tagged w/ World Affairs
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This image provided by Sotheby's shows Pablo Picasso's "La Fille de l'artiste a deux ans et demi avec un bateau," a 1938 oil. It will be part of a Sotheby's sale May 5. (Sotheby's New York) –
After a 7-year boom, art auction houses are struggling as collectors hit hard by the recession close their wallets. Sotheby’s predicts it will pull in $179 million to $256 million at spring sales, compared to $742 million a year ago. As the spring events approach, auctioneers are employing an array of strategies to restore the market, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The coming sales are key to boosting buyers’ confidence—and the ability of auction houses to attract top works to sell. At this point, says a private dealer, “The auction houses don’t care what the works sell for—they just need it to sell so they can prove the art market is still alive.”
* * * * Fortunately the buying and selling of art has little to do with the productivity of artists who, regardless of economic conditions, continue to create and express their representation of society's fabric. It's good to know that art and the artist prevail even when buyers and sellers do not.This image provided by Sotheby's shows Pablo Picasso's "La Fille de... more
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The Internet's carbon footprint is swelling, threatening major companies and even the planet, the Guardian reports. As its footprint expands by more than 10% annually, surpassing even the airline industry, ever-growing data centers and web servers are putting companies at financial risk during a recession. "We need to rein in the energy consumption," said a Sun Microsystems executive.
Computer giants like Google and Microsoft have tried to reduce energy use with more efficient machines, but keep exact numbers under wraps. One analyst estimates that US data centers burned 61 billion kilowatt hours of energy in 2006—enough to power the UK for 2 months. But Google has pooh-poohed any concerns. "One mile of driving completely dwarfs the cost of a search," one executive said.
Source: Guardian (UK)The Internet's carbon footprint is swelling, threatening major companies and even... more
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Image: Airline employees in Hong Kong work Saturday, a day after officials there confirmed their first case of swine flu.
The World Health Organization began distributing antiviral doses to 70 nations Saturday as the number of confirmed cases of swine flu rose to 659 across the globe.
The increase in confirmed cases was attributed to completed testing of numerous backlogged suspected cases in Mexico, where the flu strain scientifically known as H1N1 is believed to have originated, WHO officials said.
Mexico has the most confirmed cases, with 397 infected people, and 16 deaths attributed to the virus, WHO said. Mexico's health minister said Saturday that his nation's total had reached 443, although that number was not reflected in the WHO's total.
"What the increase reflects is that we are moving forward in confirming many of the cases that have been left untested for some time, so in an way that's reassuring," WHO spokesman Paul Garwood said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also confirmed on Saturday a higher total of confirmed cases, 161, up from Friday's total of 141.
President Barack Obama spoke with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Saturday afternoon to discuss both countries' "efforts to limit the spread of the 2009 H1N1 flu strain and the importance of close U.S.-Mexican cooperation," the White House said in a statement.
About one-third of Americans sickened by swine flu recently visited Mexico or had contact with someone who has, a doctor at the CDC said Saturday.
The U.S. figure represents cases in 22 states. Four more states joined the CDC list -- Connecticut, Florida, Missouri, and Rhode Island, the CDC said.
Most of people infected with the flu in the United States are under 20 years old, but people from 1 to 81 have come down with it, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC's interim deputy director for science and public health. The median patient age is 17.
In an effort to prepare countries for the virus, the organization began distributing 2.4 million antiviral doses to 72 countries, said Dr. Michael J. Ryan, the WHO director of its global alert and response team. Watch latest developments as swine flu sweeps world »
Ryan did not name the countries set to receive Tamiflu, except for Mexico -- the epicenter of the global outbreak, saying the agency would announce the other nations on Sunday. Distribution of the drug is targeting "the poorest countries with the greatest need," he said.
The drug should be taken within 48 hours of experiencing symptoms, according to the drug's Web site.
Ryan said the World Health Organization was still preparing for a pandemic.
"I would still propose that a pandemic is imminent because we're seeing the disease spread to other countries. We have not seen yet that sustained transmission outside one WHO region," said Dr. Michael J. Ryan, the WHO's director of its global alert and response team.
"Pandemics are serious," he said, but it is important to note they describe "the geographic spread of the disease, not its severity."
However, he cautioned against reports that indicate the virus may be weaker than originally thought.
"I'd be very pleased if it turns out that this virus is weaker than it could be. I'd be the happiest man in the world. However, I think history has told us that these viruses are very, very, very unpredictable."Image: Airline employees in Hong Kong work Saturday, a day after officials there... more
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Lacking the votes to block President Obama's Supreme Court pick, Republicans have a gang of researchers digging up prospective candidates' "crazy opinions" to hurt Dems in the 2010 midterm elections, a GOP aide tells Politico. But knowing that Obama's pick will likely be a woman or Latino or both—Judge Sonia Sotomayor currently tops the short list—Republicans "have to be careful not to f—- up and overreach," the aide said.
Especially prickly for the GOP is the fact that a white man—likely Sen. Jeff Sessions—will lead questioning on the Senate Judiciary Committee. For now, Republicans are warning that the selection process may force lawmakers to sideline the Democrats' agenda. "This came unexpectedly," Sen. John Cornyn said. “Regulatory reform, patent reform, health care reform ... I'm not sure if we can do all of it at the same time."
* * * * * Things just seem to keep going Obama's way much to the GOP's chagrin.Lacking the votes to block President Obama's Supreme Court pick, Republicans have... more
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124119134084477477.html
Hong Kong's government imposed a controversial full quarantine on approximately 300 guests and staff of a hotel in the territory after a guest was found to have the A/H1N1 flu virus, an extreme measure to control the spread of the disease.
The move appears to be the first imposition of an involuntary quarantine in the global effort to beat back the new flu strain, which so far has sickened hundreds and is believed to have killed 176 people in Mexico and one in the U.S.
Health workers in protective gear enter the Metropark Hotel Friday.
The Isolation order came from the Director of Health. The order came as Chief Executive Donald Tsang announced late Friday that lab tests confirmed a visitor from Mexico, who transited through Shanghai, had the disease. It was Hong Kong's first official case. Coupled with a confirmation Saturday in South Korea, the cases are the first known in East Asia.
The quarantine of the Metropark Hotel in Hong Kong's Wanchai district, a four-star hotel popular among business travelers and tourists, requires guests and staff to stay inside for a week. As police in protective masks prevented people from entering or leaving, some guests waved to a growing crowd outside from their rooms. Other guests returning to the hotel ran into a scene of confusion.
The quarantined guests, who will be given preventive doses of Tamiflu, are free to move within the hotel, but are being encouraged to stay in their rooms and minimize contact with others, a government spokesman said.
Inside the hotel, teams of doctors checked the temperatures of the guests, said Shi Wenjing, a 27-year-old translator from Shanghai who was among the quarantined. One person "was immediately taken away by several other doctors," she said by phone from her hotel room late Friday night.
"It's a bit scary," Ms. Shi said. "It's just like the scenes in Hong Kong-made TV dramas."http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124119134084477477.html
Hong Kong's government... more
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Image: Robert Bazell
Chief science and health correspondent
NBC News
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As new cases of swine flu emerge around the globe, from Ohio to Nova Scotia to New Zealand, the declaration of a "public health emergency" in the United States has further stoked fears and confusion.
NBC Chief Science and Health Correspondent Robert Bazell answers questions on the outbreak.
If this disease is like a mild flu, why is this being called a public health emergency? And why are officials in the United States concerned?
It's about the potential. It's not about what's happening right now. None of the 40 cases so far in the United States have been very serious. But the virus here is genetically identical to the strain of the virus that is killing people in Mexico.
This is a new virus so there's no natural immunity. It has the potential to spread very widely. That's what raises worries about a possible pandemic.
Don't thousands of people die from the regular flu? What's special this time around?
Generally, people who die from influenza are older people or those who already have respiratory problems. They end up dying of pneumonia. But this time around, the people who died in Mexico are younger. They are apparently healthy people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. That's a big deal. When a virus seems to preferentially affect healthy people, it suggests its a new virus and is causing an overreaction of the immune response. That's what happened with bird flu as well.Image: Robert Bazell
Chief science and health correspondent
NBC News... more
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Image: This visualization illustrates rupture and wave propagation of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake
A recent report highlights strengths and weaknesses in U.S. high-end computer simulations relative to international counterparts. Science and engineering are advancing rapidly in part due to ever more powerful computer simulations, yet the most advanced supercomputers require programming skills that all too few U.S. researchers possess. At the same time, affordable computers and committed national programs outside the U.S. are eroding American competitiveness in number of simulation-driven fields.
These are some of the key findings in the International Assessment of Research and Development in Simulation-Based Engineering and Science, released on Apr. 22, 2009, by the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC).
"The startling news was how quickly our assumptions have to change," said Phillip Westmoreland, program director for combustion, fire and plasma systems at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and one of the sponsors of the report. "Because computer chip speeds aren't increasing, hundreds and thousands of chips are being ganged together, each one with many processors. New ways of programming are necessary."
Like other WTEC studies, this study was led by a team of leading researchers from a range of simulation science and engineering disciplines and involved site visits to research facilities around the world.
Some of the new high-powered computers are as common as gaming computers, so key breakthroughs and leadership could come from anywhere in the world," added Westmoreland. "Last week's research-directions workshop brought together engineers and scientists from around the country, developing ideas that would keep the U.S. at the vanguard as we face these changes."Image: This visualization illustrates rupture and wave propagation of a magnitude... more
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With daily attacks on both public and private computer systems in the US mounting into the thousands, President Obama is expected to announce an overhaul of US strategy to defend against cyberwarfare—building on a $17 billion program Congress approved last year—and name a White House cyberwarfare boss, the New York Times reports. But the president will likely keep quiet about the US’ own offensive capabilities, nurtured with billions of dollars in recent years.
The US has already used cyber-weapons against al-Qaeda and Iran, in the former case to plot a trap, and in the latter to slow nuclear weapons development, the Times notes. But the cyber arms races is just kicking into gear. Potential weapons would allow the US to invade foreign servers to wipe out threatening programs, or even control foreign computers through the Internet. The focus is on preempting attacks that could cripple US power stations, communications, aviation, or financial systems. “The ability to threaten the US money supply is the equivalent of today’s nuclear weapon,” says a former national intelligence chief.With daily attacks on both public and private computer systems in the US mounting into... more
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Image: Blister strips containing Tamiflu capsules in the Roche packaging facility in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland.
Pharmacies are stocking up on Tamiflu and other anti-influenza drugs as fears grow of a swine flu outbreak, but health officials warn that the antivirals could do more harm than good if administered incorrectly. Taking the drugs in the wrong dose or for too short a time can lead to the development of new, drug-resistant strains, reports the Los Angeles Times.
This weekend Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the release of 12 million doses of Tamiflu and Relenza, another antiviral, to states in need. The drugs can prevent infection before exposure and can treat those already ill, but officials warns against self-medicating. "You don't want to get panicked about this and start taking Tamiflu willy-nilly," said one doctor.
* * * * * Even if it seems too many warnings and too much information is being released I think it's better to be informed than not to be. I'm thankful for all the people who are doing their best to help us over this crises.Image: Blister strips containing Tamiflu capsules in the Roche packaging facility in... more
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Image: Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.
(AP Last-minute talks between the Treasury Department and Chrysler's creditors have broken down, making a bankruptcy filing nearly certain today, the Wall Street Journal reports. In other developments, the Detroit News says Italian automaker Fiat will still sign a deal today to forge an alliance with Chrysler. Under the bankruptcy plan being worked out by the government, Chrysler chief Robert Nardelli would be replaced by Fiat management, says the Washington Post.
In his primetime news conference, President Obama said he is "hopeful" that Chrysler could remain a viable company, and he said any bankruptcy would be a "very quick type." If bankruptcy goes through, the new company would be owned by the UAW (55%), Fiat (35%), the US government (8%) and Canada (2%), says the Post.Image: Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.
(AP Last-minute talks... more
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Image: Pedestrians use face masks as a precaution against swine flu outside metro station Chapultepec in Mexico City, Wednesday
MEXICO CITY - Mexico's government is suspending all nonessential activity of the federal government and private business as the number of confirmed swine flu cases jumped.
The decision came as global health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread farther in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. A toddler who succumbed in Texas became the first death outside Mexico.
Health Secretary José Angel Córdova Villalobos announced the move to shut down most of the country’s government and economy shortly after his department reported that confirmed cases of infection with the new strain of influenza had risen. The death toll in Mexico is believed to be 160.
Pedestrians use face masks as a precaution against swine flu outside metro station Chapultepec in Mexico City, Wednesday, April 29, 2009.
2:55 p.m. ET, 4/29/09Image: Pedestrians use face masks as a precaution against swine flu outside metro... more
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A Malaysian court ruled that McDonald’s does not control the rights to every word with the “Mc” prefix, the AP reports. The appellate court overturned a 2006 decision that forced a Malaysian restaurant named “McCurry’s” to pay damages to McDonald’s for using the name to associate its business with the fast-food chain.
In granting the appeal, the judge ruled that one must consider the totality of the business’ branding—McCurry’s, which the owners claim stands for “Malaysian Chicken Curry” has a logo and sign that bear little resemblance to the golden-arches-on-red that McDonald’s uses. Therefore, “McCurry’s Restaurant signboard would not result in reasonable persons associating McCurry with the McDonald’s mark,” judge Gopal Sri Ram said.A Malaysian court ruled that McDonald’s does not control the rights to every... more
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Saying an global outbreak is considered imminent, the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert for swine flu to the second highest level Wednesday, meaning that it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent.
WHO Director General Margaret Chan declared the phase 5 alert after consulting with flu experts from around the world. The decision could lead the global body to recommend additional measures to combat the outbreak, including for vaccine manufacturers to switch production from seasonal flu vaccines to a pandemic vaccine.
"All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans," Chan told reporters in Geneva. "It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic."
A phase 5 alert means there is sustained transmission among people in at least two countries. Once the virus shows effective transmission in two different regions of the world a full pandemic outbreak — level 6 — would be declared, meaning a global epidemic of a new and deadly disease.
WHO has confirmed human cases of swine flu in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain. Mexico has reported more than 150 deaths and more than 2,000 have likely been sickened.
Nearly 100 cases have now been confirmed in the U.S. across 11 states, and health officials reported Wednesday that a 23-month-old Mexican boy had died in Texas.
"It is important to take this very seriously," Chan told a press conference
* * * * * Some people will think this news is a lot of hype but medical scientist have been saying for some time that they consider a pandemic to happen at any time. The fact that it's happening in a number of countries at the same time is evident that this disease is spreading at a rapid rate on a world wide scale. I don't believe WHO is overestimating the flue's potential.Saying an global outbreak is considered imminent, the World Health Organization... more
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Waterboarding? Hasn't been used in years. Walling, stress positions, abdominal slaps? They're no longer allowed. But if the CIA can no longer use the interrogation techniques described in chilling detail in the so-called "torture memos," what can it do to extract information from terror suspects?
The CIA's Willful Ignorance on Harsh Interrogations
On his second day as President, Obama ordered the Agency to use the Army Field Manual as its interrogation playbook. The manual, originally written for Cold War prisoners but updated in 2006, states that "no [detainee], regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment as defined in U.S. law." It also categorically states that harsh interrogation techniques are essentially useless. "Beyond being impermissible, these unlawful and unauthorized forms of treatment are unproductive because they may yield unreliable results, damage subsequent collection efforts, and result in extremely negative consequences at national and international levels."
* * * * * At what level of causing the Interrogated discomfort, beyond prolonged questioning, acceptable? What techniques would you consider appropriate?Waterboarding? Hasn't been used in years. Walling, stress positions, abdominal... more
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An Article by Lisa Schwarzbaum:
I'm still stuck on Susan Boyle, and still weeping. I suppose that's so 24 hours ago, and I should be thinking instead about how Mel Gibson's divorce might affect his box-office cred with conservative Catholics. Instead, I play the YouTube clip over and over of Boyle, the frumpy, middle-aged British lady who marched out on the stage of the national TV show Britain’s Got Talent this past weekend. She bided her time through the judgmental hoots and snickers of the studio audience and judges (headed by international snickerer-in-chief Simon Cowell). She sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. And she brought a worldwide audience to their feet -- to her feet -- with the grandeur of her voice.
I'll get back to pondering how Vin Diesel's future might change with the success of Fast & Furious soon enough, but right now I'm pondering why the experience of watching and listening to Ms. Boyle makes so many viewers cry, me among them. And I think I've got a simple answer, at least for me: In our pop-minded culture so slavishly obsessed with packaging -- the right face, the right clothes, the right attitudes, the right Facebook posts -- the unpackaged artistic power of the unstyled, un-hip, un-kissed Ms. Boyle let me feel, for the duration of one blazing showstopping ballad, the meaning of human grace. She pierced my defenses. She reordered the measure of beauty. And I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately I need that corrective from time to time.
Yep. Simple as that. That's why I weep. What's your excuse?
* * * * If you havn't heard Susan Boyle you will find her on You Tube.An Article by Lisa Schwarzbaum:
I'm still stuck on Susan Boyle, and still... more
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Image: President Asif Ali Zardari
Pakistan’s president suggested today that Osama bin Laden could be dead, an assertion the US strenuously objects to, the New York Daily News reports. “He may be dead. But that’s been said before,” Asif Ali Zardari said. “It’s still between fiction and fact.” Zardari offered no proof for his claim.
“We continue to assume he is still living and breathing,” a US intelligence official said. Bin Laden’s most recent audio message, which came March 19, has been authenticated by the US. Pakistan recently began an offensive against separatists near the mountainous region where US forces first began searching for bin Laden in 2006. That area has been ceded to Islamic fundamentalists.
Source: New York Daily News
* * * * * Let us hope that Zardai will be proven right.Image: President Asif Ali Zardari
Pakistan’s president suggested today... more
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Image: Perdue University received $8 million
A wave of nearly $70 million in mysterious donations to a dozen colleges across the country has set off a happy guessing game in academic circles, the New York Times reports. "Whoever it is wishes to remain anonymous and I, for one, am perfectly happy to respect that," says the president of New Jersey's Montclair State, which received $5 million last month. It was Michigan State's turn Thursday—the school got $10 million.
Among the potential clues: All the lucky schools have female presidents, and some of the money is earmarked for scholarships for women and minority students. All except one are public. Most are in the East. Maybe, one nonprofit director speculates, the donor is lying low to avoid pressure to give in the future. Whatever the case, the recipients are just happy to be part of it. "We’re focusing on how this will help our students,” says a University of Maryland official.
Source: New York TimesImage: Perdue University received $8 million
A wave of nearly $70 million in... more
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The most striking finding from the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll released today is the change in the public mood. Since Barack Obama was elected president in November, the pervasive gloom of 2008 has given way to a sense of hopefulness and considerably more optimism about the state of the country.
How much of this change is directly attributable to Obama's leadership rather than the nascent signs of improvement will become fodder for the cable shows as the president's 100th day arrives this week. What's important is that he now enjoys the power of public confidence. He will need all the backing he can muster as he moves into what is likely to be an even more difficult phase of his presidency.
Half the country now thinks things are moving in the right direction. That compares with 8 percent in October, during the election's final weeks. The shift in public sentiment sets Obama apart from many of his predecessors. It took Bill Clinton five years and a successful reelection campaign before Post-ABC News polls recorded a majority believing the country was on the right track. Other recent presidents have seen the mood turn sour before it improved.
No one should mistake the current mood for euphoria, given the state of the economy. But the poll shows an across-the-board boost in spirits. Among Democrats, 71 percent say the country is going in the right direction -- the first time since 1999 that figure has hit the 70 percent mark. Among independents, 44 percent are positive -- the highest since the fall of Baghdad in the spring of 2003. Republicans are far more pessimistic, with 27 percent saying the country is going in the right direction -- but that's still double what it was in February.The most striking finding from the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll released today... more
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Reporting from New Delhi, India -- Pakistan launched a military operation against militants today in a district that had been covered under a controversial peace deal concluded with the Taliban, suggesting a tougher line by the government --The government military operation may put in jeopardy its controversial peace deal with the Taliban,
at least temporarily.
Hillary Clinton warns of 'existential threat' in Pakistan
The United States, some Pakistani lawmakers and analysts have argued that the deal could embolden the extremists rather than leading to genuine peace. Some of those fears appeared justified when Taliban fighters moved into the Buner district abutting Swat in recent weeks, hoping to extend their influence.
Government warnings caused the groups to retreat to Swat late last week, although militants were still visible on the streets when a reporter visited Saturday. Residents said they were local Taliban members.
* * * * * The fact that Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons makes it imperative that they continue on with this line of action as Clinton is urging them to do. Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban would most likely bring about unthinkable disaster to the world.Reporting from New Delhi, India -- Pakistan launched a military operation against... more
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A captain of an Italian cruise ship has given the BBC a dramatic account of how his crew fended off a pirate attack near the coast of Somalia.
Capt Ciro Pinto said six pirates in a speedboat approached his Melody ship and opened fire, but then fled after security men fired in the air.
He said his crew also sprayed water on the gunmen when they tried to climb aboard using a ladder.
No-one was hurt in Saturday's incident. Some 1,500 people were on the vessel.
Somali pirates have also seized an empty Yemeni oil tanker and clashed with coast guards on Sunday, a Yemeni official said.
Two pirates were killed in the action as the Yemeni coast guard tried to free the vessel, a Yemeni government official was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
The official said three pirates and two Yemeni coast guards were also wounded in the exchange.
* * * * * It's taken a while but it looks like the tide is starting to turn against the pirates.A captain of an Italian cruise ship has given the BBC a dramatic account of how his... more
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