News Stories

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Arbitres

I hate bullies. How do you think breakdowns happen? How school shootings happen? Long as the bullies are humiliated I don't see the problem of the method.

For a victim of bullying there are only two steps to take next :

1. Commit suicide/homicide
2. Move on in life

Interesting on how the trolls got her personal data and posted it online. Though I am open, I do keep my personal data under serious wraps unless I have designated the person/forum member IRL.

The basic rules of the internet are :

1. Trust no one.
2. When in doubt, refer to No. 1.

Interestingly, death threats are alot less scary when you choose option number two of the first set of options in this post. You will see them as that "your time has come" and will accept mortality.

[Kusa-San]

Originally Posted by theage.com

US PLANS for combating climate change, including a form of carbon tax or cap-and-trade system, are in tatters after Democrats conceded they could not garner enough support for a comprehensive energy bill.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/obama...723-10otm.html

Thank you USA .

[Arbitres]

You are either being mature beyond my understanding, or mocking me (un)intentionally. It doesn't take a genius to understand why I hate bullies.

As for the choices, too fatalistic. It's not that simple, and explaining only logic will only get you so far. Bullying varies in strength and frequency, some have it worse then others while some get off easier. I could explain, but it's a moot point considering.

Thank you USA

No comment.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by Kusa-San

http://www.theage.com.au/world/obama...723-10otm.html

Thank you USA .

You didn't want that legislation to pass. It was more of the same "oh, we'll use a global crisis to INCREASE our own power." Believe me, from what I've researched the biggest benefactors of cap and trade would have been BP of oil spill infamy and their colleagues. Certainly not a very productive group to be bolstering.

[Autumn Demon]

Swede fined for possession of underage hentai manga.

http://www.thelocal.se/27984/20100725/

If he were in America he would be going to jail.

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by Washu-Chan

*snip*

...why is she sending an appeal out to the individuals trolling her? Why the fuck is her father letting her do this? Shouldn't he be telling her to get off the internet?

Of course since he thinks there's a cyber police department to call, I doubt he actually understands much about the internet...

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Interesting on how the trolls got her personal data and posted it online. Though I am open, I do keep my personal data under serious wraps unless I have designated the person/forum member IRL.

She probably had lots of her personal information on line. Like Facebook. Barring that, who knows what kind of things she's been putting out there.

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by Autumn Demon

Swede fined for possession of underage hentai manga.

http://www.thelocal.se/27984/20100725/

If he were in America he would be going to jail.

People who compare lolicon (whether it's art, doujins or actual H-manga) to child porn and sue people for it on the charge of child porn possession/distribution need to be shot.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Lord of Fire

People who compare lolicon (whether it's art, doujins or actual H-manga) to child porn and sue people for it on the charge of child porn possession/distribution need to be shot.

Are you also going a bit too far yourself ?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Are you also going a bit too far yourself ?

I think it should be fine. Those people are no different from racists anyway.

[Doraneko]

The Cantonese controversy in the Guangdong province of China, and the demonstration in its capital (Guangzhou).

Originally Posted by South China Morning Post, Hong Kong

Thousand rally to support Cantonese
Jul 26, 2010

More than 1,000 people, most of them in their 20s or early 30s, gathered outside an exit at the Jiangnanxi Guangzhou Metro station yesterday afternoon in a show of support for the Cantonese dialect.

A strong police presence and a media gag on coverage of the campaign to defend the local dialect failed to stop the protest.

Participants said they were following directions that appeared in online posts two weeks ago, announcing a gathering at the metro exit at 5.30pm yesterday.

The demonstration was part of an unusually sharp public backlash against a controversial proposal this month to switch programming on the main channels of Guangdong TV from Cantonese to Putonghua.

The proposal stated the move could help the city create a satellite TV channel and make it friendlier to visitors from other provinces during the Asian Games in November, but it has angered Cantonese speakers, and triggered a spirited debate about the need to preserve local language and culture.

Plainclothes police, uniformed police and security guards were seen everywhere outside the exit, and in the beginning it was hard to tell how many people among hundreds of passers-by were there to take part in the gathering, since the exit opens into a shopping district. The police and guards watched closely, but no conflict occurred. Police blocked the main street, Jiangnanxi Road, and closed the metro exit between 6pm and 7.30pm. But the three other exits at the subway station were open.

A local band showed up to play Cantonese songs at about 4.30pm but was asked to leave by police. Shortly afterwards, police also threatened to remove a man speaking Putonghua and dressed in a white T-shirt bearing the Chinese characters for "Not guilty for having an opinion". That angered the crowd, who shouted at police to "Shut up", and "Release the man".

More people gathered around the exit, some displaying posters and wearing T-shirts with slogans in support of the local dialect. One poster said "Languages slaughterer" in English and showed a skull and bloody bones, referring to the endangerment of Cantonese. The protesters also shouted "Support Cantonese" and "Shut up, Ji Kekuang ".

It was Ji, an official of Guangzhou's political advisory body, who suggested the switch to Putonghua on local television.

Some college students arrived as early as 2.30pm yesterday. Alvis Zhao, 21, said he wanted to claim a good seat in a fast-food outlet by the metro exit to watch the event. Zhao and seven of his friends - all Guangzhou natives who went to high school together - said they had decided to attend the gathering even though they had heard it might be banned.

"We want to express our dissatisfaction and worry," Zhao said. "We don't hate Putonghua, and it's OK for us to speak it in the schools, but the government has gone too far with its plan to use more Putonghua on local TV channels."

Some of the students said they had the support of their parents to attend the gathering.

The protest was also a hot topic on mainland microblogs. Some microbloggers in other provinces said it reminded them to protect the cultural heritage of their hometowns.

Ben Ou, an editor for a Guangzhou-based website, said it was interesting to see that people born since 1980 were playing a key role in this round of campaigns - both online and in the real world.

Reuter's report on the news, as well as Youtube video and Flickr album. Interesting to see that twitter has also been used during the demonstration despite of the ban by the CCP government.

I applaud to the young people who are willing to stand up and protest to the communist government.

In my opinion, as Mandarin is the national language it makes sense to have the news report of a selected channel to broadcast in Mandarin. But pushing for the switch of language for all programming is seriously too much.

I guess the Guangzhou people are on one hand showing their love to their local culture in this demonstration, but on the other hand they are angered with the minimal public consultation on the issue and the blatant disregard of the general opinion shown in the public polls. (According to a poll conducted by the Yuexiu municipal government, only 2086 people out of 226384 respondents are in support of the proposal.)

Given that the Guangdong province is the economic engine of China which accounts of over 10% of the nation's GDP (No. 1 among all provinces, comparable with Turkey's total), while neighbouring Cantonese-speaking regions like Hong Kong and Macau give an even larger degree of economic and cultural influence towards China, the CCP probably won't push too far across the line. However, one has to wonder how many languages and culture heritages of the ethnic minorities are openly destroyed by the CCP, while no one stands up for that.

[SaintessHeart]

And I thought Putonghua and Cantonese are pretty similar. It is good to see that the youth are taking an active role against China's long corrupt politics.

[Doraneko]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

And I thought Putonghua and Cantonese are pretty similar. It is good to see that the youth are taking an active role against China's long corrupt politics.

They are actually very different to the extent that both are mutually unintelligible. Spanish people will have a better time understanding Portuguese, then Cantonese-speaking people understanding Mandarin. Some linguists even classify the two as separated languages instead of dialects.

Regardless, I think China should take pride for the diversity in her culture, instead of forcing a common mold on everyone. India is a good example, with a comparable population, and different areas having different languages/dialects.

In Guangdong, Cantonese has already been banned in yje school curriculum, but the locals were tolerant enough to not complain. It is only when the CCP pushing too far across the line when public anger bursts out.

[LeoXiao]

I think that it's important to learn Mandarin, since there are many, many dialects and China is supposed to be one nation. It would be bad if China became like India where the most commonly known language is English. It's okay to teach it in schools. However, trying to do away with Cantonese entirely is simply impractical. There are over a hundred million people who speak it and it is obviously a big part of the local culture. But then again, the Communist Party doesn't seem to care much about culture in general.

[Doraneko]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

I think that it's important to learn Mandarin, since there are many, many dialects and China is supposed to be one nation. It would be bad if China became like India where the most commonly known language is English. It's okay to teach it in schools. However, trying to do away with Cantonese entirely is simply impractical. There are over a hundred million people who speak it and it is obviously a big part of the local culture. But then again, the Communist Party doesn't seem to care much about culture in general.

How come it is "bad" for India to have English as a common language as long as everyone can speak it? It isn't like Mandarin as a common language is inherently better than English. My point is that it is necessary to have a national common language (whatever it is), but the local language/dialect should also be treated with respect.

Right now the only languages allowed to be taught in Chinese schools are Mandarin and English. The fact that people didn't object to it already shows how tolerant Chinese in general is.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't say the southern people should chase Mandarin out of their areas. I am sure that no one in the Guangzhou demonstration advocated that too. Given the CCP's push, it is safe to say that all participants in the demonstration should be very fluent in Mandarin. But accepting and appreciating cultural diversity can go a long way.

Frankly, major dialects with significant overseas presence, such as Cantonese and Shanghainess, have good odds in outliving silly government policies. The problem lies in the dialects of the ethnic minorities though. Once they are destroyed they are lost forever.

[Haruka_Kitten]

I usually shy away from this thread. Partially because I come back to it and there's nothing for me to say.

So to say, I was one of those thousands caught up in what has to be every city's worst nightmare: the complete failure of the transport system.

Power cut halts trains at Southern Cross railway station

Originally Posted by Power cut halts trains at Southern Cross railway station

A snapshot of the Metro information website this morning, showing disruptions across the network. Source: HWT Image Library

UPDATE 1.32pm: METRO may face a fine of up to $1 million after the meltdown on the train network this morning, with almost every train service delayed and hundreds of thousands of people affected.

Transport Minister Martin Pakula apologised to commuters for the delay and confirmed the government was looking at additional penalties after the morning peak hour was thrown into fiasco when a power shortage near Southern Cross cut electricity on the lines.

Metro reported that most train services had returned to normal by noon.

"This morning was not acceptable and not desirable. It is very disappointing for commuters to have to endure that sort of disruption,'' Mr Pakula said.

"It was not a disruption we are happy with and it will take some time before services return to normal.''

The minister said he had full faith in the head of the Department of Transport, Jim Betts.

But he is demanding a full report of events ahead of crisis talks with Metro's board and senior management this evening.

Mr Pakula promised a "full and frank'' exchange of views with Metro as the government prepares to slap the operator with a $1 million fine for its failures in July.

But Mr Pakula was unwilling to say if commuters will get a refund or compensation - outside of the normal system - for this morning's chaos. Earlier this month, Mr Pakula invoked emergency powers and withheld $4 million owed to Metro after the operator failed to meet timetable targets for seven consecutive months.

The trouble was triggered when a power line broke and became tangled in a train's pantograph near the Melbourne yard, not far from Southern Cross station.

The incident cut overhead power supplies to all trains in the vicinity.

Metro spokeswoman Geraldine Mitchell said the "northern group" was the worst affected with severe delays on the Craigieburn, Upfield, Sydenham, Williamstown and Werribee lines.

While power was restored to most of the system and trains were back running again by 9am, it took about three hours more before service times returned to normal.

Almost every service this morning was affected as other trains were diverted and delayed.

In a press conference this morning, Metro boss Andrew Lezala apologised for the chaos.

Premier John Brumby, talking on ABC Radio, admitted Metro had had an ordinary start in the first half of the year.

Explaining the outage, Metro's Ms Mitchell said: “We lost overhead power at Melbourne yard, near Southern Cross station at 4.45am, so for a while there was no power between Flinders St and Southern Cross.

"As you can imagine they are our two biggest stations, so that’s where just about every train goes.

Ms Mitchell said power was partly restored shortly before 7am for some trains in the City Loop, but the delays would continue for hours.

Bill Shorten and Senator Stephen Conroy were both caught up in the train chaos.

Mr Conroy was forced to apologise to members of the deaf community after delaying the launch of a captioned telephone at Federation Square this morning by almost 30 minutes.

Yarra trams scheduled extra services this morning to cope with the backlog including the Route 8 to assist passengers between South Yarra and the City, extra services on Route 59 to assist passengers from Essendon,
and along Route 19 to assist Upfield passengers.

Yarra Trams spokesman Colin Tyrus said the aim was to help people get to work by calling in several trams to help with the situation.

Coaches were brought in for outbound services in an attempt to deal with the thousands of stranded passengers.

Taxi services were also affected as frustrated commuters tried to find alternative ways to travel.

And V/Line services are also suffering significant delays amid the chaos.

In June, about 17 per cent of trains ran late, well over the 12 per cent target.

And today's meltdown will almost certainly mean that Metro will not meet its targets for July.

In the past two years, the State Government has given Metro $319 million to improve maintenance.

But critics claim this money is too little and too late.

Being a regular passenger for the rails, this isn't something that happens everyday. Metro's doing an okay job at the moment, although this is surely to stick for quite some time. I still doubt it's Metro's fault though

UPDATE:

Originally Posted by Martin Pakula announces day of free travel after Metro train mayhem across Melbourne (updated title)

UPDATE 5.01pm: COMMUTERS can travel free on Friday, as Metro says they have 'more work to do' after today's mayhem.

Transport Minister Martin Pakula said free travel for everybody was the only solution after a power fault near Southern Cross station this morning meant more than 50 per cent of peak-hour commuters arrived at work late.

"It is extremely rare for their to be a situation that impacts on the whole network,'' he said at a press conference this afternoon.

"The power outage on the viaduct affected everyone.''

V-Line passengers will also be compensated with a free daily ticket for today's delays.

[Rahan]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...rticle_related

Planetes, here we are !

I guess it's time for a manned expedition to Jupiter and for Al Quaeda to go to space.

[chikorita157]

BP finally gets rid of the out of touch Hayward... but with some golden parachutes...

BP ousts CEO Hayward and taps an American
By Ben Rooney, staff reporter, and Grace Wong, contributor
July 27, 2010: 8:30 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Tony Hayward will step down as chief executive of BP, the company announced Tuesday, amid ongoing outrage over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP said Hayward will be replaced by American Robert Dudley effective Oct. 1.

Like Hayward, Dudley is a long-time BP employee with more than 30 years in the oil business. A chemical engineer by training, Dudley was put in charge of the day-to-day leadership of the Gulf Coast clean-up operation in June.

BP said Hayward will receive a year's salary amounting to $1.6 million but further details of his severance package were not disclosed.

Given his recent performance, compensation experts say he will probably not receive the lucrative cash bonuses or stock awards given to many outgoing executives at comparable U.S. corporations.

According to BP's most recent annual report, Hayward amassed a pension worth nearly $17 million in his 28 years of service, which is expected to be doled out in annual payments of more than $900,000. It is unclear however, if Hayward, who was born in 1957, will be eligible for retirement benefits before he turns 60 years old.

The company also plans to nominate him as a non-executive director of Russian oil and gas venture TNK-BP.

The announcement of the change in leadership came as BP reported a second-quarter net loss of $17.2 billion. The heavy loss was due to a $32.2 billion charge the company took related to the oil disaster.

The news ends weeks of speculation about management changes at the company responsible for what has been called the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. It also presents an opportunity for BP to put a new public face on the company as it seeks to rebuild its reputation.

BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg called the Deepwater Horizon explosion a "watershed incident." In a statement, he said BP would be "a different company going forward, requiring fresh leadership supported by robust governance and a very engaged board."

With Dudley based in London, the overseeing of the clean-up effort will be headed by BP America President Lamar McKay.

BP's massive $17.2 billion loss
Hayward has become a lightning rod for public and political anger since the drill rig operated by BP exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April. The disaster killed 11 workers and ruptured a well deep below the surface.

The company has already committed $20 billion to compensate individuals and businesses affected by the spill. But it still could face billions more in fines and legal costs associated with the explosion.

BP has since managed to temporarily halt the flow of oil into the Gulf. But attempts to provide a permanent fix were delayed after Tropical Storm Bonnie prompted crews to suspend efforts to create a relief well last week. BP said Monday it will probably be several more days before it can resume drilling operations.

The spill, which Hayward himself called an environmental catastrophe, has fouled large portions of the coastline in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. It has also crippled the Gulf Coast economy and led to a government-imposed moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the region.

Investors have punished the company. Shares of BP (BP) have plunged nearly 40% since the spill, erasing about $72 billion of BP's market value.

Despite signs that BP chose cheaper, riskier drilling tactics before the disaster, Hayward is not expected to face criminal charges. Legal experts believe some mid-level employees at BP could go to jail though.

Who is Bob Dudley?
Since he was thrust into the spotlight, Hayward has made a number of high-profile gaffes that critics say illustrated his lack of sensitivity for those hurt by the spill. In May, he botched an expression of sympathy by saying he'd like his life back, a slip for which he later apologized.

Hayward said in a statement that the oil disaster was "a terrible tragedy" for which he would "always feel a deep responsibility, regardless of where blame is ultimately found to lie."

Hayward, who grew up outside London, joined BP in 1982 after completing his Ph.D. in geology at the University of Edinburgh the same year. After stints on BP projects in Europe, China and South America, he was made a company director and returned to London in 1997.

He moved up the corporate ladder in the years after BP merged with Amoco in 1998, creating what was then the largest company in Britain. He took over as CEO in 2007.

-- CNNMoney.com staff writer David Ellis also contributed to this report

First Published: July 27, 2010: 2:16 AM ET

Source

[Vexx]

The thing is... Hayward actually did quite a lot to streamline and "clean up" the company from a business perspective -- he just turned out to be an idiot from a disaster-PR point of view. That said, BP even long before Hayward, had a terrible reputation compared to the rest of the oil industry (even Exxon, yes). They're in trouble with the authorities all over the world for extraordinarily poor behavior, cutting corners, doing damage.

I laughed quite a lot when British politicians whined about the US media lambasting BP and "tarnishing their reputation". Their reputation has long sucked.

I think Formosa Chemical Corp. has a worse reputation, but they're in a special league with Union Carbide/Dow.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Scientists inch closer to finding 'God particle'

Paris (July 26, Mon): Scientists working with particle accelerators in Europe and the United States said today that they may be closing in on the elusive Higgs Boson, the "God particle" believed to be crucial for the formation of the cosmos after the Big Bang.

Researchers from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project near Geneva said that, in just three months of experiments, they had already detected all the particles at the heart of our current understanding of physics, as described in the Standard Model.

Dr Rolf Heuer, director-general of the European Center for Nuclear Research, which runs the LHC, told the International Conference on High Energy Physics in Paris experiments were progressing faster than expected and entering a stage in which "new physics" would emerge.

REUTERS

Panel moots major shift in Japan defence policy

Tokyo (July 27, Tue): A governmental panel of experts will soon recommend scrapping the basic defence concept of evenly deploying the Japanese Self-Defence Forces (JSDF) throughout the country, and instead focus more on mobile and effective arrangements to cope with limited and small-scale invasions.

Tasked with updating the National Defence Programme Guidelines to be formulated in December, the panel has compiled a draft report that sees a need for a shift in JSDF deployment from current arrangements, to focus heavily on the Nansei islands area that includes the Okinawa islands, sources said.

The report stresses the ability to cope with multiple contingencies, rather than a single-missile attack or similar occurrences. It highlights the necessity to respond proactively to limited, small-scale invasions and contingencies on the Korean Peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait.

According to the report, which will be submitted to Prime Minister Naoto Kan early next month, Japan's current defence concept is unsuitable given the current security environment.

The concept has been the basis for Japan's defence policy since the Cold War era. It was first presented in the 1976 National Defence Programme Guidelines, and later maintained in 1995 and 2004. It is designed to enable Japan to maintain the minimum basic-defence capabilities necessary to ensure that there is no power vacuum when responding to an attack.

To realise a change in the government's interpretation of the Constitution, to enable the JSDF to intercept missiles fired at the United States, the report also asks the government to let the JSDF conduct drills based on such scenarios.

YOMIURI SHIMBUN

^ Z-Day preparation?

[Xion Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Scientists inch closer to finding 'God particle'


Panel moots major shift in Japan defence policy

^ Z-Day preparation?

Japan is going to become zombie fodder no matter what. No point in preparing =P