1
POPSAfrica's sun to power Europe's homes? This project should also be opened up to public investment, instead of giving all the shares to corporate giants. People want a safe and meaningful way to invest their money directly, rather than depending on the "judgement" of bankers and stock brokers.
4
POPSNot Only In Texas....ALL ER's Abused "Frequent Fliers" They are why, when you or your family member is hurt or really sick, it seems to take forever to get some help. They overload an already overloaded system daily. If you were to check, you'd find that ambulance companies transport many of these people also...because they know that if they arrive via EMS, they get right in - a warm cot, maybe some food and lots of attention. Primary care docs don't want them - no money in it. Mental Health services are underfunded and overwhelmed. So the answer? How about instead of raising taxes, we get rid of a bloated HHS system and spend the money on actually helping these people?
3
POPSThe Holy Crusade for Oil and Gas US oil companies acquired the rights to some 75 percent of these new reserves. A major problem was how to transport the oil and gas from the landlocked region. US officials opposed using the Russian pipeline or the most direct route across Iran to the Persian Gulf. Instead, they and the corporate oil contractors explored a number of alternative pipeline routes, across Azerbaijan and Turkey to the Mediterranean or across China to the Pacific.
2
POPSJapan Technology Believed Used in DPRK Missile Development The Metropolitan Police Department discovered a Tokyo-based machinery manufacturer had illegally exported a jet mill, which can be used to grind solid missile fuel, to Iran. The MPD also found that the manufacturer exported a jet mill to North Korea using the Man Gyong Bong-92. It is suspected that North Korea obtained the jet mill to facilitate the use of solid fuel, which loads into a tank faster than liquid fuel when a missile is being prepared for launching. In October 2003, the Fukuoka prefectural police arrested the president of an auto sales company that illegally exported a trailer bed, which can be used as a mobile missile launchpad. In January 2004, the Kanagawa prefectural police arrested a president of a company in Niigata Prefecture that exported to North Korea a frequency inverter, which can be used in nuclear weapons development.
1
POPSHey Hillary: How’s That “Smart Power" Diplomacy Working Out For You? After Japan's transport ministry ordered airlines and shipping companies operating in the area to take precautionary measures, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said they would alter flight paths on several European and other routes. Speculation has been mounting for weeks that North Korea was about to put its hitherto unreliable missile technology to the test. The regime suffered a setback in 2006 when a Taepodong-2 missile – theoretically capable of reaching Alaska – blew up moments into its flight. • Pyongyang says response would be act of war • Regional tensions rise over missile launch In response, Japan and the US have jointly developed a ballistic missile defence system that includes interceptor missiles on board ships and Patriot missiles dotted around Tokyo. But experts believe that a rocket capable of launching a satellite into orbit may be too high to intercept.
5
POPSWaste could be crucial in search for cleaner fuels In a similar move to use waste efficiently, British renewable energy company New Earth Energy has partnered with waste management group Biossence to generate renewable energy in the northwest of the UK. They want to use household and industrial waste as an energy source at two plants in the northwest of the country by 2010
6
POPSBush sneaks laws to undermine Obama Public health and safety be damned. Bush is paying back industry leaders for their support during his terms and he is still "leaving office with a clear conscience:. One rule will make it easier for coal companies to dump debris from strip mining into valleys and streams. Another will allow power companies to build coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks. Another will allow coal-fired stations to increase their emissions without installing new anti-pollution equipment. One lengthens the number of hours that truck drivers can drive without rest Another surrenders government control of rerouting the rail transport of hazardous materials around densely populated areas and gives it to the rail companies. A common theme is shifting regulation of industry from government to the industries themselves, essentially promoting self-regulation. And we have all seen how well that worked with the banking industry.
1
POPS Not So Green Voters Nix Most Environmental State Ballot Measures Coloradans voted for environmentally-friendly Senate candidate Mark Udall. Yet they struck down a ballot measure that would have increased taxes on the oil and gas industries to pay for more goodies such as environmental conservation and clean energy. Opponents of the measure took it as a harbinger of higher energy taxes. Only in Missouri did a green-energy ballot initiative have any success. Proposition C set out to gradually increase the use of renewable energy to 15% by 2021, mandating slow-but-steady yearly increases. That’s the kind of measure that power companies and electricity grid operators like, because it gives them time to absorb the new power into the system without disruptions. Alone among the five environmental ballot initiatives, Proposition C had almost no opposition.
3
POPSSocial engineers are bad bankers Why do we have to go elsewhere to hear the truth about this? Common sense people knew that you don't loan money to people who can't afford to pay it back, let alone don't have a job! Same goes with credit cards. Free credit cards everywhere...and then the personal fall-out when the chickens come home to roost. I blame both sides; the Credit Card Companies and the irresponsible users of them.
8
POPSGeorgia/Russia - The story behind the story
"No sooner was BTC completed, however, than Western officials began exploring the possibility of other pipelines that could reach beyond Georgia and Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan, which was thought to have some of the world's largest gas reserves. Their interest was not only in "energy security" and the prospect of oil riches for Western energy companies, but also in promoting Western-style democracy and free-market capitalism in the former Soviet republics. " "Putin understands better than anyone that oil and gas are the source of Russia's resurgence as a military and economic power and his own control over the Russian government and key sectors of its economy. It is oil and gas that provide the money to maintain Russia's powerful military, along with a vast internal security apparatus and network of government-controlled enterprises that allow the president-turned-premier to maintain his iron grip on the levers of political and economic power. "
8
POPS24 hours in pictures - April 23rd 14 Dunkirk, France: Hugues Dubosc before the 200m breastroke of the French Swimming Championships 13 Suphan-Buri, Thailand: Workers dry rice grains at a factory 12 London, UK: Rubbish floats on the river Lea near Hackney Marsh. The disused and neglected system of canals in the east of the capital will be regenerated to transport building materials to the 2012 Olympics site 11 Sichuan province, China: Pandas play in the Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in Wolong Nature Reserve 10 Beijing, China: Workers repair tiles on the roof of Cining Palace in the Forbidden City
5
POPSSaturn's Titan Raining Oil We may find out how much it costs to transport oil from Titan to Earth, or maybe some of those oil alternatives will be trotted out by the oil companies.
4
POPSTrade Unions: Don't follow anti-Worker USA
"Compared to the thriving £2.3bn-a-year anti-union industry in the United States, where up to 80% of corporations faced with a union organising campaign turn to a union-busting consultancy or specialist law firm, the business is still fairly low-key in Britain. Only a handful of companies are known to have thus far availed themselves of the services of the major US firms, which bear names such as the Burke Group, Labour Relations Institute and PTI Labour Research and have shown a mounting interest in the UK market ever since the Blair government's Employment Relations Act came into effect in June 2000, guaranteeing union recognition wherever a majority of employees are in favour. "The US firms got very excited about this," says John Logan of the London School of Economics, who recently completed a report on the issue for the TUC. "Their marketing line is basically: we've got 60 years of experience in union avoidance under laws like these, and we can help you. To my knowledge, at lea
6
POPSRule by fear or rule by law?
The government has also contracted with several companies to build thousands of railcars, some reportedly equipped with shackles, ostensibly to transport detainees. According to diplomat and author Peter Dale Scott, the KBR contract is part of a Homeland Security plan titled ENDGAME, which sets as its goal the removal of "all removable aliens" and "potential terrorists." Fraud-busters such as Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, have complained about these contracts, saying that more taxpayer dollars should not go to taxpayer-gouging Halliburton. But the real question is: What kind of "new programs" require the construction and refurbishment of detention facilities in nearly every state of the union with the capacity to house perhaps millions of people? Sect. 1042 of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies," gives the executive the power to invoke martial law. For the first time in more than a century, the presiden
3
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update