No 10 says Liam Fox’s attack on government plans to enshrine funding for developing countries will not derail its plans Downing Street has insisted the government is committed to enshrining its overseas aid spending targets in law, despite objections by the defence secretary, Liam Fox . No 10 condemned the leak of a private letter from Fox to David Cameron warning that he could not support the plans in their current form. “Clearly we condemn leaks in all forms,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said, adding that it would be for senior officials to decide whether to mount a leak inquiry. The spokesman stressed that Fox’s concerns would not affect the government’s plan to create a statutory requirement for 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) to be spent on overseas aid. “It is coalition policy, it is government policy, it will be made law,” the spokesman said. “There is no question that it is the government’s policy to have the 0.7% of GNI target for international aid. We will introduce a bill in due course to make that law.” In his letter, obtained by the Times, Fox – who made clear he had discussed the issue with the international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, and the foreign secretary, William Hague – argued that establishing a specific statutory target would open up the government to future legal challenges. Instead, he suggested that the target should simply be recognised in legislation, along with a commitment to produce an annual report on whether it was being met. “I have considered the issue carefully, and discussed it with Andrew and William Hague, but I cannot support the proposal in its current form,” he wrote. A source close to Fox insisted that he was not opposed to the government’s plan to increase spending on aid, saying: “The defence secretary fully supports the principle of a 0.7% target on international aid. “The issue is simply how best to reflect this in law.” However, the leak once again highlighted the uneasy relationship between Cameron and Fox, who were rivals for the Tory leadership in 2005. Last year another private letter from Fox to the prime minister – this time warning of the impact of planned defence cuts – was leaked to the press. Fox strongly denied any responsibility and ordered an inquiry by the Ministry of Defence police. The latest leak, however, again chimes with the concerns of many Tory backbenchers who believe that the government is spending too much on overseas aid at a time of economic austerity. In contrast, Cameron is strongly committed to the statutory target, which he regards as emblematic of the way the Conservative party has changed under his leadership. The shadow international development secretary, Harriet Harman, said: “The commitment to increase overseas aid spending to 0.7% of GNI by 2013 was a manifesto commitment by the Tories and the Lib Dems and was repeated in the coalition agreement. It must not be the next broken promise. “Britain’s overseas aid saves lives in the developing world, but it is also in our national interest to tackle the underdevelopment which can cause conflict. “This Tory manifesto promise has been reiterated by the prime minister at international forums. He must show that Britain keeps its word. “The way to show they are not going to break this manifesto commitment is to bring in the promised legislation now. The government must keep the promise.” Aid Liam Fox Liberal-Conservative coalition Conservatives David Cameron guardian.co.uk
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Austria’s finance minister say the head of the International Monetary Fund should consider stepping down to avoid damaging the institution in the wake of his arrest for sexual assault. (May 17)
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Schwarzenegger reveals he had child with household staffer; Denzel Washington receives honorary degree; Final star-studded Oprah Winfrey taping set in Chicago. (May 17)
Continue reading …If You Vote In Pittsburgh Today, You Can Write In Anti-Fracking Spokeswoman As Candidate For County Chief Executive
May 17, 2011 No CommentIf you live in Pittsburgh, you have the option of voting for a real live activist in today’s election. I’m sure you remember Dana Dolney — you just didn’t know her name. Now you do. If you can, write in her name today for Allegheny County Chief Executive: In the Democratic race for Allegheny County Chief Executive, drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale has become a bigger issue than either candidate probably wanted it to be. County Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty and former Allegheny County Council President Rich Fitzgerald have been fighting over which candidate is more in bed with the industry. They’ve sniped about plans to divvy up gas-drilling royalties , and Flaherty has embarrassed Fitzgerald by circulating an e-mail Fitzgerald sent earlier this year, begging the gas industry for campaign contributions. No surprise, then, that as we first reported early this month , anti-drilling environmentalists see little difference bewteen the two Democrats.That’s where Dana Dolney comes in. In recent days, anti-drilling activists have been seeking to conduct a write-in effort to put one of their own on the ballot. And thanks largely to an internet video gone viral, Dolney is their pick . “This has literally all happened in the past week,” Dolney said by phone this morning. “A lot of people didn’t even know my name, but they knew me from this viral video of me telling of an official at a public hearing and said, ‘We want her for county executive.’” [....] Dolney, a 38-year-old waitress “proudly” from Polish Hill, says she spends about 30 hours or more a week as a community organizer, activist and protester in the fight against natural-gas drilling. Nor was her encounter with Sailor the first time she’s squared off with public officials. Dolney, who is working toward forming a “league of activist women,” says she’s spent quite a bit of time confronting political leaders.
Continue reading …Against Jon Stewart, O’Reilly’s lame defense of Fox’s fake ‘Common controversy’ has no chance
May 17, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media We’re kind of accustomed to seeing Jon Stewart pretty much mop the floor with Bill O’Reilly every time he goes up against him on Fox — even when O’Reilly tries to carefully edit the tapes . And of course, it was no different last night when Stewart took up O’Reilly’s challenge to debate him over the latest fake controversy ginned up by the network’s smear-scandal mills. As Ari Melber observes : In two short segments, O’Reilly walked through his case, responded to factual charges of hypocrisy with some fairly sad parsing and then, when desperate, with rank “pettifogging,” to use a term bandied by both men. Meanwhile, the “Daily Show” anchor’s rebuttals were striking because, even in this casual mode on a minor item, he was more persuasive than the vast majority of people who are called on to represent a progressive view on TV. The highlight came when O’Reilly, the past master of the Wurlitzer propaganda organ, accused Stewart of “pettifogging” the issue — and then found himself promptly busted for pettifogging himself. Stewart basically reiterated the points he’d already raised in The Daily Show’s own rebuttals of the Fox fakery — namely, Fox is hypocritical in its criteria for denouncing White House guests, especially given the network’s own predilection for hosting people with violent backgrounds. STEWART: It sounds like what you’re saying — and correct me if I’m wrong because I don’t want to be wrong when I’m with you, ‘cuz you know I got mad love for you — that’s a rap phrase… O’REILLY: I got it. STEWART: Correct me if I’m wrong. What you’re saying is, if an artist supports someone that has been convicted of killing a cop, they should not be allowed to go to the White House. Is that a reasonable paraphrase? O’REILLY: No, it’s a little bit more than that. STEWART: OK, say it. O’REILLY: I am saying that when a president invites someone, in this case, the First Lady invites someone, the resume has to be put in front of them. And they have to select people who are almost unimpeachable, all right? Because they are getting that honor, to go to the White House. This guy is controversial all day long with this stuff. Not only did he support this cop killer, or celebrate the cop killer, he celebrated another one in Philadelphia! STEWART: Again, he’s celebrating someone he thinks was unjustly — he’s not celebrating — O’REILLY: Is this Perry Mason we’re talking about now? Is this the most brilliant lawyer of all time? STEWART: Who? O’REILLY: This Common. STEWART: Oh. Common. Let me ask you a question. Are you familiar with Leonard Peltier ? O’REILLY: Yes. STEWART: OK. Leonard Peltier was convicted of killing two FBI agents. O’REILLY: OK, now we’re going out to Wounded Knee. STEWART: It’s similar. O’REILLY: Oh huh. No it’s not. STEWART: Well, why is it not? O’REILLY: Because you’re pettifogging the issue. STEWART: It’s the exact same thing. It’s a guy convicted of killing a law-enforcement official, no? Guess who wrote a song about Leonard Peltier. Bono. O’REILLY: OK. STEWART: Guess where he was! [whispers] The White House! [shouts] Boo-yah! O’REILLY: All right. STEWART: That’s a rap word. O’REILLY: Did Bono — ? STEWART: Yes. O’REILLY: Did he actually come out and say that he was innocent? STEWART: I think that’s the crux of the song. O’REILLY: No. I think he was raising questions about it. And, and, the basic theme — STEWART: Now who’s pettifogging? Now I can’t even see you! Here you pettifog. No — that’s exactly same! O’REILLY: OK. STEWART: Bob Dylan wrote a song about a convicted killer named Hurricane Carter — he’s been to the White House. Why are you drawing a line at Common? There is a collective outrage machine here at Fox that pettifogs only when it suits the narrative that suits them. This guy is in the crosshairs in a way he shouldn’t be. Whether you agree with him or not, or you may think he’s ignorant in believing Assadah Shakur is innocent. You may think he’s ignorant in believing that Mumia is. But then guess what? Bono can’t go to the White House, Springsteen can’t go to the White House, Bob Dylan can’t go to the White House. You got a lot of people that aren’t allowed to sit in the White House because they’ve written songs about people convicted of murder. There were also some delicious exchanges in the second half of the interview, particularly when Stewart brought up G. Gordon Liddy: Click here to view this media O’REILLY: OK. So you say, that because Bono, Springsteen, and Bob Dylan wrote songs defending people who were accused of heinous things, that I have to give Common a pass because he did the same thing. STEWART: No. You have to be consistent with your outrage. … STEWART: G. Gordon Liddy, in the Randy Weaver case, after the ATF stormed that facility, right? When he was talking about the ATF, you know what he said on his radio show? He said, if they break down your doors, don’t shoot them here [indicates torso], because they’re wearing protective gear, shoot for the head. O’REILLY: Was that before or after Liddy made the gold commercial? STEWART: [laughs] O’REILLY: OK, you see, your craziness — you bring this stuff in. O’Reilly obviously had no response to that one, because he obviously deflected the point and changed the subject there. I wonder what would have happened if Stewart had managed to bring up Richard Poplawski — an actual cop killer who was inspired by, among other people, Fox’s own Glenn Beck. Bet that would have wound up on the editing floor for sure.
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Why bother with risky battery-changing surgical operations when your own cardiovascular system can provide all the power your heart-shocking pacemaker will ever need? Engineers at Switzerland’s University of Bern have been working on tiny turbines; turbines small enough, in fact, to fit inside a human artery. Working like a blood powered hydroelectric generator, a working prototype — tested in a simulated artery — has been able to produce 800 microwatts of electricity. That’s roughly eighty times the power required to power the average pacemaker; such a device could provide independent, sustainable power to neurostimulators, blood-pressure sensors, and other implanted medical gizmos. Researchers are concerned, however, that a blood turbine’s adding agitation of blood flow might lead to clotting, and are continuing to tweak and rework the design to minimize this risk. Similar, but unrelated cardiovascular power designs have attempted to alleviate the concern by doing away with the rotating, fluid powered components, opting to generate electricity by oscillating magnets by utilizing changes in blood pressure — which sounds awesome, but still falls shy of “blood turbine,” in the contest for most Metal medical device. Blood turbine to power your pacemaker, become legendary band name originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 08:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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No White Horse: Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene Couple Start Crazy … Post Chronicle No White Horse: Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene Couple Start Crazy Cult (PHOTO) Post Chronicle Christian Church leaders and especially Catholic church leaders in the United Kingdom are worried about the cult that these two … GoodNewsChronic says: No White Horse: Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene Couple Start Crazy Cult (PHOTO): by Buddy Trent A couple claims to … http://bit.ly/lHScST
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Former California governor confirms in a statement that he fathered a child with a member of his household staff Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former actor and recently retired governor of California, has admitted that he fathered a child 10
Continue reading …Mizzou Professor says nantenna solar sheet soaks up 90 percent of the sun’s rays, puts sunscreen to shame
May 17, 2011 No Comment
Photovoltaics suffer from gross inefficiency, despite incremental improvements in their power producing capabilities. According to research by a team led by a University of Missouri professor, however, newly developed nantenna-equipped solar sheets can reap more than 90 percent of the sun’s bounty — which is more than double the efficiency of existing solar technologies . Apparently, some “special high-speed electrical circuitry” is the secret sauce behind the solar breakthrough. Of course, the flexible film is currently a flight of fancy and won’t be generating juice for the public anytime soon. The professor and his pals still need capital for commercialization, but they believe a product will be ready within five years. Take your time, guys, it’s not like global warming’s getting worse. [Image source: Idaho National Laboratory (PDF) ] Mizzou Professor says nantenna solar sheet soaks up 90 percent of the sun’s rays, puts sunscreen to shame originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 07:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …‘Boo-Yah’: O’Reilly vs. Stewart Showdown Over Rapper Involves Accusations of ‘Pettifogging’
May 17, 2011 No Comment
Any conversation between Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart is going to have its moments. But throw in the controversy over the White House invitation to the rapper Common, and this could be extra fun! Mediate : In O’Reilly’s eyes it seemed that the issue was a simple one: the President (or in this case First Lady Michelle Obama ) should never have invited the controversial rapper to perform at the White… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Blaze Discovery Date : 17/05/2011 05:11 Number of articles : 5
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