News Stories

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

Originally Posted by monster

Again, why would anyone want to build a tower?

Same reason china builds those big ghost cities, or abu dhabi builds all the thing it does.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Mr Hat and Clogs

Same reason china builds those big ghost cities, or abu dhabi builds all the thing it does.

What's the reason?

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

To try and stimulate the economy, get funds and resources moving around, attempt to promote growth to prevent stagnation. Whether it works or not depends how well its done and what is done.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Mr Hat and Clogs

To try and stimulate the economy, get funds and resources moving around, attempt to promote growth to prevent stagnation. Whether it works or not depends how well its done and what is done.

So how does that apply to the conflict between Israel and Palestine?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Brilliant. So, where do we put the millions of refugees? And if you think terrorism is a problem now...

That is a Mideastern problem. The bordering countries refused to grant any of the "refugees" equal rights and citizenship, so far, only Israel has assimilated the Arabs into their society.

So much for Muslim brotherhood. Hypocrites.

Originally Posted by monster

So how does that apply to the conflict between Israel and Palestine?

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

All parties have to participate in building the tower, be it through the slave labour recruitment way of Qatari real estate or high-tech construction techniques Israel employs. That gives common ground.

[monster]

I don't see how building a tower would give a common ground.

In fact, that seems backward as they would need to have something in common first, especially with respect to the tower, in order to build something like that together.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by monster

I don't see how building a tower would give a common ground.

In fact, that seems backward as they would need to have something in common first, especially with respect to the tower, in order to build something like that together.

It is the tower of Babel. I don't see how uncommon that would be.

[monster]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

It is the tower of Babel. I don't see how uncommon that would be.

As far as I know, the tower of Babel doesn't have a positive connotation for the Jews, and I don't even know if it existed for the Muslims. So I don't see why the Israelis and the Palestinians would consider it a common ground, even to the point of getting together, forgetting their conflict, and attempting to build another tower like it.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

That is a Mideastern problem.

We nuke the place, and I'm pretty sure it'll be everyone's problem, too. Except maybe for people living in remote, inhospitable areas.

Originally Posted by monster

As far as I know, the tower of Babel doesn't have a positive connotation for the Jews, and I don't even know if it existed for the Muslims. So I don't see why the Israelis and the Palestinians would consider it a common ground, even to the point of getting together, forgetting their conflict, and attempting to build another tower like it.

So they'll all agree a tower would be a stupid waste of time and resources. It'd be common ground.

[ganbaru]

Honestly, making a large and deep hole would be a better idea than making a tower.

[Ithekro]

Six Californias' Breakup Plan goes on the Ballot in 2016.

A measure that will let Californians vote on abolishing California appears to be headed for 2016 ballots. Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper says he has gathered enough signatures for his "Six Californias" plan to go ahead and he plans to file them with state authorities today, reports Reuters. His plan would split America's most populous state into Silicon Valley around the San Francisco Bay area; Central California, including cities like Bakersfield; West California, which would include LA; South California, including San Diego; North California, encompassing the Sacramento area; and the state of Jefferson in the northernmost part of the current state. "California needs a reboot," his campaign said in a press release. "Six Californias is our opportunity to solve the many problems we face today ... Six states that are more representative and accountable."

Draper has poured $4.9 million of his own money into the campaign to split up the state, but few believe it has any chance of succeeding at the ballot box, or winning congressional approval even if Californians do decide to break up the state, the Contra Costa Times reports. "This is a colossal and divisive waste of time, energy, and money that will hurt the California brand, our ability to attract business and jobs and move our state forward together," says a spokesman for the OneCalifornia team created to oppose Draper's plan. According to nonpartisan state analysts, if the state is split into six, Silicon Valley will be America's richest state and Central California will be its poorest.

Well...I might just vote for it just because I want to see what happens. I'll be in the richest state in the Union after the split.

[RRW]

Free-to-play games are all the rage in China, but Chinese gamers often shell out a small fortune for in-game items in their favorite games, like weapons and armor. But a young couple in China took things way too far when they sold their two sons to child traffickers and used the proceeds to buy stuff in online games.

The parents in question are A Hui and A Mei (not their full names), a young, unwed couple from China’s post-90s generation. In a television interview on Guangdong TV conducted from a local detention center, they revealed that their first child was not planned, and A Mei said that A Hui had no intention of supporting the child financially. Instead, to avoid the financial burden, they sold him to Fujian-based child traffickers.

http://www.gamesinasia.com/chinese-c...in-game-items/

[Dhomochevsky]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Six Californias' Breakup Plan goes on the Ballot in 2016.



Well...I might just vote for it just because I want to see what happens. I'll be in the richest state in the Union after the split.

Don't you have to update your flag every time you do that kind of thing?
Think of the cost of replacing all those old flags.

[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by RRW

http://www.gamesinasia.com/chinese-c...in-game-items/

Jesus wept. Talk about a couple of buffoons who want to have their "human status" revoked, those two are the worst.

[GuZidi]

http://www.defensenews.com/apps/pbcs...=2014307130021

Michelson said the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics organize the UAV Grand Prix. It was in 2011 that the event demonstrated a “stopped-rotor” vehicle by Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China.

Earlier efforts to create such a vehicle in the US failed. During the 1980s, both the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and NASA funded the Sikorsky X-Wing project, which involved a rigid helicopter rotor that could be stopped in flight to act as a wing, Michelson said.

After significant expenditure, and never having demonstrated conversion from hover to forward flight and back, the X-wing project was canceled.

The next one to take up the challenge was Boeing Phantom Works and DARPA in 2003 under a joint program.

“Boeing attempted to demonstrate stopped-rotor technology with its canard rotor/wing X-50A Dragonfly UAV,” he said. After several years of testing, both demonstrators had crashed.

However, in 2011, Michelson saw the impossible in China. The Northwestern Polytechnical University stopped-rotor UAV “performed flawlessly, transitioning from hover to high-speed forward flight and back again on several occasions.”

[Ithekro]

Originally Posted by Dhomochevsky

Don't you have to update your flag every time you do that kind of thing?
Think of the cost of replacing all those old flags.

We've had a 50 star flag since 1959. The longest period of time the United States has gone without adding new states. The previous longest held flag was the 48 star flag from 1912 to 1958.

[MrTerrorist]

Why Net Neutrality Matters (And What You Can Do To Help)

NSFW

Warning: Not safe to view at work or school!

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[AnimeFan188]

Dungeons and Dragons launches new starter set:

"40 years after it broke onto the scene, Dungeons and Dragons is getting a brand new start.

Wizards of the Coast, which owns the rights to the iconic role-playing game, has started rolling out the fifth
edition of the series, launching a new D&D Starter Set.

The set, which sells for $20, offers a general setup of the game for newcomers, with an essential rules book,
five pre-generated characters, and six dice. The game will only let you rise to Level 5, hoping that you'll
become hooked and buy additional, more advanced, sets from there.

This is the first major update of D&D in six years. The rulebook in the starter set is a manageable 32 pages
long, which doesn't really cover all of the changes in this fifth edition (those can be downloaded for free), but
gives newcomers a taste - and doesn't overwhelm them immediately."

See:

https://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugge...184355651.html

[MrTerrorist]

Australia votes to repeal carbon tax

And PM Tony Abbott strikes again.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Australia votes to repeal carbon tax

And PM Tony Abbott strikes again.

Let's mow down the Greens. With machine gun fire.


CEO probe puts China firm at risk of landmark bond default

(Reuters) - A little-known construction firm is at risk of becoming the first borrower to default in China's largest bond market, highlighting how Beijing's anti-corruption drive could aggravate financial pressure on the struggling real estate sector.

Huatong Road & Bridge Group Co Ltd said on Wednesday it was uncertain whether it would be able to pay interest or principal on an 400 million yuan ($64.48 million) one-year bond set to mature on July 23, which it blamed on an ongoing official investigation into its chief executive.

That would be the first time China's interbank bond market - the primary platform for China's institutional fixed income investors, hosting 94 percent of the country's bond issues - has seen a public default, and the first time a Chinese company has openly defaulted on both interest and principal for a bond.

Huatong's chief executive Wang Guorui was publicly dismissed from Shanxi province's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a political advisory body, on July 10 on suspicion he had broken the law, according to a statement on the provincial government's website.

The provincial government did not give further details. Huatong's statement to the official Shanghai Clearing House had been similarly short on details, stating only that Wang was "assisting an official investigation".

The company declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

In China, the detention of a chief executive, who typically monopolizes much decision-making power, can effectively paralyze a company if the investigation prevents the executive from using his "chop" to sign off on payments.

Worse, lenders and suppliers are also inclined to minimize exposure to companies suffering legal problems, which can cause short-term credit to dry up, said Ivan Chung, senior vice president for Greater China Credit at Moody's in Hong Kong.

"Typically when the CEO has trouble, banks will stop issuing short-term credit lines. The company will also no longer be able to get credit from suppliers."

HOOKED ON SHORT-TERM CREDIT

Unfortunately, Huatong and similar firms in construction and real estate have grown increasingly dependent on short-term credit to stay afloat, as China's housing market continues to soften and revenues from new projects have stagnated.

Huatong's most recent financial statement, posted on the Shanghai Clearing House website, shows the firm had nearly 8 billion yuan in liquid assets on hand at the end of the first quarter, but nearly half of that was from accounts receivable and other yet-to-be received sources of funds presumed to be imminent.

Analysts doubted how soon Huatong would actually see that money, given that many of those invoices were for projects built on behalf of local governments that are now postponing payments as their own balance sheets come under pressure.

"Private companies are increasingly facing political risk," said one market insider who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It's quite freakish."

The Huatong bond, for example, had a tenor of only one year, with a coupon rate of 7.3 percent.

Official data in June showed that lending and off-balance sheet products surged in June, but the surge was driven by increases in short-term loans and shadow banking products, after medium- and long-term loans declined in May.

"The pick-up was led primarily by short-term loans and bills, raising concerns about the use of the funds, the potential to support growth and the extent of the recovery," wrote Jian Chang and Serena Zhou of Barclays in a research note published on Wednesday.

Many Chinese companies have been backing off from bond issuance plans ever since Beijing allowed the country's first public bond default to occur in March, when a near-bankrupt private solar power company failed to make payments on interest due on a bond trading on the Shenzhen exchange, a smaller venue serving retail investors.

A Reuters analysis of company filings on the China Foreign Exchange Trade System website showed that more than 30 companies filed to cancel their bond issuance plans in the second quarter.

At the same time bond yields on differently rated instruments have diverged as investors have grown more conscious of risk, in particular from privately held companies not considered to be operating under an implicit government bailout guarantee.

However, bond market traders and analysts did not perceive the Huatong default, if it occurs, as surprising or posing a wider risk to market sentiment in general.

"We do not expect the incident to have significant impact on the overall bond market," wrote analysts from Guoxin Securities in a research note.

"On the one hand, the key reason for the default is political ... on the other hand, this company is private, and so its risk-based pricing has always been higher than state-owned companies."($1 = 6.2032 Chinese Yuan)