News Stories

[iLney]

Forest loss slows, as China plants and Brazil preserves

The world's net rate of forest loss has slowed markedly in the last decade, with less logging in the Amazon and China planting trees on a grand scale.

Amidst this HC mess, there is something to be cheerful about

[Yu Ominae]

Georgia's gonna disband the air force in the wake of disbanding its navy and making it the coast guard instead.

ქართული არმია "დიდი ავიაციის" გარეშე რჩება (In Georgian) - Report says their Sukhois will be sold, possibly overseas.

Air Forces to Become Part of Land Forces

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

They have liabilities. Certain companies there host their online services through google.

... That's even worse, IMHO. Getting into an argument with a major power where the penalty for losing is to (1) be kicked out or (2) be fined/penalized in some way when you have commitments to honor is risky. Google is not anywhere at the level of the U.S. or Russia where it can stand toe-to-toe against China and have its opinions matter. Perhaps I have been in Asia too long, but I can't help but think the backlash in China will be worse than what Google's U.S.-based people expect.

But then, Google isn't exactly big or important in China when Baidu is still no. 1 there. Success = growth and good PR. Loss = not really a problem.

Obama administration to order lenders to cut mortgage payments for the jobless

Banks and other lenders would have to reduce the payments to no more than 31 percent of a borrower's income, which would typically be their unemployment insurance, for up to six months. In some cases, administration officials said, a lender could allow a borrower to make no payments at all.

Interesting. I'm guessing the hoops through which people needed to jump for the "no payments" bit would be a lot, though.

[Joojoobees]

Incredibly these stories just don't stop.
More death threats against US politicians
From the Phoenix Business Journal:

“Congressman Mitchell’s life was threatened both prior to and following the vote,” said press secretary Adam Bozzi.

Bozzi said Mitchell also received calls at his Tempe home and someone left a note about health care with coal and dog feces at his congressional office in suburban Phoenix.

One caller said she was so filled with rage that the Congressman should ‘watch his back’ and called for a bomber to blow up his Scottsdale office, Bozzi said. "His wife has been harassed at their Tempe home, and his son – a Tempe city councilman – also received menacing calls, as well," Bozzi said.

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by Joojoobees

Incredibly these stories just don't stop.
More death threats against US politicians
From the Phoenix Business Journal:

While I guess this proves that Americans are not apathetic toward politics, I could wish people would show that they care in... better ways. The debates over Medicare and Social Security costs that will surely come in the [near] future are looking to be even more polarizing and emotionally charged as well.

[Joojoobees]

Originally Posted by LynnieS

While I guess this proves that Americans are not apathetic toward politics, I could wish people would show that they care in... better ways.

I agree. I have often thought that, when people don't learn throughout their lives how to work within a democratic political process, they are not well suited to practicing it at the national level. Most people have absolutely no involvement in their local politics. Most jobs don't allow for anything but top-down control. As a result it probably should be no surprise that people are ill-equipped for participating in national politics.

Maybe if people were regularly involved in politics at a small scale, they would realize that you can get things accomplished by working with other people instead of going Batman on people, and cutting fuel lines, etc. We don't need more vigilante crap.

[SaintessHeart]

I love it when societies blame the elements of technology rather than themselves.

Facebook 'linked to rise in syphilis'

So, when will the Straits Times Mind Your Body page be publishing this?

[OMOCHIKAERI!]

Originally Posted by Yu Ominae

Georgia's gonna disband the air force in the wake of disbanding its navy and making it the coast guard instead.

ქართული არმია "დიდი ავიაციის" გარეშე რჩება (In Georgian) - Report says their Sukhois will be sold, possibly overseas.

Air Forces to Become Part of Land Forces

It seems like a stupid suicide move, but I guess their armed forces did a fat lot of good in 2008 anyway.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by OMOCHIKAERI!

It seems like a stupid suicide move, but I guess their armed forces did a fat lot of good in 2008 anyway.

Given how tiny and insignificant their country is, merging their armed forces (and getting rid of their useless navy since their only coastline is a lake) might make response times slightly faster.

[AnimeFan188]

"A South Korean navy ship with about 100 personnel on board is sinking
off the west coast near North Korea, possibly due to a torpedo attack,
reports say."

"It also said the South Korean ship had fired shots toward an unidentified
ship in the North. The involvement of North Korea has not been
confirmed."

See:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8589507.stm

[Yu Ominae]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Given how tiny and insignificant their country is, merging their armed forces (and getting rid of their useless navy since their only coastline is a lake) might make response times slightly faster.

Their only branches will only the be the Army and the National Guard. The remaining air force assets that can be used will be integrated into the army. Probably the Hinds will be there too. Same goes with the C-130s.

[mg1942]

Uma Thurman's new movie breaks UK box office records!!!

[bladeofdarkness]

Originally Posted by mg1942

Uma Thurman's new movie breaks UK box office records!!!

i'm not quite sure thats what they mean by saying that it "bombed"

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by bladeofdarkness

i'm not quite sure thats what they mean by saying that it "bombed"

I think it was more of a sarcastic comment on mg1942's part I can actually see how this wouldn't really sell in the UK though, or in the rest of Europe for that matter.

[Yu Ominae]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Given how tiny and insignificant their country is, merging their armed forces (and getting rid of their useless navy since their only coastline is a lake) might make response times slightly faster.

Forgot to mention...

One of the few countries left with a navy next to the "lake" is Azerbaijan. (Not sure on other countries nearby...)

Its navy is modest though. They have a commando unit too.

[TinyRedLeaf]

China's Geely to buy Volvo for US$1.8B

Stockholm (March 28): Zhejiang Geely Holding Group signed a binding deal today to buy Ford Motor Company's Volvo Cars unit for US$1.8 billion, representing a coup for the independent Chinese carmaker which is aiming to expand in Europe.

The purchase gives Geely a European luxury car brand with a reputation for safety and quality at a time when China, which last year surpassed the United States as the world's largest car market, is eager to improve its competitiveness by acquiring foreign automotive brands that might help it improve its technology and expand into overseas markets.

The price, which includes a US$200 million note with the remainder to be paid out in cash, is far less than the $6.45 billion Ford paid for the Swedish carmaker in 1999. The US carmaker has been trying to sell Volvo since late 2008 to focus its resources on managing its core Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands.

In a statement, Geely said it has secured all the financing necessary to complete the deal, as well as "significant working capital facilities to fund Volvo Cars' ongoing business". The sale is expected to be completed in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals. The deal also covers further agreements on intellectual-property rights, supply, and research-and-development arrangements between Volvo Cars, Geely and Ford.

Geely said it aims to keep Volvo's existing manufacturing facilities in Sweden and Belgium, but that it also will explore manufacturing opportunities in China. Volvo Cars will remain separate from Geely's other operations, with its own Sweden-based management team and a new board of directors, the company said.

Volvo, whose first car left its Swedish factory in 1927, employs nearly 20,000 workers, most of them based in Sweden. Volvo Cars chief executive Stephen Odell said today that Volvo managers fully endorse the sale to Geely.

Volvo dealers in the US said today that Geely's assurance that the cars will still be made in Sweden has allayed customers' concerns about quality control. Chinese carmakers seeking to expand into US markets have faced quality questions from consumers concerned about defects and problems with a number of Chinese exports ranging from drugs and foods to furniture and appliances.

- AP

Geely's road to success

The Geely Group began as a refridgerator parts supplier, but in just two decades has grown into one of China's largest private carmakers.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group — based in Hangzhou, in China's eastern province of Zhejiang — launched its car manufacturing business only in 1997. Chairman Li Shufu, who founded the company in 1986, is an engineer by training. He ranked 123rd in last year's Hurun Rich List of China's wealthiest people.

Today, Geely is a fully integrated independent company with total assets of more than 14 billion yuan (US$2 billion). It has a workforce of 12,000 people.

- THE STRAITS TIMES

[Wargumm1i]

Hero of the Day

'Man with the golden arm' saves 2million babies in half a century of donating rare type of blood:

James Harrison, 74, has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia.

It was found his plasma could treat the condition and since then it has been given to hundreds of thousands of women.

Mr Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations.

It is estimated he has helped save 2.2 million babies so far.

He said: 'I've never thought about stopping. Never.' He made a pledge to be a donor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 litres of blood.


Read it Here

[ClockWorkAngel]

Originally Posted by Wargumm1i

Hero of the Day

'Man with the golden arm' saves 2million babies in half a century of donating rare type of blood:

James Harrison, 74, has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia.

It was found his plasma could treat the condition and since then it has been given to hundreds of thousands of women.

Mr Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations.

It is estimated he has helped save 2.2 million babies so far.

He said: 'I've never thought about stopping. Never.' He made a pledge to be a donor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 litres of blood.


Read it Here

That's actually really inspirational, it's amazing how much one man can do.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

China's Geely to buy Volvo for US$1.8B

You cut that from today's paper's money section did you? Then again, what most of the consumers are afraid of is the reduction in quality when a Chinese brand takes over. So long as it is still manufactured in Sweden, that won't be a problem : unless the management tries to cut cost to maintain their pocket linings.

EDIT :

Ok you did.

[Woopzilla]

Moscow Metro hit by deadly suicide bombings

At least 37 people have been killed after two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow Metro trains in the morning rush hour, officials say.

Twenty-four died in the first blast at 0756 (0356 GMT) as a train stood at the central Lubyanka station, beneath the offices of the FSB intelligence agency.

About 40 minutes later, a second explosion ripped through a train at Park Kultury, leaving another 13 dead.

The FSB said it was likely a group from the North Caucasus was responsible.

Just heard about this... really horrible. Live updates can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8592380.stm