The Intergenerational Report underestimates climate threat: an open letter to the government The following is an open letter initiated by Dr Andrew Glikson, signed by Australian environmental and climate scientists. We the undersigned are concerned that the 2015 Intergenerational Report underestimates the serious threat of global warming to future generations. Based on the basic laws of physics, direct measurements and empirical observations in nature, the current rise in atmospheric greenhouse gases by about 40% since the 19th century is inducing a shift in the state of the atmosphere-ocean-land-ice sheets system, seriously endangering future generations, and indeed nature’s life-support systems. Our concern is based on the peer-reviewed scientific literature, as summarised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and on observations by the world’s national science academies and geophysical research societies of leading nations, including Australia. Signatories Professor Michael Archer, Evolution of Earth and Life Systems Research Group, University of NSW
'Free Basics' Will Take Away More Than Our Right to the Internet | By Vandana Shiva As the TRAI decides the fate of Free Basics, Mark Zuckerberg is in India with ₹100 crore, in pocket change, for advertising. Facebook’s Free Basics is a repackaged internet.org, or in other words, a system where Facebook decides what parts of the internet are important to users. Reliance, Facebook’s Indian partner in the Free Basics venture, is an Indian mega-corporation with interests in telecom, energy, food, retail, infrastructure and, of course, land. A collective corporate assault is underway globally. What could Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have to gain from dictating terms to governments during the climate summit? At the same time, Gates is currently behind a push to force chemical, fossil fuel dependent agriculture and patented GMOs (#FossilAg) through the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). 95% of the cotton in India is Monsanto’s proprietary Bt Cotton. Free Basics will limit what the internet is to a vast majority of India. Talk about choice.
Video explainer: How banks took a good simple idea and turned it evil That's not the impression I got from watching it. A few thoughts: 1) The video's only six minutes long, and had a big scope, so he had to give a short account of the role defaulted (home) loans led to the financial crisis. If it was any longer, it would probably be more accurate, but also less accessible (fewer people would watch it), so there's a necessary trade-off here. 2) I agree with the video in that banks, to varying degrees, are today in the risk-management business. They usually have a pretty good idea which risks are smart ones and which aren't, but we now know that US banks bundled high-risk loans into derivatives and sold as low-risk. 3) While many banks had to face steep fines, or went out of business, most of the biggest were bailed out - I'm sure you've heard the expression "too big to fail" - which is itself an indication of how good banks were at gauging risk.
India puts brakes on Facebook's Free Basics scheme Image copyright Getty Images Facebook's effort to provide Indians with free access to a limited number of internet services has run into trouble. India's telecoms regulator has asked the mobile network that partnered with the US firm to put their Free Basics offer on hold. Data fees are relatively expensive in India, and the initiative aims to prevent this being a deterrent. But critics of the Free Basics service say it runs contrary to net neutrality principles. They suggest data providers should not favour some online services over others by offering cheaper or faster access. A spokesman for Reliance Communications - the mobile network that had supported the scheme - confirmed it would comply with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's demand. "As directed by TRAI, the commercial launch of Free Basics has been kept in abeyance, until they consider all details and convey a specific approval," a spokesman told the BBC. Image copyright Facebook
Foyle's War On 12 January 2015, ITV announced that no more episodes will be commissioned due to the high costs of production and its intention to air original drama commissions. The last episode aired on 18 January 2015.[3] Overview[edit] Description[edit] Foyle[edit] Foyle, a widower, is quiet, methodical, sagacious, and scrupulously honest, yet he is frequently underestimated by his foes. In a newspaper article and in his interview that accompanies the first series DVD set, Anthony Horowitz was asked why he named the main character Christopher Foyle. Episode structure[edit] The stories are largely self-contained. Each episode runs for about 90 to 100 minutes, filling a two-hour time slot on ITV when commercials are included. Repackaging[edit] Acorn Media contracted Cre-a-tv, Inc. to repackage the entire Foyle's War programme into two-part episodes to run within PBS' allotted airtime. Cancellation and revival[edit] Episodes[edit] Episode numbers in parentheses are a running count used in the next table
Why defeat in India leaves an uncertain path for Facebook's 'Free Basics' Weeks after chiding Facebook for lobbying its users to support the controversial "Free Basics" service through a “crudely majoritarian and orchestrated opinion poll,” India’s telecommunications regulator has banned the service. Free Basics, which the social media giant launched in 2013 as Internet.org, is intended to provide stripped down Internet capabilities for free to people in rural and poor communities around the world. While Facebook has pointed to the service’s humanitarian potential, critics have long argued that Free Basics’ offer of only a small number of websites, and its partnerships with a small number of mobile carriers — in India, only a single carrier offered the service — violates net neutrality (the idea that users shouldn’t be directed to particular sites or blocked from accessing others). In its decision, released on Monday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India agreed, saying that it would act to prohibit “discriminatory tariffs” paid by users to go online.
Solidus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Solidus may refer to: Five times Internet activism made a difference - Black Lives Matter The rapidly-growing grassroots movement calling for a wider consciousness about anti-black racism and police violence had its roots in an impassioned Facebook message posted by Alicia Garza, an activist from Oakland, Calif., in July 2013. After watching a Florida jury decline to convict George Zimmerman for the death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin in part because of the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground" law, Ms. Garza took to the social media site to post her thoughts on the impact of the verdict, ending her message with "Black people. Garza’s friend Patrisse Cullors, a community organizer who works on prison reform issues, read the post that night and began sharing it, along with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, with the two contacting Opal Tometi, an immigrant rights activist, to set up Twitter and Tumblr pages using the slogan. As with the Arab Spring, the use of social media has been a key communication tool for activists in the wake of fast-changing protests after Mr.