World Politics

[VeloCity]

http://www.livescience.com/29437-carbon-dioxide-record-broken.html

The proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere broke 400 parts per million Thursday (May 9), according to one of the best climate records available.

The Keeling Curve, a daily record of atmospheric carbon dioxide, has been running continuously since March 1958, when a carbon dioxide monitor was installed at Mauna Loa in Hawaii. On the first day, the observatory measured a carbon dioxide concentration of 313 parts per million (ppm). The number means there were 313 molecules of carbon dioxide in the air per every million air molecules.

Now, the Keeling Curve has reached 400 ppm for the first time in human history, with a new measure of 400.03 ppm. The data are preliminary, pending quality control checks, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

From 313 to over 400 in less than 55 years, with no end in sight. Fun times.

 

[Cobblestones]

http://www.livescience.com/29437-carbon-dioxide-record-broken.html

From 313 to over 400 in less than 55 years, with no end in sight. Fun times.

There is nothing to be done about it, unfortunately.

This is a global problem which requires a painful and global solution. The world simply has no system in place to deal with such a problem and to enforce the required steps. The division into competing, mostly national states simply isn't suited for this. In one sense, it's a game of chicken. Whoever limits CO2 production first will burden his economy compared to others. Couple to that the general bureaucratic inertia and clearly doing nothing will win 99 out of 100 times.

There is probably more to learn (and think) about than global warming. For nearly 70 years, we were told that a world order of capitalistic democracies organized in national states is the way to go. What if that is actually not true? What if the authoritarian Chinese model produces consistently higher growth rates than the Western democracies? What if the connection between liberal democracy and economic hegemony is simply a historic accident, or coincidence of the last 70 years which is about to being corrected? What if the collection of national states, which again is a historic accident of maybe the last 150 years, isn't a useful world order to tackle ecological problems such a global warming or the ongoing mass extinction? What if a real power transfer to much larger political structures would be needed, such as to the EU, or UN, in order to reach a solution? What if the large economic interests need to become subject to environmental necessities in order for the human species to survive? What if any of that is true? Aren't we then totally and utterly fvcked?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Saw Tony Abbott's budget reply speech in the chamber last night. Absolutely brilliant. Got a 5 minute standing ovation while the Labor scum left in despair. Swan has never received such a response to a budget because he is a muppet and a failure.

The Tories will be back on Sept 14.

 

[Bala Verde]

Always go full ***:

Shouts of 'Heil Hitler' in Greek parliament

 

[auscyclefan94]

Hazel Hawke passes away

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...lian-hazel-hawke/story-fncyva0b-1226649462337

 

[Zam_Olyas]

This made me laugh...will Tom and Jimmy fingers get more money?

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/baby-bounce-royal-infant-may-help-uk-economy

 

[Merckx index]

Wow, if you want to know what kind of guy Putin is:

The Super Bowl ring is one of the greatest symbols of athletic triumph. NFL players have been known to break down when they can finally fit that particular bit of jewelry on their fingers, and I've met enough former players, coaches, and executives who would never be separated from their rings to know that the buzz lasts forever. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has three such rings from his team's wins in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX. The ring Kraft won for that last Super Bowl, at the end of the 2004 season, went missing in a very unusual way.

As the story goes, Kraft met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a gathering of business and political leaders at Konstantinovsky Palace near St. Petersburg, Russia, in June of 2005. Kraft and Putin talked a while, Kraft took off his ring to show it to Putin, and Putin promptly put the ring in his pocket and walked off.
…

“I took out the ring and showed it to [Putin], and he put it on and he goes, ‘I can kill someone with this ring,’” Kraft said during the Carnegie Hall’s Medal of Excellence gala in New York City.“I put my hand out, and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out.”

Putin has not returned the ring, worth $25,000, and Kraft was pressured by then-President Bush to regard it as a gift to Putin for the sake of better American-Russian relations. Another example of too big to fail, I guess.

 

[Amsterhammer]

I suppose that we should all give three muted cheers and take some comfort from the Iranian election result, where the least 'conservative', least batsh!t crazy mullah, appears to have won.

 

[blutto]

I suppose that we should all give three muted cheers and take some comfort from the Iranian election result, where the least 'conservative', least batsh!t crazy mullah, appears to have won.

... sorta like the last US election ?...

Cheers

 

[Amsterhammer]

... sorta like the last US election ?...

Cheers

Exactly like that.

 

[rhubroma]

I suppose that we should all give three muted cheers and take some comfort from the Iranian election result, where the least 'conservative', least batsh!t crazy mullah, appears to have won.

Iran’s theocratic elite had chosen 6 candidates out of over 200, the results of any election outcome could thus not be anything but sanctioned by its approval. Ergo reform in Iran is just a pipe dream until the religious hierarchy is vanquished. Though to do this the military needs to take up the cause of laity and reform, at which point it assumes power over the country and it returns back to a dictatorship, with or without a religious mark. Thus was the case in Egypt and thus will be the case in every Muslim country in the Mideast.

 

[python]

i do not see much change coming to the key issue splitting iran and the west - the right of iran to develop its nuclear industry.

a year ago, i predicted that iran will NOT yield to the new round of sanctions and there will be NO military action by neither america nor israel...

new president or not, a mullah or not, a muslim republic or not... expecting iran to suddenly yield to sanctions and threats (or, inversely, being wooed by the cancellation of such) is to fundamentally misunderstand the great sovereign state, its history and traditions or the principles involved.

persians have always been skillful bargainers and diplomats. almost no western commentator paid due attention to the key fact - the new iranian president was the chief negotiator at those nuclear maneuvers were the west repeatedly failed its goals. or, pardon my directness, the west was duped and outmaneuvered.

in reality, any serious student of the iran/west 'troubles' (and the nuclear prolifiration in general) knows what iran wants, how far it can go and where it will stop.

iran's goal is simple - under the cover of peaceful atom to develop the sufficient nuclear foundation and infrastructure and STOP. it's exactly the the same capability as several other 'non-nuclear' states currently possess and can exploit with 2 months if the their security situation demands so...that's japan if the us withdraws it's nuclear umbrella, or south korea or taiwan etc. each having a developed commercial nuclear power and the industrial and material means to make a nuclear jump if needed

the west is both legally and ethically wrong in trying to stop the natural development. moreover, the us politicians are too arrogant to admit they have been duped and missed the chance to turn things around.

 

[Cobblestones]

i do not see much change coming to the key issue splitting iran and the west - the right of iran to develop its nuclear industry.

a year ago, i predicted that iran will NOT yield to the new round of sanctions and there will be NO military action by neither america nor israel...

new president or not, a mullah or not, a muslim republic or not... expecting iran to suddenly yield to sanctions and threats (or, inversely, being wooed by the cancellation of such) is to fundamentally misunderstand the great sovereign state, its history and traditions or the principles involved.

persians have always been skillful bargainers and diplomats. almost no western commentator paid due attention to the key fact - the new iranian president was the chief negotiator at those nuclear maneuvers were the west repeatedly failed its goals. or, pardon my directness, the west was duped and outmaneuvered.

in reality, any serious student of the iran/west 'troubles' (and the nuclear prolifiration in general) knows what iran wants, how far it can go and where it will stop.

iran's goal is simple - under the cover of peaceful atom to develop the sufficient nuclear foundation and infrastructure and STOP. it's exactly the the same capability as several other 'non-nuclear' states currently possess and can exploit with 2 months if the their security situation demands so...that's japan if the us withdraws it's nuclear umbrella, or south korea or taiwan etc. each having a developed commercial nuclear power and the industrial and material means to make a nuclear jump if needed

the west is both legally and ethically wrong in trying to stop the natural development. moreover, the us politicians are too arrogant to admit they have been duped and missed the chance to turn things around.

This is 100% correct. Moreover, Iran has the NPT on its side which explicitly allows exploitation of such 'dual use' technology (meaning enrichment, reprocessing etc.). Politicization (others might call it hijacking) of the IAEA as has been done in the last few years to basically force the issue may simply make other countries reconsider continued participation in the NPT, which would be a foreign policy disaster. Iran simply has found the loophole in the treaty (not that it wasn't obvious for everybody) and the US is ****ed. Boohoo.

Wait for Iran to announce nuclear powered subs. That will require very compact reactors with even higher degree of enrichment than the Tehran research reactor. Still all perfectly fine within the NPT but way out of the US comfort zone.

 

[python]

This is 100% correct. Moreover, Iran has the NPT on its side which explicitly allows exploitation of such 'dual use' technology (meaning enrichment, reprocessing etc.). Politicization (others might call it hijacking) of the IAEA as has been done in the last few years to basically force the issue may simply make other countries reconsider continued participation in the NPT, which would be a foreign policy disaster. Iran simply has found the loophole in the treaty (not that it wasn't obvious for everybody) and the US is ****ed. Boohoo.

Wait for Iran to announce nuclear powered subs. That will require very compact reactors with even higher degree of enrichment than the Tehran research reactor. Still all perfectly fine within the NPT but way out of the US comfort zone.

yep. We can go into many other real, confirmed and backed up by the hard facts examples where the politization of iaea, as you put it, has failed miserably to deliver the the results the international. nuclear non-proliferation body has declared.

Several nuclear weapons possessing nations, directly in contrast to iran, like israel, india, ****stan, n korea... have stayed clear of the iaea EXACTLY because they wanted the nuclear weapons.

Iran chose the different road because it wanted to 'play the game', it wanted to engage the us in a diplomatic give-and-take dialog any respectable, rational state player would choose...what did they get in return ?

The answer supported by hard facts - 'give up or else', many the threats of military interventions, intimidation and such.

When looking back at my previous post regarding the persian diplomatic skills, it would take a complete idiot to disregard the iranian knowledge of the fate of several recent rullers who succumbed to the similar us tactics...

Quaddafi lost his country and was killed by the us armed mob despite giving in to the west's demands on nuclear disarmament...

Again, dont underestimate the persians, who by the way still remember who fueled their war with iraq..and who went in to conquer and subdue the iraq saddam responsible for the lives of hundreds of thousands of iranians.

Iran has plenty of good reasons to distrust the us and be sure the persians are better than most at understanding a sinking empire like the us because they were a sinking empire too.

 

[Merckx index]

Several nuclear weapons possessing nations, directly in contrast to iran, like israel, india, ****stan, n korea... have stayed clear of the iaea EXACTLY because they wanted the nuclear weapons.

Iran chose the different road because it wanted to 'play the game', it wanted to engage the us in a diplomatic give-and-take dialog any respectable, rational state player would choose...what did they get in return ?

It was reported that during the Bush administration Iran offered to permit inspections and accede to other U.S. demands--IF Israel was subjected to basically the same rules. That suggeston, of course, never went anywhere.

Iran has plenty of good reasons to distrust the us and be sure the persians are better than most at understanding a sinking empire like the us because they were a sinking empire too.

It all starts with Mossadegh, I think, one of the saddest chapters in American foreign policy.

 

[Amsterhammer]

It was reported that during the Bush administration Iran offered to permit inspections and accede to other U.S. demands--IF Israel was subjected to basically the same rules. That suggeston, of course, never went anywhere.

I hadn't heard that, but it doesn't surprise me much, as it would have been an eminently reasonable and rational step for the mullahs to take behind the scenes. Israel seems doomed to always remain the major blind spot in US foreign policy, and the millstone around the necks of policy makers, who also seem doomed to forever be so intimidated by US public opinion on Israel, that even the mere suggestion of some degree of even-handedness is howled down as being virtual treason.

It all starts with Mossadegh, I think, one of the saddest chapters in American foreign policy.

Absolutely, on both counts.

 

[python]

i wondered if snowden was a spy or whistle-blower and if he made a mistake by choosing hong kong…

curiously, this escape to a china-controlled territory almost to a day coincided with the surge in the us-china mutual cyber accusations. i have to admit, at one point i did not exclude (like the ‘evil’ cheney -stone me) that the chinese could have had a hand in the escape.

trying to figure out if he indeed could be a spy, i turned to the opinions of some experts. as usual, most western ‘think’ tanks, depending on who paid their bills, produced diametrically opposed preordained conclusions. the legal analysis went right over my head, but it seems the majority agree, snowden’s chances in courts are slim, that is, if the main-land china remains on side lines.

Now, looking at the situation logically in the light of the facts known to-date, i decided that cheney is full of crap (most here probably knew that). snowden is a classic idealist whistle-blower because:
- he only worked with journos, those he felt he could trust
- from getgo, he settled in a public hotel, not a secret hide-out
- by revealing his identity BEFORE securing a hide-out, he doomed himself to a life-long persecution.
- he carefully filtered the leaked materials to remove names of former colleagues and not to endanger THE legitimate military operations.
- following his hiding, all his actions indicate he wants to maximize public awareness rather than self advertise or take a personal revenge on anyone or the country he escaped.

my sense is that snowden is deliberately seeking a public fight for his extradition b/c it will give him the best possible platform for his message. if the us bites, it will be, in my estimation, a stupid, lose-lose move…therefore, i expect the cia - if it deserves the tag of being an *intelligent* agency - once the dust settled down, the cia try to spirit him away the mossad vanunu style.

but never underestimate politicians messing things up, as ever.

 

[rhubroma]

This article did not, however, make mention of the fact that Germany's corporate wealth is also gotten from it's southern exports, or that the reunification was also subsidized by the south. Two key factors that a purely economic interpretation conveniently avoids.

http://www.social-europe.eu/2013/04/are-germans-really-poorer-than-spaniards-italians-and-greeks/

It's about wealth looking after itself and that doesn't change in democracy.

 

[rhubroma]

I hadn't heard that, but it doesn't surprise me much, as it would have been an eminently reasonable and rational step for the mullahs to take behind the scenes. Israel seems doomed to always remain the major blind spot in US foreign policy, and the millstone around the necks of policy makers, who also seem doomed to forever be so intimidated by US public opinion on Israel, that even the mere suggestion of some degree of even-handedness is howled down as being virtual treason.



Absolutely, on both counts.

But the Russians want the Iranian oil and the Europeans want the Russian gas, though the Americans want to control the Middle East, which means Iran - and by extension Syria - are off-limits, while Israel has the atomic bomb, so naturally Iran wants the atomic bomb and, in any case, China wants to surpass America as the world's superpower, for which Africa and South America are "up for grabs." Capito?

PS: I think this was my best post, ever.

 

[Amsterhammer]

But the Russians want the Iranian oil and the Europeans want the Russian gas, though the Americans want to control the Middle East, which means Iran - and by extension Syria - are off-limits, while Israel has the atomic bomb, so naturally Iran wants the atomic bomb and, in any case, China wants to surpass America as the world's superpower, for which Africa and South America are "up for grabs." Capito?

PS: I think this was my best post, ever.

Certainly up in the top three, for brevity.






Si, capito tutti.

 

[rhubroma]

Certainly up in the top three, for brevity.






Si, capito tutti.

Tutto, but in any case brevity is not my strength. Shakespeare would be appalled. Which is saying something.

 

[Cobblestones]

But the Russians want the Iranian oil and the Europeans want the Russian gas, though the Americans want to control the Middle East, which means Iran - and by extension Syria - are off-limits, while Israel has the atomic bomb, so naturally Iran wants the atomic bomb and, in any case, China wants to surpass America as the world's superpower, for which Africa and South America are "up for grabs." Capito?

PS: I think this was my best post, ever.

The Russians are not so interested in Iranian oil per se. Their interest (or Gazprom's) is in the pipelines leading from the oil fields to Europe.

The US interest in the Middle East was always murky. What are now most of the 'stans used to be called the 'soft belly' of the Soviet Union. A lot of effort was spent to destabilize the part of the region under Soviet (or Russian) influence and keep tight control on 'our' b@st@rds. This doctrine from the 1950's seems still to be in place. Israel in that sense was always a bit of a distraction, sometimes annoying, sometimes welcome.

What's new is China which made necessary the pivot. Herein lies the chance for the region. With the 'Eye of Mordor' firmly drawn to the Pacific, development of the region may occur not under geostrategic signs, but following truly humanitarian ideas. One should not focus on boundaries created by religion (such as the US concept to play Sunni and Shia Muslims against each other). Rather, one should focus on culture and education where certainly the Iran and the former Soviet republics score high.

The Europeans seem to miss a chance here in that they let their own nationalistic tendencies (plus neoliberal nonsense, of course) dictate any attempt at economic recovery. A better way may be to open the vast lands of the Middle East for cultural and economic exchange which I believe would benefit both sides tremendously. The model of the European Union, which has created peace on a continent almost constantly ravaged by wars, should be considered for the Middle East. A first condition, however, would be a general rapprochement to Russia. Without Russia (or even worse, against Russia), nothing will be achieved in the region.

The long term goal could be a culturally and economically developed, peaceful land corridor stretching from Europe all the way to India and China. It would in a sense be Europe's 'pivot'.

[i feel stupid now, being beaten by rhub on brevity]

 

[Bala Verde]

Sounds like a smart thing to do:

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Faced with meager economic growth worldwide and a worrisome ebbing of Russia’s own oil and gas revenues, President Vladimir V. Putin announced on Friday an ambitious and risky economic stimulus program that would spend up to $43.5 billion in reserve funds on three big infrastructure projects.
Related

Mr. Putin’s plan, which would lend money from the national pension reserves, has provoked fierce debate within the Russian government as well as warnings from international economic experts, who said that what the Russian financial system needed most was deep structural reform, to eliminate corruption and build investor confidence.

Plugging them holes:

ST. PETERSBURG, June 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russian capital flight remains rampant, with no signs of slowing down, Central Bank chief Sergei Ignatyev said on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, capital outflow remains very high, I dare say. No fall in this trend can be seen,” Ignatyev said. He made headlines in February when he claimed a small group of well-connected individuals was responsible for almost half of Russia's capital flight, which he then estimated at $49 billion in 2012.

Russia’s balance of payments data indicate net capital outflow from Russia hit $25.8 billion in the first quarter of 2013 compared with $33.6 billion in the same period last year.

Who the hell wants to invest in Russia, when you know the great leader Putin is always ready to allow some cronies to separate you from your business.... I am guessing that the shock therapy after the USSR collapse is still having its effects...

 

[python]

no surprise, the official us indictment on snowden is finally served...

no surprise, hong kong officials expected it...

no surprise, the mainland china, the territory's reluctant ruler where snowden is supposedly now, expected it...

no surprise, the backers of snowden's escape all over the world expected it...

what now ??

 

[rhubroma]

Sounds like a smart thing to do:



Plugging them holes:



Who the hell wants to invest in Russia, when you know the great leader Putin is always ready to allow some cronies to separate you from your business.... I am guessing that the shock therapy after the USSR collapse is still having its effects...

There is a hierarchical order in Russia inherited from that of its orthodox lineage. Soviet communism, paradoxically, only succeeded in transforming this religious structure into the sanctification of power, with all the Byzantine protocols and rights defining the modes in which people have access to power, and hence wealth, and the means to maneuver among the elites. The result is that anyone or any corporation not privy to the occult ways in which this Byzantine apparatus works, or indeed is outside its ranks, can’t hope to enter its gilded halls or receive its benefices.

I’d say the Russians have always been this way since their tribes coalesced in the Middle Ages under the “civilizing” force of orthodoxy through the missionary persuasion of St. Cyril and St. Methodius to the Eastern Slavs. I doubt, therefore, free market capitalism and Western ideas about democracy with core values such as legality and business transparency will change this. Indeed the nation has moved from a privileged communist ruling class to the return of a czar under the sway of a Mafioso oligarchy of gas and industrial tycoons looked after (and spied on) by the secret services and military regime. The country is basically f-cked.