Friday, 9 December 2011

Obama welcomes ratification of CTBT by his home country Indonesia, vows to follow suit & UN to investigate US voter disenfranchisment

Mark Twain quotes: 10 favorites on his birthday
... "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."...
Presidents to meet for world conference
6 December 2011
APA News Service
Vienna - International dignitaries including several heads of state will congregate in Vienna at the end of this week for a "World Policy Conference" at the invitation of the French think-tank "Institut Francais des Relations Internationales" (IFRI).
Statements on Monday said the main theme between Friday and Sunday would be a global approach to current problems and international crises.
Among the approximately 150 participants would be EU Council President Herman van Rompuy, Presidents Abdullah Gul (Turkey), Danilo Turk (Slovenia) and Boris Tadic (Serbia), Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. of Constantinople, Austrian president Heinz Fischer, and Amr Moussa, former general secretary of the Arab League, and Egyptian presidential candidate.
Also saying they would come were Kenyan Premier Raila Odinga, Emir of Qatar, Scheich Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, as well as Israel's defence minister und ex-premier Ehud Barak, and Nobel Peace prize laureate and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.
The 4th World Policy Conference would be in Vienna for the first time. In the Hofburg Palace, topics would range from the Arab Spring, natural catastrophes, the debts crisis in Europe, and democratization in Africa, to the future of the elite groups of nations G-8 and G-20.
Previously, the conference was held once in Evian in France, and twice in Marrakesh in Morocco.
Too Many Old White Men at COP17, Says One - Video
COP 17 delegate and UK Climate and Health Council co-chair Dr Robin Stott thinks the conference is top-heavy with old white men.
UN Constructing Green Schools in Gaza
Self-sufficient buildings will be environmentally sustainable
NAACP warns black and Hispanic Americans could lose right to vote
Civil rights group petitions UN over 'massive voter suppression' after apparent effort to disenfranchise black and Hispanic people
U.N. Envoy: U.S. Isn't Protecting Occupy Protesters' Rights
UCSB Professor Says Global Revolt is Underway
A global revolt is underway, according to William I. Robinson, a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and it has shifted the whole political landscape in terms of discourse. The only viable solution is a massive redistribution of wealth and power downward towards the poor majority, he writes.
Obama, Clinton praise Indonesia over nuclear treaty
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised Indonesia for ratifying the nuclear test ban treaty CTBT, a move which brought the pact one step closer to coming into force.

Official Trailer Film Obama Anak Menteng (Little Obama)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYsNI2uiGt0&feature=related

UN chief urges countries to ratify CTBT
UN chief urges countries to ratify CTBT United Nations: Referring to countries like India, China and Pakistan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called on nations to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) saying he is counting upon the "engaged leadership" of the remaining countries to bring the treaty into force.
Ban's remarks came as he welcomed Indonesia's ratification of the CTBT, encouraging the remaining countries that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the instrument to advance its entry into force.
Indonesien ratifizierte Atomteststoppvertrag
USA, China, Indien, Pakistan, der Iran, Nordkorea, Israel, und Ägypten haben Vertrag weiterhin nicht unterzeichnet
Real cost of gas at Afghan bases: $400/gal.
Kumi Naidoo: 'I hope sanity will prevail with climate change, just as it did with apartheid'
Greenpeace International's director says the struggle for climate justice is similar to the fight against apartheid
Fed Considers Bailout for Eurozone to Quell Crisis
The Federal Reserve, along with the 17 eurozone national central banks, may help provide the International Monetary Fund with funds that could be used to aid debt-ridden states, a German newspaper reported.
Die Welt cited sources close to the negotiations as saying the eurozone central banks could pay at least $134.2 billion into a special fund that could be used for programs for nations struggling to control their debts.
Foreigners want America’s public assets
It seems like foreign governments and corporations are craving U.S. public assets like toll roads, electrical grids and railways. In the case of our largest creditor, the Chinese government, they don’t want any more U.S. Treasuries, but they do want to own the hard assets that comprise our nation’s infrastructure.
Jeffrey Sachs: 'The institutions of Europe are not really functioning' - video
As chaos in the European markets continues, Jeffrey Sachs, a former special adviser to the United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, and one of the leading international economic thinkers of his generation, talks to Madeleine Bunting about the eurozone crisis
Why is the west funding Iran's deadly war on drugs?
Iran's counter-narcotics programme results in hundreds of executions each year, yet western powers still support it
African traffickers settling here: UN
African organised-crime groups are setting up shop in Cambodia as a centre for trafficking methamphetamines in Southeast Asia, the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime has said.
In its 2011 report on patterns and trends of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), released on Wednesday, UNODC notes the rapid rise of production and use in Southeast Asia.
The Economic Crisis in the Palestinian Authority
In recent years, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has enjoyed economic growth in the West Bank. However, this appears to have been only short-term growth based on foreign aid, and not on private sector activity or investment. Reduced foreign aid sparked an economic crisis in the PA, manifested in liquidity problems and difficulty in paying salaries. The crisis undermined statements by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad regarding the PA's readiness to establish a Palestinian state. The delay in the transfer of PA funds that Israel collects for it could exacerbate the crisis, prompting PA leaders to call for replacing the Paris Agreement, which regulates the economic relationship between Israel and the PA, with another agreement that would lessen the Palestinian economy's dependence on Israel.
Journalists Should Be Government Mouthpieces, Chinese Media Leader Says
The new president of China’s largest television network, the state-run organization known CCTV, drew fire over the weekend from Chinese press advocates and others online over comments urging journalists to drop their pretensions of professionalism and submit to being mouthpieces of the government.
North Korea making missile able to hit U.S.
Republicans press Pentagon for long-range interceptors
Sunnis and Shiites Head Toward a Showdown in Iraq
With U.S. troops set to leave Baghdad, Sunnis and Shiites race toward a bloody showdown.
Did We Have Music, Art, and Books before the UN?
And would we have music, art, and books without the UN? The great jazz pianist Herbie Hancock suggests in a Washington Post op-ed that our cultural life would be barren without UNESCO:
Energy companies have lent more than 50 staff to government departments
Oil and nuclear industries' presence throughout Whitehall exposed by Green MP, who warns of undue influence on policy
Occupy Foreign Affairs
WASHINGTON, Dec 5, 2011 (IPS) - It's not the topic of George Packer's latest essay that's particularly surprising. Inequality, he writes, is undermining democracy. Progressives have been hammering home this message for years if not decades.
Urban Agriculture
Industrial-Sized Rooftop Farm Planned for Berlin
It is hardly a logical spot for a farm, but three Berliners have earmarked a massive former factory roof for an unusual urban agriculture venture. The sustainable set-up will produce both vegetables and fish for local residents and could be a model for future city farms as the world continues to urbanize.
Trickle-Down Economics
There’s a free-market solution to the world’s water crisis. Make people pay by the drop.
The new philanthropists: Rich with a social conscience
While many rich people are driven to become ever richer, others are discovering the joys of philanthropy and giving their wealth away.
Zakaria: Don't fear political Islam - yet
By Fareed Zakaria, CNN
Tom Friedman recently wrote a sharp op-ed on "The Arab Awakening and Israel" in which he quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking before the Knesset in late November. Netanyahu said the Arab awakening was moving the Arab world "backward" and turning into an "Islamic, anti-Western, anti-liberal, anti-Israeli, undemocratic wave."

U.N.’s Botched Computer-System helps staff bilk milions via SAP & Trump Says 'Sue OPEC

Due to the bad economy, the Queen of England’s salary will be frozen for the next four years. In fact, to make ends meet the queen is thinking of having a yard sale. Getting rid of a lot of stuff they don't use anymore, like Canada. - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Today is International Ninja Day, when people are encouraged to carry toy weapons and wear black masks. And as I found out the hard way, my bank wasn’t celebrating it. - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Waleed Ahmed, Hult International Business School Student, Attracts Worldwide Acclaim After Inventing a Solar Energy iPhone Case
Gingrich-Mitchell Task Force On UN Reform
... Mandated by Congress in the FY2005 omnibus appropriations bill at the behest of Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), the report offers an actionable American agenda for strengthening the United Nations. The full report is available online.
Other report recommendations include:..



U.N.’s Botched Computer-System Overhaul: A Major 'Failure' of Ban Ki-Moon's Management
EXCLUSIVE: A state-of-the-art computer and software system that was touted as the "cornerstone” of a United Nations-wide effort to bring groundbreaking reform to its bloated and stodgy Secretariat is now officially one of the organization’s foremost technological failures.
It is a humiliating black eye for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is identified as the driving force behind the $315 million -- if you believe official figures -- fiasco.
Unesco faces cost of Palestine vote
The United Nations culture agency is dealing with the financial consequences of a political decision taken in October – a funding shortfall of 22 per cent.
On October 31 the United States suspended its financial contribution to Unesco after Palestine was admitted as a full member.
“The situation is difficult, no one can deny it,” Eric Falt vice-director general for external relations and public information at Unesco told swissinfo.ch.
Trump Says 'Sue OPEC'
In his new book, Time to Get Tough, Donald Trump says it’s time to really get tough with OPEC. Not only does Trump complain about the oil-producing nations’ disregard for America and free markets, he says there is a simple solution: Sue them.
Sounds like a great talking point for a stump speech, but is it realistic? Here’s Trump’s answer:
“Currently, bringing a lawsuit against OPEC is difficult,” he admits, “and it’s been made even more complicated by a 2002 federal court ruling.”
Iran blocks U.S. 'virtual embassy' site a day after its launch
The Iranian government filtered and blocked a "virtual embassy" of the United States for Iran on Wednesday, a day after its launch.
The iran.usembassy.gov site was open and accessible on its first day, likely because of a religious holiday in Iran, but was blocked early Wednesday after public organizations resumed work.
NAACP Taking Complaints About U.S. Voter Laws to United Nations
The NAACP is calling on the United Nations to intervene as it claims state governments are colluding to "block the vote" for minority communities ahead of the 2012 election -- a charge those governments vehemently deny.
The nation's biggest civil rights organization this week released a report that claimed a raft of new voting laws at the state level would disenfranchise minority voters. The report said 14 states passed 25 measures "designed to restrict or limit the ballot access of voters of color."
India beats China’s ‘shut-up’ envoy
- Victory in first direct contest in UN
'Glaciergate' UN scientist repeats warnings of Himalayan melting
The discredited head of the international scientific body on climate change today repeated his claim that the Himalayan glaciers were ‘undoubtedly’ melting.
Speaking at the latest round of UN talks on tackling global warming, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said more research was needed on the state of Himalayan glaciers but there was no doubt they were retreating.
Dr Pachauri – called ‘Patchy’ in scientific circles - found himself embroiled in a row in 2010 over the inclusion in the IPCC's last major report, used to inform international policy on climate change, of incorrect claims that the mountain region's glaciers could melt away by 2035.



Stern's Rebuke
Lord Nicholas Stern's views on climate change are stark and controversial
Greenpeace Leader Visits Boardroom, Without Forsaking Social Activism
... “Look, 1.6 billion people have no access to energy and yet live in regions that are blessed with abundant solar, wind, wave and geothermal energy,” he said. “If we can address that problem, we can alleviate poverty, create jobs and move into a green energy future.”...
South-South Cooperation Complements North-South Cooperation
ROME, Dec 6, 2011 (IPS) - South-South cooperation can play a key role in boosting the economies of developing countries, but it is not going to replace North-South cooperation, says Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the 66th session of the U.N. General Assembly.
Early Soviet Propaganda Film, 'Seekers of Happiness,' At New Haven Library
1936 Drama Made To Persuade Jews To Move To Siberia
Film addresses the question, ‘Are we really broke?’
Here is a link to a fun new resource that might help you explain why this country is well, basically, broke: or is it?
Physicians for Social Responsibilities (PSR) had the pleasure of working with the team from "The Story of Stuff" in the creation of their new video, "The Story of Broke." In it, Annie Leonard takes complicated issues and presents them in clear and even fun ways that spur action. In this case, she powerfully confronts the emerging myth that we are broke. Instead, as we all know, it is a matter of our priorities.
"We know that our government is currently in the midst of making trillion-dollar decisions on our behalf. These spending decisions will speak to our priorities as a country and impact millions of citizens,” states the introduction on PSR.org. “Annie Leonard's recent ‘The Story of Broke’ describes a system of power and influence that is corrupting our political process and leaving us, in the 99 percent, without real representation. And, yet, in a democracy we have the power to shift this broken system. Join us as we help forge a responsible and healthy future."
U.S. is among developed economies with highest income inequality
Although the gap between the highest and lowest paid is greater in the United States than in most other wealthy countries, income inequality has risen faster in others such as Sweden and Finland, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.


Defiant Assad Denies Ordering Bloody Syrian Crackdown – Video
... His defiant stance was on display in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters who confronted the Syrian dictator in Damascus with stories and evidence of civilians being tortured and killed, some of them children.
"People went from house to house. Children were arrested. I saw those pictures," Walters said to Assad.
"To be frank with you, Barbara, I don't believe you," Assad said...
It must be nice being President... Obama to jet off to Hawaii for SEVENTEEN DAY Christmas vacation
New York eatery is a farm and restaurant rolled into one (3:03) – Video
Germany's neo-Nazi underground
Ten murders blamed on a neo-Nazi underground cell have raised fresh fears about far-right extremism in Germany. BBC Radio One Newsbeat's Sima Kotecha went to investigate.
After passing test ban, RI asks US to follow
... Ismet Ahmad, a lawmaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said that nuclear-armed countries, especially Israel and the US, must follow suit, adding that “Indonesia’s ratification has no significance unless other nuclear states take the same step.”
US President Barack Obama said in May that the US was preparing a push to approve the treaty, arguing that while the US no longer needed to conduct nuclear tests, it needed to stop other countries from conducting tests, according to Reuters...
Clinton Says US Committed To CTBT Ratification

Israel challenges U.N. on Palestinian refugees & U$ ageest to pay 22B to UN Climate Fund

Ny studie av norsk støtte til handelsrelatert bistand
... : Norway’s Trade Related Assistance through Multilateral Organizations: A Synthesis Study Report 8/2011 – Study.

Travel Snapshots: Austria - CNN
Each week CNN.com will post a Travel Snapshots gallery focusing on a destination or theme. This week, we're looking for photos taken during your trips to gorgeous, scenic Austria. Send us your best shots for an upcoming gallery!
Please upload large, horizontal versions of your photos if possible.
See these iReports on a map »
Diet Secrets of Famous Politicians
Whether for health or looks, some politicians have shed serious pounds
Nafissatou Diallo Caught on Tape Reenacting Alleged Sexual Attack by DSK - Video
France buzzed Thursday over the leak of videotapes showing Sofitel workers briefly celebrating after calling police to report an alleged sexual attack by DSK, but the most important video clip may be of the maid herself, who reported the attack.
Climate Talks Closer to Agreement on Plan with $100 Billion Aid
Envoys at United Nations talks are near an agreement that would set up a fund channeling a portion of the $100 billion a year in pledged climate aid to developing nations, part of a package to keep a lid on global warming.
Kofi Annan: Despite flaws, UN Human Rights Council can bring progress
Bush, Blair are war criminals, court says
Washington: A War Crimes Tribunal in Malaysia has found former US President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair guilty of war crimes for their roles in the Iraq war, Press TV reports.
The five-panel Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal decided that Bush and Blair committed genocide and crimes against humanity by leading the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a Press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday.
TRIBUNAL TO HEAR WAR CRIMES

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 November 2011 – The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal (Tribunal) will be hearing war crimes charges against George W Bush (former U.S. President) and Anthony L Blair (former British Prime Minister) from November 19-22, 2011 in Kuala Lumpur. This is the first time that war crimes charges will be heard against these two former heads of state in compliance with due legal process, wherein complaints from war victims had been received, duly investigated and formal charges instituted by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission (Commission). - Read More –
Israel challenges U.N. on Palestinian refugees
December 8, 2011
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel questioned the use of the U.N. aid agency created exclusively for Palestinian refugees.
Addressing the United Nations in Geneva, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon argued Thursday against the two-tier system whereby Arabs displaced by the fighting in British Mandatory Palestine around the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, and their descendants, are tended to by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, while other refugees must look collectively to the U.N High Commissioner for Refugees.
Israel has long argued that UNRWA perpetuates the conflict with the Palestinians, who insist on a "right of return" for their refugees to land now in Israel, whereas UNHCR has often worked to resettle its wards.
"While the UNHCR has found durable solutions for tens of millions of refugees, the agency created specifically for the Palestinian context, UNRWA, has found durable solutions for no one," Ayalon said at the conference, according to a transcript circulated by his office.
"This has meant that a peaceful solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians remains further away. This is morally and politically unacceptable."
Israel says Palestinian refugees should resettle in a future Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or elsewhere. Israelis also have called on the international community to give consideration to the hundreds of thousands of Jews from Arab countries who were dispossessed during the 1948 war and were mostly taken in by Israel.


Dutch: $1.3 million for oppressed bloggers
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government has pledged euro1 million ($1.3 million) to help bloggers operating under oppressive regimes.
Speaking at the Freedom Online conference, Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal says the money will be used to "support" the development of backup computer and mobile networks that bloggers can use to disseminate information when a government tries to block the Internet or social media. He says Syria, Iran and Zimbabwe are target countries.
The Netherlands said Friday it has earmarked additional euro5 million in its human rights donations for unspecified online freedom projects.
On Thursday U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened the conference with a call for companies not to sell surveillance tools to authoritarian regimes.
Freedom Online, 8 & 9 December 2011, The Hague
Obiang's palace building spree
... The new building plan comes to light several months after Equatorial Guinea inaugurated the $830 million luxury Sipopo resort, which served as the venue for the African Union's 47th Summit in June. Obiang, who is serving as the U.N. president this year, presided over the gathering...
Debating Bolton at the UN
Unsurprisingly, I've received plenty of pushback on yesterday's post regarding John Bolton's tenure at the UN. A very well-informed reader argues that Security Council activity levels and resolutions are a poor indication of Bolton's diplomatic impact and that his true colors emerged in the informal consultations that are the bread-and-butter of UN diplomacy:
Insight: Ten years on, American business rethinks China dreams
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Few in the United States would recognize Charlene Barshefsky or remember what she did. Not so in China where the former Trade Representative says she is stopped in the streets by ordinary people and thanked.
Her gift to the Chinese people was leading the U.S. delegation that negotiated China's entry to the World Trade Organization in December 2001. The removal of trade barriers heralded unprecedented economic growth for China, vaulting it in a decade to the second largest economy in the world and helping slash its rural poverty rate from 10.2 percent in 2000 to 2.8 percent in 2010.
"The Chinese consider WTO entry the most historic achievement in U.S.-China relations since (U.S. President Richard) Nixon's visit to China," in 1972, Barshefsky said.
Green technology race outpaces U.N. climate talks
(Reuters) - China has roared to the front of a green technology race that ultimately could do more to save the planet than the endless hours of U.N. negotiations, that year after year have failed to deliver an adequate response to climate change.
A Democratic Chance in a Post-Soviet Holdout
The West can break Russia's monopoly of influence over the unrecognized territory of Transnistria.
On Saturday, voters will decide the president of Transnistria, the unrecognized quasi-state between Moldova and Ukraine that remains one of Eastern Europe's last frozen conflict zones. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Transnistria declared independence from Moldova, its pro-Russian population wary of the new Moldovan republic's geopolitical orientation. A year later, it successfully repelled Moldovan forces during a bloody 1992 civil war. Since then, the region has been ruled by Igor Smirnov, an authoritarian president with close ties to Russia.
UN's Ban Ki-moon in Mogadishu on Somalia visit
UN head Ban Ki-moon is visiting the Somali capital, Mogadishu - the highest-ranking foreign official to go there in years.
He was wearing a bulletproof vest as he was welcomed at the airport by Somalia's prime minister.
Robert Levinson, Ex-FBI Agent Gone Missing In Iran, Appears As Hostage In Video
Officials Confirm Authenticity of Iranian TV Images Showing Lost U.S. Drone
U.S. officials have confirmed to Fox News that images aired by Iranian state television do in fact show the secret U.S. drone that went down last week in eastern Iran.
"Yep, that's it," one senior official told Fox News. "And it's intact."
UBS advice for a euro collapse: ‘tinned goods, small calibre weapons’
As if there isn’t already enough eurozone doom and gloom floating around these days.
A note from UBS economist Larry Hatheway on Wednesday spells out why he and his colleagues at the bank believe a eurozone collapse would result in an “end of the world” scenario. It makes for some grim reading.
U.K. funding think-tank hostile to oil sands
The British government, through its high commission in Ottawa, has given a Canadian environmental think-tank nearly $60,000 for research that included a report advocating a shift away from fossil fuel industries like the Alberta oil sands, money that critics say represents an attempt to intrude into Canada's domestic environmental policy.
Eyes down for a more revealing insight into economic development
The addled advice often given to low-income countries suggests strategists are overlooking the merits of structural economics
A group of people had just disrupted a baseball game by running naked across the field. After the disturbance, legendary player Yogi Berra was asked whether they were men or women. He replied: "I don't know. They had bags over their heads." That story illustrates what is perhaps the biggest issue in development economics today: the inability of many researchers to look in the right place when searching for answers.
Smartphones, the internet and the smart energy revolution