Barackface

Friday, November 03, 2006

Democratic Vision For The 21st Century

Hold direct elections for president. Reorganize the primaries. Shift all elections to weekends.
Stop the gerrymandering. Let autonomous, nonpartisan commissions draw the constituency boundaries. Divide the country into 100 constituencies of near equal population for the 100 seats in the Senate. Statehood for DC.
Publicly funded elections.
Lifelong education. All textbooks and journals should be online, ad based and free, through private sector efforts.
Universal health. Introduce market forces into the health care sector to introduce information technology to bring the costs down across the board.
Spread democracy the progressive way - the Nepal way, not the Iraq way - to win the war on terror. End all monarchies in the Arab countries. Goal: a total spread of democracy by 2020.
Use nuclear energy to produce 80% of America's electricity. Universal, wireless, ad supported, free broadband through private sector efforts.
Voting rights for all who have lived in America for a year or longer.
Single page tax form. Corporate welfare reform. Raise the minimum wage to $10.
Legalize gay marriage. Equal rights to gays. Fuck the fundies. The fundies can go to hell. They disfigure America.

The Energy Solution: Nuclear Energy
The Matrix
Barack Obama: This Is A New Century
Barack Obama: New Approaches To Old Problems
Where Is Da Contract?
Hillary's Formula For 2006
Three Pillars, Draft 2
Immigration, Duh
The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal
Can't Take Back Congress Without Strong On Defense
Rahm Emanuel: Big Ideas For America
Long War
blac
The Spectrum Concept: Wide Applications
A Different Kind Of Campaign, A Scientific Campaign
Presidential Primary Reform
Soviet Health Care In America
Politics At The Speed Of Thought
Social Progress: Show Me The Money
Obama Was In Town And I Missed It
Bill Clinton Had Icecream For Lunch
The Saudi Royal Family Has Got To Go
Takes Two Arms And Two Legs To Swim
To: The Good White People In The South
The Three Pillars

In The News

U.S. Web archive said to reveal nuclear primer CNet News Set up to make public Iraqi documents, Web site included some that may constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb.
Web tool splices filmmakers' global divide CNet News Software in the works for use over a high-speed fiber network would make it easier to collaborate from two different cities.
Amazon moves deeper into selling Web logistics CNet News Company has been positioning itself to supply underlying computing, data storage and other services to Web businesses.
Oracle acquires utility-industry software developer CNet News Acquisition of SPL WorldGroup will serve as a keystone for Oracle to launch a global unit focused on water, electric and gas companies.

The New Middle East Foreign Affairs As Iran and Islamism rise, U.S. influence falls.
The Future of Lebanon Foreign Affairs The government in Beirut might come out of the crisis better than people expect.
Israel’s War With Iran Foreign Affairs The fighting in Lebanon was just a skirmish; the big one is still to come.
The Syrian Solution Foreign Affairs Syria wants to be part of the answer, not just the problem.
From Conflict Management to Conflict Resolution Foreign Affairs Don’t just focus on the fighting in Lebanon, tackle the broader Arab-Israeli conflict.
Immigration Nation Foreign Affairs Bush has the right idea on immigration — but needs to open the doors further and let more in.
China's Leadership Gap Foreign Affairs Unless China can raise a new crop of competent leaders, its future progress will be in doubt.
How We Fight Foreign Affairs Even in Iraq, the American way of war is less hellish than people think.

Hamas Urges Women, Children to Shield Gunmen in Mosque CNSNews.com
US closes 'weapons of mass destruction cookbook' website Telegraph.co.uk
Report Warns of ‘Global Collapse’ of Fishing New York Times
The Hubble telescope: A giant peep for mankind Independent
Nepal's rhinos threatened by resurgent poaching Reuters.uk
Column: Poll finds that Barack Obama is too perfect for presidency Natick Bulletin&Tab eight in 10 voters said they liked everything they had heard from and seen of Mr. Obama ... he would probably make his decision by January ..... 37 percent said they thought he may have already been elected president ...... In a head-to-head matchup, the poll found that Mr. Obama was leading former President John f. Kennedy by more than 3 to 1. If the election were held today, 64 percent of the voters surveyed said that they would vote for Mr. Obama only if he was running against George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, or some other historically heroic figure, and 18 percent said they had never heard of Washington, Jefferson, or Lincoln. ....... "Obama is the one without the track record that makes me think he's the one who could change the way things work" ...... recently appeared in Men's Vogue, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair and Washington Life , went on Oprah this week to announce that he would appear, barely clothed, in an upcoming music video with rap diva Lil' Kim
Menendez enlists support from Barack Obama at rally Asbury Park Press
3-month-old a prime suspect in bus heist in India INQ7.net
Stars support Clinton senate campaign Irish Examiner
Clinton endorses Chavez in San Jose mayor's race Fog City Journal
Clinton Discusses Future Of Country Today's THV Clinton told the audience he's been traveling the country and that he sees great discontentment among voters. Clinton said, "People know there is something fundamentally wrong with the way our country is working." Clinton says the Democrats are "about common sense and the common good." He says Democrats will help unite the country.
Father-son duo Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan may do a live concert ... Bollywood Mantra
Parties braced for election-night upsets MSNBC
Energy Issues Top Russia-EU Talks Voice of America
US warns Americans in East Africa of terrorist threats Monsters and Critics.com
Google scrambles to `legalize` YouTube Monsters and Critics.com
India, China Compared at BW CEO Forum BusinessWeek
Dean: Bush 'Most Incompetent President' NewsMax.com
Dems Do Damage Control After Kerry's Remarks CBS2 Chicago
Contests for 36 governors races shape political battlegrounds for ... International Herald Tribune
Intel Chairman Promotes WiMAX in India Houston Chronicle
A nightmare for Bush? News24
Bird flu to remain major threat for next decade: UN Khaleej Times
Borat leads cultural revolution Scotsman
Nigeria: Beach Soccer - Argentina Outscore Nigeria .. AllAfrica.com

BW CEO Forum: India vs. China BusinessWeek
It's the Local Economy, Stupid BusinessWeek an unemployment rate of 4.6% ...... the war in Iraq is the No. 1 voter concern, as casualties mount and an exit strategy remains unclear ...... many American workers have suffered from rising health-care costs and stagnating wages ..... "Normally I vote for who I think the best [individual candidate] is, but this time it's [straight-ticket] Democrat all the way." ....... minimum-wage .. at $5.15 per hour, is at its lowest level in 50 years, adjusted for inflation .......nearly three-quarters of Midwesterners (74%) rate economic conditions in the country "only fair or poor," the highest percentage of any region. ..... "There's no middle class anymore..... You're either high income or you're just surviving ........ the real median hourly wage for American workers has declined by more than 1% since 2003, despite a steady rise in productivity ..... you can't win an election with the top 1% of the vote ....... 81% of nonsupervisory workers agreed with the statement, "No matter what you hear about the economy, working families are falling behind." ...... "I've split my ticket at times in the past, but this time it's straight Democrat."
Tom Cruise, partner to run film studio 2:15 PM ET BusinessWeek
Productivity slows to a standstill 1:05 PM ET BusinessWeek
Tech's Threat to National Security BusinessWeek
Disintegrating euros mystify Germans 11:44 AM ET BusinessWeek
Follow the Money—to Prison BusinessWeek Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive of Computer Associates (now known as CA) faced a federal judge on Nov. 2 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his part in the massive accounting fraud at the software maker. ...... the 81-year-old founder of Adelphia Communications, John Rigas ...... Rigas and his family took more than $2.3 billion in unreported loans from Adelphia coffers, according to prosecutors. In June, 2005, a federal judge sentenced him to 15 years ...... The former Enron boss, Jeffrey Skilling, has been sentenced to more than 24 years and must pay $45 million restitution. Worldcom chief Bernard Ebbers began serving his 25-year stint in September at a federal prison in Louisiana. ...... Tyco's (TYC) former chief, L. Dennis Kozlowski, is serving at least eight years, and possibly as much as 25, in upstate New York, after being found guilty of taking more than $400 million in company money for his personal use. ...... A loss at trial can lead to a draconian sentence that a plea agreement can avoid. ..... In the Dynegy case, people closer to the fraud decided to cooperate with the government probe, pleaded guilty, and ended up with sentences of 15 months or less. ..... Kumar, the Sri Lankan native .... "I know that I was wrong, and there's no excuse for my conduct," he said, according to Dow Jones Newswires. ...... The company paid $225 million into a "restitution fund" for harmed investors to avoid prosecution. It also overhauled its leadership team. ..... the company is "a dramatically different organization than we were two years ago, when Mr. Kumar left."
The Other Indian Outsourcer BusinessWeek
OhmyNews' Oh My Biz Problem BusinessWeek OhmyNews' English-language news division is produced by nearly 1,500 citizen reporters from more than 100 countries, plus five professional editors based in the U.S. and Korea. ..... its strength is in developing countries, where many people feel local views aren't fully reflected in Western media .... long on idealism but short on a workable business strategy.
Problems abound for Sony 2:24 PM ET BusinessWeek Sony Corp. has receded from its days of glory, when the Walkman was the synonym for portable music and PlayStation 2 was the pinnacle of video game consoles
Asia's Boy Wonder of the Web BusinessWeek Three years after starting his Web hosting company, Clara Online, Kentaro Iemoto was on the verge of bankruptcy. .... Iemoto was an 18-year-old high school grad at the time. ...... Iemoto quickly rounded up 20 investors, secured the quarter of a million dollars ..... A company with only $5 million in revenues, it's attracting an A-list of customers. ..... companies that store their data on Clara's 20,000 Linux-based servers ..... six data centers in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Seoul ..... Iemoto wants to build the largest Web hosting service in Asia ...... A jovial self-professed serial blogger, Iemoto belongs to Japan's Web 2.0 generation. ...... He's not only a good leader but ... 1&1 of Germany .... Raised in Japan and Soviet-era Poland in a family of academics, Iemoto wanted to be a pro baseball player. He gave up on that idea at 11, when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He spent all but two and a half months of junior high school lying in a hospital bed. ....... To stave off boredom, he whizzed through books on ancient Chinese and Japanese history, built his own computers, and wrote software for a database. ...... without a business plan or budget, they quickly burned through their money. Iemoto's status as Japan's youngest-ever CEO didn't help matters. ...... "Early on, I was doing lots of media interviews and I got cocky" ....... He's also got a progressive approach to management that's unusual in Japan. ..... he prefers a flat corporate structure .... Iemoto credits Virgin CEO Richard Branson's autobiography, Losing My Virginity, for showing him the way. "It taught me to make sure that work stays fun ...... before heading home where he'll post a late-night report of the day's activities on his blog ...... "It gives my customers an idea of the work this company does," he says. ....... Clara, which already offers server hosting services in English, Japanese, and Korean, will soon add Chinese and Arabic along with a few other languages.
The Great China IPO Haul BusinessWeek
A Remarkable Rally for India Stocks BusinessWeek
Innovation: Outsourcing's Second Wave BusinessWeek
China and India: Room for Reform BusinessWeek
Habitat Hammers Away on Indian Housing BusinessWeek
South Korea Due for an Economic Upgrade BusinessWeek
South Korea's Finance Minister Talks Trade BusinessWeek
Asia Desperately Seeking IT Talent BusinessWeek
How This Tiger Got Its Roar BusinessWeek the rise of India as a destabilizing force in the $650 billion worldwide tech services industry ...... Premji transformed a peanut oil company in poverty-ridden India into a tech powerhouse. ..... Aug. 11, 1966, Azim H. Premji was a senior at Stanford University ...... Rather than pursuing his dream of bringing aid to the developing world as a policymaker at the World Bank, he found himself thrust into the nitty-gritty details of saving a failing company in a backwater economy. ...... says Premji, who finally got his Stanford degree six years ago ..... software programming, engineering design, and back-office services for more than 500 of the world's largest corporations. ...... India's vast pool of young technology graduates willing to work for wages as much as 80% lower than those in the West. ....... first-quality work, top-notch customer service, super-efficient human resources, and, increasingly, technology innovation ...... 350 employees, mostly in and around Bombay, and just $3 million in revenues. ...... Premji, who was self-conscious about his age, had grown a mustache in an effort to add some gravitas. ...... he visited a professor at a leading management school in Bombay and asked him to recommend some textbooks. He bought a pile of them, and over the next year he stayed up late into the night reading every one ...... learned business basics and systematically built a company based on modern principles and practices ..... the necessity of continuous improvement ...... established Wipro's practice of routinely measuring every aspect of its business. ...... ``When IBM left, it created a vacuum,'' says Premji. ``So we decided to zero in on info tech. `` ...... Premji and his lieutenants knew nothing about computers ....... They rented a 4,000-square-foot office in Bangalore, home to several of India's top technical and management colleges, and decided to build a minicomputer that would sell for far less than an IBM mainframe but do similar work. Within a year, Wipro shipped its first one. ....... allowing them to underprice and outengineer Wipro ........ What Wipro did next set the stage for its emergence as a tech services powerhouse. ..... while the door was open for others to come into India, it was also open for us to go out. So we decided to become a global company ...... The solution: Focus on quality. In 1995, Wipro received certification from the International Organization for Standardization for manufacturing quality. Then it adopted the programming standards of Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. ....... today it's busy applying Toyota Motor Corp.'s (TM) lean manufacturing techniques to its software programming and business-process outsourcing operations worldwide. ....... ``Nobody had heard of us,'' says Sudip Banerjee, president of Wipro's Enterprise Solutions business unit. ``We'd make dozens of phone calls. Nobody would return them.'' ...... engineering services, which already represent 35% of its $2.4 billion in revenues. ...... creating a sinewy management culture that thrives even under intense competitive pressure ....... The chairman is not king. ...... Premji believes in a zero-politics culture. At Wipro, backstabbing, playing favorites, and kissing up to the boss -- tactics that sap much of American executives' energy -- simply don't work. Open and honest disagreements are not only tolerated, but also required -- of everyone. ...... The man takes frontal criticism, and it's celebrated. ...... My job is to push you. When you reach your limit you need to push back ..... openness is more than a personal style. It's a strategy ..... An organizational ability to encourage and harness diversity of thought is a significant competitive advantage ........ It's expanding revenues consistently at some 30% annually, while the overall tech services industry is expanding at about 5% per year. .... With its work ethic and intense drive to win, Wipro is a reminder of the America of 100 years ago.
Reuters Adds Infosys Boss to Board BusinessWeek
A Growing Cadre Of Code Warriors BusinessWeek
In China's Net Cafés, Intel Pours It On BusinessWeek

Thursday, November 02, 2006

The Energy Solution: Nuclear Energy

The choice between economic growth and the environment is a false one. There has to be rapid economic growth across the world, and the environment has to be kept clean. A clean environment is central to the idea of a higher standard of living, that's why.

But rapid economic growth means more energy consumption. And when people get richer, they want to buy and drive cars. Can't blame them. This will happen across the world.

Global warming is a serious problem, more serious than terrorism. Don't listen to the Bushies. They are dumb and wrong.

The world needs to wean itself away from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are a disaster happening, a disaster in the making.

Of all the alternatives, nuclear energy is the best.

But there are serious problems associated with it. First, there is the security issue. There is that stuntman in North Korea. Iran might or might not be going for nuclear weapons, but it sure is going for nuclear energy.

The long term goal has to be a toal elimination of all nuclear weapons. The short term goal has to be nonproliferation. Irresponsible states having them are bad enough. You can't even imagine what if Al Qaeda types were to use dirty bombs in some cities. 9/11 will look like a picnic in comparison.

The safety concerns are very real. And if they are not addressed, the arguments for elaborate uses of nuclear energy get weakened.

Nuclear safety is like global warming: no one country can do it. And so you need a strong and just global mechanism that makes sure the safety concerns are duly met.

It is not possible to imagine there not showing up hundreds of millions of new cars over the decades on the roads of what today are poor countries. But it is possible to imagine them all being electric cars. No noise, no smoke. That would be some fancy car. You don't go to gas stations. You go to stations to recharge your car batteries.

White countries use nuclear energy. 20% of the electricity in the US, 80% in France is generated that way. It really is nuclear apartheid to get paranoid when poor countries see the nuclear energy as their best way forward. Ensure safety, but do not block the technology.

The US could itself follow the France example and move towards generating 80% of its electricity through nuclear. That would be a good idea.

In the 21st century, the basic human needs are as follows: food, water, broadband, electricity.

On The Web

Nuclear Energy is the most certain future source
NEI - The Nuclear Energy Institute
Nuclear power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nuclear energy is produced when a fissile material, such as uranium-235 (²³⁵U), is concentrated such that nuclear fission takes place in a controlled chain reaction and creates heat — which is used to boil water, produce steam, and drive a steam turbine. The turbine can be used for mechanical work and also to generate electricity....... provides 7% of the world's energy and 15.7%^[1] source. Critics, including most major of the world's electricity. The United States produces the most nuclear energy, with nuclear power providing 20% of the electricity it consumes, while France produces the highest percentage of its energy from nuclear reactors—80% as of 2006. ......... The use of nuclear power is controversial because of the problem of storing radioactive waste for indefinite periods, the potential for possibly severe radioactive contamination by accident or sabotage, and the possibility that its use in some countries could lead to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Proponents believe that these risks are small and can be further reduced by the technology in the new reactors. They further claim that the safety record is already good when compared to other fossil-fuel plants, that it releases much less radioactive waste than coal power, and that nuclear power is a sustainable energyenvironmental groups believe nuclear power is an uneconomic, unsound and potentially dangerous energy source, especially compared to renewable energy, and dispute whether the costs and risks can be reduced through new technology. ............ Nuclear power produces spent fuel, a unique solid waste problem. Highly radioactive spent fuel needs to be handled with great care and forethought due to the long half-lives of the radioactive isotopes in the waste. In fact, fresh spent fuel is so radioactive that less than a minute's exposure to it will cause death. However, spent nuclear fuel becomes less radioactive over time. After 40 years, the radiation flux is 99.9% lower than it was the moment the reactor was last shut off, although still dangerously radioactive. ....... the waste must be segregated from the environment for at least several hundred years, and therefore this is properly categorized as a long-term problem. There are, however, chemical plants which also produce hazardous waste staying in the environment for hundreds of years. ...... A large nuclear reactor produces 3 cubic metres (25-30 tonnes) of spent fuel each year. As of 2003, the United States had accumulated about 49,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors. Unlike other countries, U.S. policy forbids recycling of used fuel and it is all treated as waste. After 10,000 years of radioactive decay, according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards, the spent nuclear fuel will no longer pose a threat to public health and safety. ....... Underground storage at Yucca Mountain in U.S. has been proposed as permanent storage. ....... nuclear power produces far less waste material than fossil-fuel based power plants. Coal-burning plants are particularly noted for producing large amounts of radioactive ash due to concentrating naturally occurring radioactive material in the coal. ...... Both nuclear reprocessing and fast breeder reactors can reduce the amounts of waste and increase the amount of energy gained per fuel unit. Subcritical reactors or fusion reactors could greatly reduce the time the waste has to be stored ....... It has been argued that the best solution for the nuclear waste is above ground temporary storage since technology is rapidly changing. The current waste may well become valuable fuel in the future, particularly if it is not reprocessed, as in the U.S. ..... In countries with nuclear power, radioactive wastes comprise less than 1% of total industrial toxic wastes, which remain hazardous indefinitely unless it decomposes or is treated so that it is less toxic or non-toxic.
Nuclear energy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Energy Story - Chapter 13: Nuclear Energy - Fission and Fusion
Howstuffworks "How Nuclear Power Works"
Nuclear Power and Waste Full Coverage on Yahoo! News
Going Nuclear In the early 1970s when I helped found Greenpeace, I believed that nuclear energy was synonymous with nuclear holocaust ...... Thirty years on, my views have changed ..... nuclear energy may just be the energy source that can save our planet from another possible disaster: catastrophic climate change. ...... More than 600 coal-fired electric plants in the United States produce 36 percent of U.S. emissions -- or nearly 10 percent of global emissions -- of CO2 ........ Three Mile Island was in fact a success story: The concrete containment structure did just what it was designed to do -- prevent radiation from escaping into the environment ...... 103 nuclear reactors quietly delivering just 20 percent of America's electricity ........ Eighty percent of the people living within 10 miles of these plants approve of them (that's not including the nuclear workers). ....... I am not alone among seasoned environmental activists in changing my mind on this subject. British atmospheric scientist James Lovelock, father of the Gaia theory, believes that nuclear energy is the only way to avoid catastrophic climate change. ........ the environmental movement must embrace nuclear energy to wean ourselves from fossil fuels. ...... hydroelectric resources are built pretty much to capacity ..... In 2004, the average cost of producing nuclear energy in the United States was less than two cents per kilowatt-hour, comparable with coal and hydroelectric ...... Chernobyl was an accident waiting to happen. This early model of Soviet reactor had no containment vessel, was an inherently bad design and its operators literally blew it up. The multi-agency U.N. Chernobyl Forum reported last year that 56 deaths could be directly attributed to the accident, most of those from radiation or burns suffered while fighting the fire. Tragic as those deaths were, they pale in comparison to the more than 5,000 coal-mining deaths that occur worldwide every year. No one has died of a radiation-related accident in the history of the U.S. civilian nuclear reactor program. ...... Within 40 years, used fuel has less than one-thousandth of the radioactivity it had when it was removed from the reactor. And it is incorrect to call it waste, because 95 percent of the potential energy is still contained in the used fuel after the first cycle. ...... The six-feet-thick reinforced concrete containment vessel protects the contents from the outside as well as the inside. And even if a jumbo jet did crash into a reactor and breach the containment, the reactor would not explode. There are many types of facilities that are far more vulnerable, including liquid natural gas plants, chemical plants and numerous political targets. ....... Nuclear fuel can be diverted to make nuclear weapons. This is the most serious issue associated with nuclear energy and the most difficult to address ........ Over the past 20 years, one of the simplest tools -- the machete -- has been used to kill more than a million people in Africa, far more than were killed in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings combined. What are car bombs made of? Diesel oil, fertilizer and cars. ....... new technologies such as the reprocessing system recently introduced in Japan (in which the plutonium is never separated from the uranium) can make it much more difficult for terrorists or rogue states to use civilian materials to manufacture weapons. ....... new technologies such as the reprocessing system recently introduced in Japan (in which the plutonium is never separated from the uranium) can make it much more difficult for terrorists or rogue states to use civilian materials to manufacture weapons. ..... the 103 nuclear plants operating in the United States effectively avoid the release of 700 million tons of CO2emissions annually -- the equivalent of the exhaust from more than 100 million automobiles. Imagine if the ratio of coal to nuclear were reversed so that only 20 percent of our electricity was generated from coal and 60 percent from nuclear.
DOE - Office of Nuclear Energy
digg - European Leader Urges Return to Nuclear Energy

In The News

UN nuclear chief calls for new plan for nuclear energy use to ... International Herald Tribune, France adopt a broad new plan for the use of nuclear energy to address mounting concerns about the further spread of sensitive technology ...... rising global demand for energy has made nuclear power a more attractive option ..... "the time has come to think of a new framework for the use of nuclear energy." ....... Nuclear power is increasingly being seen as an attractive energy supply especially in poorer nations, he said, noting that 16 or the 28 new reactors currently under construction are in developing countries....... innovative nuclear technology that is inherently safe, proliferation resistant and more economical ...... the new framework should require all countries to adopt comprehensive safeguards and adhere to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty's additional protocol which allows unannounced inspections. It should also include rapid progress toward nuclear disarmament, "a robust international security regime and an effective and universal nuclear safety regime" ..... Iran .. wants all nuclear weapons eliminated ......... during the past year the IAEA conducted a nuclear security training course for 88 countries, supplied detection and monitoring equipment, and bought equipment to improve the security of nuclear power plants and other locations with highly radioactive material. ....... the number of illicit trafficking incidents — more than 100 per year for the past three years — "demonstrates a persistent problem with trafficking, thefts, losses and other unauthorized activities involving nuclear or radioactive material." ...... 93 states are now participating in the IAEA's Illicit Trafficking Database which is providing "insight into trends, risks, and trafficking methods and routes."
UN Chief Asks New Uses for Atom Energy FOX News
Nuclear energy must for India to meet energy requirements, says ... International Herald Tribune, France Nuclear energy is the best option to meet India's growing energy needs, a top official said Monday, noting that the country is dependent on oil and gas imports and its coal supplies are limited. ..... hydroelectric dams provide cleaner and safer energy than any other options — including nuclear — but building new ones means displacing hundreds of thousands of people and potentially destroying habitats..... India's total commercial energy consumption is expected by 2030 to increase by 7.5 times 2001 levels ...... Over the longer term, India is hoping to develop so-called fast breeder reactors to allow the use of thorium, which is in plentiful supply, to fuel reactors.
EU chief supports usage of nuclear energy to tackle global warming Blogger News Network the President of the European Commission, has called for wider usage of nuclear energy in EU member states, to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to tackle the effects of global warming and climate change. .... the objective of the new measures is to speed up the transformation of Europe to a low carbon economy
EU must ’redraw energy sector’ Business Day
EU: A European strategy for energy: closing speech noticias.info (press release)
EU: A new energy policy for a new era noticias.info (press release)
EU chief backs nuclear energy to fight climate change Turkish Press, MI
Egypt seeks nuclear energy United Press International
Egypt turns to Russia, China over nuclear energy Middle East Times, Egypt
Belgium ready to consider India's nuclear energy ques India eNews.com, India
Belgium ready to consider India's nuclear energy quest Telugu Portal Belgium, a member of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Monday indicated it was ready to take a "constructive" approach to India's quest for global civil nuclear cooperation.
Congressional candidates back renewable energy Philadelphia Inquirer, PA

Obama 2006

In The News

The joke's on Kerry The Register-Guard
Wal-Mart May Aggressively Cut Prices To Boost Sales WAVE
Hillary Clinton Takes Russia Kommersant
Digital Mudslinging BusinessWeek
Barack Obama on Seattle Channel at 8 o'clock tonight! Seattle Post Intelligencer
Barracking for Obama University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily Obamam would give the Democrats the best chance to win back the White House. ..... Obama has repeatedly shown a knack for compromise. During that 2004 speech, Obama spoke of striving for purple, rather than Democratic blue and Republican red. In the Illinois State Senate, he was praised for working with both Democrats and Republicans. He has already shown great poise in the U.S. Senate, drawing encouragement from peers to run in 2008. The British journal New Statesman listed Obama as one of 10 people who could change the world. ....... In evaluating the 2008 Democratic candidates, we see that Obama would quickly rise to the top of the list. ...... While Clinton has great name recognition, I strongly believe she does not represent the Democrats' best chance of victory. ...... First and foremost, she is a woman. ..... Second, Clinton is a polarizing candidate. .... The loud ovations he has received across the nation (even in more conservative states such as President Bush's home state, Texas ..... In 10 years, there is no way to know how strong support will be for Obama to make a presidential run. Right now, in 2006, Obama has more than enough support to make a presidential run. ..... asking 1,900 voters about their opinion of national leaders from a 0-100 score. Obama received a mean score of 59.9, the second highest rating overall (only Rudy Giuliani scored higher). Clinton, on the other hand, received a mean score of 50.4, well below Obama and potential opponent McCain who received a mean score of 59.7. ....... Barack Obama represents an incredible hope for both Democrats and the nation.
RJD's Defeat in Bihar By-Polls a Foregone Conclusion: Tiwari Patna Daily
Days to Go: Clinton lends star power to state Dems San Francisco Chronicle
Russia set to double gas prices for Georgia Guardian Unlimited
Election looming, US general urges Iraq patience Reuters AlertNet
Tension looms in Somalia as peace talks collapse Xinhua
NHL, Google to show games on tape-delay Buffalo Business First
Google says no to license proliferation ZDNet
Google mail goes mobile Inquirer
India, China soldiers meet to promote border peace Gulf Times
Yahoo Launches Yahoo Food Search Engine Watch
Putin maneuvers to keep powerful role in Russia after 2008 International Herald Tribune
Baramati's Gets First Digital Hospital, WiMAX Network IT News Online
Syria denies plan to topple Lebanon govt. Seattle Post Intelligencer
US Reports Plot to Topple Beirut Leaders New York Times Syria and Iran were trying to engineer the creation of a new “unity” government that they could control, partly through Hezbollah ...... also indications of “planning for a more violent” attack on the government ..... “Talking isn’t a strategy,” the president’s national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, said in an interview late last week before heading to Iraq. “The issue is how can we condition the environment so that Iran and Syria will make a 180 degree turn?” ....... Hezbollah has its patrons in Damascus, and certainly in Tehran” who observe “very few boundaries concerning what it will do and what it won’t do.” ..... Hezbollah might stage a political crisis to bring about the fall of the government ..... if the Siniora government collapses because of domestic political infighting, any change of government may look more like parliamentary politics than a coup. ..... At the moment, Hezbollah, which is part of the current government, is seen to be in a stronger political position than the Washington-allied March 14 coalition, which controls the government and the largest bloc in Parliament. ........ 34-day war ...... Lebanon’s political factions are scheduled to begin talks on Monday to discuss Hezbollah’s demand for a new national unity government, a proposal that two recent polls determined has the backing of about 70 percent of the population. ....... “Love can be deadly,” said the speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri ...... a speech by the Syrian president in which he said “we have to translate our military victory into a political one.” ......... In addition to the unity government, which would bring Hezbollah’s allies into power, the group wants to amend the election law and call early elections for Parliament. ...... “I don’t buy it,” said Jamil Mroueh, publisher of The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon of Washington’s statement. “This is a domestic issue, in terms of the wrestle for power.”
Israeli military operation in Gaza continues Xinhua
Date Set for Vista, Office, Exchange Rollouts PC Magazine
Bird flu to remain major threat for next decade: UN Khaleej Times
Madonna wants to be known as a humanitarian EiTB

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The Matrix

My.BarackObama.com
Facebook: The Matrix Reloaded

Less than 10 people can form the basic unit group, sure, but they do not get represented to the next level unless they grow to 10. At 20, the group splits into two and sends two representatives to level 2.

The basic unit meets once a month. It may meet anytime during the first week of a month, in any setting. When it is not possible for each member of the group to have a group blog, at least one member of the group needs to perform as a bridge activist. The bridge activist might or might not be the leader of the group, but he/she blogs the group meets.

There are levels 2,3 and 4, as necessary. The same rule of 10 applies at all levels. Levels 2,3 and 4 meet during the second, third and fourth weeks of the month respectively.

Does this mean those in level 4 will be doing four meetings each month? Not necessarily. Those in the higher levels can delegate such that they only attend one meeting a month also. But they will have to study the blog entry of the group meeting of the group immediately below before they attend their own meeting.

Can only "elected" representatives attend the higher level meetings? Not necessarily. Although only they will be voting members, should there be votes. But the host may invite a few guests at any level. They will be designated as such. The level of the guests' participation is to be decided by the host.

Must the meeting end after 90 minutes? Not necessarily. You declare the meeting officially over after 90 minutes, then you say those who want to hang around may do so. That is when you invite chaos. As many people may talk at once as they might want. People talk bilaterally or in small groups, sitting, standing, munching, not muching. In some ways, this is where the real action might be. I'd suggest videoblogging every thing.

Each unit at each level has a group blog that links to all the groups below and the group above, and to all members' individual blogs. And more. The group blog is where you take the "minutes" of a meeting in creative ways, text, audio, photo, video. I emphasize video.

This is designed with towns and cities in mind. The idea is that people should be able to meet in person. But the matrix goes to state and national levels. Beyond the town and the city, the meetings are all virtual.

There is no hierarchy, really. Anyone anywhere in the matrix may communicate with anyone else directly. And although there are time limits for each person during the face time meetings, there is no limit of virtual space for each person to speak his/her mind.

The basic unit is a social as much a political unit.

And there is the 90 minute experience, by the clock. The team leader gets to choreograph the event with active participation from the group. Say 30 minutes of getting to know each other, catching up with each other, 30 minutes of discussions on agenda set up by the group members, and the final 30 minutes to the agenda that came from the top.

So the organization is bottom up, top down, and also zigzag in all directions.

The event could be in a living room, a bar, a hall, or it could be outdoors. The language need not be English, although a small summary in English would be nice. Ideally there is no charge. Keep the costs down. That is the democratic way. Might not hurt to raise a buck or two for snacks.

Do events, blog events. Text, photo, audio, video.

This matrix I offer as the blueprint for Obama 2008. This has to be kept as simple as possible. Obama 2008 will be the first Internet election. For the first time, the Internet will be the dominant media.

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In The News

US Democratic senator apologizes for Iraq comment Xinhua
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Poll: Obama now trails only Clinton on '08 list CNN On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain of Arizona is running neck and neck with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani ..... Obama gets support from 17 percent of registered Democrats, vaulting him into second place, ahead of former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts ..... On October 22, Sen. Barack Obama said that he may run for president in 2008 ...... Clinton's share of the Democratic voters has fallen from 38 percent in September to 28 percent -- still enough to make her the front-runner. ..... Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack are all in the low single digits. .... On the Republican side, there is a virtual tie for first place, with 29 percent of registered GOPers expressing preference for Giuliani and 27 percent opting for McCain.
Nepal 'goddess' inquiry ordered BBC News
The audacity of Barack Obama Texas State University - The University Star
Obama-rama media mania needs to give it a rest for a while Chicago Sun-Times
Fla. Lawmaker Charged in Slur Scandal Forbes
AP Enterprise: Schwarzenegger donations top $113 million San Jose Mercury News Schwarzenegger is on pace to become the most prolific fundraiser in California history.... Schwarzenegger has raised his campaign money in large part by mining board rooms and executive suites from the Silicon Valley to Wall Street...About 75 percent of his donations have come from contributors who have given him at least $10,000.....Spanish-language television magnate Jerry Perenchio, Stockton developer and San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos and William Robinson, founder of the DHL courier service, each have given the governor more than $2 million... "I cannot be bought by anyone, and anyone who gives me money buys into that philosophy," he told the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board recently...... an effort to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow the Austrian immigrant to run for president. .... Proposition 89, the measure on Tuesday's ballot that would authorize public financing for state candidates who give up most campaign contributions.
Schwarzenegger works political miracle in California Monsters and Critics.com
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Google: The Future of Google Video is Scalable Ad Models ... eWeek
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Yahoo starts green vehicle website Daily News & Analysis
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WiMax is the bell of the wireless ball Computerworld
Red wine may contain elixir of youth The Age
Madonna defends baby adoption in interview Guardian Unlimited
Cornish denies role in Witherspoon split The Australian

Kerry Campaign Events Cut as Democrats Criticize Troops' Remark Bloomberg
Bush, Kerry go at it over Iraq Miami Herald
Boston Herald: John Kerry Is An Embarrassment Reiten Television KXMB Bismarck
North Korea wants bank accounts unfrozen Houston Chronicle
UN tells Nepal Maoists to halt so-called 'law enforcement' Monsters and Critics.com
Obama to headline Dem rally Hawk Central
Naxals run riot in Bihar, Andhra Mumbai Mirror
Senator Clinton Assails Bush and Iraqi Government on Handling of ... New York Times
Heckler Subdued at Sen. Allen Event Forbes
Republican Schwarzenegger 16 points ahead-poll Reuters
Mandela leads tributes to S.Africa's Botha Washington Post
Why Google Sponsored Video is Google business as usual ZDNet
Google adds wikis to its arsenal Silicon.com
IBM to set up development centres in India, China Antara
ATR Analyst: Yahoo Should Consider Letting Google Sell Their Ads Seeking Alpha
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New iPod Shuffle Out On Friday Smart House
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World Sex Survey Reveals Surprises WebMD
Global survey puts reproductive health on the map New Scientist (subscription)
Vaccine Resistant H5N1 Bird Flu Spreads In South East Asia Medical News Today
Madonna Continues Damage Control: Father Refused Help Playfuls.com
From Golden Couple to Celebrity News Gristle ABC News
Roving eye 'ended Witherspoon's marriage' Ninemsn
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IE v Firefox: the battle begins The Age
Madonna hits TV circuit to defend adoption USA Today
Witherspoon and Phillippe Split San Francisco Chronicle Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon and her husband, Ryan Phillippe, have separated after seven years of marriage. ..... The source added that the separation was not triggered by one particular event, but that it was "cumulative."
Clinton, Cherie Blair to attend India Leadership Summit Hindu The first India Leadership Summit will bring some of the most influential and acclaimed leaders in politics, business and social consciousness to India
Bush Turns Focus To Gay Marriage CBS News
Seattle newspapers' circulation keeps falling Seattle Times
Google Wants Microsoft's Vista To Offer Search Choice abc7news.com
To the Media, YouTube Is a Threat and a Tool Washington Post
Yahoo trying to buy AOL- report CNET News.com
Server vendors show Red Hat that Oracle is boss Register
Vaccine-Resistant Bird Flu Spreading in Asia Forbes
Saw III carves up US box office BBC News
Chinese IPO may trigger India-China competition Business Standard China's nascent capital market has received a shot in the arm in its bid to compete with India with the infusion of nearly 22 billion US dollars in the world's largest initial public offering by the country's largest lender, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Imperial China Hindustan Times

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27 October 2006, Friday 95

31 October