The lies behind this transatlantic trade deal | George Monbiot Panic spreads through the European commission like ferrets in a rabbit warren. Its plans to create a single market incorporating Europe and the United States, progressing so nicely when hardly anyone knew, have been blown wide open. All over Europe people are asking why this is happening; why we were not consulted; for whom it is being done. They have good reason to ask. This mechanism could threaten almost any means by which governments might seek to defend their citizens or protect the natural world. No longer able to keep this process quiet, the European commission has instead devised a strategy for lying to us. The message is that the trade deal is about "delivering growth and jobs" and will not "undermine regulation and existing levels of protection in areas like health, safety and the environment". From the outset, the transatlantic partnership has been driven by corporations and their lobby groups, who boast of being able to "co-write" it. Quite right too.
Susan George: poteri occulti, la Terra è sotto scacco Se avete a cuore il vostro cibo, la vostra salute e la stessa sicurezza finanziaria, la vostra e quella della vostra famiglia, così come le tasse che pagate, lo stato del pianeta e della stessa democrazia, ci sono pessime notizie: un gruppo di golpisti ha preso il potere e ormai domina il pianeta. Legalmente: perché le nuove leggi che imbrigliano i popoli, i governi e gli Stati se le sono fatte loro, per servire i loro smisurati interessi, piegando le democrazie con l’aiuto di “maggiordomi” travestiti da politici. La grande novità si chiama: “ascesa di autorità illegittima”. Parola di Susan George, notissima sociologa franco-statunitense, già impegnata nel movimento no-global e al vertice di associazioni mondiali come Greenpeace. I nuovi oligarchi, spiega la George nell’intervento pronunciato al Festival Internazionale di Ferrara, ottobre 2013, possono agire attraverso le lobby o oscuri “comitati di esperti”, attraverso organismi ad hoc che ottengono riconoscimenti ufficiali.
This book appears very interesting! "You are Not... - Daniele Mancinelli A billion-year storage medium that could outlive the human race A QR code etched in tungsten and embedded in graphene oxide on an optical disc Credit: University of Twente) Researcher Dr. Jeroen de Vries from the University of Twente MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology suggests we could store data for one million to one billion years, using a new storage medium based on tungsten and graphene oxide. He imagines two possible scenarios: Disaster has devastated the earth and society must rebuild the worldWe need to create a legacy for future intelligent life that evolves on Earth or comes from other worlds. Optical-disc information carrier de Vries has developed a novel optical-disc information carrier that he says can store such information for extremely long periods of time, using etching techniques. Left: scanning electron micrograph of the cross-section of the encapsulated lines in the disc test sample; right: scanning electron micrograph of the sample after 1 hour at 200 degrees Celsius (credit: Jeroen de Vries et al. The ultimate aging test References:
CWRU engineering researchers report nanoscale energy-efficient switching devices at IEDM 2013 By relentlessly miniaturizing a pre-World War II computer technology, and combining this with a new and durable material, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have built nanoscale switches and logic gates that operate more energy-efficiently than those now used by the billions in computers, tablets and smart phones. Electromechanical switches were the building blocks of electronics before the solid-state transistor was developed during the war. A version made from silicon carbide, at the tiniest of scales, snaps on and off like a light switch, and with none of the energy-wasting current leakage that plagues the smallest electronics today. The scientists report their findings today at the International Electron Devices Meeting in Washington D.C. The tiny switch's moving part is only about one cubic micron in volume, more than a thousand times smaller than devices made in today's mainstream microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Tina He, Prof.
BioPen: A handheld 3D printer for surgeons A handheld ‘bio pen’ developed in the labs of the University of Wollongong (UOW) will allow surgeons to design customised implants on-site and at the time of surgery. The BioPen, developed by researchers from the UOW-headquartered Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES), will give surgeons greater control over where the materials are deposited while also reducing the time the patient is in surgery by delivering live cells and growth factors directly to the site of injury, accelerating the regeneration of functional bone and cartilage. The BioPen works similar to 3D printing methods by delivering cell material inside a biopolymer such as alginate, a seaweed extract, protected by a second, outer layer of gel material. The device can also be seeded with growth factors or other drugs to assist regrowth and recovery, while the hand-held design allows for precision in theatre and ease of transportation.
Vast Freshwater Reserves Found Beneath the Oceans A new study, published December 5 in the international scientific journal Nature, reveals that an estimated half a million cubic kilometres of low-salinity water are buried beneath the seabed on continental shelves around the world. The water, which could perhaps be used to eke out supplies to the world's burgeoning coastal cities, has been located off Australia, China, North America and South Africa. "The volume of this water resource is a hundred times greater than the amount we've extracted from the Earth's sub-surface in the past century since 1900," says lead author Dr Vincent Post (pictured) of the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) and the School of the Environment at Flinders University. "Knowing about these reserves is great news because this volume of water could sustain some regions for decades." Dr Post says that groundwater scientists knew of freshwater under the seafloor, but thought it only occurred under rare and special conditions.
5 insane stories from Black Friday (with bonus footage of mayhem from past years) | World For Americans, Black Friday shopping is a national pastime. After gorging on turkey and pumpkin pie, thousands of people fill the malls, and form long lines outside of big box stores hoping to get a good deal on essentials like towels, video games, DVDs, waffle makers, Xboxes, PS3s, electronics and more. You know - the essentials. And for the most part, things stay pretty calm; well, as calm as things can go when you’re battling for $1.28 towels. But when prices go low enough, some bargain hunters can get a little crazy. We’re talking guns, cops, violence - it’s enough to make you want to sit the shopping frenzy out. Here, we take a look back at five horrific stories from Black Friday, with bonus video of the craziness from past years. For a detailed list of the deaths and injuries that have occurred during Black Friday shopping, visit blackfridaydeathcount.com. 1.Two people shot outside Walmart over parking space (2012) Everyone knows mall parking is struggle starting on Nov. 1.
We Have the Renewable Energy We Need to Power the World—So What's Stopping Us? Photo Credit: PhotographyByMK/ Shutterstock.com November 8, 2013 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. The environment is one bad news story after another. The bright side is that we aren’t being blindsided by an unknown enemy: Our relentless burning of fossil fuels is the big thing pushing us toward the brink. That’s why it’s great that there are people like Mark Z. Jacobson was recently on the “David Letterman Show,” where he proclaimed that we have enough wind and solar to power the world. Is he right? A Renewable World In 2009 Jacobson and Mark A. “Our plan calls for millions of wind turbines, water machines and solar installations,” they wrote. Their plan, which would provide energy for everything—transportation, heating/cooling, electricity, and industry—would have 51 percent of the energy coming from wind, specifically 3.8 million 5-megawatt wind turbines. That’s the plan, anyway.
Rise of the Barter Economy in TorontoCollaborative Consumption With the Canadian debt-to-income ratio hitting a record high of 163% and average consumer debt of $27,000, it’s no surprise that more Canadians are utilising barter—a 12 billion dollar industry in North America. The Toronto barter scene, for example, is buzzing as swappers exchange everything under the sun: financial consultations for hotel stays, photography for self-defence classes, graphic design for investment help, a weekend first-aid course for home-baked gluten-free muffins and even fiddleheads for Feng Shui sessions. The creative possibilities are vast and enthusiasm around the concept of swapping—online and offline—is growing quickly. According to Toronto Life’s “The Money Issue” this “new wave of alternative financial thinking” is driven by the “uncertainties of a cash economy,” and many local success stories have emerged: “People are financially savvy. It’s all about striking a balance between cash and barter, enabling them to “work in tandem” to satisfy your needs.
Orthodox economists have failed their own market test | Seumas Milne From any rational point of view, orthodox economics is in serious trouble. Its champions not only failed to foresee the greatest crash for 80 years, but insisted such crises were a thing of the past. More than that, some of its leading lights played a key role in designing the disastrous financial derivatives that helped trigger the meltdown in the first place. Plenty were paid propagandists for the banks and hedge funds that tipped us off their speculative cliff. Acclaimed figures in a discipline that claims to be scientific hailed a "great moderation" of market volatility in the runup to an explosion of unprecedented volatility. Any other profession that had proved so spectacularly wrong and caused such devastation would surely be in disgrace. After all, the large majority of economists who predicted the crisis rejected the dominant neoclassical thinking: from Dean Baker and Steve Keen to Ann Pettifor, Paul Krugman and David Harvey. Many of their students, though, have had enough.