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Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 09:52:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

All arrested in the US. This is Germany.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 04:13:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Report: US issues [INTERNATIONAL] arrest warrants for former VW executives JUNE 2017
"Germany has reportedly refused to hand them over to the US."

instead German prosecutors "open" criminal investigation of VW employees, beginning with Winterkorn (2015), because USD 13BN+ summary judgment levied on VW. Money talks, yo.

(As it happens, my opinion of US prosecuting emission "scandal" since the story broke at courthousenews.com with EPA quoted admission that NOx, inter alia is not a health hazard to car owners, is: this action is a truly an unprecedented travesty of justice in states', USC ("lemon laws") and Constitutional case law (V takings clause, VIII excessive punishment), notwithstanding the preposterous creeping reach of US jurisdiction and its ambiguous applicability to "persons," domestic or foreign.)

I warned you all: "I had expected ET readers to be most interested in juridical reach of USC in regulating business of foreign "persons" beyond the USA border, IF NOT the test of "standing" by plaintiffs contesting an event which has not occured. My bad. "

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 06:50:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

We are all aware of the "extra-territorial" reach of the US, and its use of trade "agreements" and heavy handed judicial system to bludgeon foreign companies into compliance. Among other things, it allowed General Electric to acquire the power and grid divisions of Alstom in 2014-2015, and the subsequent layoff of 6500 employees throughout Europe.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 03:46:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Brexit: European Parliament to propose Northern Ireland stays in single market | The Independent

How has this knowledge informed ET commentaries on EU and EU member-state competition in "global" trade and "democratization" lately?

< pick teeth, suck vigorously >

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 04:16:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

yanno, (none / 0)

That $13B tax judgment against Apple (no arrests, there) was some kind of big move by the EC since the TTIP story went underground. I think, ET contributors recognized that. There's a diary somewhere.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 04:26:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 1)

The European Parliament is to call for Northern Ireland to stay in the single market and customs union in order to protect the integrity of the EU's borders.
MEPs have concluded it is the best solution to the problem of ensuring there is no border in Ireland. The move has the support of all major political groups.
It would mean continued free movement on the island of Ireland, with customs checks instead taking place at ports on the Irish sea for visitors travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

My favourite bit:

A British Government spokesperson said: [...]
"We and the EU have committed to protecting the Belfast Agreement and the Common Travel Area and agree that we will not accept any physical infrastructure at the border.
"We recognise that the solutions to the unique circumstances in Northern Ireland must respect the integrity of the EU single market and customs union. But they must also respect the integrity of the United Kingdom."

Like it was possible to have both ...

luis_de_sousa@mastodon.social

by Luis de Sousa (luis[dot]de[dot]sousa[at]protonmail[dot]ch) on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 07:22:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Christian terrorism (none / 0)

BBC

Passengers forced open the doors on a busy rush-hour train and climbed on to tracks after becoming "panicked" in the carriage.
It happened outside Wimbledon station in south-west London at 08:30 BST as a man apparently began reading lines aloud from the Bible.
Commuters became scared when the man also began saying "death is not the end", a passenger said.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 08:01:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Christian terrorism (none / 0)

Some more details from The Guardian

Ian O'Sullivan, 42, who was in the same carriage as the passenger, said a man with a rucksack began reading what appeared to be extracts from the Old Testament, when the train stopped at a red light outside the south-west London rail station.
"He was quite well spoken and calm," he said. "He said: `Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to talk to you about something and that something is the word of the Lord, Jesus Christ. [The Old Testament???] He's here to heal your sins. The Bible tells you that homosexuality is a sin and sex before marriage is a sin. You need to repent'."

That's it? From the reaction I would have at least expected something like Matthew 10:34 or Psalms 137:9.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 04:21:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Christian terrorism (4.00 / 2)

frankly I think theirs' was the appropriate response to a public display of loud religious observance. These people are dangerous and deluded, they claim to have an imaginary friend who will protect them alone from death. Crikey anybody would be scared being near insane people like that, they reject reason, logic and proof and most of them seem to spend just bit too much time imagining their own death.

There is NO difference in sanity between a muslim fanatic and a christian one, except the muslim one has got a bad press. But they're all dangerous lunatics.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 05:10:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Christian terrorism (none / 0)

they reject reason, logic and proof

Sounds like the Tories. Why aren't you all escaping the island?

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Wed Oct 4th, 2017 at 05:54:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Christian terrorism (none / 0)

Trying to...

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Oct 4th, 2017 at 07:44:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

Juncker warns May not to `go over Michel Barnier's head'

European Parliament, which will have a final veto on any deal for Britain's departure from the bloc in March 2019, passed a resolution calling on EU leaders to postpone the decision [to start discussing the future relationship including a trade deal]. ...The MEPs' resolution, backed by all the major political groups, is harsh on Britain's refusal so far to settle the Brexit bill, saying that the "absence of any clear proposals has seriously impeded the negotiations".

Today's vote in #EPlenary on #brexit negotiations isn't binding but shows political temperature of EP which needs to approve final deal. pic.twitter.com/TpYkDkjgeW
— Polly Polak (@PolakPolly) October 3, 2017

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 03:41:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

EP/plenary/en/texts-adopted (none / 0)

Brexit: tangible progress still needed on withdrawal terms

The government leaders of the EU 27 member states should postpone their assessment of Brexit on 20 October as "sufficient progress" has not been made on three key aims unless the fifth round of talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU delivers a major breakthrough, says a resolution passed by 557 votes to 92, with 29 abstentions, on Tuesday.

Speech by President Juncker at the Plenary Session of the European Parliament on the state of play of negotiations with the United Kingdom

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 04:03:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: EP/plenary/en/texts-adopted (none / 0)

At this rate, it seems to me, a consensus for "lock-in" policy to deter future secession ambitions has formed.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 04:08:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Economy & Finance (none / 0)

ECONOMY & FINANCE

by Bjinse on Mon Sep 25th, 2017 at 08:59:30 PM EST

Auditor recommends giving committed EU funds to UK after Brexit
2015-2020 FY EUR 288B budget gap, implying UK advantage securing "transition period" (3 yr trade extension) from EU in exchange for its promise to pay anything into the budget.

iirc, next Group 27 in two weeks.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 01:15:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Norwegian Shipper Pleads Guilty to Price-Fixing

re: political economy, antitrust enforcement, US jurisdiction, foreign persons

A Norwegian shipping company agreed to pay $21 million in criminal fines after admitting to a role in an international conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate customers.
[...]
Hoegh Autoliners is the fifth corporation to plead guilty in the ongoing antitrust case, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which said over $255 million [TOTAL] in fines have been levied so far.
Hoegh pleaded guilty in Maryland Federal Court to a charge of conspiring with competitors {in order] to reduce and eliminate other competition by allocating routes and customers, fixing prices for the sale of international ocean cargo shipments, and rigging bids for shipments.[THE CRIME: RESTRAINT OF TRADE] The price-fixing conspiracy took place between 2001 and 2012 [11 YEARS, SATISFYING RICO] and involved cargo being moved to and from the United States, including the Port of Baltimore, prosecutors said.
[...]
Along with the $21 million penalty, Hoegh also agreed to three years of corporation probation, full compliance with antitrust laws, and cooperation in the investigation.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 08:20:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

RBS, Nomura Can't Shake $806M Mortgage-Fraud Judgment

re: political economy, antitrust, US jurisdiction

"This case demonstrates the persistent power of the Securities Act's full‐disclosure requirement in the context of the Great Recession," the 147-page opinion states
[...]
"The offering documents did not correctly describe the mortgage loans," [U.S. District Judge Denise] Cote wrote in May 2015. "The magnitude of falsity, conservatively measured, is enormous."
Cote later awarded Federal Housing Finance Agency more than $806 million [TOTAL], an amount that included $555 million for violations of Blue Sky laws and $250 million for violations of the Securities Act of 1933.
[...]
"The only case of 18 filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in 2011 to go to trial, the circuit court's ruling validated the arguments made by FHFA before the District Court in motions and in the four week trial," [FHFA general counsel Alfred] Pollard said in a statement.

RBS and Nomura were US primary dealers and custodians of Maiden Lane assets.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 08:33:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

disambiguation (none / 0)

Blue Sky laws

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 08:36:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

UK current account deficit considerably revised up to 5.9% of GDP in 2016 | The Independent

The UK is in for one of the worst economic periods in its post-war history. Much in line with what I wrote earlier.

There were hopes that the plunge in sterling in the wake of the 2016 Brexit vote would rein in the UK's current account deficit, by boosting exports and automatically reducing the value of overseas interest and dividend payments, but these hopes have yet to be realised.
[The] current account deficit hasn't narrowed much, despite sterling's huge depreciation," said Samuel Tombs of Pantheon.
He added that sterling was "vulnerable to depreciate again if overseas investors lose confidence in the UK's economic outlook".
[...] The estimate of 0.3 per cent of UK GDP growth for the second quarter of 2017 7 was unchanged at 0.3 per cent - the lowest in the G7 - meaning that the broad picture of a post-Brexit vote slowdown remains.

luis_de_sousa@mastodon.social

by Luis de Sousa (luis[dot]de[dot]sousa[at]protonmail[dot]ch) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 07:25:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Trump (none / 0)

TRUMP

by Bjinse on Mon Sep 25th, 2017 at 08:59:33 PM EST

Re: Trump (none / 0)

The Independent | Trump-Russia investigators close in on sources named in explosive dossier

[...] The leaks also revealed emails from Mr Sater to Mr Cohen. One said excitedly: "Can you believe two guys from Brooklyn are going to elect a President." Another said: "Our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it ... I will get Putin on this programme and we will get Trump elected."
Andrew Weissmann, the federal prosecutor who "turned" Mr Sater during the fraud investigation, is now on Mr Mueller's team. Mr Sater is helping federal authorities in a Kazakh money laundering scheme in which some of the money was supposedly laundered through a Trump property. The claims of Mr Trump being the Muscovian Candidate for the US Presidency, raised by Mr Steele, continue to grow and reverberate.

luis_de_sousa@mastodon.social

by Luis de Sousa (luis[dot]de[dot]sousa[at]protonmail[dot]ch) on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 12:16:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump (none / 0)

Dear Leader,

Lawmakers in Congress [LEGISLATORS, ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES] since Monday have been pushing [YOU] for [A TEMPORARY EXECUTIVE ORDER] a one-year waiver from the rules [JONES ACT OF 1920, MARITIME TRADE RESTRAINT*] in order to help speed up deliveries of food, fuel and other critical supplies to Puerto Rico, which has been battered by two hurricanes in the last month.

lAwmAKERS ARe BUsy UNTIL 30 September. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

*not to be confused with the Jones-Shafroth of 1917 and the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 still in effect.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 11:31:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

PS (none / 0)

Where are de planes, THE PLANES, boss?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 11:36:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Vultures move in (none / 0)

Common Dreams

And while the federal government, under Trump, refuses to commit federal funds to rebuild Puerto Rico's decimated infrastructure, some profit-motivated creditors are trying to benefit from the bankrupt island's dire situation, as David Dayen reported for The Intercept this week.
"A group of bondholders, who own a portion of Puerto Rico's massive $72 billion debt, has proposed what they are calling relief--but in the form of a loan," Dayen reported. On Wednesday, the PREPA (Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority) Bondholder Group offered the island $1 billion in new loans and to replace $1 billion in existing bonds with a new $850 million bond.
The bonds would have had top priority for repayment, "and between that increased value and interest payments after the first two years, the bondholders would have likely come out ahead on the deal, despite a nominal $150 million in debt relief," Dayen explained.
Officials with Puerto Rico's Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority said as much when they determined that the offer was "not viable" and would harm recovery efforts. In addition to rejecting the offer, Dayen reported, officials "suggested that profit motive rather than altruism was the bondholder group's real goal."

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 06:44:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"the form of a loan" (none / 0)

thassa NEW! way of schpelling UKRAINE ETA (USD 18B at last glance). US gov't under Trump sucking the ~~colony~~ territory dry? Not so much. In fact, not at all; indifference of the US Congress to its pets is not new.

And how about those virgin islands, eh.

Say, did you know, a US citizen recently sued the US for the right to vote with an absentee ballot from GUAM? yes, indeedy.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 at 01:00:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump (none / 0)

Trump's Health Secretary Resigns Amid Private-Jet Scandal

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Sep 30th, 2017 at 02:06:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Paying the price (none / 1)

Same pattern as the others; once he publicly stated he "still got the confidence of the President," earlier this week, you knew he was toast.

We might as well open a pool as to who's next: Pruitt? Zinke?

by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Sep 30th, 2017 at 08:39:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Paying the price (none / 0)

Krugman has placed his bet.

One cabinet official down. Who will be Mnext? We'll have to Zinke about it. (Sorry, couldn't help myself)
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) September 29, 2017

by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Sep 30th, 2017 at 06:45:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Paying the price (4.00 / 2)

Well, it is not going to be a general. The military appears to be increasing their numbers around Trump rather then decreasing.

by fjallstrom on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 02:35:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump (none / 0)

Burma or Myanmar? Catalonia or Catalunya? China, "Middle Kingdom", Zhōngguó, or 中国, 我国, 华,
国内 ?

'Stunning' gaffe: Appalled ambassador stops Boris Johnson reciting colonial poem in Burma's holiest site

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 04:08:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump (none / 0)

Johnston is a clown, but he is better inside the tent pissing out, rather than inside the tent pissing in. Although since his entire recent output seems to be devoted to upturning an entire bowl of lye on Theresa May, I can't say it's working well for her.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 04:45:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump (none / 0)

As a general principle this is well-known and accepted. But I'm not sure it works when he's pissing on all the heads of state whose support the British will need for all those great agreements of having cake and eating it (even if it's pissed on).

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 06:16:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump (none / 1)

yes, but it's a well known fact that everybody is so grateful to the ~~British~~ English Empire for just having existed, that no amount of offense will prevent them from falling over backwards to give us stuff.

Especially if the English send a large blond bear-like creature who, when the sun shines upon his hair, glows such that you might think he was a god and bow down and worship him. This is apparently considered a far more likely trade negotiating position than that of David Davis charming Michel Barnier into giving us anything.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 at 01:01:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump (none / 1)

Jersalem, Yerushalayim or Al-Quds? Belfast or Béal Feirste? Leghorn or Livorno? Edinburgh or Dùn Èideann? Innsbruck or Oenipons?

You should be glad that English (like pretty much every language) has names for foreign places that are different from those that the locals may use: This helps you avoid making a political decision every time you open your mouth. In most languages, this is accepted (even Erdogan hasn't complained of the female definite article the Germans put before his country).

The English, for some reason are much more sensative to requests from abroad (even places like Catalonia, which don't think they ever colonized), that other countries, but even they draw the line at Baile Átha Cliath and Mollywood.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 06:28:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump (none / 0)

walp, then, Ima start addressing you papí.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 at 01:04:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Trump does something for Puerto Rico (none / 0)

Guardian

The US president, Donald Trump, has dedicated a golf trophy to the hurricane victims of Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida, amid a worsening war of words between him and the mayor of Puerto Rico's capital San Juan, over the US response to the disasters.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 at 08:04:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump does something for Puerto Rico (none / 0)

People don't take this shit seriously until it affects them directly. I'm waiting for an earthquake to take out Golden Gate Bridge and Trumpy will blame US for living here. That might get California moving.

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 at 03:00:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump does something for Puerto Rico (none / 0)

Why do you think he will blame you? He'll just dedicate a golf trophy to you, that's all.

Since you brought it up: Why did you chose to live on an earthquake fault?

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 at 05:09:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump does something for Puerto Rico (none / 1)

I need an explanation. Please see:

I went onto the net looking for "stuff" on Puerto Rico's current situation ... didn't know what I would find. Found the one above, titled "Puerto Rico Governor Breaks His Silence Exposes Sick Liberal Lie(VIDEO)!!"

I thought "This will be fascinating." but the entire video shows ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

So my question: Do the people who make these things, who leave the comments ... are they deranged, living on another planet ... or does the maker hope you don't take the time to view the video and just read the headline?

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 at 09:52:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump does something for Puerto Rico (none / 0)

Why did you chose to live on an earthquake fault?

Time to be serious.

It's an entire continent away from the sperm donor (my "father"?) and the deranged woman who had children because "as long as a little piece of me is alive, I'll never really die". That's right, breeding in order to keep the fear of death at bay. Better than religion, I guess.
Winter weather. In upstate NY, from Oct through March, fucking snow on the ground; pretty much, trapped indoors. In CA, I rarely wear anything but shorts outdoors. BEAUTIFUL!
Financially? I probably could have done much better if I stayed in NY but ... you can quote me ... FUCK THAT! ... there's more to life than money.

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 at 10:04:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump does something for Puerto Rico (none / 1)

2. I knew a Canadian who wore shorts all year round - in NYC. But that's the difference between tough Canadians and Americans.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 06:52:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Trump does something for Puerto Rico (none / 0)

I know NYC is surrounded by a ton of water so that moderates the climate in winter but still ... shorts? Hearty bastard.

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 07:04:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

World (none / 0)

WORLD

by Bjinse on Mon Sep 25th, 2017 at 08:59:36 PM EST

Re: World (none / 0)

No Shame: The Science Behind Why Most Australians Feel Okay About Tormenting Asylum Seekers

he litany of cruelty is disturbingly familiar, recited to the point of morbid cliché: thousands of innocent men, women and children imprisoned indefinitely in `mental illness factories'; detention conditions so poor they move inmates to mass hunger strikes and starvation; widespread cultures of physical and sexual abuse and self-harm within detention centres; thousands of deaths at sea en route to Australia, and dozens of deaths in detention under our care.

Tony Abbott | Brainy Quotes
Aung San Suu Kyi | Brain Quotes

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Sep 26th, 2017 at 04:50:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World (none / 0)

No Shame: The Science Behind Why Most Australians Feel Okay About Tormenting Asylum Seekers

What science? Most Australians are assholes ... like Republicans and Tories. Save the science bucks for something important.

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 06:32:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World (none / 0)

We can all be assholes sometimes. Especially when you have a largely homogenous white society that doesn't even accept how rancidly racist it is

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 01:27:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World (none / 1)

Sometimes you read something that you long to have re-written by a proper writer so that it is turned from a somewhat dry philosophical work of academia into something that can be widely seen and understood as an urgent action point for an entire society.

tl;dr doesn't cover something so vital, yet I was fighting that impulse all the way.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 01:26:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World (none / 0)

m'k. You asked for it. < wipes tears >
ENEMY Of The People Presents w/o 25 Sep
Truth beyond doubt: Ifá oracles in Havana. Martin Holbraad, University College London (HTML)

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 12:13:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World (none / 0)

Online Platforms and the Digital Single Market
Opportunities and Challenges for Europe found in an article about EC regulating "hate speech" through Twitter, Facebook, GOOG content hosts; this is voluntary enforcement action and definition of "hate speech" will be governed by the law of the nation-member issuing the requests.

I placed the EP 2016 EU digital Planning doc in "WORLD" category because several items in the contents --more alarming than the EU stat, 1 in 3 web users is a child-- pertain to international trade, expected "globalization". In the footnotes I find e.g. LIVE links to PPP firms and trade events in the USA promoting "over-the-top" (OTT) services.

OTT is the latest catch phrase for streaming VoD and "instant mssg" (not SMS protocol) growth market. ugh.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 02:33:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Living Off the Planet (none / 0)

LIVING OFF THE PLANET
Environment, Energy, Agriculture, Food

by Bjinse on Mon Sep 25th, 2017 at 09:00:44 PM EST

Re: Living Off the Planet (none / 0)

TuNur in Tunisia: Another case of energy colonialism

It is in a regional context of forced trade liberalisation as well as a scramble for influence and energy resources that we should understand such mega-projects. These projects are mainly designed (usually by Europeans themselves) to satisfy Europe's need for diversifying energy sources away from Russia as well as contributing to its carbon reduction targets. And what better region to achieve these aims than North Africa and West Asia (NAWA): an area well endowed with natural resources, from fossil fuels to sun and wind?

archived:
"The article goes on to quote thinly veiled scepticism about the TuNur project... from Desertec." 2013
Best Idea Since Jesus on a Stick with Wheels: DESERTEC is back in the news. et seq. 2017

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 04:17:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Living On the Planet (none / 0)

LIVING ON THE PLANET
Society, Culture, History, Information

by Bjinse on Mon Sep 25th, 2017 at 09:00:46 PM EST

Mass Murderer Gets Life in Prison; Sheriff & Prosecutors Shamed

re: capitol crime, mitigating circumstances, retribution

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas's office originally sought the death penalty, but that plan collapsed as Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders uncovered more and more information about the secret use of jailhouse [informants].
[...]
[Superior Court Judge Thomas] Goethals gave his own statement before delivering the sentence. He said in his several decades as a homicide prosecutor, defense attorney and judge, he had "never seen anything like this case." ... Goethals said he took "no joy" in removing the district attorney's office and the death penalty from the case.

"life in prison" = 8 consecutive* life terms + one 7 yr to life + 9 consecutive 25 yr to life terms

*ie. not concurrent

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Sep 26th, 2017 at 06:12:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

well, in other part of the US, judges and private jails seem to have entered into mutually beneficial financial arrangements regarding sentencing. So, OC doesn't surprise me.

As for why the "war on drugs" persists, long after Prohibition should have been the last word on how not to deal with things you don't like, the easiest and most logical approach seems to be; who benefits from its continued illegality ? The US public doesn't seem to be a beneficiary here, so what is law for? Discuss...

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 01:20:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Some of the US public benefits from discriminatory rules of law enforcement engagement, prosecution, and sentencing "guidelines". The unity is incomplete.

I used read YLE a bit each month. A few years ago, 3-4, I was amazed by a report that some MP had introduced a resolution to eliminate variable sentencing per crime. Tax-transparent Finland is the perfect place for this quite diabolical deterrent scheme, thought I. It's a little Sharia stinky, but hey, think of the savings!

Alas, I lost the thread to it, and search feature isn't bi-lingual.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Sep 29th, 2017 at 12:26:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Bridge verbal divide among generations to pass on Japanese language

re: society, culture, information

How should the language barriers between generations be lowered? The government's latest survey has brought a difficult problem into relief.
The Cultural Affairs Agency has released the results of a survey conducted on people aged 16 or older regarding the Japanese language. Among other things, the survey focused on expressions frequently used by particular generations.
One example is "kokoro ga oreru," a phrase meaning "to be disheartened by an obstacle one faces." The survey found that this expression is used by a considerable 76 percent of respondents in their 20s, and by 18 percent of those in their 70s and older....

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Sep 27th, 2017 at 01:52:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Living On the Planet (none / 1)

there is a theory of language that we don't communicate in words, nouns and verbs to construct meaning. Instead we communicate in meta-language phrases that we string together as a series of images and emotions.

These are very culturally specific, which is why English and American are such different languages yet use the same vocabulary. We really don't share the same memetic universe.

And as cultures evolve over time, language is age specific. Things change with decades, the jokes, the references; all these things vary. Teachers and parents are probably aware that your kids have a playground language almost impenatrable to you. It was much that same in our day. So as our peers die off we lose people who even speak our language in a way that feels like home.

That silence of "voices from home", even when surrounded by children and other relations is the real loneliness. This issue may have been documented amongst the Japanese, but it will happen to any of us who outlive our contemporaries.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 01:12:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

mimesis and memetics (none / 0)

We're a bit on the same wavelength, Helen. A language expresses the culture, artifacts of interpersonal relations, performances, and daily labors of its speakers. But the linguists say, immigrants, conquest, and trading always leave the hardiest, most vivacious embellishments.

The news from Japan expresses how sensitive culture is to environment. I've often wondered if the anime phenom was a symptom of something off-color in the body.

Similarly, I feel a sense of foreboding --in the states, anyway-- about emergent, unexpressive speech since IT tech and military jargon began leaking into casual conversation over marketing jargon! 2001? It's shocking to me how people identify themselves and others with commodities or to see this played out in tv dramas and youtube vanity channels.

The more valuable US Americans seem to perceive "content", the less of it they produce --"personal" brands, icon and emoji syllabaries, quips, sock puppets, and "click bait". Dawkins evangelizing self-ish "memetic" virus has been quite the poison pill for US to swallow.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 04:10:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: mimesis and memetics (none / 0)

IT maybe. But surely military jargon has been part of popular culture for longer. I even remember how New Yorkers used to refer to anything north of W 72 (or was that W 79?) as the DMZ.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 04:54:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: mimesis and memetics (none / 0)

That expressed WASP's 1970s romance, FORT APACHE, THE BRONX was the heart of Africa, SCERPICO was heroic, TAX DRIVERS were salacious.

This was long before Koch had two pennies to rub and FUSION was a glint in Cheney's eye.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 10:02:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"Special Forces" genre (none / 0)

replaced PBS Newshour nightly KIA roll.

Nothing like that existed in network programming even after 11 PM before the turn of the century. Pls. Don't go trolling for lost episodes of A-Team, McGyver, and 6-Million Dollar Man to prove the rule. Even "verité" cop shows like NYPD Blue turned on humanity. You will fail by watching one episode of 24-Hours which, incidentally, premiered in UK (2001) one year before USA.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Sep 28th, 2017 at 11:58:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Living On the Planet (4.00 / 2)

In my own work I side with the folks who say there are seven "layers" (sic) of Knowledge in Natural Language Speech Communication*:

Phonological Knowledge: the phonemes from which words are constructed
Morphological Knowledge: how words are formed from phonemes
Syntactic Knowledge: how sequences of words form correct utterances
Semantic Knowledge: how meaning arises from words in an utterences in both Intension and Extension
Pragmatic Knowledge: intention(s) and context(s) of the utterances inclusive of micro-, meso-, and macro- PK
Discourse Knowledge: what the conversation is "about" and who is engaged in the conversation inclusive of micro-, meso-, and macro- DK
Global Knowledge: the beliefs and goals, general knowledge brought into the conversation inclusive of micro-, meso-, and macro- GK

People communicating can and often do manipulate PK, DK, and GK for any number of reasons.

* Natural Language Text Processing is different

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Sat Sep 30th, 2017 at 12:53:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

well said. Have you an taxonomy of mathematical language processing?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sun Oct 1st, 2017 at 04:29:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Boris Johnson caught on camera reciting Kipling in Myanmar temple

In short: no. I've never worked on it.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Tue Oct 3rd, 2017 at 02:18:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Living On the Planet (none / 1)

Foreign secretary's impromptu recital of colonial-era poem was so embarrassing the UK ambassador was forced to stop him
Boris Johnson was inside the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred Buddhist site in the capital Yangon, when he started uttering the opening verse to The Road to Mandalay, including the line: "The temple bells they say/ Come you back you English soldier."
Kipling's poem captures the nostalgia of a retired serviceman looking back on his colonial service and a Burmese girl he kissed. Britain colonised Myanmar from 1824 to 1948 and fought three wars in the 19th century, suppressing widespread resistance.
Johnson's impromptu recital was so embarrassing that the UK ambassador to Myanmar, Andrew Patrick, was forced to stop him. The incident was captured by a film crew for Channel 4 and will form part of a documentary to be broadcast on Sunday about the fitness of the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip to become prime minister.
The previously unbroadcast footage shows the diplomat managing to halt Johnson before he could get to the line about a "Bloomin' idol made o' mud/ Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd" - a reference to the Buddha.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Sep 30th, 2017 at 09:17:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Living On the Planet (4.00 / 2)

Sadly, the lesson Boris has learned from the Trump revolution is that, for a politician, lies are entirely without consequence. The media simply does not hold a right wing populist to acocunt for the bullshit they use to whip up the rubes. they never check for consistency, they act as if there is no memory, populists just exist in the now, so they can spray whatever is necessary at that time and disavow and contradict themselves 5 minutes later and it's all good.

Boris sees and understands that. While Trump plays mussolini, I have yet to see who Boris is trying to be. I hope it's Chris Christie.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Sep 30th, 2017 at 01:32:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Living On the Planet (none / 1)

Ryanair's crisis shows the true price of the low-cost revolution - Guardian - Opinion

The airline's cancellation fiasco is just one example of how companies such as Amazon and Uber are unbundling their costs - and their responsibilities
Ultimately, the cheaper deal is making us all pay. Unbundling doesn't eliminate costs, it just makes them external. And they still have to be met by someone, somewhere. The unravelling of corporate responsibility that accompanies it, vividly evinced in the creative employment contracts now endemic in road, rail and air, could leave society with costs as small as the individual medical care of a burnt-out pilot or cabin crew member - or something far worse.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Sep 30th, 2017 at 11:51:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]