martes, octubre 18, 2011
Richard Branson: For entrepreneurs, the challenge is clear
But global demand for water has grown sixfold over the past century. If this trend continues, our current resources and infrastructure will not be sufficient to supply enough water to meet demand. While the global water industry is diversified and, in terms of committed capital, ranks on par with the oil, gas and electricity industries, it’s attracted little private investment. It’s time for entrepreneurs and business leaders to get involved, because finding creative solutions to these challenges will require not just great political leadership and innovative research, but a transformation of business itself.
The perception of plenty is an illusion: most of the Earth’s fresh water is frozen in the polar icecaps, trapped in the soil or in deep, inaccessible underground lakes; only 1% of all fresh water is available for people to drink and use. For the most part, the water sources we rely on—lakes, rivers, reservoirs and underground—are renewed by rain and snow-fall. Our use should be sustainable in theory, but in some cases, we have already crossed the line and are depleting these sources. The United Nations estimates that by 2050 more than 60% of the world’s population will lack fresh water for drinking and cooking.
If you’re an entrepreneur hoping to make a difference in your community or society, consider this sector. With so many people in need, and different challenges facing every region, there are limitless possibilities for innovation: new and better means of supply, delivery, recycling and treatment. And water touches on every aspect of life, from how we brew our tea to how companies manufacture goods.
Entrants to the market can take the long view when planning their strategy—we can be confident that there will be demand for new, efficient water-delivery products for a long time to come. Current estimates have the sector worth about $450 billion in revenue per year. With China and India growing fast, worldwide water expenditure is likely to rise over the next 25 years to about $1 trillion per year, according to our in-house analysis at Virgin.
One of the challenges is finding a pay model that allows a company to deliver water at minimal cost or free. Fortunately, there is a long history of public-private partnerships in this sector. Consider the model set up by Vestergaard Frandsen, the Swiss manufacturer of LifeStraw, an innovative filter that makes even the filthiest water drinkable. In collaboration with the Kenyan government, VF is providing four million people with free water filters large enough for entire families to use. The company is also replacing the filters free of charge when they wear out—about every three years. Since the LifeStraw recipients would ordinarily boil their water, causing pollution and releasing carbon into the atmosphere, VF is receiving carbon credits, which it then sells to polluters.
At Virgin, we’ve dipped a toe in the water (excuse the pun) through our Green Fund, by backing Seven Seas Water, a desalination business that designs, constructs, installs and operates water plants across the Caribbean and the Americas. Our goal is to produce a low-cost, safe and reliable water supply. And desalination is just one niche of the water industry—but like others, it offers limitless opportunities for innovation, since many current technologies are outdated and inefficient. Not long ago, the energy costs of producing fresh water from salt water outweighed the benefits. While technological advances have changed this, desalination companies are still competing to develop more economical, energy-saving processes.
This drive for efficiency is important in every industry. If our companies are going to continue to expand and thrive, we must also learn to live within our planet’s means. Look at every process in your business and ask: How can we conserve, reuse and recycle? You’ll not only reduce your carbon and water footprints, but you’ll probably save money. And change on this scale requires all of us to get involved.
Canadian Business/ While TransCanada Corp. stands mired knee-deep in the Keystone XL oil pipeline debate, its biggest rival in its core gas business is getting a whole lot bigger. On Oct. 17 Kinder Morgan Inc., America’s biggest natural gas shipper, announced a US$21-billion bid to take over El Paso Corp., the No. 2. Together the companies own 125,000 kilometres of pipe.
"Now that KMP is by far the biggest pipeline distributor of natural gas, that will also give them pricing power over the market," Chris Jarvis, president of Caprock Risk Management told Reuters.
Like ExxonMobil’s US$41-billion acquisition of shale gas producer XTO Energy in 2009, this is a massive bet on the upside of suddenly cheap and abundant natural gas. Instead of hedging away from gas, as TransCanada and many other companies appear to be doing, it’s a bet that gas will play a much bigger role in our energy future, probably at the expense of oil.
A decade ago TransCanada Pipelines, as it was then known, was a pure-play natural gas shipper from producing areas in Western Canada to markets in Eastern Canada and the U.S. Midwest. Past CEO Hal Kvisle and his successor, Russ Girling, have since diversified into oil transportation and power generation.
Diversification is the conventional wisdom in Canada's energy business right now. Enbridge Inc., which used to control Canadian oil exports to the U.S., has become the largest gas distributor in Ontario and invested in wind farms. Enbridge boss Pat Daniel was just named Canada's 2011 CEO of the Year by Caldwell Partners in a nod to this strategy. By contrast, gas giant Encana Corp. was punished by investors following its spinoff of Cenovus Energy. Now TransCanada is staking a good deal of its future in an oil pipeline that could end up being rejected because of political considerations.
Kinder Morgan’s move is a rebuke to that thinking. Its investment in gas dwarfs the investment Kinder is contemplating in oil lines such as its Trans-Mountain system in Alberta and B.C. Only time will tell which strategy is the right one.
Obama Supports 'Occupy' Movement as A Campaign Stun
Could Obama's Class Warfare Cause a Run on the Banks?
President Barack Obama's public support for the Occupy Wall Street movement, whether welcomed or not by the protesters, represents a clear effort on behalf of the White House to use class warfare as an election campaign tool, but it could lead to a complete financial collapse in the United States.
During a speech to honor Dr. Martin Luther King on Sunday, Obama "offered more support for protesters" according to the Financial Times when he spoke of them favorably for challenging "the excesses of Wall Street".
In addition, a White House staffer, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, told a press conference yesterday that Obama will make sure "the interests of the 99 percent of Americans are well-represented on the tour," which is the first time the White House has... More >
During a speech to honor Dr. Martin Luther King on Sunday, Obama "offered more support for protesters" according to the Financial Times when he spoke of them favorably for challenging "the excesses of Wall Street".
In addition, a White House staffer, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, told a press conference yesterday that Obama will make sure "the interests of the 99 percent of Americans are well-represented on the tour," which is the first time the White House has... More >
Falleció el escritor y poeta David Lago González
En el blog de Zoe Valdes >
Uploaded by Lamanguita on May 16, 2011
Los sonidos del silencio, de David Lago González,. Extraodinario e imprescindible alegato de uno de los poetas más importantes de la literatura hispana, el ojo lúcido sobre la isla de Cuba. Animación a partir de obra de Cepp Selgas, "Poeta" / Acrílico y crayón sobre papel / 21.5 x 21.5cm. / NY-2011, creada especialmente para esta obra de Lago. En Editions Hoy no he visto el PARAISO.David Lago González. Camagüey, 1950. Poeta. Escritor. Formación autodidacta.
Vida vivida, a dos mitades, entre Camagüey y Madrid.
Durante la etapa cubana, sin filiación política ni institucional alguna. Sin filiación intelectual en los órganos de control de la actividad artística (UNEAC, Bgda. Hnos. Saínz y talleres de aprendizaje para como escribir de acuerdo a la "tolerancia" estatal. No premios, ni libros editados.
Durante la aún etapa española, sin filiación política ni institucional alguna, ni intelectual ni grupal. Dos cuadernos de poesía publicados por Editorial Betania: "Los Hilos del Tapiz" (agotado) y "La Resaca del Absurdo". Antologado en diversas ocasiones, así como colaborador de numerosas revistas en formato papel y virtual. "Lobos", "Manual de Convalecencia", "La Fascinación de lo Difícil", "Memorias del Este", "Jazz Session", "XX Aniversario del Éxodo de El Mariel", "La Mirada de Ulises", y "Tributos", publicados en Ediciones Timbalito (ediciones artesanales, de carácter no venal), de las que fue editor e ilustrador.
Independiente total, literalmente. El concepto de "patria" le produce el más profundo rechazo, y pánico.
Drug-Resistant Staph Infections in Europe Could Mark Start of a New Epidemic
Gel electrophoresis of Staphylococcus aureus [Photo]
Scientific American
FLAGSTAFF, Arizona—A relatively new type of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus could represent the world’s next bacterial epidemic, an environmental health expert said here today at a conference for science writers.
The superbug, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain 398, or MRSA ST398, was first identified in an infant in the Netherlands in 1994 and traced back to her family’s pigs. Now, researchers are starting to see more serious infections and some of the cases reveal no direct link to livestock, said Lance B. Price, director of the Center for Microbiomics and Human Health at The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), in Flagstaff.
“The rate of human [ST398] infections is going up in Denmark and the Netherlands,” Price said. “We are just looking at the beginning of an epidemic.” Price made his comments during a presentation at the 49th annual New Horizons in Science meeting, organized by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.
The mechanism for transmission in these newer ST398 cases currently is unknown. Researchers are considering various explanations including human-to-human exposure, contaminated meat or changes in the organism that make it spread more easily, Price said. Already, ST398 was recently found in about half of the pigs and farmers tested in Iowa.
More >
FLAGSTAFF, Arizona—A relatively new type of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus could represent the world’s next bacterial epidemic, an environmental health expert said here today at a conference for science writers.
The superbug, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain 398, or MRSA ST398, was first identified in an infant in the Netherlands in 1994 and traced back to her family’s pigs. Now, researchers are starting to see more serious infections and some of the cases reveal no direct link to livestock, said Lance B. Price, director of the Center for Microbiomics and Human Health at The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), in Flagstaff.
“The rate of human [ST398] infections is going up in Denmark and the Netherlands,” Price said. “We are just looking at the beginning of an epidemic.” Price made his comments during a presentation at the 49th annual New Horizons in Science meeting, organized by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.
The mechanism for transmission in these newer ST398 cases currently is unknown. Researchers are considering various explanations including human-to-human exposure, contaminated meat or changes in the organism that make it spread more easily, Price said. Already, ST398 was recently found in about half of the pigs and farmers tested in Iowa.
More >
A Buff New Twist on Carbon Nanotube Artificial Muscles
Scientific American
For years artificial muscles have promised to deliver a more flexible, more durable alternative to electric motors and hydraulic systems. These lab-made actuators are usually created by putting an electrical charge into a piece of polymer or into an aerogel sheet made from carbon nanotubes, causing those materials to expand and contract. This motion could someday be used to power turbines, animate robots or move prosthetic limbs.
In a new study published in the October 14 issue of Science, an international team of researchers describes how they’re taking carbon nanotube artificial muscles in a new direction. Scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute have already demonstrated in the lab the ability of these muscle-like carbon nanotubes to flex even in extreme temperatures that would freeze or, on the other end of the spectrum, decompose electroactive polymer-based artificial muscles.
Their latest work—with scientists from the University of Wollongong in Australia, the University of British Columbia in Canada, and Hanyang University in Korea—indicates that these carbon nanotubes can be spun into yarns (see inset to the left) and, when dipped into an electrolyte solution, move in a twisting direction that mimics the stiffness, extension, bending and torsion of natural muscles found in an elephant’s trunk and squid tentacles. The researchers found that the yarns can even untwist (moving with the opposite rotation) when the applied voltage is changed.
More >
At Risk for Psychosis?
Nine years ago, uncompromising playwright Sarah Kane ended her own life. In an old Warsaw variety theatre, Mark Fisher is shaken by a mesmerising staging of her final work.
Mike (not his real name) had always been an unusual child. Even as a toddler, he had difficulties relating to others and making friends, and he seemed strikingly suspicious of other people. After he entered high school, Mike became increasingly angry, paranoid and detached. He worried that people were searching his room and his locker when he was not around. His grades plummeted as he turned inward during class, sketching outlandish scenes in his notebooks and muttering to himself rather than listening to the instructor.
Paranoia and difficulties connecting with others are signs of psychosis, a mental illness in which people lose touch with reality. Psychotic individuals usually have problems forming rational, coherent thoughts. They also may hear voices or hallucinate while believing that what they perceive is real. Often such delusions result in bizarre behavior and, in severe cases, an inability to manage everyday life. But a psychiatrist deemed Mike’s symptoms too mild to qualify him as psychotic. Mike obviously needed some kind of professional intervention, so he bounced among psychiatrists who could not figure out how to help him.
Cases such as Mike’s have prompted some practitioners to propose the inclusion of a new psychosis risk diagnosis to the forthcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the “bible” of mental health diagnoses. To receive this diagnosis, a patient would first need to report, for example, having delusions or hallucinations about once a week (as opposed to most of the time for at least one month for clinical psychosis). In addition, either the patient or a loved one must be significantly distressed by those symptoms. The idea of including such a diagnosis in the DSM is highly controversial, but supporters argue that patients such as Mike not only need immediate help, they are at increased risk for developing full-blown psychosis, an outcome doctors might be able to prevent with early intervention.
Suspected Russian Spy Was Sleeping With UK Politician And European Officials
Ekaterina Zatuliveter, a former Parliamentary assistant in the UK accused of being a Russian spy, had a four year affair with an MP and also slept with a number of unidentified European officials, according to reports from The Times.
Zatuliveter, also known as Katia, was arrested last year by the British secret service on suspicion of spying. Now, facing deportation at London's Special Immigration Appeals Commission, she is denying the accusations.
Regardless, her relationship with 64-year-old British MP Mike Hancock has come under scrutiny. The Telegraph reports that she first met with Hancock while she was a student at St Petersburg University. She was assigned as his chaperon for a conference and rebuffed his advances that night.
However, on a return visit to Moscow Hancock reconnected with her and she moved to the UK to conduct an affair with him while studying at the University of Bradford. She eventually began to work as his assistant (passing all security checks) in the UK Parliament, a sensitive role because of his work on the Defence Select Committee.
From the Mediterranean to the Hindu Kush: Rethinking the Region
STRATFOR
By George Friedman
The territory between the Mediterranean and the Hindu Kush has been the main arena for the U.S. intervention that followed the 9/11 attacks. Obviously, the United States had been engaged in this area in previous years, but 9/11 redefined it as the prime region in which it confronted jihadists. That struggle has had many phases, and it appears to have entered a new one over the past few weeks.
Some parts of this shift were expected. STRATFOR had anticipated tensions between Iran and its neighboring countries to rise as the U.S. withdrew from Iraq and Iran became more assertive. And we expected U.S.-Pakistani relations to reach a crisis before viable negotiations with the Afghan Taliban were made possible.
However, other events frankly surprised us. We had expected Hamas to respond to events in Egypt and to the Palestine National Authority’s search for legitimacy through pursuit of U.N. recognition by trying to create a massive crisis with Israel, reasoning that the creation of such a crisis would strengthen anti-government forces in Egypt, increasing the chances for creating a new regime that would end the blockade of Gaza and suspend the peace treaty with Israel. We also thought that intense rocket fire into Israel would force Fatah to support an intifada or be marginalized by Hamas. Here we were clearly wrong; Hamas moved instead to reach a deal for the exchange of captive Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, which has reduced Israeli-Hamas tensions. Read more »
Some parts of this shift were expected. STRATFOR had anticipated tensions between Iran and its neighboring countries to rise as the U.S. withdrew from Iraq and Iran became more assertive. And we expected U.S.-Pakistani relations to reach a crisis before viable negotiations with the Afghan Taliban were made possible.
However, other events frankly surprised us. We had expected Hamas to respond to events in Egypt and to the Palestine National Authority’s search for legitimacy through pursuit of U.N. recognition by trying to create a massive crisis with Israel, reasoning that the creation of such a crisis would strengthen anti-government forces in Egypt, increasing the chances for creating a new regime that would end the blockade of Gaza and suspend the peace treaty with Israel. We also thought that intense rocket fire into Israel would force Fatah to support an intifada or be marginalized by Hamas. Here we were clearly wrong; Hamas moved instead to reach a deal for the exchange of captive Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, which has reduced Israeli-Hamas tensions. Read more »
Correo: El Árabe y el Judío
Un judío trabajaba en un edificio como portero donde un árabe vivía en el pent-house.
El árabe sufría de un problema de hemorragias ocasionales.
Un día va el árabe bajando por el ascensor y le da un ataque hemorrágico, cuando llega a la planta baja el portero judío se da cuenta, lo saca del ascensor, llama una ambulancia y se va con él al hospital.
Al llegar al hospital dice el médico de guardia:
- Necesitamos urgente sangre 0+.
Y el portero judío accede a donársela, ya que justamente poseía ese mismo tipo de sangre.
Al mes siguiente el árabe le dice:
- En agradecimiento por haberme salvado la vida te regalaré un auto Rolls Royce - con lo cual el judío quedó feliz de la vida.
Al año se repite la historia, le da el ataque, llama el portero una ambulancia y se va con él al hospital.
El doctor dice nuevamente que necesitaban urgente sangre 0+ y el portero otra vez accede a donar de la suya.
Al mes siguiente el árabe le dice:
- En agradecimiento por salvarme la vida te regalaré esta moto Harley Davison.
El judío queda pensando por qué le había regalado un auto tan caro el año anterior y éste año sólo una Harley Davison, que tiene mucho menos valor... pero después llegó a la conclusión de que mal que mal, una Harley Davison es una Harley Davison.
Al año sucede lo mismo, le da el ataque hemorrágico al árabe, y como las veces anteriores, el portero llama la ambulancia se va con él al hospital, el doctor dice que necesita sangre 0+ que el judío accede a donársela.
Al mes siguiente el árabe le dice al judío que en agradecimiento por haberle salvado la vida, le regalará una bicicleta.
El judío entonces se decide a preguntar, para no quedarse con la intriga
- ¿Cómo es que me regalaste un Rolls Royce el primer año que te salvé la vida, el segundo año una Harley Davison y el tercer año sólo una bicicleta?. .......No lo entiendo.
Y el árabe le responde:
- Lo que pasa es que cada día tengo más sangre judía................
Eduardo del Llano sobre la necesaria Glasnot en Cuba
Sergey Borisov - "Glasnost and Perestroika" (1986)
By eduardodelllano
Transparencia. Fue una de las banderas de la renovación en la antigua Unión Soviética, tan poco responsable de su caída como la libertad de prensa: no hay que confundir enfermedad y cura. Se refiere a la claridad en el funcionamiento de las instituciones: a que el ciudadano pueda, en cada momento, estar informado acerca de lo que se propone el gobierno, cómo piensa hacerlo y cómo lo está haciendo, y fiscalizarlo a través de mecanismos reguladores. En algunas áreas –seguridad y defensa nacional, macroeconomía- es obvio que, más allá de cierto punto, la transparencia es un contrasentido: no vas a publicar las listas de tus agentes secretos mientras aún lo son, o poner a disposición de todos datos acerca de fusiones empresariales que sacudirán la Bolsa mañana por la mañana. En casi cualquier otro ámbito resulta una necesidad.
En Cuba, la transparencia es rara avis. Con la filosofía de plaza sitiada en el ADN, los funcionarios se han acostumbrado a llevar sus orientaciones al límite y no revelar ni la cantidad de servilletas de que dispone el restaurante. No se puede dar información al enemigo, así que la manera más rápida es no dar información a nadie. El síndrome de “quienes tienen que estar enterados del asunto, ya lo están” es propio de un estado de guerra, no de una sociedad democrática. Quiero leer en la prensa, no sólo la opinión oficial sobre el discurso del malo, sino, íntegro, el discurso del malo. Pero la mayor parte del tiempo la prensa, o lo que en Cuba tenemos por tal, es tan audaz e invasiva como una ostra hemipléjica.
Mas >
Cuba pide ayuda a Hillary Clinton y Michelle Obama por los Cinco Espias
You don't need to go to Harvard to be a smart guy-Try it!
GoodShit
What’s most impressive is that education doesn’t really help; more than 50% of students at Harvard, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology routinely give the incorrect answer.
Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Laureate and professor of psychology at Princeton, has been asking questions like this for more than five decades. His disarmingly simple experiments have profoundly changed the way that we think about thinking. While philosophers, economists and social scientists had assumed for centuries that human beings are rational agents, Mr. Kahneman and his scientific partner, the late Amos Tversky, demonstrated that we’re not nearly as rational as we like to believe.Don't cheat, do your best.
But I am not a Harvard guy and I get it:
Bat+Ball=1.10
[Bat =1+Ball]
Then 1+2Ball=1.10
Ball=[1.10-1]/2=0.05
OBAMA: Congress Is Apparently Too Stupid To Understand My Jobs Bill
President Barack Obama took a shot at Congress on Monday, saying they might have had difficulty wrapping their heads around his 200-page jobs bill.
"We're going to break up my jobs bill. Maybe they [Congress] couldn't understand it all at once," he said in Asheville, North Carolina — the first stop of his three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act.
Obama said he was happy that the Senate will take up a "bite-sized piece" of the legislation to provide funding to state and local governments to keep teachers and first responders on the job.
Obama Is Playing A Very Dangerous Game Supporting 'Occupy Wall Street'
Correctly surmising that the Occupy Wall St. movement is going to be a big player in the next election President Obama has evidently decided that the best course of action is to support the protesters.
This despite the fact that it is widely assumed that the group is in large part comprised of disaffected Obama supporters.
Last week Obama adviser David Pouffe told Good Morning America "The protests you’re seeing are the same conversations people are having in living rooms and kitchens all across America...the president is standing on the side of consumers and the middle class."
Yesterday, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest went further, appropriating the language of the movement to declare that Obama is fighting for the "interests of 99 percent of Americans are well represented."
Certainly this seems a better course of action than calling the group "jealous" and accusing them of playing the "victim card" as Herman Cain did. Or declaring it "class warfare" as Romney has done. And yet Obama is playing a dangerous game attaching himself so directly to a movement that boasts neither a leader nor a clear message.
White House Draws Closer To Occupy Wall Street, Says Obama Is Fighting For The Interests Of The 99%
The White House continued its embrace of the Occupy Wall Street protests on Sunday, using the strongest terms yet to identify President Barack Obama with the growing movement.
In a call previewing Obama's upcoming bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama "will continue to acknowledge the frustration that he himself shares," about Washington's laggard response to the financial crisis.
Earnest added that while on the trip, Obama will make it clear that he is fighting to make certain that the "interests of 99 percent of Americans are well represented" — the first time the White House has used the term to differentiate the vast majority of Americans from the wealthy.
Obama, who has been branded a "class warrior" by Republicans unhappy with his plans to increase taxes on the rich to pay for his jobs and deficit plans, has embraced the term.
"I’ll tell you what, if asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a plumber or a teacher or a bus driver makes me a warrior for the middle class, I will wear that charge with honor," he told donors in Dallas earlier this month.
China’s hard-landing has already begun?
By Sue Chang, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — China is heading into an economic storm, and the much-feared hard-landing of the world’s second-largest economy has already started, warned celebrated hedge-fund manager and China-bear Jim Chanos of Kynikos Associates on Monday.
“The numbers are falling faster than we thought,” said Chanos during an exclusive interview with MarketWatch on the sidelines of the 7th Annual New York Value Investing Congress.
History shows that periods of high returns in the market are followed by extended periods of lower returns, says Capital Guardian Wealth Management's Tony Montanari.
“Real estate sales in September and October, which are peak months, fell 40%-60% on-year,” he said.
Chanos also pointed out that Chinese financial and real-estate stocks are down 30% from their peak, while cement and steel prices are declining.
“People are buying into the idea of perpetual growth,” Chanos said. “But they have to ask, ‘Are you really growing?’”
Chanos stressed that investors should understand that there is no bailout without a cost.
“The only way the Chinese government can continue to bail out everyone is to print more money, which will lead to inflation. But people are depositing money [in banks] at below inflation,” the fund manager said.
Chanos had already suggested back in May that there were clear signs of excess supply in China’s commercial real-estate sector.
About 14% of office space in Beijing and 9% in Shanghai was vacant, according to data he cited at the time.
“Western investors must remember that Chinese consumers are not the next big hope,” he said.
1,000 times worse than Dubai
Chanos has consistently said China’s bust will be a thousand times worse than Dubai.
“It’s very hard to let air out of a property bubble without collateral damage,” he said.
Chanos also expressed concerns about the country’s banking sector.
The Chinese economy is adding $2 trillion of new debt every year, and half of that is problematic from day one, he said.
And since only 50% of the problematic debt is recoverable, about $500 billion, or 10% of gross domestic product, is bad debt, he said.
Last week, China’s sovereign-wealth fund bought about $31.5 million worth of stakes in the nation’s “Big Four” lenders — Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. HK:1288 -7.87% CN:601288 +0.38% , Bank of China Ltd. HK:3988 -4.74% CN:601988 +0.33% BACHY -2.35% , Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. HK:1398 -6.05% CN:601398 +0.48% IDCBF -4.72% , and China Construction Bank HK:939 -4.39% CN:601939 +0.22% CICHF -1.52% . See report on China’s purchase of banking shares.
The move is a likely indication of which banks the Chinese authorities are worried about, according to Chanos.
In his earlier presentation at Monday’s conference, he cautioned Western investors to remember that politics are a big part of business in China, and that in effect, banks are instruments of state policy.
He also reiterated the message that the house always wins when it comes to foreign investors and China. Remember how they treat Western investors, he said.
“History has not been on our side,” he said.
During the interview, he briefly revisited that particular theme. “Corruption is endemic there. Contracts are meaningless,” Chanos said.
Sue Chang is a MarketWatch reporter in San Francisco.
U.S. officials to inspect Cuba-bound drilling rig but Cuba will allow it?
Will be very interesting to see if Cuba will allow to US Coast Guard and Interior Department to inspect the Scarabeo 9.
--------------------------------------------
By Tennille Tracy
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. officials plan to inspect a drilling rig that Spanish company Repsol YPF (REPYY, REP.MC) is going to use to drill for oil off the coast of Cuba, after industry experts raised concerns about the risks of an oil spill affecting U.S. waters and coastline.
The inspection, to be conducted later this year by the Coast Guard and Interior Department, will raise the profile of Cuba's efforts to explore for oil in the Gulf of Mexico -- an effort that has already sparked heated debate among Capitol Hill lawmakers and oil industry experts.
Speaking before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the top U.S. offshore drilling safety chief said U.S. officials will board the Repsol drilling rig "Scarabeo 9" before it reaches Cuban waters. The rig is currently en route to the country and should arrive before the end of the year.
"We have welcomed the opportunity to gather information on the rig's operation, technology and safety equipment," Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said in testimony.
Bromwich said Repsol has agreed to follow U.S. regulations while conducting exploratory drilling off Cuba's northern coast.
Who are the 1 percent in Congress?
AMERICAblo
A lot of Ds in the top ten richest members of Congress, followed by a lot of Rs.And via Andrew Sullivan we learn that the 1970s were the tipping point for when the rich really took over their ownership of much of the country's wealth.
Jeffrey Winters traces America's wealth distribution over time:
The decade from 1970–80 was the turning point in the Great American Inversion. ... By 1990, real incomes for the top 1 percent exceeded the 1920 level threefold and continued to rise thereafter, while those of the majority did not budge. Reversing the pattern of previous decades, the richer you were, the faster gains accrued. It did not matter if Democrats or Republicans were in charge of the White House or Congress. By 2007, the top 1 percent of households had almost five times the real income they had in 1920; the top 0.1 percent had around six times, and the top 0.01 percent were awash in nearly ten times the real income they had enjoyed nine decades earlier.
Girl, 9, is drunk dad’s designated driver
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Cubanos en España denuncian la represión en Cuba
Si no veo mal, los convocados aplauden cuando mencionan a la tirania comunista de los hermanos Castro.
Donor Unknown [Clip 3]
From their big toes, affection for animals, and, of course, their eyebrows, the offspring of Donor 150 were amazed to discover what they had in common both in their appearances and personalities, raising intriguing questions about our understanding of parenthood and the strange power of our genetic connections.
Donor Unknown is a uniquely 21st century story. The connections made between the children and their donor dad draw as much on modern technology as on old‐fashioned coincidence. While the siblings seem to take their ever-expanding family in stride, Jeffrey is more apprehensive about meeting some of his biological children for the first time. Donor Unknown raises intriguing questions about our understanding of parenthood, and the strange power of our genetic connections.
Donor Unknown is a uniquely 21st century story. The connections made between the children and their donor dad draw as much on modern technology as on old‐fashioned coincidence. While the siblings seem to take their ever-expanding family in stride, Jeffrey is more apprehensive about meeting some of his biological children for the first time. Donor Unknown raises intriguing questions about our understanding of parenthood, and the strange power of our genetic connections.
La gente en los Estados Unidos (y Europa) estan cada vez más enojados y las protestas van a ser mucho más temibles
NUEVA EUROPA- Nueva Eurabia
Ocupar el Muro de las protestas callejeras y el surgimiento del movimiento Tea Party han cambiado tanto a los Estados Unidos, pero no he visto nada todavía. Es mejor ponerse el cinturón de seguridad, porque Estados Unidos está muy enojado y la economía continúa en declive mientras las protestas van a ser mucho más alarmantes en los próximos años. Los estadounidenses se han vuelto muy acostumbrados a la prosperidad. Ahora que nuestra prosperidad está desapareciendo, la gente está empezando a enojarse mucho. Lo que asusta es que la gran mayoría de nuestra población vive en zonas urbanas fuertemente congestionadas. Eso hace que el potencial de disturbios de masas y el malestar social sea mucho mayor. En 1910, el 72 por ciento de los estadounidenses vivía en zonas rurales. Hoy en día, sólo el 16 por ciento de los estadounidenses viven en áreas rurales. Entonces, ¿qué sucede cuando usted tiene a millones de personas increíblemente enojadsa hacinados en las áreas metropolitanas fuertemente congestionadas? Bueno, estamos a punto de averiguarlo.Durante los últimos 4 años, hemos visto algunas cosas sin precedentes ocurrir en Estados Unidos. En primer lugar, fue testigo del surgimiento del movimiento Tea Party. Al principio casi era un movimiento de base real, pero ahora se ha hecho cargo de la mayoría de los republicanos del stablishement . Ahora estamos presenciando el surgimiento de Ocupar Wall Street . Si bien hay algunos elementos de base a él, la realidad es que ocupar Wall Street parece estar más o menos controlado por los demócratas. De hecho, a un individuo se le dijo recientemente que “ los signos Ron Paul no son bienvenidos aquí ”, en una reciente protesta.
Así que tenemos a la izquierda y la lucha contra la derecha con cada uno de los otros como gatos y perros . El movimiento del Tea Party y ocupar Wall Street casi tanto que se odian.
Mientras tanto, aquellos que controlan ambos partidos políticos están disfrutando de la vista.
Pero las personas que están expresando su ira a través de los movimientos de protesta como Ocupar Wall Street no van a estar contentos con el statu quo por mucho tiempo.
La verdad es que hay mucha ira en los Estados Unidos hoy, y que la ira está creciendo rápidamente. Millones y millones de estadounidenses están profundamente molestos por la economía y de nuestro sistema financiero.
En este momento, las protestas tanto por el movimiento del Tea Party y ocupar Wall Street han sido pacíficas.
Pero eso no durará indefinidamente.
De hecho, ya hay señales de que los ocupantes de Wall Street no se conforman con simplemente con estar sentados en el parque y el estruendo de los tambores.
Por ejemplo, los manifestantes irrumpieron en el edificio de oficinas Hart del Senado en Washington DC en la actualidad. Un puñado de manifestantes fueron arrestados.
Además, más de 50 manifestantes del movimiento Ocupar Boston fueron detenidos hoy por que no hicieron lo que la policía se les ordenaba hacer.
Pero más notable de todos fue la marcha de las casas de los millonarios en Nueva York. El día de hoy, ocupantes dec la calle Wall marcharon a la casa de Jamie Dimon, David Koch, John Paulson, Milstein Howard, y Rupert Murdoch.
Ni que decir tiene, que van a perturbar seriamente a algunas personas.
Las protestas en casa no fueron espontáneas. La verdad es que estaban muy organizadas. Los organizadores, como SEIU, miembro del consejo Stephen Lerner ha estado hablando acerca de ello desde hace bastante tiempo. De hecho, se le oye discutir los planes de las próximas protestas en las casas de los millonarios de nuevo aquí .
Hay mucho sobre Ocupar Wall Street que puede ser criticado ( sólo echa un vistazo a este artículo ), pero una cosa que quienes ocupan Wall Street estan haciendo de la derecha como la que se centra en el papel del dinero en la política.
Los grandes poderes financieros gastan cientos de millones de dólares en campañas políticas. Sólo echa un vistazo a esta infografía . Todo ese dinero compra un montón de influencia sobre el proceso político. Si no, los poderes financieros grandes no iba a pasar esa cantidad de dinero.
Sin embargo, los poderes financieros grandes no son sólo han de gastar dinero en campañas políticas. Ahora ha salido que los grandes bancos de Wall Street de Nueva York puedn pedir policías de la ciudad al igual que pizzas. De hecho, más de un millón de dólares se va a gastar este modo, sólo este año.
En un reciente artículo que fue publicado en counterpunch.org detalla cómo funciona esto ….
Uno de los ingeniosos métodos que ha mantenido por debajo de la atención pública fue iniciada por el gobierno de Rudy Giuliani en Nueva York en 1998. Se llama la Unidad de Detalle de pago y permite que el New York Stock Exchange y corporaciones de Wall Street, incluyendo aquellos repetidamente acusados de delitos, puedan con la facilidad de marcar el deli de pastrami con pan de centeno.
Las empresas pagan un promedio de $ 37 por hora (sin gastos médicos, sin pensión, sin pago de horas extras) para un miembro de la policía de Nueva York, con la pistola, las esposas y la capacidad de detención. El oficial es indemnizado por el contribuyente, no por la corporación.
Nueva York recibe una cuota de 10 por ciento de administración en la parte superior de los $ 37 por hora que se paga a la policía. En la Ciudad el presupuestodel 2011 pidió 1.184.000 dólares en honorarios de Detalle pagados, es decir, las empresas privadas estaban pagando los salarios de $ 11.8 millones a la policía que participan en la Unidad de Detalle . El programa se ha más que duplicado en los ingresos a la ciudad desde 2002.
Por lo que esperan los grandes bancos de Wall Street el envío de los pedidos de grandes cantidades de New York City Cops para protegerlos de los enloquecidos manifestantes de WallStreet.
Lamentablemente, si el número de la reciente encuesta es una indicación, la ira del pueblo estadounidense no va a disminuir en el corto plazo ….
* De acuerdo con Gallup, el porcentaje de estadounidenses que carecen de confianza en los bancos de EE.UU. se encuentra ahora en un máximo histórico de 36% .
* Según un reciente informe del Washington Post-ABC News , el 90 por ciento de los estadounidenses cree que la economía está funcionando mal y aproximadamente el 80 por ciento de los estadounidenses cree que es “difícil” encontrar un trabajo en estos momentos.
* De acuerdo con una reciente encuesta de Rasmussen , el 48 por ciento de los estadounidenses creen que las reducciones en el gasto del gobierno son “por lo menos algo probable” que resulte en los disturbios civiles en Estados Unidos.
* Otro estudio reciente encontró que el 73 por ciento de los estadounidenses creen que el país está “en el camino equivocado”.
* De acuerdo con una reciente de CBS News / New York Times encuesta, el Congreso tiene un índice de desaprobación del 82% .
* Una reciente encuesta de Rasmussen encontró que el 85 por ciento de los estadounidenses cree que los miembros del Congreso “están más interesados en ayudar a sus propias carreras profesionales que en ayudar a otras personas”, y que la misma encuesta encontró que 46 por ciento de los estadounidenses creen que la mayoría de los miembros del Congreso son corruptos.
* De acuerdo con una encuesta de Rasmussen diferente, sólo el 17 por cientode los estadounidenses creen ahora que el gobierno de EE.UU. tiene el consentimiento de los gobernados.
* Una reciente encuesta de The Washington Post encontró que el 78 por ciento de los estadounidenses no están satisfechos “con la forma del sistema político en que este país está trabajando” y que sólo el 26 por ciento de los estadounidenses creen ahora que el gobierno federal puede resolver los problemas económicos que estamos enfrentando.
Entonces, ¿qué hace todo eso se suman a?
Se suma a una población de EE.UU. que está muy frustrada y que está buscando salidas para la frustración.
A medida que la economía de EE.UU. sigue cayendo la frustración va a seguir subiendo.
Lo que estamos viendo en todo Estados Unidos es sólo el comienzo. Vamos a ver los movimientos de protesta y las explosiones de ira que ni siquiera podemos imaginar en este momento.
Días oscuros están llegando a Estados Unidos.
Eslo mejor püonerse el cinturón de seguridad.
OBAMA ENDORSED #OWS (En Alemania la Canciller Democrata Cristiana de la RDA acaba de solidarizarse con los movimientos de protesta en Frankfurt y a ella la llaman Neocon)
Check out Denver, El Marco was there: Neo-Cannibals, Deadbeats, Dopers and Democrats Occupy Denver
Ever since Karl Marx defined his vision of the future, socialists have been awaiting the complete collapse of the world-wide free enterprise system, and the beginning of a cataclysmic international Marxist revolution. The Occupy Wall Street movement is supported by Communist Party USA, the Islamic Republic of Iran, communist dictators Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, as well as the AFL-CIO, SEIU, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Ayers, Barack Obama, and the Democrat Party.
The violent Jacobin tendency among socialists was evident in many of the signs carried at this march.
Neo-cannibals seemed to be everywhere.
mas aquí:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/10/obama-endorsed.html
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)
La columna de Cubanalisis
NEOCASTRISMO [Hacer click en la imagen]
![NEOCASTRISMO [Hacer click en la imagen]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5jy0SZhMlaU/SsuPVOlq2NI/AAAAAAAAH1E/4xt2Bwd2reE/S150/ppo+saturno+jugando+con+sus+hijos.jpg)
¨Saturno jugando con sus hijos¨/ Pedro Pablo Oliva
Liborio
A la puerta de la gloria está San Pedro sentado y ve llegar a su lado a un hombre de cierta historia. No consigue hacer memoria y le pregunta con celo: ¿Quién eras allá en el suelo? Era Liborio mi nombre. Has sufrido mucho, hombre, entra, te has ganado el cielo.
Martha Colmenares
Un sitio donde los hechos y sus huellas nos conmueven o cautivan
CIF: Cuba Independiente http://CubaIndependiente.blogspot.com Registro (c) Copyright: ® DIN 189297780000 Gerente By: www.copyrightwww.com
