tag > Politics
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China’s Foreign Ministry has accused the United States of being a “hacker empire”
Map of Crypto AG "Customers" (victims) The CIA has been using the Crypto AG’s encoding devices to spy on over 120 countries for decades. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said facts have repeatedly shown that the US is the world’s largest monitor in cyberspace. He said its surveillance operations have no respect for international rules. The spokesman called on the US to give the international community an explanation."
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"Jeff Bezos didn’t “donate” $10B to “fight climate change” he’s setting up a $10B venture called the “Bezos Earth Fund.” In other words, he’s founding a bank and using it to invest in “the green sector,” thereby profiting from & influencing how transition happens" - Chosun Chillbo
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China’s overall paper imports dropped another 39% last year
China bought less of the world’s recycled fiber in 2019, the second year in a row of major decreases in recycled material imports. And the country’s environmental ministry has reiterated plans for an all-out import ban next year.
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U.S. farm bankruptcies hit an eight-year high: court data (reuters)
U.S. Farm bankruptcies have increased every year for the past five years--with farmers retiring or selling their farms due to financial strains. This trend is changing the economics of Midwestern towns as land ownership concentrates into fewer hands.
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Japan almost a ‘sixth eye’ as Five Eyes keep closer watch on Chinese military, North Korea
"Under an expanded ‘Five Eyes Plus’ framework, the group – which comprises Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the US – will work with Japan, France and South Korea to exchange data on a range of areas, including China’s military, North Korean ballistic missile launches, cybersecurity and outer space."
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Ted Nelson VS The MIT Media Lab
"From that moment i figured he (Nicholas Negroponte, lab founder) was really a con man [...] The whole point of the Media Lab is "we know something that you don't know!" - to have strange projects no one could understand. [...] Negroponte is a politician, exchanging favours. [..] One day i asked Negroponte for his definition of media and he finally said 'Media is like Air!'. Con men and politicians aren't necessarily held to telling the truth at all." - Ted Nelson
"For over thirty years, the MIT Media Lab has done strange and mysterious things, using hype and hokum to impress the unwary and raise ever more money. Whereas the principles of interaction and media, as far as I'm concerned, are and always have been simple and powerful, with human creativity at the centre. The creative mentality of the film director is exactly what is needed in software - anticipating the user's understandings and expectations, and fulfilling them elegantly." - Ted Nelson
#Comment: It's worth adding that besides the (ongoing) onslaught of "strange projects know one could understand" (aka "Bullshit", as defined by Harry Frankfurt in his essay "On Bullshit" (PDF) ), the Media Lab (and the wider MIT) has been a premier "think tank" for the US military industrial complex. And thus, the media lab has proven the marvellous fact that fictitious techno-utopian bullshit pushed by con man politicians, is highly capable of killing a great many people in the real world.
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85,000 Chinese museum artefacts lost in New York fire in Lunar New Year disaster (SCMP)
‘One hundred per cent of the museum’s collection’ was lost in the blaze, the Museum of Chinese in America says. The museum’s collection included items such as textiles, restaurant menus and ship tickets that tell the story of Chinese migration to the US. The fire came ahead of the Lunar New Year on Saturday.
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Johan Galtung: A Multipolar Future of Regional Civilizations, U.S. May Divide in Two
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"We should brace for the collapse of the existing world order. It will be very painful." - Herman Gref, Sberbank president and CEO on de-dollarization, SWIFT & more.
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Climate threats now dominate long-term risks, survey of global leaders finds
"Long-term risks from climate change now outweigh those from cyberattacks, pandemics, geopolitical conflict and weapons of mass destruction, decision-makers say. [...] From wildfires in Australia, Brazil and California to worsening storms, floods and droughts, "all key indicators point that this is a situation that's bad and it's getting worse," said John Drzik, chairman of Marsh & McLennan Insights, a global risk, insurance and professional services firm. [...] For instance, 370 investors managing $40 trillion in assets have now pledged to make their investments climate friendly."
"Peter Giger, chief risk officer for the Zurich Insurance Group, warned that "the longer we wait (to tackle climate change), the more painful the transition will be" because of the rapid plunge in emissions that delay would necessitate.
He pointed to the rapid disappearance of insect species around the world, including those that pollinate 75% of the world's crops, as a result of climate change and other pressures. If insects and the pollination services they provide disappear, "that's a catastrophic outcome" for food security and for business, Giger said. The breakdown of planetary systems has "true costs", he added."
Climate change will reshape markets, McKinsey warns (Financial Times)
"By 2030, all of the 105 countries assessed by McKinsey — which represent 90 per cent of global GDP — were likely to suffer from physical changes such as increased water stress, flooding or a greater number of people exposed to extreme heat, it said."
"The insurance sector is particularly vulnerable, according to the report. Insurers’ current cash reserves may be insufficient to account for future losses and they may not be able to raise premiums enough to cover the gap, McKinsey said. Given the importance of insurance in rebuilding after disasters, this mismatch could send shockwaves through the system.
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"Supply chains and the locations of property development might also need to be rethought. The frequency of hurricanes threatening semiconductor manufacturers is projected to grow as much as fourfold by 2040, McKinsey said. “For unprepared downstream players . . . the revenue loss in a disaster year could be as high as 35 per cent,” the report states."
The six key points of BlackRock's letter to the world's most powerful companies (bbva)
“The evidence on climate risk is compelling investors to reassess core assumptions about modern finance,” says Fink in his letter, recognizing that it “has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects.” In his view, all governments, companies and shareholders must take climate change into account.
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WikiLeaks reveals Bin Zayed’s opinion on Saudi royal family
The New York Times reported that Bin Zayed: “Put much of his enormous resources into the counter-revolution, and he cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood and built a hyper-modern security-based state, where everyone is monitored in search of the slightest whiff of Islamic inclinations.”
