http://www.youtube.com/v/MPiMW3QV4UU?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Originally posted here - Afghanistan in first census for three decades
Obama’s forgotten agenda
Two months ago this week, an emboldened President Obama laid out an ambitious agenda for a second term in his State of the Union address. Congress and the media have been consumed by important debates over a small array of those issues like gun control, immigration reform and the budget (which he’ll unveil today). But other items critical to the progressive agenda of his second term — especially raising the minimum wage and addressing climate change — have largely fallen out of view.And while it’s still just a few months in, a look at these important but overshadowed goals, as he outlines his budget, does not suggest much progress — or urgency.“I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago,” Obama thundered in the February speech, in an aggressive plea to address the crisis. “But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future.”Continue Reading… … Read More
RT aims to revolutionize how the world reports news with own video agency
“Right now there are basically a couple of big agencies that provide the majority of news footage to international outlets, and particularly to TV channels and online platforms that cannot afford bureaus or send correspondents to every hotspot. As a result, viewers often see events around the globe through the eyes of these providers. In such a market there are inevitable gaps in coverage, plus the risk of bias in the eventual reportage,” says Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor-in-chief.“Now Ruptly can provide an alternative, show a different side of a story, or a story altogether missed by other sources. We offer a bolder, deeper perspective than the one brought to the table by the ‘usual suspects’.”The origins of the ambitious project – which launches after operating in test mode throughout winter – was the coverage of the South Ossetian conflict, involving Russia and Georgia, in 2008.“What we saw in the global media was a much skewed coverage of the conflict, largely biased toward Georgia’s position, dismissing Russia’s and ignoring the atrocities committed by the Georgian side, which had in fact initiated the war. There were plenty of videos from Gori and Tbilisi but nothing showing Georgia’s attacks on civilians in Tskhinval, nor any coverage of the plight of Ossetian refugees,” says Simonyan.“We had video reportage from Tskhinval, and decided to make it available to other news outlets so that they could see – and show – the other side of this war.”RUPTLY works extensively with the international stringer network and leverages RT’s global presence that counts outposts in Washington DC, London, Madrid, Damascus, Cairo, Gaza and Baghdad among its 22 bureaus.One hundred staff have already joined Ruptly’s state-of-the-art, purpose built headquarters in Berlin – a growing news hub conveniently placed for stories from either side of the globe.Unburdened with the legacy platforms of other news agencies, Ruptly will be using the Streamworks International delivery system – the most advanced in the world – to broadcast HD signal to any media, from giant billboards, to news stations, to mobile phones. Ruptly can provide five simultaneous live signals. For comparison, Associated Press, the world’s biggest news agency, only has one live channel.RT, which is a non-profit organization, will charge clients for using its videos, from a single use to a full subscription, but does not intend to make money on Ruptly. Instead, the agency will be expected to break even to support its operations.“It will take a few years for the revenues from the sales of video materials to cover the costs of running the new agency but the ultimate goal for Ruptly, as it has been for RT, is to provide balance in the global media coverage of the world news, and offer an alternative in a highly concentrated market of professional video footage,” says Margarita Simonyan. … Read More
Australian billionaire plans robotic ‘Jurassic Park’
An eccentric Australian mining magnate who is building a replica of the ill-fated Titanic has unveiled his latest scheme — a park of giant robotic dinosaurs. Clive Palmer, who last month in New York launched an ambitious plan to build and sail the “Titanic II”, said he had ordered…
Chinese shale gas boom under threat
The latest auction attracted 100 firms including a real estatedeveloper, a grain trader and a tobacco dealer – all lured by gassubsidies and easy access to funds, but none of the companies haveever dealt with shale gas before.”They will have received very little data about the blocks,will have very little idea about what it is going to cost them todo exploration wells and no idea about development costs,”Reuters quotes Tony Regan of Tri-Zen Consultancy, which advises gascompanies doing business in China.”They are driven by the attraction of getting in early intowhat could be a huge market.”It’s unclear though how these companies will help the countrymake a breakthrough in this field – a few years ago Beijing voicedan ambitious target of producing 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas by2015.China’s potential is impressive. The country’s shale reservescould be anything betwween 25 and 36 trillion cubic meters, whilethe US, the world’s leader in the field, has around 24.4tcm.However, it’s difficult to make use of it right now. TheAmerican technology is hardly applicable in China due to geologicalpeculiarities and the fact that the country’s shale deposits aremostly situated deeper underground.A report by law firm Norton Rose claims the cost to drill asingle shale gas well in China ranges from $5mn to $12 mn -compared to the average cost per well of $2.7-$3.7 mn in the US. Inother words, even if China gets all the necessary technology theproject would hardly be profitable due to the high explorationcost.Last week, Royal Dutch Shell gave China a glimmer of hopethough. The oil and gas major said it may help the country’s shalegas industry reach new heights. But until that time it looks likethe country has to put its shale gas revolution on hold. … Read More
Inspector general report: U.S. cannot account for $1.7 billion spent in Iraq
After invading Iraq ten years ago, the United States spent $60 billion on a vast reconstruction effort that left behind few successes and a litany of failures, an auditor’s report said Wednesday. The ambitious plan to transform the country after the fall of Saddam Hussein has been marked by…
‘US aid to Israel could dodge sequester to compensate Pentagon cuts’
http://www.youtube.com/v/6JN8inVcnuc?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Read article here: ‘US aid to Israel could dodge sequester to compensate Pentagon cuts’
