Bankocracy

Tesla Wants To Eliminate Side Mirrors; Regulators Stand In The Way

"Instead of the traditional wing-like mirror jutting out into the air, the Model X used small video cameras built into the doors with display cameras on the inside. This drastically improved the aerodynamics of the Model X, but also broke Federal safety regulations. While Federal regulations requiring the addition of back-up cameras to cars was slated to go into effect this year, lawmakers have pushed that law back to 2015. That means Tesla has time to lobby lawmakers to rewrite the law to allow for the option of eliminating side mirrors and replacing them with video cameras. Some estimates say that by just getting rid of side mirrors, aerodynamics could improve as much as 5% overall." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTesla Wants To Eliminate Side Mirrors; Regulators Stand In The Way

Yosemite fire prompts state of emergency in San Francisco

"It’s 150 miles from San Francisco to Yosemite, but the 200-square-mile wildfire that’s edged into the national park has prompted California Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for the city hours away. That’s because more than 2.6 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area receive water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite. The fire threatens some 5,500 residences. More than 2,700 state, federal and local firefighters from around the nation had joined the fight against the Rim Fire by Friday evening, and large air tankers battled the blaze from above, but dry weather, rugged terrain, and gusty winds limited efforts to carve out containment lines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYosemite fire prompts state of emergency in San Francisco

Smog crisis creates ‘apocalyptic’ conditions in Singapore

"Fast-food deliveries have been cancelled, the army has suspended field training and even Singapore’s top marathon runner has retreated as residents try to protect themselves from the smog that has descended on the city-state. In Singapore’s worst environmental crisis in more than a decade, the skyscrapers lining the Marina Bay financial district were shrouded by thick smoke Thursday as raging forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia’s Sumatra island pushed air pollution levels to an all-time high. The acrid smell of burning wood lingered everywhere, including inside air-conditioned metro trains, and cars were covered with a thin film of grey ash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSmog crisis creates ‘apocalyptic’ conditions in Singapore

St. Louis Is Burning

"West Lake Landfill is an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site that's home to some of the oldest radioactive wastes in the world. A six-foot chain-link fence surrounds the perimeter, plastered with bright yellow hazard signs that warn of the dangers within. On one corner stands a rusty gas pump. About 1,200 feet south of the radioactive EPA site, the fire at Bridgeton Landfill spreads out like hot barbeque coals. No one knows for sure what happens when an underground inferno meets a pool of atomic waste, but residents aren't eager to find out." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSt. Louis Is Burning

Life in a Toxic Country

"I recently found myself hauling a bag filled with 12 boxes of milk powder and a cardboard container with two sets of air filters through San Francisco International Airport. I was heading to my home in Beijing at the end of a work trip, bringing back what have become two of the most sought-after items among parents here, and which were desperately needed in my own household. China is the world’s second largest economy, but the enormous costs of its growth are becoming apparent. Residents of its boom cities and a growing number of rural regions question the safety of the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLife in a Toxic Country

Bhutan banks on ‘white gold’ hydropower

"Home to meditating monks and Himalayan nomads, the sleepy kingdom of Bhutan has set its sights on becoming an unlikely energy powerhouse thanks to its abundant winding rivers. Hydropower plants have already harnessed the country’s water flows to light up nearly every Bhutanese home, generating electricity that is sent to remote villages by cables strung through rugged mountain terrain. It is a rapid transformation for the long isolated nation, where less than a quarter of households had electricity in 1999 — the same year Bhutan became the last country to introduce television." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBhutan banks on ‘white gold’ hydropower

Bush Winks, Sends Millions in Untraceable Cash to Musharraf [2007]

"After Pervez Musharraf declared martial law this weekend, Condoleezza Rice vowed to review U.S. assistance to Pakistan, one of the largest foreign recipients of American aid. Musharraf, of course, has been a crucial American ally since the start of the Afghanistan war in 2001, and the U.S. has rewarded him ever since with over $10 billion in civilian and (mostly) military largesse. A considerable amount of the money the U.S. gives to Pakistan is administered not through U.S. agencies or joint U.S.-Pakistani programs. Instead, the U.S. gives Musharraf's government about $200 million annually and his military $100 million monthly in the form of direct cash transfers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBush Winks, Sends Millions in Untraceable Cash to Musharraf [2007]

Pakistan’s Musharraf charged over murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto

"Pakistan’s ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf was indicted on three counts Tuesday over the 2007 murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide attack, a prosecutor said. Charging a former army chief is an unprecedented move in a country ruled for more than half of its life by the military and where the army is still considered the most powerful institution. It was the second time that Musharraf, who ruled the nuclear-armed state from 1999-2008, had been summoned to face charges of criminal conspiracy and the murder of Bhutto in December 2007. Musharraf denies the charges and the case has been adjourned until August 27." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPakistan’s Musharraf charged over murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto

Terrorism: The Latest Salvo on LNG Exports

"In the latest twist, a U.S. lawmaker said capitalizing on the natural gas boom through exports would expose the country to national security risks from terrorism. Several news outlets, citing unnamed or anonymous sources, reported al-Qaida militants killed four soldiers in their sleep in an attack on Balhaf, the country's lone liquefied natural gas export terminal. Drone strikes over Yemen increased in the wake of an early August security warning linking al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to Yemen's al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and a security source working in the energy sector said the raid on Balhaf was in response to those incidents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTerrorism: The Latest Salvo on LNG Exports

Russian channel censored WWII series documenting ‘dark side’ of Soviet war effort

"Penal battalions in World War II employed convicted criminals and political prisoners and were essentially a taboo subject for decades, although they were used in near suicide missions between 1942 and 1945. The Russian parliament has already passed in an initial reading a bill to ban obscene language in literature and film. Another law that was recently proposed by pro-Kremlin lawmakers imposes fines and jail terms of up to five years for 'justification of fascism,' a broad measure which would punish people who talk about crimes committed by and within the Soviet army." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussian channel censored WWII series documenting ‘dark side’ of Soviet war effort