The United Nations says that it is being forced to suspend its humanitarian work in Gaza because of the Israeli fuel blockade. A UN official says food aid to 650,000 refugees and the collection of sewage will have to stop on Thursday if Israel does not allow in more vehicle fuel. The UN Security Council met to discuss the crisis, but Western representatives walked out over comments from Libya. They objected to the Libyan delegate likening Gaza to a Nazi death camp. Among the diplomats to the leave the UN chamber in New York were representatives of the United States, Britain, France and Belgium.
The United Nations says that it is being forced to suspend its humanitarian work in Gaza because of the Israeli fuel blockade.
A UN official says food aid to 650,000 refugees and the collection of sewage will have to stop on Thursday if Israel does not allow in more vehicle fuel.
The UN Security Council met to discuss the crisis, but Western representatives walked out over comments from Libya.
They objected to the Libyan delegate likening Gaza to a Nazi death camp.
Among the diplomats to the leave the UN chamber in New York were representatives of the United States, Britain, France and Belgium.
Llewellyn Werner, a California investor, admits he is facing obstacles most amusement park developers never have to deal with. Such as insurgent attacks and looting. But when the amusement park you're building lies in downtown Baghdad, those risks come with the territory. Mr Werner, chairman of C3, a Los Angeles-based holding company for private equity firms, is pouring millions of dollars into developing The Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience, a massive American-style amusement park that will feature a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum. It is being designed by the same firm that developed Disneyland. "The people of Iraq need this kind of positive influence. It's going to have a huge psychological impact," Mr Werner said.
Llewellyn Werner, a California investor, admits he is facing obstacles most amusement park developers never have to deal with. Such as insurgent attacks and looting.
But when the amusement park you're building lies in downtown Baghdad, those risks come with the territory.
Mr Werner, chairman of C3, a Los Angeles-based holding company for private equity firms, is pouring millions of dollars into developing The Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience, a massive American-style amusement park that will feature a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum. It is being designed by the same firm that developed Disneyland.
"The people of Iraq need this kind of positive influence. It's going to have a huge psychological impact," Mr Werner said.
I'll never be a lateral thinker. keep to the Fen Causeway
You need only to read, in a previous finding, that Japan's transport system is 30 per cent less efficient than that of the US to smell a rat. Common sense tells you that passenger transport is vastly superior in Japan, where tens of millions of people are moved daily at reasonable cost. The Shinkansen bullet train, for example, with 300 daily services between Tokyo and Osaka, makes the 552km journey in 2½ hours with an average delay measured in seconds. Japan's health service is also regularly portrayed as inefficient. Patients languish in hospital beds far longer than they would in the US. Yet, according to government statistics, Japan spends 7.9 per cent of gross domestic product on healthcare against 15.2 per cent in the US. Life expectancy in Japan, admittedly a crude measure of healthcare quality, is 79 for men and 86 for women, respectively four and six years higher than in the US. <...> The basic measure of retail-sector productivity is how much of a product an employee can shift in an hour. On this measure, Germany does well. That turns out to be because of restricted opening hours, which oblige customers to make hefty purchases in one go. Japan does badly. Cavernous US superstores do better than cramped noodle or tofu shops. Japan also has a dense network of convenience stores on almost every city block, open 24 hours , allowing people to shop whenever they want. This makes them inefficient, since purchases are less concentrated. No allowance is made, either, for the fact that Japanese shops tend to be within walking or, at most, cycling distance. Figures do not capture the inconvenience of having to travel, or the externalities associated with long shopping expeditions: traffic accidents, pollution, road maintenance.
Japan's health service is also regularly portrayed as inefficient. Patients languish in hospital beds far longer than they would in the US. Yet, according to government statistics, Japan spends 7.9 per cent of gross domestic product on healthcare against 15.2 per cent in the US. Life expectancy in Japan, admittedly a crude measure of healthcare quality, is 79 for men and 86 for women, respectively four and six years higher than in the US. <...>
The basic measure of retail-sector productivity is how much of a product an employee can shift in an hour. On this measure, Germany does well. That turns out to be because of restricted opening hours, which oblige customers to make hefty purchases in one go. Japan does badly. Cavernous US superstores do better than cramped noodle or tofu shops. Japan also has a dense network of convenience stores on almost every city block, open 24 hours , allowing people to shop whenever they want. This makes them inefficient, since purchases are less concentrated.
No allowance is made, either, for the fact that Japanese shops tend to be within walking or, at most, cycling distance. Figures do not capture the inconvenience of having to travel, or the externalities associated with long shopping expeditions: traffic accidents, pollution, road maintenance.
In short, Japanese service may be "inefficient", but it more than makes up for this "efficiency deficit" in quality. Anyone who has visited Japan knows this. Studies urging increased efficiency at the expense of quality, convenience, consistency, etc. are according to idiotic "productivity" measures are ridiculous. A language is a dialect with an army and navy.
Trying to figure out who won the Iraq war is a challenging parlour game. Nearly every faction, group and nation has lost. The only evident victors are Iran, the Kurds and a handful of giant American corporations. Many voters in the US were horrified when senator John McCain suggested that the occupation of Iraq might last for another century. Latin Americans, however, could be forgiven for liking the idea. The last five years have shown them that the more fully the US sinks into its Middle East quagmire, the more freedom they will have to chart their own futures.
Trying to figure out who won the Iraq war is a challenging parlour game.
Nearly every faction, group and nation has lost. The only evident victors are Iran, the Kurds and a handful of giant American corporations.
Many voters in the US were horrified when senator John McCain suggested that the occupation of Iraq might last for another century. Latin Americans, however, could be forgiven for liking the idea. The last five years have shown them that the more fully the US sinks into its Middle East quagmire, the more freedom they will have to chart their own futures.
Dean Kamen, creator of the Segway and robotic arms, has invented an eco-friendly water regenerator that can take nearly any source of moisture -- including ocean water, urine or sewage--and quickly turn it into safe drinking water. The device, called the Slingshot, can help save the environment in a cost-effective way, Kamen claims. <...> Kamen's generator is based on one of the most efficient Stirling engines that produces enough electricity to power 70 light bulbs or one high-end gaming PC. <...> Iqbal Quadir, the founder of Grameen Phone, the largest cell phone company in Bangladesh, is collaborating with Kamen to provide this regenerator in his country in a field trial.
Kamen's generator is based on one of the most efficient Stirling engines that produces enough electricity to power 70 light bulbs or one high-end gaming PC. <...>
Iqbal Quadir, the founder of Grameen Phone, the largest cell phone company in Bangladesh, is collaborating with Kamen to provide this regenerator in his country in a field trial.
Apparently the Slingshot has been around since 2006, but I had never heard of it. A language is a dialect with an army and navy.
A language is a dialect with an army and navy.
