Citizenship and Immigration Services Q and A click here

NAFSA: Association of International Educators Resource on the Interim Final Rule click here

Text of Interim Final Rule
Text format, 27 pages click here
pdf file, 13 pages click here

NATO calls for Russia & USA joint partnership on missile systems

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/09/2009918134231514311.html

The head of Nato has called for Russia, the United States and the military alliance to link their missile systems against potential new nuclear threats.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato’s secretary general, said on Friday the old foes must forget their lingering Cold War animosity and engage new threats from Asia and the Middle East.

His comments came a day after Washington shelved a Bush-era plan for a missile “defence shield” based in Eastern Europe that has been a major irritant in relations with Moscow.

Speaking in Brussels, Rasmussen said: ”We should explore the potential for linking the US, Nato and Russia missile defence systems at an appropriate time.

“Both Nato and Russia have a wealth of experience in missile defence. We should now work to combine this experience to our mutual benefit.”

Barack Obama, the US president, said a day earlier that the decision to abandon the Bush administration’s plans was taken after a change in Washington’s perception of the threat posed by Iran.

Following a review, US intelligence decided short- and medium-range missiles from Iran now pose a greater near-term threat than the intercontinental ballistic missiles the Bush plan addressed.A new missile-defence plan would rely on a network of sensors and interceptor missiles based at sea, on land and in the air as a bulwark against Iranian short- and medium-range missiles, said Robert Gates, the US defence secretary.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister, praised Obama’s decision and urged the US to cancel Cold War-era restrictions on trade with Russia.

Putin described the move over the “defence shield” as a ”correct and brave” decision.

In his speech, Rasmussen said long-range ballistic missile technology in the hands of such countries as North Korea and Iran threatened the West and Russia in large part because it could lead to regional proliferation.

“If North Korea stays nuclear, and if Iran becomes nuclear, some of their neighbours might feel compelled to follow their example,” he said.

“The proliferation of ballistic missile technology is of concern not just to Nato nations, but to Russia too.”

Rasmussen said Nato and Moscow had failed to jointly take on global security threats including terrorism.

“When the Cold War ended 20 years ago, Nato and Russia developed rather unrealistic expectations about each other,” he said.

“Those flawed expectations … continue to burden our relationship.”

The secretary general did not elaborate on how, or to what extent, the Russian, Nato and US anti-missile systems could be linked up.

———-

“In his speech, Rasmussen said long-range ballistic missile technology in the hands of such countries as North Korea and Iran threatened the West and Russia in large part because it could lead to regional proliferation.”

so we have russia and the us playing happy families over the missile defence shield..and then nato says they should work together on one..with protagonists north korea and iran mentioned but no china

401

Facit #1

 American Museum of Natural History   New York City   Oktober 2007

Jag tycker mycket om den här bilden! För mig symboliserar den min kärlek till staden New York, där det ovanliga blir vanligt och det vanliga ovanligt. Allt du kan möta någonstans på vårt klot kan du också möta här, om du har tur. Eller otur! Och ljuset var perfekt denna soliga höstdag och tjejerna som var på väg in till muséet tittade nyfiket och log mot mig. En riktig ögonblicksbild.

Il vecchio e il nuovo

Da quando i sei ragazzi italiani sono morti in quel tragico attentato di Kabul, nei principali network italiani si è tornato a parlare prepotentemente della guerra in Afghanistan. Era ora, aggiungo io. Riporto con piacere un articolo scritto da Christian Rocca, a mio parere uno dei più lucidi giornalisti italiani in materia di politica internazionale statunitense, in cui si cerca di fare un po’ di luce sui primi mesi di Obama nel ruolo di Presidente degli Stati Uniti e di come si stia muovendo sul fronte bellico internazionale. Si tratta di un pezzo a mio avviso molto interessante.

Pugno di Bush in guanto di Obama

di Christian Rocca – 17 settembre 2009

Sì, la retorica è cambiata. Certo, i toni sono diversi. E, inoltre, la voce vellutata del nuovo presidente suscita emozioni forti e speranze di cambiamento sconosciute prima d’ora. Ma, riconosciuto tutto questo, che non è poco, la politica di sicurezza nazionale di Barack Obama è identica a quella elaborata da George W. Bush dopo l’11 settembre 2001. Non lo dice solo Osama bin Laden, o chi per lui, ma ogni singolo atto ufficiale della Casa Bianca al netto delle parole suadenti di super O. e del pensiero unico del giornalista collettivo. Obama è abilissimo a dipingersi come il leader che cancella il bushismo e capace di proporre politiche di netta cesura col passato, una per una poi plasticamente disattese. La Casa Bianca non parla più di guerra al terrorismo e non fa esplicito riferimento al jihadismo islamico. Ma oltre alle parole, ci sono i fatti. Negli ultimi due giorni, Obama ha compiuto due passi ufficiali che hanno spinto i più attenti paladini dei diritti civili e un paio di testate giornalistiche il cui obamismo è assoluto e militante, come la New York Review of Books e il magazine Slate, a decretare che sui temi della sicurezza nazionale non c’è alcuna differenza tra il presidente numero 43 e il numero 44.

Obama ha chiesto al Congresso di estendere tre dei punti più controversi del famigerato Patriot Act varato all’indomani dell’11 settembre e diventato nella mitologia progressista mondiale, grazie anche al film di Michael Moore, l’emblema della barbarie del diritto commessa da Bush. Ancora più clamorosa è la presa di posizione contro la decisione di un giudice federale, peraltro nominato da Bush, che qualche mese fa aveva esteso l’habeas corpus, cioè il diritto a essere sottoposti a un processo, anche ai prigionieri di Bagram, la base militare in Afghanistan che da anni svolge la funzione negata a Guantanamo dai riflettori dell’opinione pubblica mondiale. La Casa Bianca si è opposta alla decisione della Corte, spiegando dottamente che i detenuti di Bagram, a causa del loro status di nemici combattenti, non hanno alcun diritto di appellarsi a un giudice federale. “Sounds familiar”, dicono gli americani. Tanto più che il carcere di Guantanamo è ancora aperto e quello di Bagram più attivo che mai. I detenuti continueranno a essere processati dai tribunali militari speciali o non riceveranno alcuna garanzia giuridica. Dall’Iraq non s’è ritirato nessuno, e quando i soldati se ne andranno lo faranno secondo un calendario deciso da Bush e dal governo iracheno. In Afghanistan c’è già stata una prima escalation militare e a giorni se ne annuncia un’altra. Obama, inoltre, ha esteso il fronte della guerra al terrorismo ad altri paesi, bombardando 38 volte il territorio pachistano, provocando centinaia e centinaia di vittime, e una volta quello somalo. Alla stagione del dialogo con l’Iran – il vero punto di svolta rispetto al primo Bush, non all’ultimo – non crede più nessuno né dentro l’Amministrazione né tra i suoi sostenitori (per ultimi il New York Times e Joe Klein di Time).

Davvero complimenti a Rocca. Se seguite questo blog da qualche tempo, saprete che difficilmente riporto articoli apparsi in altre sedi… ma in questo caso, non mi sono potuto esimere, gli spunti di riflessione sono davvero molti.

Alla tua, Christian.

Urlaub! Wiesn!

Ja, Frau Chief hat schon wieder Urlaub, ich muß nämlich allen Urlaub dieses Jahr raushauen, Resturlaub mitnehmen ist nicht mehr erlaubt. Leider ist momentan keine Reise geplant, zumindest keine weite. Nicht wie letztes Jahr, wo ich um diese Zeit nach Kalifornien geflogen bin (für Neuleser, die Berichte dazu fangen hier an und ziehen sich bis etwa hier hin, es sind auch ein paar nette Bilder dabei) denn leider brauchte ich ja heuer den neuen Wäschetrockner etcetc. Okay, ich jammere auf hohem Niveau, denn ich hab mich ja im Juni/Juli schon bei der Verwandschaft in Florida ausgetobt (ab hier) und zumindest ein wenig Heimweh schonmal bekämpft. Aber trotzdem. Wah! Schnief!

Aber OH! da fällt mir ein: Ab morgen ist Oktoberfest, auf bayerisch einfach nur “Wiesn” genannt. Ach.Gott. Da muß kann ich ja zum Trost hin und wieder eine kleine warme Milch zu mir nehmen. Unter der Woche sollte das Finden eines Platzes im Bierzelt auch nicht so schwierig sein, wie am Wochenende. Und wenn ich Englischentzug habe, setze ich mich einfach zu ein paar Landsleuten aus den USA oder ein paar Australiern. Die sollen gerüchteweise auch ab und an dort zu finden sein. In kleinen Gruppen. Außerdem muß ich noch Wolfenstein durchzocken, HALO-ODST kommt raus, Marvel Ult. 2 hab ich auch grad erst gekauft, und in den USA hab ich nirgends eine Xbox… Okay, der Urlaub wird schon.

Und besoffen wird sich’s dann auch noch viel leicher wählen lassen, da bin ich mir ganz sicher.

Game Over Iran puede fabricar la Bomba

Game Over: Agencia Nuke dice que Irán puede hacer que la bomba

El Muhammadan OIEA ha logrado su objetivo. Dr. Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei (Arabic: محمد البرادعي‎) y su banda de jihadistas han tenido éxito.

Este es el cambio de juego – el panorama mundial cambia para siempre. Puede no ser capaz de verlo, pero está ahí. Thomas Sowell dice aquí, “no podemos poner ese genio en la botella – y tampoco las generaciones venideras. Ellos nos maldeciran a todos nosotros por dejarlos de rehenes del terrorismo nuclear”.

AP Newsbreak: Agencia Nuke dice que Irán puede hacer que la bomba Breitbart

VIENA (AP) – Expertos en el organismo vigilante de la cima del mundo están de acuerdo en que Teherán tiene la capacidad para fabricar una bomba nuclear y está en el camino hacia el desarrollo de un sistema de misiles capaces de transportar una ojiva nuclear, según un informe secreto, visto por el The Associated Press.

El documento elaborado por altos funcionarios del Organismo Internacional de Energía Atómica es la indicación más clara de la incapacidad o mala intención de lows organismos de vigilancia internacionales.

Se trata del llamado “anexo secreto” en el programa nuclear de Irán, que Washington dice que está siendo retenido por el jefe del OIEA.

El documento dice que Irán tiene “información suficiente” para construir una bomba. Se dice que Irán es probable que “supere los problemas” en el desarrollo de un sistema de entrega de materiales, nada mas.

No es coincidencia esta noticia:

A 8 meses de su nominación Obama da marcha atrás en el proyecto del gobierno de Bush de construir un escudo protector antimisiles en Europa.

El presidente Jan Fischer de la Republica Checa dijo el jueves que USA les ha comunicado que no instalará el escudo protector ni en su país ni en Polonia. Obama se lo habría comunicado el miercoles por telefono.

El mInistro de Defensa Robert Gates lo diría a las 16.30 (MESZ) en una conferencia de prensa en Washington entonces responderá a los periodistas el Director del Proyecto, General James Cartwright.

Según el „Wall Street Journal“la decisión se debe a que Obama considera que iran no está tan preparado para construir una Bomba. Alexej Arbatow dijo que Obama espera un plan conjunto con Rusia para detener a Iran.

El Secretario General de la OTAN en Bruselas Anders Fogh Rasmussen, se mostrío satisfecho con la decisión que eliminará los roces con Rusia.

Obama kapituliert vor PutinHace unos días se habló de que Norcorea había hecho nuesvas pruebas con misíles nucleares

En otras palagras nos estan entregando como pollo frito en bandeja de oro.

To już jest (prawie) koniec

aktualności 2009-09-17

To już jest (prawie) koniec

Najpoważniejsze agencje światowe donoszą – KONIEC Z PLANAMI BUDOWY W POLSCE I CZECHACH ELEMENTÓW TARCZY ANTYRAKIETOWEJ. Decyzja w USA zapadła i dla polskich zwolenników militaryzacji nie jest korzystna. Obama nie wierzy w skuteczność projektu, a poza tym wybiera lepsze relacje z Rosją niż z Polską.

Cała antymilitarna Polska niemal jak na zbawienie czekała na zwycięstwo Demokratów. To była jedyna nadzieja, że projekt uwikłania Polski w międzynarodowy wyścig zbrojeń upadnie. Demokraci od samego początku nie tylko byli sceptyczni wobec planów konserwatystów, ale i otwarcie krytykowali drogie i nie sprawdzone plany budowy tarczy antyrakietowej.

Stronę czeską o odłożeniu projektu na półkę poinformował sam Barack Obama, telefonicznie. Do polskiego premiera nie zadzwonił. O decyzji poinformowała specjalna amerykańska delegacja, która spotkała się przed południem z przedstawicielami polskiego rządu.

Pierwsze pogłoski o wycofaniu się Amerykanów z budowy potwierdzają się. Dziś niemal z pewnością możemy mówić, że projekt trafi do kosza na śmieci. Oficjalnie mówi się o odłożeniu, ale w praktyce to koniec. Informują o tym czołowe amerykańskie media i agencje.

„Wall Street Journal” informuje: „Decyzja oparta jest na amerykańskich ustaleniach, że irański program rakiet dalekiego zasięgu nie postępuje tak szybko jak wstępnie zakładano, co zmniejsza zagrożenie dla kontynentalnej części USA i większości europejskich stolic”. Dziennik podkreśla też, że Ameryka chce „resetu” stosunków z Rosją, a przez władze w Moskwie tarcza nigdy nie została zaakceptowana.

To już najprawdopodobniej definitywny koniec i złożenie do grobu bushowskich planów zaognienia relacji w Europie.

MW

US Agenda and Foreign Policy

US Agenda & Foreign Policy

In order to understand the present US foreign policy we need to understand the various global political agendas of various groups in the US. Depending on the administration one group or the other or a combination of these groups will be in power….Oil and Islam. Will America Shift Away from Its Past Unilateralist Policies?

Agenda-1: Neo-Con Agenda

This agenda’s main philosophy is making US super powerful even at the cost of other nations or other people. People who follow this agenda are generally Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld etc. The present US administration is mainly controlled by the people who believe in this ideology. This group believes that

1. US should be the only leader/king nation in this World. US should be able to subjugate any nation which does not follow US order (famous words “you are with us or against us”). This implies only US needs to have most sophisticated weapons. As there are some nations which already have nukes, hence this group wishes that US develop more sophisticated weapons like “space nukes” by which they can even control nuclear weapon states. This also involves discouraging and also threatening other nations who wish to develop nukes.

2. This group believes only pure White Christian Americans should rule the World. They believe in a hierarchy of power structure based on the races and religions. In their belief US comes first and next comes Europe’s some main states like UK, France, and Germany etc. Next in the order are Israel, Russia, China and India. The bottoms of this list are Islamic nations like Pakistan, Iraq, Iran etc.

3. This group also believes US should have the first right on entire World’s resources. Presently if they don’t have such a right they try to get that control through various means. Adding to this if US can’t have the resource then make the region messy so that no other nation will be able to use those resources.

4. This group also believes that there should be continuous conflict in the Middle East so that US will have complete control over the resources. This group also wants to have a permanent US military in this region so that they control the region better.

5. This group supported and wanted the “Iraq War” mainly because it showed the World US military strength (by hanging Saddam) and they wish to have permanent presence in Iraq. They really don’t really care about the chaos in Iraq as long as US causalities are minimum. The logic is that as long as Iraq is under civil war the resources are used by none. And the US force in Iraq will enable it control the control the wreaked country after few years of civil war. The only problem now is that US causalities are increasing daily and it is becoming difficult with US electorate (Republicans lost US congress).

6. This group doesn’t mind India having nukes as long they are minimal and US has control over India’s foreign policy. Adding to this India’s nukes will never be a threat to US as US will develop more sophisticated nukes by which small time nuclear states like India will be no match.

Agenda-2: Conservative Agenda

This is a slightly milder version of Neo-Con agenda. This is basically a modified colonial agenda. This agenda involves making US a superpower and making other powerful nations like China, Russia, Europe perpetually dependent on US economy and technology. This group mainly believes in using political and financial strengths of US. The best example of a person who propagates this agenda is “Henry Kissinger”. The US administration which closely resembles this agenda was Ronald Regan’s US administration.

1. This agenda involves “Anglo-White” imperialistic World order (Ronald Regan + Margaret Thatcher does this ring the bell?). This group in the olden times used to believe in colonial power structure. In order to maintain power these people employ generally the following strategies viz. creating client states by bribing the leaders or continuously keeping certain regions of the World under conflict or arming the guerillas. These strategies fail with democratic states and hence the US never creates any democratic state. US only created puppet client states.

2. This agenda involves sharing the World resources only with the worthy nations or people. The first in the list of worthy nations are obviously the western nations. Reluctantly these people have come to the conclusion that they need to share some resources with China. Adding to this China is managing the US administration very

intelligently.

3. This group believes in creating huge number of client states globally like Iran under Shaw, entire Latin America under dummy governments etc. These people don’t like if a country becomes extremely nationalistic. They try some way or the other to create problems. They hate the present Venezuela’s president Chavez as his policies are complete contrary to their political vision.

4. This group also supported and wanted the Iraq war. The reason is that after 911 attack they felt the “Anglo-White” order was threatened and US needed to show them (Muslims and others) who controls the World. This was the reason Henry Kissinger said just attacking Afghanistan was not enough after the 911 attacks; US needed to remove Saddam also. His exact words were “we need to teach them a lesson”. Teach whom the answer is obvious!!

5. This group after winning the Iraq war would have setup a puppet Iraq regime and left the country once satisfied the Iraq’s resources are under their control. These people will be satisfied if Iraq becomes a client state like Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately the present Iraq war has strengthen Iran as US will be leaving Iraq in about a year.

6. This group also supports India-US nuclear deal but want to make sure US is getting enough in return for their “kindness”. Like support for squeezing Iran etc. These people always hated India’s independent foreign policy as it gives ideas for other states and also their opponents. They must have wished for India’s democracy to become failure as that didn’t happen they wish to control India through some

carrots. Adding to this India’s independent behavior didn’t fit in their “Anglo-White” supremacy principle.

Agenda-3: Realistic Agenda

This agenda is followed by people like Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright etc. This involves making the US a World leader by proving to the World that US is the only country which can solve all the World’s problems (because US is powerful and has money). This group is neither racists nor anti-religious. This group believes in pluralistic World order having leadership centered on US. This group has lot of intellectuals.

1. This group is willing to cut down some US nuclear weapons if other countries are willing to give up their nuclear weapons. This vision will never happen because as Agenda-1&2 groups will block any attempt to make US a less nuclear weapon state. Remember the way they have rejected the CTBT during Clinton’s regime.

2. This group will try to settle the World’s disputes with whatever way it is possible, which may not be fair and they try to create balance. Generally they have soft corner for Islamic nations, I guess because they are more noisier. As India is a soft state they squeeze India.

3. This group will always try to keep India and Pakistan at the same level. And they will always support Pakistan over India. The main reason being by supporting Pakistan they get extra leverage with other Islamic nations.

4. War is the last resort for this group and they try to rally all the nations if they wish to punish a dictator like Saddam.

5. This group wants neither India nor Pakistan have any nukes. Hence they will try very hard to push both these countries for peaceful talks (remember during Clinton’s time Vajpayee invited Musharaff). This group is very bad for India remember the sanctions slapped on India after the 1998 nuclear tests.

6. This group will aggressively push NPT and they are not happy with the India-US nuke deal. They agreed for the deal as they could get NPT+CTBT in the final deal. US have already tightened the NSG rules so that India is denied any help if US decides not to support India. India will end up in multi-level Tarapore traps with this US-India nuclear deal.

Agenda-4: Puritan Agenda

This is a highly fair agenda for the World. These people are very honest and sincere. People like Howard Dean (Dem) follow this agenda. They neither want the US to be the World leader nor a superpower. They want total Worldwide nuclear disarmament (including US) and US not getting involved in World’s conflicts. These people would like the US to become like Canada. As we all know Islamic terrorists only want to bomb US but they are not bothering with Canada.

Conclusion

I have always noticed US administration following Agenda-1 or Agenda-2 or Agenda-1+2 or Agenda-2+3 only. Agenda-4 is purely academic. Even Clinton administration followed Agenda-3+2, it was not purely Agenda-3. I have also noticed India gained maximum by making deals with US administration that follows Agenda-1 or Agenda-2. Other US administrations (i.e mainly Agenda-3 administrations) generally sermon India rather than helping India with anything worth mentioning.

It is always better for India to evaluate the behavior of all the groups before getting in to any deals with US. Most of the times US gives guarantees only orally which means they are valid only for that administration, while they extract perpetual guarantees from the other nations. The best example is India-US nuclear deal. The conditions attached by the US congress may be considered as advisory by the present Bush administration but the next president of the US most certainly will act differently.

Dining in New London, Connecticut

The Gridlock Grille, 566 Colman Street.

If you’re in the New London area, stop in for breakfast at the Gridlock Grille. The staff are chirpy (maybe a little too chirpy, but I prefer that to dour and snappy).

Surprisingly, they even have a website: http://www.gridlockgrille.com/

The scrambled eggs and rye toast was the best breakfast of the trip. I can still hear our server’s “OK!” reverberating through my memory in response to each “thanks” from me (upon the delivery of water or a coffee refill).

K, if you’re reading this, just know that you’d adore the water here. Tons of ice with just a bit of water squeezed in around it and a straw!

The staff were incredibly kind.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to any other meals there. If anyone does, let me know what you think!

Island Touch Restaurant, 78 Broad Street.

Not so much a restaurant as a take away place. OK, they did have a couple of chairs and the very kind fellow who was working that night offered to turn off the fan if we wanted to eat there without the drone.

We declined on the grounds that the space was so small and it was such a warm night.  It would have been cruel to deny him his sole source of moving air as he danced ingredients into mighty fine looking dishes.

J reported that the goat curry was delicious. It was accompanied by many satisfied murmurs, if not particular descriptions of the dish.

My vegetable patty was all right. It was modest (smaller than I expected) and more like a pasty than a burger-type thing (again, a misdirected expectation).

The red snapper dinner looked absolutely gorgeous. Our friendly host allowed me to peek at one destined for another belly when I was dithering about what to order. The full fish, surrounded by rice and plantain would have been marvellous weapon of great disruption for my small appetite of the time.

Perhaps we’ll get back there. I will most certainly go for that red snapper!

We washed down our takeaways with Jamaican Root Beer and Jamaican Kola. J liked the Kola. I had a sip, but was more pleased with the root beer, which was refreshing and most appreciated.

Tucson - First Impressions

First Dude: Dude! Look it is raining! Isn’t that great?! Should cool down the place a little atleast.

Second Dude: Are you kidding me?! This is Tucson rain buddy. This will not last for too long and will NOT cool down the place one bit.

This is a conversation between two students that I overheard as I was walking to class one day on what was a really really hot afternoon up until that point. And there are no two different opinions on the subject of what is going to be the first thing that one would notice in Tucson. And most of us knew that Tucson was going to be crazy hot before we had set foot here. It is not like I landed at the airport with a shocked expression and said ‘Where did all the snow go?! This is not fair! I am going back to Bangalore.’.

It is funny when people here ask you, “So how are you liking Tucson?’. The question is delivered to you with such an unique expression which implies that the person asking the question is probably expecting you to grimace and say ‘ Yeah!! I don’t like it so much.’ So when I reply, ‘It is okay’, it is followed by another question along the lines of ‘meaning? is it good or bad?’ thus clarifying my understanding of what is the original intent of the question is. I don’t know why, but Indians here expect other Indians visiting this place for the first time to hate the place by default. So it is funny to see their expression when you say ‘I love this place! It is fantastic! Like heaven!’.

I wanted to focus on new things that I did not know about the city. For instance, I never knew that the place was surrounded by small hillocks on pretty much all the sides. Just made me wonder if I could go back in time and explore the possibility of building an empire here. The city would be guarded on all the sides because of the natural defense provided by the hillocks. Unfortunately, I have no real expertise in building time machines. Maybe that could be my thesis subject!

The next thing that I noticed about the place was the beautiful sunsets. Now I know that sunsets, no matter where they are very beautiful, but this one for some reason is very very different. Maybe it has something to do with that additional picturesque effect provided due to the backdrop of the mountains or something. People say that sun rays here are high on UV content because of the depleting ozone layer here as compared to some other parts of the world. Maybe that might have some bearing on the beauty of sunsets! I don’t know. And to be honest, I don’t care. As long as I know that the setting is good enough to be considered for shooting using my camera, I am happy.

Tucson also represents my first taste of American culture, whatever that is supposed to mean. Not that I am not used to getting adapted to different cultures. I am from India! We have more than a billion people back home all of them belong to different cultural subsets with intersections aplenty. But this is different. Unlike India, where culture can be associated with the type of clothing, the food that you eat or the language that you speak, the culture in America is primarily dependent on the way you speak to and interact with people. The culture can be linked to traffic rules or to holding the door open for the next person after you have entered/left the room or to also learn how not to point at people using your finger for whatever reason.

I can see why some people can find this culture very very irritating and hard to get used to. I find the whole system of vehicles stopping for me at a pedestrian crossing positively annoying to say the least. This is because of two reasons. The driver is probably expecting me to cross quickly so that he/she can move. To me, I have to walk faster than my usual pace just because this person has stopped the vehicle for my sake but is forced to do it and is not really happy about it. The second reason is because there is always a good chance that the driver says ‘ to hell with you’ and go at normal speed instead of stopping for you. I am used to that from  my experiences in India and therefore prefer the vehicle to pass away and then cross the road when there is no apparent danger to my life.

There are not too many Indians around this place. But among the ones that are already here, I would say 98% of them speak Tamil. Which is why Tucson felt like Thambiland for the first few weeks.

There are plenty of other things that I am yet to experience in US or Tucson. In fact, I think the list is never going to end.  But first impressions are always special.

Will upload some of my snaps from Tucson on my Flickr page soon. Also, I have created a personal home page here.

A Screwed UP economy..Like a spoilt child who only his mother could love

So here we are, in the midst of a recovery. Remind me: How is this different from a recession? Oh, right: Some things are getting worse more slowly than they used to, and other things have gotten so bad that they can’t possibly get any worse. And a few things are actually getting better. When economists add it all up, they’re tallying the first net gain in more than a year. On the plus side, corporate profits have picked up and business executives are more optimistic. All that stimulus spending and those aggressive maneuvers by the Federal Reserve are kicking in. So are all the layoffs–in a good way: With fewer workers, companies have enjoyed a surge in productivity. Moody’s Economy.com believes the recession that officially started in December 2007 officially ended in August 2009. Hooray! It’s over! [See 4 problems that could sink America.] Except that an awful lot is still going wrong. Even if the economy is growing again, the number of jobs isn’t, and most economists expect the unemployment rate, now 9.7 percent, to keep rising until the middle of 2010. So we’re having a “jobless” recovery. Home sales have picked up, but prices are still falling and foreclosures keep hitting new records. So we’re also having a homeless recovery. The commercial real estate market has only begun to collapse. Bad loans on real estate and consumer purchases could bring down another 400 banks before the financial meltdown is over. Anybody who wants to start or expand a business is more likely to get swine flu than a loan. We’re having a jobless, homeless, loanless, and maybe a recoveryless recovery. This is the kind of recovery that makes you wish you were still in the downward-spiral phase, like the first moment when you open your eyes after a wild, boozy night. [See 10 cities facing another real estate bust and 10 cities primed for recovery.] Maybe the recovery will start to feel better the longer it lasts. But it could also be an endless recovery that never quite brings a return to prosperity. American consumers are out of money, and they have little choice but to save their disposable income in order to replace all the wealth they’ve lost in the housing bust and stock market crash. Consumer spending accounts for two thirds of the economy, so even a minor decline can wreck the economy if it persists. And one entrenched problem feeds others. With so many people out of work, raises will be scarce, incomes flat, and consumer spending weak. Economist Gary Shilling says that for a net gain in jobs, the economy has to grow by at least 3.3 percent per year. But most economists predict much lower growth for 2010, and some think weak growth will last much longer than that. If it does, who’s going to spend the money that forces the economy out of rehab? [See the best and worst bailouts of the last two years.] Oh, yeah, I forgot: The government’s going to spend the money. With private construction dead and consumers broke, stimulus projects, unemployment benefits, and rebates on cars and homes are going to sustain a vibrant new welfare economy. Until the government itself runs out of money–which, technically speaking, has already happened. (Cliché alert: Instead of looking for “green shoots,” economists are now anticipating the moment when “the training wheels come off” and the economy moves forward without government stabilizers.) The good news is that most Americans probably know that a recovery doesn’t start when economists or politicians (or the media) say so. It starts when local companies start hiring again, when it’s possible to get a raise, and when take-home pay covers the bills with something left over. In much of the country, that hasn’t happened yet. When it does, tell the economists that the real recovery has begun.

So here USA is, in the midst of a recovery.

Oh, right: Some things are getting worse more slowly than they used to, and other things have gotten so bad that they can’t possibly get any worse. And a few things are actually getting better. When economists add it all up, they’re tallying the first net gain in more than a year.

On the plus side, corporate profits have picked up and business executives are more optimistic. All that stimulus spending and those aggressive maneuvers by the Federal Reserve are kicking in. So are all the layoffs–in a good way: With fewer workers, companies have enjoyed a surge in productivity. Moody’s Economy.com believes the recession that officially started in December 2007 officially ended in August 2009. Hooray! It’s over!

[See 4 problems that could sink America.]

Except that an awful lot is still going wrong. Even if the economy is growing again, the number of jobs isn’t, and most economists expect the unemployment rate, now 9.7 percent, to keep rising until the middle of 2010. So we’re having a “jobless” recovery. Home sales have picked up, but prices are still falling and foreclosures keep hitting new records. So we’re also having a homeless recovery. The commercial real estate market has only begun to collapse. Bad loans on real estate and consumer purchases could bring down another 400 banks before the financial meltdown is over. Anybody who wants to start or expand a business is more likely to get swine flu than a loan.

We’re having a jobless, homeless, loanless, and maybe a recoveryless recovery. This is the kind of recovery that makes you wish you were still in the downward-spiral phase, like the first moment when you open your eyes after a wild, boozy night.

[See 10 cities facing another real estate bust and 10 cities primed for recovery.]

Maybe the recovery will start to feel better the longer it lasts. But it could also be an endless recovery that never quite brings a return to prosperity. American consumers are out of money, and they have little choice but to save their disposable income in order to replace all the wealth they’ve lost in the housing bust and stock market crash. Consumer spending accounts for two thirds of the economy, so even a minor decline can wreck the economy if it persists. And one entrenched problem feeds others. With so many people out of work, raises will be scarce, incomes flat, and consumer spending weak. Economist Gary Shilling says that for a net gain in jobs, the economy has to grow by at least 3.3 percent per year. But most economists predict much lower growth for 2010, and some think weak growth will last much longer than that. If it does, who’s going to spend the money that forces the economy out of rehab?

[See the best and worst bailouts of the last two years.]

Oh, yeah, I forgot: The government’s going to spend the money. With private construction dead and consumers broke, stimulus projects, unemployment benefits, and rebates on cars and homes are going to sustain a vibrant new welfare economy. Until the government itself runs out of money–which, technically speaking, has already happened. (Cliché alert: Instead of looking for “green shoots,” economists are now anticipating the moment when “the training wheels come off” and the economy moves forward without government stabilizers.)

The good news is that most Americans probably know that a recovery doesn’t start when economists or politicians (or the media) say so. It starts when local companies start hiring again, when it’s possible to get a raise, and when take-home pay covers the bills with something left over. In much of the country, that hasn’t happened yet. When it does, tell the economists that the real recovery has begun.