tagged w/ Global Report
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- A $20 trillion "externality" appears to present civilization with its BIG CHOICE: economic destruction or ecological destruction, both with chilling global security implications. Here's why, along with a practical and more hopeful alternative to "Sophie's Choice."
Carbon Tracker has released an illuminating report, "Unburnable Carbon - Are the world's financial markets carrying a carbon bubble?"[i]
The report nicely describes the potential "stranded asset risk" to resource company investors, and calls for a regulatory response on disclosure. What the report does not make explicit is the BIG CHOICE: Barring a miracle technology advance in the next decade (keep working brilliant scientists and entrepreneurs), if we want to avoid civilization-transforming and global security threatening climate change, we must absorb a global security threatening $20 trillion write off (that's 40 percent of global GDP) into our already stressed global economy. Even if gradually spread over a decade or more, with partial offsetting value creation in sustainable energy industries, this is an unprecedented challenge.- A $20 trillion "externality" appears to present civilization with its BIG... more
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Announcement of the military assistance comes just a few months after a series of leaked government documents suggest that Pakistan itself has been secretly funding the Taliban’s war effort.Announcement of the military assistance comes just a few months after a series of... more
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Military and police officials say that in some regions of Iraq, as many as 50 percent of their colleagues, including high-ranking officers, use drugs or alcohol while on duty.Military and police officials say that in some regions of Iraq, as many as 50 percent... more
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Despite well-documented accounts of abuse, unjustified shootings, and lack of accountability, the use of private security contractors in the United States’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to grow as American forces shrink.Despite well-documented accounts of abuse, unjustified shootings, and lack of... more
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The Wikileaks war logs reveal assault and systematic torture of prisoners at the hands of Iraqi soldiers – all with the tacit permission of coalition forces. According to the documents, coalition forces were specifically ordered under Fragmentary Order 242 not to investigate any breach of the laws of armed conflict, such as the abuse of detainees, unless it directly involves members of the coalition.The Wikileaks war logs reveal assault and systematic torture of prisoners at the hands... more
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Fresh evidence that US soldiers handed over detainees to a notorious Iraqi torture squad has emerged in army logs published by WikiLeaks. The 400,000 field reports published by the whistleblowing website contain an official account of deliberate threats by a military interrogator to turn his captive over to the so-called Iraqi "Wolf Brigade". The interrogator told the prisoner in explicit terms that: "He would be subject to all the pain and agony that the Wolf battalion is known to exact upon its detainees."Fresh evidence that US soldiers handed over detainees to a notorious Iraqi torture... more
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WikiLeaks says its release of nearly 400,000 classified U.S. files on the Iraq war show that 15,000 more Iraqi civilians died than previously thought.WikiLeaks says its release of nearly 400,000 classified U.S. files on the Iraq war... more
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From United Nations news agency IRIN: Over 100,000 people have been forced out of their homes from war in different parts of Afghanistan over the past 12 months and according to aid agencies and affected people, many of them are in dire need of assistance.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says civilians are trapped in an environment in which one armed group may demand food and shelter in the evening and an opposing side demand justification for harboring an enemy in the morning.
The ICRC, which works in collaboration with the Afghan Red Crescent Society and has better access to conflict-affected areas than UN agencies, says it has only been able to assist about 20,000 of the over 100,000 civilians displaced by fighting since last year.From United Nations news agency IRIN: Over 100,000 people have been forced out of... more
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The U.S. Army has used local television stations in the U.S. as training posts for some of its psychological-operations personnel, according to Yahoo! News blog The Upshot. Since at least 2001, both WRAL, a CBS affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., and WTOC, a CBS affiliate in Savannah, Ga., have regularly hosted active-duty soldiers from the Army's 4th Psychological Operations group as part of the Army's Training With Industry program.The U.S. Army has used local television stations in the U.S. as training posts for... more
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Financial institutions on Wall Street are preparing to pay a record 144 billion dollars in compensation and benefits, according to a study published in the Wall Street Journal. The payout, covering bonuses, premiums and stock options for the firm's executives and employees, is a four-percent raise over the previous record 139 billion dollars that was handed over in 2009.Financial institutions on Wall Street are preparing to pay a record 144 billion... more
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The Independent reports that the Israeli military is being urged to investigate the recent shootings of at least 12 impoverished Palestinian teenagers and young men collecting gravel in an effort to eke out an income within 800 meters of Gaza’s heavily guarded northern border.The Independent reports that the Israeli military is being urged to investigate the... more
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The Wall Street Journal reports that BP’s lawyers helped prepare its internal investigation into its Gulf of Mexico drilling disaster, according to the report's lead author, raising questions about the study's impartiality.The Wall Street Journal reports that BP’s lawyers helped prepare its internal... more
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Propublica’s Marian Wang reports that even as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls for more research into the long-term effects of the chemical dispersants BP used in the Gulf, representatives of BP and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been dispatching public relations officials to local schools to do what they refer to as dispelling myths about dispersants and subsurface oil.Propublica’s Marian Wang reports that even as the U.S. Environmental Protection... more
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Protesters rallied in Washington last week against what they called the "loan shark" activities of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other international financial institutions.Protesters rallied in Washington last week against what they called the "loan... more
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Senior Pakistani diplomats and European intelligence officials have told British newspaper The Guardian that a US terror alert issued this past week about al-Qaida plots to attack targets in Western Europe was politically motivated and not based on credible new information.Senior Pakistani diplomats and European intelligence officials have told British... more
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The Associated Press reports that from the 1950s Pentagon to today's Obama administration, the United States has repeatedly pondered, planned and threatened to attack North Korea with nuclear weapons, according to just released declassified U.S. government documents.The Associated Press reports that from the 1950s Pentagon to today's Obama... more
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In a first for a former Guantánamo captive freed by a federal judge, a Syrian man now living in Europe is suing the U.S. government for damages from what he calls a "Kafkaesque nightmare."In a first for a former Guantánamo captive freed by a federal judge, a Syrian... more
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The CIA has declined comment on allegations that its drones have a targeting margin of error of up to 40 feet, a malfunction that could be contributing to civilian deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan.The CIA has declined comment on allegations that its drones have a targeting margin of... more
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Afghanistan’s health ministry said this week that their country is struggling to fight the mental health problems that afflict an estimated two thirds of its population after decades of violence.Afghanistan’s health ministry said this week that their country is struggling to... more
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A recently-retired United Nations official is warning that the Taliban have infiltrated the Afghan army and police. Dr. Antonio Maria Costa, former head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, says Taliban sleeper cells have been set up inside the security forces.A recently-retired United Nations official is warning that the Taliban have... more
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