Obama’s Next US Trade Representative Michael Froman likely participant at upcoming Bilderberg conference. … Read More
WD talks SSHDs: Black hybrid details revealed
Earlier this week, Western Digital debuted the fruit of a partnership with SanDisk: a line of solid state hybrid drives bearing its “Black” branding. In light of the announcement, WD vice president Matt Rutledge recently discussed with The Tech Report details regarding the company's newly release flash-mechanical hybrid and how… … Read More
US wants 9 permanent bases in Afghanistan after 2014 ISAF withdrawal
As US and other NATO troops begin to withdraw from the country by 2014, Washington is in talks with Karzai’s government to allow the US Military to retain a residual presence. The size of the force has not yet been determined, but could number between 2,500 and 12,000, according to US officials.The stated aim of the plan is that soldiers would continue to train the Afghan army and police, and carry out attacks on Al-Qaeda militants.“Our conditions are that the US intensify its efforts in the peace process, strengthen Afghanistan’s security forces, provide concrete support for the economy – power, roads, dams – and provide assistance in governance,” Karzai said at a ceremony at Kabul University. “When they do this, we are ready to sign [a partnership agreement].”Previously, the US said that if 6,000 troops were kept behind in Afghanistan only the bases in Kabul and Bagram airfield would be maintained.As the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) draws down troop deployments in Afghanistan, security in the country is still in a perilous state, with the Taliban able to operate largely with impunity.While addressing a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the ISAF has not achieved significant improvements in security and has done nothing to eliminate heroin production in the country, which is now at record levels.“There are all grounds to believe that we may face an escalation of the situation in Afghanistan in the short term,” Putin said.“The foreign military contingent, whose backbone is American forces, has not achieved a breakthrough in the fight against terrorist and radical groups as yet. On the contrary, their activity has been particularly increasing lately,” Putin explained.Putin’s comments come after an embarrassing revelation earlier this week that British intelligence agency MI6 regularly provided Karzai’s government with ‘ghost money’ in order to buy influence through bribes.The money from MI6 is a fraction of what the CIA paid to Karzai’s government, and although the exact figures have been withheld for “reason of national security” they are estimated to run in the tens of millions of dollars.Karzai’s government is deeply unpopular with many Afghans, and is widely seen as corrupt. There was significant overlap between the corrupt Afghan political establishment and the country’s illegal heroin trade, including the president’s brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was assassinated in 2011.A UN report released last month showed that Afghan poppy production was rapidly expanding, and that the country was expected to produce 90 percent of the world’s opium this year. … Read More
Japanese Movement Against TPP Growing
Critics of the Trans-Pacific Partnership say it’s an attempt to impose an American system on Japan and would threaten Japanese public healthcare system … Read More
Tesla revises in-house financing plan for Model S buyers
Last month Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced a partnership with two major banks that would make it easier than ever for potential customers to secure financing when purchasing the company’s Model S electric car. The executive used some creative accounting principles to arrive at the conclusion that it would cost… … Read More
Diane Sawyer to host first televised interview with Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl who became an international icon for women’s rights after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban, will speak to “ABC World News” anchor Diane Sawyer in her first televised interview ever. The interview will air in October 2013, marking the one-year anniversary of the Taliban’s attempt on her life. BBC’s Mishal Husain will also interview Malala in partnership with ABC News. Per the press release, the broadcast of the interviews will be coordinated with the publication of Yousafzai’s upcoming memoir, “I Am Malala.”Continue Reading… … Read More
Texas AG rules domestic partnership benefits violate state constitution
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an opinion arguing that providing domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples in the state is a violation of the state’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.The non-binding opinion was in response to a request by state Sen. Dan Patrick, a Republican, who objected to the Pflugerville school district’s decision to offer domestic partnership benefits.From the Dallas Voice:Pflugerville’s decision also prompted a Republican state lawmaker to introduce a bill that would cut funding for school districts that offer DP benefits. The bill — HB 1568 by Drew Springer of Muenster — is awaiting a vote in the House. While Pflugerville was the first school district to offer DP benefits, several other local government entities do so, including the cities of Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio; as well as Dallas County and Parkland hospital. Most offer DP benefits to both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners.In his opinion, Abbott writes that domestic partnerships “have various characteristics in common with the criteria for marriage,” enough that “a court is likely to conclude that the domestic partnership legal status about which [Patrick inquires] is ‘similar to marriage’ and therefore barred by article I, section 32 of the Texas Constitution.”Continue Reading… … Read More
