Abandoned After the Olympics: Greece's $11 Billion Mistake

 As is usually the case, the reality is more complicated than the narrative.

Rising seas: A failure of economics to cut greenhouse emissions

 Changing the way we measure economic growth may help redress the balance between nature and the exploitation of resources.

Warnings about the consequences of climate change are arriving at an alarming pace.

Vulnerable countries will be the most affected, despite being the least responsible for climate change.

Lebanon in crisis | DW Documentary

 

The political and economic crisis in Lebanon started long before the devastating explosion on August 4, 2020. But since then, the country has been in freefall. Young people in particular are asking whether they have a future there at all.

Why are sports risking a comeback now?

Sports are making a comeback even though there’s no coronavirus vaccine. Start Here assesses the competition.

Why China Will be the Big Winner of the 2020 Crisis

This is China, what is still the worlds foremost industrial economy has apparently been knocked down a peg as it emerged into the new decade. There has been wild speculation about companies divesting from the country as a response to the critical flaws in supply chains that have been brought to light. The world today is heavily reliant on China to manufacture almost everything we take for granted in our modern lives.

Donald Trump Offers Up His Opinion On North Korea: Yes, It's Ignorance In Prefection

Donald Trump appearing on the American network CBS morning news program offer up his opinions on North Korea and Kim-Jong un.  Needles to say it was quite insightful.  Insightful as his opinions showed ignorance, a complete  misunderstanding of the geopolitical consequences,  how nation states interact and that American foreign policy is conducted by fiat.  

On China and forcing them to be America's foreign policy proxy on North Korea

"I would get China to make that guy [Kim Jong Un] disappear in one form or another very quickly," Trump said Wednesday on "CBS This Morning," fresh off his New Hampshire primary victory.

Asked whether that meant assassinating the dictator of the reclusive regime, Trump shrugged.

"Well, you know, I've heard of worse things, frankly. I mean this guy's a bad dude -- and don't underestimate him," Trump responded. "Any young guy that can take over from his father with all those generals and everybody else that probably wants the position, this is not somebody to be underestimated."

Does Donald Trump understand what he's suggesting is not only illegal but what the consequences would be from such an outcome?  

North Korea is unpredictable at the best of times, so if its leader were assassinated wouldn't that just raise  their paranoia level to 11 followed by following by armed conflict with South Korea whom they would blame for the Kim's death with America being the puppet master behind the South's actions.

China and its control over North Korea:

"China has control, absolute control of North Korea. They don't say it, but they do, and they should make that problem disappear," Trump said. "China is sucking us dry. They're taking our money, they're taking our jobs and doing so much. We have rebuilt China with what they've taken out. We have power over China. China should do that." 

China has joined with other countries condemning North Korea over its missile and nuclear tests  and has voted for sanctions in the United Nations  Security Council along with sending top Communist party leaders to Pyongyang on diplomatic missions in, what turned out to be fruitless efforts in dissuading them from conducting these tests.  

Whether you agree with China's North Korea policy they have their reasons. 

If China were to cut off economic aid their would be several  possible outcomes all of which they abhor. 

The reunification of Korea which could lead to an American allied country with its military stationed in the country now sharing a border with China.  

Political instability in Northeast Asia which they view as favoring the Americans and their allies and as a threat to China.

Because China views any North Korean that crosses into the country as an economic refugee rather than one fleeing a repressive authoritarian government they are forcibly repatriated when caught. A collapse of the North Korean government would lead to a flood of refugees into Northeast China. Such an occurrence they believe would cause political and economic disruption an issue they seem unable to cope with.  

   

Japan's Work Force and Economic Problems-video

As Japan's population ages its also shrinking at an alarming rate a problem which has come to manifest itself in a labor shortage. While not a panacea for solving the problem allowing a larger percentage of women to work would help ease the situation.

Standing in the way? Misogyny, paternalism and a work culture which forces its employees to work long hours and sacrifice everything for the company.

The Japanese economy slipped into recession in the third quarter, a surprisingly poor performance that could delay a planned sales tax hike.

Gross domestic product shrank by an annualized 1.6% in the three months ended September, Japan's Cabinet Office said Monday. The result was much worse than the 2.2% expansion expected by economists.

On a quarterly basis, Japan's GDP declined by 0.4% as business investment slipped. Economies are commonly described as being in a technical recession after two straight quarterly contractions.

The disappointing result comes as Japan faces a full slate of questions over tax policy and the country's plan for economic revival -- dubbed "Abenomics."

Trans Pacfic Partnership: A Free Trade Agreement That Isn't Free

In the 1990's the United States came to agreement with Mexico to institute one of the first free trade agreements NAFTA.  President Bill Clinton promised that not only would American jobs be saved but that manufacturing jobs would see an increase.  It was just another lie in a long list of them to fool American workers that losing their jobs was good for them while making them poorer. Then came the WTO formally known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that would morph into the World Trade Organization (WTO) which would not only perpetrate  globalization but would set back by several generations worker rights and create the American Rust Belt as those supposed safe manufacturing jobs were shipped over seas.

 In February of 2006 it was announced that America and South Korea had inter negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two allies.  At first glance it seemed to be an equitable agreement until details of the agreement were leaked showing that thousands of South Korean agriculture and fishery workers would lose their jobs.  No, matter the opposition to the agreement was eventually overcome   and signed into law by both countries.    Free Trade Agreements have never benefited the worker as they are seen as tools for multinational corporations whose rights supersede those of every nations citizens.    

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will supersede all those agreements making them look like agreements between children at play.  If compromise can be reached corporations will achieve powers not seen since the gilded age of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Corporations will be given the power to override the laws of sovereign states rendering any all regulations place upon null and void.

 

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Thu Oct 16, 2014 at 11:09 PM PDT

New Draft of TPP Leaked - And It's Not Good

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Another draft text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)’s intellectual property chapter has been leaked, and it has even more alarming provisions than the last draft we know about.
The TPP is a free trade agreement being negotiated in secret among the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Peru, Chile, and Brunei. This latest text draft is from May 2014.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says: "The TPP still contains text on DRM, ISP liability, copyright term lengths, and criminal enforcement measures, and introduces new provisions on trade secrets that have us worried."

Anti-Circumvention Despite an over-abundance of evidence that laws punishing circumvention of DRM do far more harm than good, the USTR continues to press other countries to embrace the U.S.’s failed anti-circumvention policy.... What is worse, it would likely impede countries from adopting laws...that provide a blanket exemption for DRM circumvention for lawful purposes.

Copyright Term Whereas in the previous leak a coalition of countries had proposed that the TPP should allow them to retain full flexibility in determining the optimal length of their copyright term, that proposal has now been excised from the agreement—the only option now on the table is a provision that specifies a minimum term of years. How many years that should be, ranging from life plus 50 to life plus 100 years, remains undecided.

Criminal Treatment of Trade Secrets A new, more detailed provision on trade secrets introduces text that would criminalize the unauthorized, willful access of a trade secret held in a computer system, or the misappropriation or disclosure of a trade secret using a computer system. This text goes far beyond existing trade secrets law, which in the United States and other common law countries is usually a matter for the civil not the criminal courts. No public interest exception, such as for journalism, is provided. In practice, this could obligate countries into enacting a draconian anti-hacking law much like the Criminal Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) that was used to prosecute Aaron Swartz.

Liability and Enforcement On ISP liability the text remains quite contested.... This article provides ISPs with a safe harbor against liability for copyright infringements by users....conditioned on ISPs participating in a DMCA-like notice and take-down regime, where allegedly infringing content is removed from the Internet without a court order....
Also still contested are the criminal enforcement provisions. The issue is whether users can be held criminally liable for copyright infringements conducted on a commercial scale, for commercial advantage or financial gain. In the November 2013 text, the text was more highly contested by all 12 TPP countries, but now most of the disagreement lies between the US and Canada. The US seeks a broader definition of a criminal copyright infringement, to even cover acts that are noncommercial, whereas Canada only wants to apply criminal remedies to cases where someone has infringed for commercial purposes. If the US gets its way, then criminal penalties will apply even against users who were not seeking financial gain from sharing or making available copyrighted works, such as fans and archivists.

Public Domain For the first time, the parties have reached agreement to include an article recording their recognition of “the importance of a rich and accessible public domain” and acknowledging “the importance of informational materials, such as publicly accessible databases of registered intellectual property rights that assist in the identification of subject matter that has fallen into the public domain.”

 

The Slum - Episode 1: Deliverance

As a birth attendant advocating for family planning, Remy is on the frontline of Tondo's battle with overcrowding.

Note: This film contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

Tondo in northern Manila is home to the city's largest collection of slums. It is also one of the most densely populated areas on the planet.

Paradise Heights, home to former squatters, is in the heart of Tondo. There, self-taught midwife Remy Permites is delivering new life in the slums.

Remy does her work with only the most basic equipment: a stethoscope, a pair of gloves and little else. Though she has little formal training, she plays a crucial role in an area where few can afford to pay for medical care.

The slums of Manila are undergoing a population explosion. But Remy has managed to escape the shacks and lives in a small government-built apartment, with 14 members of her family. Her home also doubles as a makeshift clinic.