US unveils plan to subsidize broadband for poor
Washington (AFP) May 28, 2015 -
The top US telecom regulator on Thursday
unveiled plans to subsidize high-speed Internet for low-income
households, saying the service was essential for people trying to better
themselves.
Federal Communications chairman Tom Wheeler proposed the plan to
overhaul the "Lifeline" program which provides low-cost telephone
service to include online access as well.
"Broadband access is essenti ...
morehttp://www.spacedaily.com/reports/US_unveils_plan_to_subsidize_broadband_for_poor_999.html
Reflections from news and commentary of the day
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Friday, May 29, 2015
Robots Start to Grasp Food Processing
Robots Start to Grasp Food Processing
Advances in robotics make it possible to automate tasks such as processing poultry and vegetables.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/537646/robots-start-to-grasp-food-processing/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-business&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150529
Food Technology for All
Food Technology for All
We may be heading toward a new food economy that’s more competitive and innovative.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/537576/food-technology-for-all/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-business&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150529
Incoming NATO Military Committee Chairman: Russia could occupy the Baltics in 2 days if it wanted to
Incoming NATO Military Committee Chairman: Russia could occupy the Baltics in 2 days if it wanted to
http://www.businessinsider.com/czech-general-russia-can-occupy-baltics-in-2-days-2015-5?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1
What if No One Is Winning the War in Syria?
What if No One Is Winning the War in Syria?
Regardless of who is or is not losing the war in Syria,
it is safe to say that no one seems to stand any chance of winning it.
It is a lazy pattern of thought, but a strong one: wars are always
discussed in terms of winners and losers, first shots and capitulations.
But what this perspective misses is that many conflicts have no
discernible end at all. They simply drag on until readers yawn and
reporters leave, and go on to mutate into new forms, settling into
spheres of influence and establishing stateless violence as the new
normal.
The Syrian war may be one of these conflicts. With half of the population driven from their homes, the economy in irreparable ruin,
multisided foreign intervention, and sectarianism at a fever pitch,
neither President Bashar al-Assad nor any constellation of rebel groups
seems able to put a country called Syria back together again.
Impossible End States
At this point, it is almost impossible to envision a realistic and stable (never mind democratic) end state dominated by one of the three major contenders for power in Syria.U.S. Surveillance on Island in South China Sea Reveals Chinese Arms
U.S. Surveillance on Island in South China Sea Reveals Chinese Arms
Finding supports American suspicions that Beijing is building up reefs for military purposes
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-surveillance-on-island-reveals-chinese-arms-1432864632?tesla=y
Online database 'exposes' pro-Palestinian college students in bid to block future jobs
McCarthy lives!
Canary Website keeps backers' identities hidden, calls on activists to 'ensure that today's radicals are not tomorrow's employees.'
Online database 'exposes' pro-Palestinian college students in bid to block future jobs
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-Smiles and Waves: What Xi Jinping Took Away From Moscow
Smiles and Waves: What Xi Jinping Took Away From Moscow
Posted by: Alexander Gabuev | Carnegie Moscow
Posted by: Alexander Gabuev | Carnegie Moscow
The photographs of Putin and Comrade Xi sitting
together at the Victory Day parade on May 9, as well as photos of
Chinese soldier marching through Red Square, are the main symbolic
takeaways of the Chinese leader’s visit to Moscow. These are winning
images for both leaders, especially for Vladimir Putin. The presence of a
true world leader at a parade that was boycotted by the U.S. and its
allies is an important demonstration of the fact that Russia is not
internationally isolated (with all due respect to other guests, they
don’t quite rise to the level of world leaders). That’s why Xi and his
wife Peng Liyuan were assigned best seats at the event. That’s why
during his speech, Putin mentioned China’s important role in the war as
well as plans for a reciprocal visit to a parade in Beijing.
Xi can count all of these points as assets, too. It’s always good to
remind his countrymen that China is managed by a strong-willed leader
who doesn’t factor the West into his decision-making. And it’s twice as
important to demonstrate this as a purge of the communist party is
gaining ground and as the 2017 party congress relentlessly approaches.
Putin’s upcoming visit to Beijing on September 3 is no less important.
After all, the Beijing parade is also the subject of a diplomatic
battle— less visible than it was in Moscow, but by no means less
dramatic. Because the Beijing parade is being portrayed as a celebration
of the triumph over Japanese militarism, we can hardly expect Shinzo
Abe to make an appearance. And given how sensitive this issue is for
Japan’s allies, and considering Beijing’s ostentatious displays of force
in the South China Sea, the U.S. and many ASEAN member states will
think twice about participating in the Chinese festivities. So Xi also
stands to gain from an early declaration of a historical and symbolic
alliance with Putin, who is quite popular in China now.
In a situation where Russia can count the number of its strategic
allies on one hand, we can now confidently refer to China as Russia’s
“key strategic partner”—the expression used by Putin himself after the
May 8 talks. Although Beijing has other, more important partners (at
least six of them, if measured by trade), the Chinese leadership is
quite content with gradually turning Russia into China’s junior partner,
while keeping up the appearances of equality.
Signals to the West http://carnegie.ru/eurasiaoutlook/?fa=60248&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonva3NZKXonjHpfsX57uQsW6Sg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIERMV0aPyQAgobGp5I5FEIQ7XYTLB2t60MWA%3D%3D
Why the Kremlin Is Shutting Down the Novorossiya Project
Posted by:
Andrei Kolesnikov
Friday, May 29, 2015 | Carnegie Moscow | http://carnegie.ru/
On May 20, the leaders of the Lugansk and Donetsk
People’s Republics (LNR and DNR) announced the abandonment of the
Novorossiya project, a hypothetical confederation of states in
southeastern Ukraine stretching from Kharkiv to Odessa. DNR Foreign
Minister Alexander Kofman said that the idea hadn’t attracted enough
support outside the separatist territories. Oleg Tsaryov, the speaker of
Novorossiya’s “Unitary Parliament” and a frequent guest on Russian
television, offered a different explanation: “The work of Novorossiya
[official] structures has been frozen because it does not conform to
the [Minsk II] peace agreement signed in the presence of the Normandy
Four countries [Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France, on February 12].”The Week With IPS 5/29
| 2015/5/29 |
Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sri Lankan Women Stymied by Archaic Job Market
Amantha Perera
Wathsala Marasinghe, a 33-year-old hailing from the town of Mirigama,
just 50 km from Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, once had high hopes that
the progressive education and employment policies of this South Asian
island nation would work in her favour. Today, she feels differently,
believing that “an ...
MORE >
>
|
|
|
|
|
ACP Aims to Make Voice of the Moral Majority Count in the Global Arena
Valentina Gasbarri
“Four decades of existence is a milestone for the ACP as an
international alliance of developing countries,” Dr Patrick I. Gomes of
Guyana, newly appointed Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and
Pacific group of countries, said at the opening of the 101st Session of
the group’s Council of ...
MORE >
>
|
|
|
|
|
Laissez Faire Water Laws Threaten Family Farming in Chile
Marianela Jarroud
Family farmers in Chile are pushing for the reinstatement of water as a
public good, to at least partially solve the shortages caused by the
privatisation of water rights by the military dictatorship in 1981.
“Why should we pay for water rights if the people who were born and grew
up in the ...
MORE >
>
|
|
|
|
|
Pineapple Industry Leaves Costa Rican Communities High and Dry
Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Twelve years after finding the first traces of pesticides used by the
pineapple industry, in the rural water supply, around 7,000 people from
four communities in Costa Rica’s Caribbean region are still unable to
consume their tap water.
The communities of Milano, El Cairo, La Francia and ...
MORE >
>
|
|
|
|
|
Accusations of ‘Apartheid’ Cause Israelis to Backpedal
Mel Frykberg
A decision by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to segregate buses in the
occupied West Bank has backfired after causing an uproar in Israel’s
Knesset, or parliament, and political damage on the international stage.
This came as Israel faces mounting international criticism over its land
...
MORE >
>
|
|
|
|
|
When Kenyan Children’s Lives Hang on a Drip
Miriam Gathigah
Acute watery diarrhoea is a major killer of young children but
misunderstanding over the benefits of fluid treatment is preventing many
Kenyan parents from resorting to this life-saving technique and
threatening to reverse the strides that the country has made in child
health.
The 2014 Kenya ...
MORE >
>
|
|
|
|
|
School Gardens Combat Hunger in Argentina
Fabiana Frayssinet
In Argentina, where millions of families have unmet dietary needs
despite the country’s vast expanse of fertile land, the Huerta Niño
project promotes organic gardens in rural primary schools, to teach
children healthy eating habits and show them that they can grow their
own food to fight ...
MORE >
>
|
|
|
|
|
Bougainville: Former War-Torn Territory Still Wary of Mining
Catherine Wilson
From Arawa, once the capital city of Bougainville, an autonomous region
in eastern Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific Ocean, a long,
winding road leads high up into the Crown Prince Ranges in the centre of
the island through impenetrable rainforest.
Over a ridge, the verdant canopy gives ...
MORE >
>
|
|
| |
South China Sea Try not to blink
South China Sea
Try not to blink
As China asserts itself as a naval and air power, and as America responds, the risks of confrontation are growing
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21652348-china-asserts-itself-naval-and-air-power-and-america-responds-risks
One Year of Narendra Modi govt: Bold moves on world stage
By Kishore Mahbubani
The Indian Express
29 May 2015
One Year of Narendra Modi govt: Bold moves on world stage
With Narendra Modi's arrival, the list of genuinely non-aligned powers has grown from two to four: US, Russia, China and India.
With Xi Jinping in charge, we now know what the new strong China looks like. With Narendra Modi
in charge, we are finally getting glimpses of what the new strong India
will look like. It will be a radically different India from the one
that the world has got used to. Three new points stand out.http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/one-year-of-modi-govt-bold-moves-on-world-stage/
What Happens When Everyone Is a Chinese Stock Market Genius
What Happens When Everyone Is a Chinese Stock Market Genius
China's biggest index just took a stomach-churning plunge. Is it a sign of things to come?
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/28/china-stock-market-shanghai-composite-index-plunge-media-bubble/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Flashpoints&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign
Assad Strikes Back
Assad Strikes Back
The Syrian regime is gearing up for a counteroffensive
that relies on Iran’s money and Shiite foreign fighters from as far away
as Central Asia to push back against the Islamic State.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/27/assads-foreign-fighters-dont-come-cheap-iran-hezbollah-shiite-fighters/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Flashpoints&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign
Turning Lebanon into Gaza — Israel’s hole card against Iran deal?
Turning Lebanon into Gaza — Israel’s hole card against Iran deal?
By Philip WeissDore Gold likens Lebanon to Gaza, and suggests Israel will have to "cut the grass" there this summer; war with Hezbollah could be Israel's hole card on the Iran deal, as US legislators are sure to side with Israel, maybe with the help of the New York Times
Read in browser » http://mondoweiss.net/2015/05/turning-israels-against?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=d714317c78-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-d714317c78-398529985
Rand Paul gets the ‘soul’ of the American people: stop killing Muslims on global TV
Rand Paul gets the ‘soul’ of the American people: stop killing Muslims on global TV
By Philip WeissRand Paul is doing a better job of criticizing the neoconservatives than Hillary Clinton is. Does she really regret the Iraq war? Chris Matthews asks
Read in browser »http://mondoweiss.net/2015/05/american-killing-muslims?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=d714317c78-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-d714317c78-398529985
‘Heart-wrenching, harrowing, transfixing’ — NYT needs to end blackout on Blumenthal
‘Heart-wrenching, harrowing, transfixing’ — NYT needs to end blackout on Blumenthal
By Philip WeissA rave review of Max Blumenthal's account of the Gaza war in Publisher's Weekly is an important signal to the New York Times, which blacked out Blumenthal's last book on Israel, Goliath.
Read in browser » http://mondoweiss.net/2015/05/harrowing-transfixing-blumenthal?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=d714317c78-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-d714317c78-398529985
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)