News Stories

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

"Antipiracy legislation that would dramatically increase the government’s legal power to
disrupt and shutter websites “dedicated to infringing activities” cleared a major
legislative hurdle Thursday.

Two weeks after being introduced, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously
advanced the package to the Senate floor.

But by the late afternoon, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) placed a hold on the Protect
IP Act that will keep it from landing on the Senate floor."

See:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...-law-advances/

And whatever else Wyden does, I can happily say he's *my* Senator

[Ithekro]

A map of the Universe....in 3D

Or at least a good start (only 380 million light years out...but still...43,000 galaxies).

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43175085...ace/?gt1=43001

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

this recall




and if the D win the recall, you can see this in Nov

It'll be very interesting to see the results. We will see which way Wisconsin decides to go.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

...
Where is the following of the heavenly decree of "Respect others no matter what their beliefs" as written in the holy scriptures? Do we really need the world to be separated by religious factionalism round every street and corner? Or is religious genocide and outlawing of religion a necessity, in the time and date where neither party bothers to reason with each other?

I can easily answer you that question. Its because in essence a social system based on religion is meant to control people. Controling people means power, and converting someone to "their" faith gives certain people the meaning in their life that they would otherwise never have.
Different interpretations of a religion typically stem/originate from a power hungry zealot who wants his very own fan base (sometimes with lasting concequences). The autocratic regimes in the middle east are not build to serve religion, they are build upon a means to control people, so that a selected elite can have power.

[ganbaru]

EBay and PayPal sue Google over trade secrets
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...74Q05620110527

[AnimeFan188]

"A 22-year-old Australian university student has solved a problem which has puzzled
astrophysicists for decades, discovering part of the so-called "missing mass" of the
universe during her summer break.

Undergraduate Amelia Fraser-McKelvie made the breakthrough during a holiday
internship with a team at Monash University's School of Physics, locating the mystery
material within vast structures called "filaments of galaxies"."

See:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110527...physicsscience

[Irenicus]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110527...physicsscience

So what exactly did she discover?

Such a potentially exciting discovery -- if I'm reading it right, it might change a lot of paradigms regarding the composition of matter in the universe -- and we get no explanation whatsoever. What does this do to the current theories about dark matter and dark energy, for example?

Guess that's why Yahoo news isn't considered a news institution-of-record by anyone.

[AnimeFan188]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

So what exactly did she discover?

Such a potentially exciting discovery -- if I'm reading it right, it might change a lot of paradigms regarding the composition of matter in the universe -- and we get no explanation whatsoever. What does this do to the current theories about dark matter and dark energy, for example?

Guess that's why Yahoo news isn't considered a news institution-of-record by anyone.

If you don't like Yahoo, here's s'more links:

http://www.universetoday.com/85927/a...-missing-mass/

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/4...d-missing-mass

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Mo..._mass_999.html

[Irenicus]

^Thankee. I actually did my own googling right after complaining but thanks all the same.

So it seems that the theory regarding the universe's "composition" doesn't change, fundamentally, but rather that the discovery further adds to the evidence supporting the current model.

It's exciting all the same. A lot more (as in, a lot more) can be learned.

[ganbaru]

Exclusive: Hackers breached U.S. defense contractors
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...74Q6VY20110527
Did the '' usual suspect'' went again to a secret's hunt ?

[SaintessHeart]

Why more investor protection is needed, not less

Government isn’t the enemy when it comes to investor protection. Less is not more.

GOP Congressmen and its money-trust allies, though, are busy trying to dismember the Dodd-Frank financial reform law despite the evidence that investor protection had been underfunded when ordinary people needed it the most.

The last decade has been scarred by a stock and housing meltdown, the tail-end of the dotcom blow-up and two recessions. Most Americans are behind on saving for retirement. One would think that investor protection would near the top of the Congressional agenda (in addition to job creation).

Yet it’s clear from regulators that investor protection has become steadily more porous as the financial industry has grown.

A little-read U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission study on broker-dealers and advisers published earlier this year bluntly told the story:

“The growth of the investment advisory industry over the past six years has not been matched by a corresponding growth in Commission resources,” the study states as part of a Dodd-Frank regulation.

While the amount managed by registered investment advisers grew 59 percent from $24 trillion to $38 trillion (from Oct. 1, 2004 through Sept. 30, 2010), SEC inspection resources fell almost 4 percent during that period.

The high-water mark for examinations of investment advisers should have been during the worst bubble years (2006-2008), but the SEC reported that the number of its inspections peaked in 2005 at 1,530. There were only about 1,000 inspections last year. That’s a decrease of almost 30 percent. And this was just for policing some 11,000 registered investment advisers.

The number of broker-dealer examinations also declined during the perilous years in which investors lost trillions in their retirement funds. The staff for SEC broker-dealer examinations was down to 380 last year from 405 in 2006. As a result, examinations dropped to 490 last year from 764 in 2006.

Fewer watchdogs means fewer bad brokers and advisers are caught and expelled from the industry. Enforcement actions against broker-dealers dropped by more than half from 2004 to 2010.

Dodd-Frank called for the SEC to hire 800 more staffers; House GOP members are trying to cut off the funding to do that. Almost acting in lockstep with the financial trust, the GOP is also attempting to neuter the Consumer Financial Protection Board and fiduciary duty that would make brokers place investors’ interests first.

Awash with campaign contributions from the money trust, House GOP members are openly hostile to any Dodd-Frank regulations that hope to protect consumers.

“Regulators exist to serve the banks,” Rep. Spencer Bachus, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee told an Alabama newspaper late last year.

I’m not surprised that the money trust wants to delay or dump the provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. It will cost them billions to do right by investors and credit customers.

I’ll admit that the financial industry is more regulated than ever and even the most sweeping law since the New Deal won’t keep all dishonest brokers and advisers out of the system. There is no perfect set of financial regulations and the government will never be able to effectively keep up with an industry that large and complex.

Yet making the argument that less investor protection is better for their customers — or that there are enough financial watchdogs on the beat now — is patently wrong.

Conflicts of interest are embedded in everything from your 401(k) to the most complex structured product. Do you know why certain funds are in your 401(k) plan, even though they are poorly performing and expensive? Is there some “pay-for-play” involved? You many never know without more federal oversight and disclosure.

There are more investments than ever and they are more complicated. From structured certificates of deposit to variable annuities, there’s little chance you’ll understand what’s really going on — or how you can lose money. In fact, there are more ways to lose money than ever before. The money trust wants to keep it that way. They like to keep their black boxes closed tightly.

You can’t be on your guard all the time. There are plenty of financial rules, but without enforcement, the bullies are running the show.

Seems that not only Marketwatch is taking up arms against GOP, but Reuters too. Though I wonder how effective it will be in 2012 when the majority of the citizens vote up someone who are going to corporatise and ripoff whatever is left of consumer and job protection.

Time to look for trading opportunities elsewhere. Maybe I'll try the German exchange or Hang Seng instead of Nikkei and NASDAQ.

[ganbaru]

Serb court says Mladic fit for genocide trial
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...74P24A20110528

[SaintessHeart]

Unpopular Japan PM seeks party unity amid calls to quit

I don't know if the Japanese are short-sighted, idiots or complete fools when it comes to governance and politics, but swapping PMs like sanitary napkins aren't going to solve problems at all.

Ministers are human beings like us, they make mistakes too. How the heck is sacking him going to solve the earthquake aftermath, public debt and stagflation? It doesn't make sense at all - vilifying him for not looking after TEPCO is just plain idiotic because the ones that created the mess are the heads of the organisation, not the government. And Kan can't be in all places at once - Japan has so many problems that the people might as well cut up the country and give it to the Yakuza, creating another feudal age.

How about a little forgiveness, less talk, and put heads together to solve critical problems rather than hire-and-fire ministers for just one mistake?

[killer3000ad]

Afghanistan:Suicide attack kills Afghan police chiefs, injures commander of German contingent
- 2 Germans KIA, 4 injured (including General Kneip)
- Afghan provincial police chief KIA
- Regional police chief Gen. Dawood Dawood KIA

[Xellos-_^]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...VDH_story.html

But dog activists have defended their fervor as a necessity. China still lacks a single law against cruelty to animals, and by some estimates, as many as 10 million dogs — some vagrant, others stolen pets — are sold for consumption each year and are often kept under horrible conditions.
“People are saying it’s a silly thing protecting animals,” said Wang, the activist. “But it is a question of civilization.
“By teaching people in this country to love little animals, maybe we can help them to love their fellow human beings better.”
Zhu, the netizen who posted the online threat, however, scoffed at that notion. Last week, he was forced to quit his job after his company began receiving threatening calls as well.
“I didn’t even intend to kill dogs. I was just making a point,” he said. “The animal activists claim to have the moral high ground, but look at what they did to me. Can they really say they have love at the front of their heart?”

i thought this is a interesting discussion.



My own opinion has always been, food is food. I will eat anything if it taste good.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Unpopular Japan PM seeks party unity amid calls to quit

I don't know if the Japanese are short-sighted, idiots or complete fools when it comes to governance and politics, but swapping PMs like sanitary napkins aren't going to solve problems at all.

Ministers are human beings like us, they make mistakes too. How the heck is sacking him going to solve the earthquake aftermath, public debt and stagflation? It doesn't make sense at all - vilifying him for not looking after TEPCO is just plain idiotic because the ones that created the mess are the heads of the organisation, not the government. And Kan can't be in all places at once - Japan has so many problems that the people might as well cut up the country and give it to the Yakuza, creating another feudal age.

How about a little forgiveness, less talk, and put heads together to solve critical problems rather than hire-and-fire ministers for just one mistake?

Given the eternal faction struggles within both the DPJ and LDP, never going to happen.

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

i thought this is a interesting discussion.

My own opinion has always been, food is food. I will eat anything if it taste good.

I agree. If something was breed for food, it should be considered food, just like cattle or pigs.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

I agree. If something was breed for food, it should be considered food, just like cattle or pigs.

That could lead to some strange result.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

My own opinion has always been, food is food. I will eat anything if it taste good.

Food is still food, yeah. But if the dog is a friend of a blind man being abducted for food, then that is the real issue.

The thing is that in China, dogs are not bred for food, they are abducted from their owners for food. The place is chaos.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

The thing is that in China, dogs are not bred for food, they are abducted from their owners for food. The place is chaos.

Try going to Guangdong. You'll see that what you say is not completely correct.

[ganbaru]

Al Qaeda group tightens grip on Yemen coastal town
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...73L1PP20110529