Latest News Clips 2013.09.30

                         Bengo’s Latest News Clips              2013.09.30

1.      What threat do foreign jihadists pose?

CNN      September 24, 2013

Heavy smoke rises from the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, during a siege by Al-Shabaab fighters.

 (CNN) -- The Westgate Mall siege in Kenya has claimed the lives of more than 60 people including the Kenyan president's nephew, at least one Canadian diplomat and American, British, French and Chinese nationals. Al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Al-Shabaab, has claimed responsibility for the siege and it has been reported that a number of the militants involved in the attack may have been foreign jihadists from Western nations.

If true, does the phenomenon of Westerners killing Westerners in Kenya represent a victory for al Qaeda and is this representative of the future of the group's transnational jihad? Does the radicalization of Muslims in the West pose a substantial threat to global security and what can be done to stop it?

Al Qaeda has looked to inspire Western Muslims to commit such atrocities for years with help from Anwar al-Awlaki's online sermons and the group's magazine, "Inspire," which has often praised the actions of Western Islamists in their own countries and abroad. Most notably, it commended the Tsarnaev brothers, the alleged Boston bombers as well as Roshonara Choudhary, the young girl from Newham, east who attempted to murder her local parliamentary representative. However, Western Muslims fought in the Afghanistan jihad against the USSR that originally gave rise to al Qaeda as well as in other conflicts in Bosnia, Chechnya, Iraq and Syria.

2.      The Pope's revolutionary message

By David M. Perry, Special to CNN

September 23, 2013

Pope Francis makes someunexpected comments on issues facing the Roman Catholic Church on Monday, July 29. He spoke on the record to journalists on a flight back to Italy from Brazil after finishing his first international trip as pontiff. Among the topics he addressed were homosexuality, the church's alleged "gay lobby," the role of women, abortion, divorce and the Vatican Bank.

(CNN) -- It's time to stop being surprised by Pope Francis.

Since he became pontiff, he's made a lot of news. His tweets echo around the world. He embodies principles of humility and piety. He eschews the fancy trappings of office favored by his predecessor, from the Popemobile to the red shoes. He washed the feet of prisoners, including a Muslim woman, on Holy Thursday. He telephones ordinary people who write to him.

In Rome, he called for "revolutionaries" to leave the comforts of their home and bring the word into the streets. In Rio, he told the gathered youth to "make a mess" in the dioceses as they help the church shake off clericalism.

He has sought to create a "culture of encounter" in which atheists and Catholics might come together. "Do good," he said memorably. "We will meet each other there." When he announced that he would canonize Pope John XXIII, the great reformer, on the same day as John Paul II, he emphasized continuity among all Catholics, even those of different factions. When asked about gay priests, he replied, "Who am I to judge?"

Most recently, he gave a long interview in which he articulated a new vision of the church that does seem revolutionary. In the West, reaction has focused on his statements about hot-button social issues. For example, he said, "the teaching of the church (on abortion, gay marriage, and contraception), for that matter, is clear ... (but) it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time."

Given the constant drumbeat of the American church hierarchy on exactly those issues, the line comes off as a surprising rebuke. Deeper critiques lie within the interview as well. When he spoke about doubt and dialogue, he said, "If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and safe, then he will find nothing."

3.      What do shutdown and debt limit have to do with Obamacare?

By Leigh Ann Caldwell, CNN

September 24, 2013 -- Updated 1418 GMT (2218 HKT)

The game is the same, but many of the players have changed. Congress and the president are facing off in another supreme spending showdown. If they don't agree on a funding bill by the end of September 30, much of government will shutdown. This last happened in 2011, when Congress avoided a shutdown by passing a spending measure shortly after the midnight deadline hit. Who controls what happens this time? Take a look at the key players who will determine how this fight ends: 

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

·         The federal government is facing a potential government shutdown next week

·         Meanwhile, if debt ceiling isn't raised, the government will soon be unable to pay its debts

·         Many are confused about the difference between the two and their link to Obamacare

·         The Affordable Care Act is being used as a bargaining chip in both debates

Washington (CNN) -- With a series of potential disasters hovering over the nation like a demon storm, the most prominent words of a Washington-based word cloud would be: government shutdown, continuing resolution, debt limit and Obamacare.

Although a potential shutdown and the need to raise the debt limit are different issues, they are interrelated and have one big thing in common: They are both products of a crisis manufactured by Washington. And both are being used for leverage in attempts to undermine Obamacare.

So, what's the difference between them and why should you care?

First up, the shutdown

The federal government's fiscal year starts next week -- October 1. And Congress' one key duty laid out in the Constitution is to pass spending bills that fund the government.

Photos: The last shutdown showdown

If it doesn't, most of the functions of the government -- from paying the military to funding small business loans to collecting the trash in Washington -- could come to a slow-motion halt.

It shuts down.

4.      The Monkey Business of Pure Altruism

The Wall Street Journal    2013.09.27

I've been reflecting on how Bill and Melinda Gates resemble a pair of monkeys. Earlier this month, the Lasker Awards were announced. The prestigious prize, known as the "American Nobel," is given annually to a few extraordinary biomedical scientists. A Lasker for public service is also usually awarded—this year to the Gateses.

Great move. They've given vast sums of money to medical research and have galvanized other billionaires into doing the same. They've targeted research about diseases that bring incalculable misery to the developing world. All with great wisdom.

Philosophers have long debated whether truly selfless altruism is possible. Some argue that pure altruism can occur, while others proclaim the jaundiced sound bite, "Scratch an altruist and a hypocrite bleeds."

After all, altruism can be immensely fulfilling, and neuroimaging studies show that altruistic acts activate reward centers of the brain. Altruism also can enhance a giver's reputation and prompt reciprocal gifts. And costly displays of prowess, evolutionary biologists have demonstrated, can serve to attract mates—"If I can afford to grow these gigantic antlers, I must have some studly genes." Some scientists speculate that altruism evolved as a costly signal meant to impress prospective mates.

But there's also anonymous altruism, with its glow from doing good by one's internal standards. And there is cynically self-serving altruism. In 1892, the loathed robber baron Charles Yerkes found himself overextended financially; creditors readied their knives. Yerkes offered the fledgling University of Chicago an enormous financial gift—to be delivered in a few months but announced that day.

The press reported the plan and the confused creditors, fearing they had miscalculated Yerkes's financial state, backed off. He recovered, profited and, as promised, gave the university what was for him a trivial sum.

Which brings us to monkeys, who spend hours each day sitting around, picking through each other's fur. It's a calming social glue that cements relationships. Grooming lowers heart rate, and my own work with baboons in Africa shows that animals who groom the most have lower stress hormone levels. It makes sense—you scratch my back, I scratch yours, we're both happier.

An interesting twist to this story came with a study of Barbary macaque monkeys by Stuart Semple of London's Roehampton University and colleagues. Monkeys who were groomed a lot didn't have low stress hormone levels. Monkeys that groomed others a lot did. Dr. Semple's work seemed to answer a question contained in the paper's title: "Better to give than to receive?" In other monkey species, too, grooming decreases the behavioral markers of anxiety in the groomer. So monkeys, who don't care about charitable tax write-offs, are less stressed when they give, rather than when they receive.

Latest News 2013.09.23

                         

1.      Germany’s Political Fragmentation May Pose Challenge for Merkel

The New York Times   September 16, 2013

FRANKFURT — The real political drama in Germany this year may get under way only after Chancellor Angela Merkel faces the voters.

As state elections in Bavaria underlined on Sunday, Ms. Merkel’s personal popularity conceals a high degree of political fragmentation. That could make it tricky for her to assemble a governing coalition, especially if her center-right Christian Democratic Party performs the way polls suggest, winning this Sunday’s national election but falling short of an outright majority.

Her current coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party, did so poorly in the Bavarian election that it might emerge from the national vote with no seats. That could force Ms. Merkel, who is seeking a third term, to make a power-sharing deal with the main opposition party, the more left-leaning Social Democrats.

Meanwhile, pop-up parties — notably the anti-euro Alternative for Germany — have occupied political space vacated by Ms. Merkel as she moved left on issues like a national minimum wage and nuclear power.

The situation underlines the major role that small parties can play in German politics and the growing willingness of German voters to switch from one party to another.

“It used to be that 30 percent of the voters would vote for the Christian Democrats no matter what the party said or did,” said Stephan Werhahn, a grandson of Konrad Adenauer, the country’s first postwar chancellor.

“Today the voters orient themselves according to their personal interests,” said Mr. Werhahn, a Munich lawyer who himself defected from the Christian Democrats to a minor party last year but then returned this year. “The parties have had to take over more issues that are not in harmony with their basic principles, in order to attract these voters.”

2.      In Surprise, Fed Decides to Maintain Pace of Stimulus

The New York Times    September 18, 2013

WASHINGTON — It turns out that the Federal Reserve is not quite ready to let go of its extra efforts to help the economy grow.

All summer, Federal Reserve officials said flattering things about the economy’s performance: how strong it looked, how well it was recovering, how eager they were to step back and watch it walk on its own.

But, in a reversal that stunned economists and investors on Wall Street, the Fed said on Wednesday that it would postpone any retreat from its monetary stimulus campaign for at least another month and quite possibly until next year. The Fed’s chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, emphasized that economic conditions were improving. But he said that the Fed still feared a turn for the worse.

He noted that Congressional Republicans and the White House were hurtling toward an impasse over government spending. That was reinforced on Wednesday, when House leaders said they would seek to pass a federal budget stripping all financing for President Obama’s signature health care law, increasing the chances of a government shutdown.

And the Fed undermined its own efforts when it declared in June that it intended to begin a retreat by the end of the year, causing investors to immediately begin to demand higher interest rates on mortgage loans and other financial products, a trend that the Fed said Wednesday was threatening to slow the economy.

“We have been overoptimistic,” Mr. Bernanke said at a news conference Wednesday. The Fed, he said, is “avoiding a tightening until we can be comfortable that the economy is in fact growing the way that we want it to be growing.”

Investors cheered the Fed’s hesitation. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock-index rose 1.22 percent, to close at a record high, in nominal terms. Interest rates also fell; the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury reversed some of its recent rise.

3.      Wider understanding

How the bacteria in your gut may be shaping your waistline

The Economist    Sep 14th 2013

A CALORIE is a calorie. Eat too many and spend too few, and you will become obese and sickly. This is the conventional wisdom. But increasingly, it looks too simplistic. All calories do not seem to be created equal, and the way the body processes the same calories may vary dramatically from one person to the next.

This is the intriguing suggestion from the latest research into metabolic syndrome, the nasty clique that includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, unbalanced cholesterol and, of course, obesity. This uniquely modern scourge has swept across America, where obesity rates are notoriously high. But it is also doing damage from Mexico to South Africa and India, raising levels of disease and pushing up health costs.

Metabolic syndrome can still be blamed on eating too much and exercising too little. But it is crucial to understand why some foods are particularly harmful and why some people gain more weight than others. Thankfully, researchers are beginning to offer explanations in a series of recent papers.

One debate concerns the villainy of glucose, which is found in starches, and fructose, found in fruits, table sugar and, not surprisingly, high-fructose corn syrup. Diets with a high “glycaemic index”, raising glucose levels in the blood, seem to promote metabolic problems. David Ludwig of Boston Children’s Hospital has shown that those on a diet with a low glycaemic index experience metabolic changes that help them keep weight off, compared with those fed a low-fat diet. This challenges the notion that a calorie is a calorie. Others, however, blame fructose, which seems to promote obesity and insulin resistance. Now a study published in Nature Communications by Richard Johnson, of the University of Colorado, explains that glucose may do its harm, in part, through its conversion to fructose.

4.      Iran's president calls for 'constructive' dialogue, end to 'unhealthy' rivalries

CNN     September 20, 2013

Iran: We want "constructive engagement"

(CNN) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made his case Thursday to the American people and the world for "a constructive approach" to contentious issues including his nation's nuclear program, arguing that failing to engage "leads to everyone's loss."

"We must work together to end the unhealthy rivalries and interferences that fuel violence and drive us apart," Rouhani said in an op-ed published Thursday evening on the Washington Post's website.

It's not the first time a leader from a country often at odds with the United States has used its newspapers to convey his or her views. Just last week, for instance, Russian President Vladimir Putin argued against international military intervention in Syria and jabbed his U.S. counterpart for saying Americans should consider themselves "exceptional" -- a remark that quickly elicited derision from across the U.S. political spectrum.

But Rouhani's tone differed from Putin's, echoing the theme of "prudence and hope" and the promise of more positive engagement with the rest of the world that helped propel him to an election win in June.

"To move beyond impasses ... we need to aim higher," he said. "Rather than focusing on how to prevent things from getting worse, we need to think -- and talk -- about how to make things better."

Contending "the age of blood feuds" and the idea of diplomacy as a "zero-sum game" no longer apply in a "changed" world, Rouhani said leaders should engage each other "on the basis of equal footing and mutual respect."

On GPS: Who is Hass

"My approach to foreign policy seeks to resolve ... issues by addressing their underlying causes," he said. "We must work together to end the unhealthy rivalries and interferences that fuel violence and drive us apart."

Chief among those issues, for Iran, is its nuclear program. Iranian officials have insisted its aim is peaceful and for energy purposes only, but skeptical U.S., Israeli and other officials accuse Tehran of working to develop nuclear weapons. Iran's lack of openness on the issue and its perceived lack of cooperation with international nuclear authorities, have led to stringent international sanctions and increased tensions in the region.

Latest News Clips 2013.09.16

1.      Taiwan ruling party suspends legislative speaker, risking internal divide

The Washington Post / Associated Press,  September 11, 

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The disciplinary panel of Taiwan’s ruling party suspended the speaker of the legislature Wednesday, a move that could fracture the party and threaten its efforts to develop closer ties with China.

Wang Jin-pyng was suspended for allegedly pressuring prosecutors not to appeal the acquittal of an opposition lawmaker. That removes him from the party for a year, after which he can apply for reinstatement.

Wang contends he did nothing improper. He has held the legislative speakership, one of Taiwan’s most powerful positions, since 1999, and is known for having relatively good relations with the opposition. Though he and President Ma Ying-jeou both belong to the Nationalist Party, the two have been bitter rivals.

The fast-moving political drama could threaten the unity of the party, which under Ma has lowered tensions between Taiwan and China to their lowest level since the two sides split amid civil war 64 years ago.

Ma pressed hard for Wang’s ouster, calling his alleged action “the most serious infringement in the history of Taiwan’s judiciary.” But in doing so, he has drawn criticism not only from the opposition, but also from many Nationalists who see his pursuit of Wang as a personal vendetta.

A Nationalist split would improve the prospects of the China-wary opposition in the 2016 elections. Ma is currently among the most unpopular presidents in Taiwan history, with an approval rating of just 15 percent.

The drama began Friday, when the Special Investigation Division of the Prosecutor’s Office announced it had evidence that Wang and former Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu had colluded to pressure prosecutors not to appeal the acquittal of opposition lawmaker Ker Chien-ming, a friend of Wang’s, on breach of trust charges. Tseng resigned later that same day under heavy pressure from Ma, but insists he did nothing wrong.

The SID’s evidence was gathered from a wiretap on Ker’s cell phone, leading to opposition charges — echoed by some Nationalists — that the agency abused its power. The SID says its wiretap was legal.

Ma then unleashed a barrage of criticism at Wang. The two have a long history of animosity, dating back at least to 2008, when they competed for the Nationalist presidential nomination. Wang recently upbraided Ma for his handling of government and the economy.

Wang’s suspension by the Nationalist committee on Wednesday effectively strips him of the legislative speakership and even his legislative seat, because he was selected in the last legislative election not by popular vote, but as an at-large Nationalist candidate.

At 72, the diminutive Wang still maintains a number of credible political options, including establishing a breakoff party of his own, though Wang said Tuesday he was not interested in such a move.

With Wang removed from the legislative speakership, Taiwan’s often fractious legislature can be expected to become more fractious still, largely because of his strong channels of communication with the opposition.

It was not clear who the next speaker will be. One of that lawmaker’s first big tests will be to try to win legislative approval of a bilateral services agreement in China. The opposition says the legislation would give China too much control of the Taiwanese economy.

Despite Wang’s own Nationalist pedigree, and the heavy Nationalist majority in the legislature, Wang did little as speaker to press for the approval the pact needs to enter into force.

2.      Taiwan’s president, ruling party hit by scandal, rifts, anger over wiretapping

The Washington Post   September 12, 2013

BEIJING — A widening political scandal is threatening to split Taiwan’s ruling party and set back efforts to build closer economic ties with China.
Recent allegations of influence peddling by Taiwanese politicians, driven in part by investigators’ wiretaps of one lawmaker’s cellphone conversations, have stirred fear and paranoia among some political leaders.
“I’m sorry. It’s not safe to talk right now. We are being monitored,” said a political adviser within the Nationalist Party, whose leaders have both driven the investigation and been the ones most damaged by it.
Taiwan’s justice minister has been forced out, and its high-
profile legislative speaker has been expelled by his party.
The fallout could have sweeping consequences for Taiwanese politics, weakening the already unpopular administration of President Ma Ying-jeou and giving a boost to the opposition party, which is much less friendly toward mainland China.
The dominoes began falling when Taiwan’s high court overturned lawmaker Ker Chien-ming’s guilty verdict on embezzlement charges.
A special investigative unit within the Taiwanese Justice Department subsequently wiretapped Ker’s cellphone, and, according to prosecutors, recorded conversations in which legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng and Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu agreed to help Ker ensure that the overturned ruling stuck.
Both Wang and Tseng have denied the charges of meddling, but Tseng has since stepped down, and Wang’s party membership was revoked Wednesday. Wang has vowed to fight his expulsion to keep his legislative position.
At the heart of the growing rift is a long-simmering rivalry within the Nationalist Party between Ma, its chairman, and Wang, a party heavyweight who has held the speakership since 1999. Their rivalry dates to 2005, when both competed to lead the Nationalist Party, also called the Kuomintang. They butted heads again in 2008, competing for their party’s presidential nomination.
This week, Ma called Wang’s alleged meddling in the court case “the most serious infringement in the history of Taiwan’s judiciary.”
Under Ma, Taiwan’s often-fractious relationship with China has hit its calmest point in decades. But Ma has taken a beating in opinion polls and has one of the lowest approval ratings among Taiwanese president. One recent poll has his rating at 11 percent.
The use of wiretapping has angered critics, who say the administration overstepped the constitution to pursue Ma’s politically motivated desire to oust Wang.
Ma’s party has also seen serious erosion in public support as the economy has struggled. And the justice minister’s ouster is at least the fifth cabinet-level resignation this year. The others included a defense minister who left over criticism of an army trainee’s death, a replacement defense minister who left over plagiarism and a premier who resigned partly over the economy.
The expulsion of Wang, who held significant sway in the parliament, could create further roadblocks for Ma’s policy goals, including getting approval for a service-trade agreement with China. Some in Taiwan have opposed the agreement over fears that the island is already too economically tied to the mainland. Wang also had good ties with Taiwan’s opposition party, which has criticized Ma for his handling of the investigation and referred to the wiretapping scandal as “Taiwan’s Watergate.”

3.      A Plea for Caution From Russia

By VLADIMIR V. PUTIN

The New York Times    September 11, 2013

MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

The United Nations’ founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America’s consent the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades.

No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorization.

The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.

---------------

From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law. We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today’s complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos. The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression.

No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored.

It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.”

But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.

No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties are inevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect.

The world reacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways to ensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk of the need to strengthen nonproliferation, when in reality this is being eroded.

We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement.

A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

4.      Taking a bite out of Apple

Xiaomi, often described as China’s answer to Apple, is actually quite different

The Economist    Sep 14th 2013 

IT FEELS more like a rock concert than a press conference as the casually dressed chief executive takes to a darkened stage to unveil his firm’s sleek new smartphone to an adoring crowd. Yet this was not the launch of the new iPhone by Apple on September 10th, but of the Mi-3 handset by Xiaomi, a Chinese firm, in Beijing on September 5th. With its emphasis on snazzy design, glitzy launches and the cult-like fervour it inspires in its users, no wonder Xiaomi is often compared to its giant American rival, both by admirers and by critics who call it a copycat. Xiaomi’s boss, Lei Jun (pictured), even wears jeans and a black shirt, Steve Jobs-style. Is Xiaomi really China’s answer to Apple?

Yet “we have never compared ourselves to Apple—we are more like Amazon,” says Lin Bin, Xiaomi’s co-founder, who once worked for the Chinese arms of Microsoft and Google. Apple sells its iPhone 5 for around $860 in China and has the industry’s highest margins. Xiaomi offers its handsets at or near cost: the Mi-3, its new flagship, costs 2,000 yuan ($330). Xiaomi sells direct to customers online, rather than via network operators or retail stores, which also keeps prices down. Crucially, its business depends on selling services to its users, just as Amazon provides its Kindle readers at low prices and makes its money on the sale of e-books. The idea is to make a profit from customers as they use the handset, rather than from the sale of the hardware, says Mr Lin.

Xiaomi’s services revenues were 20m yuan in August, up from 10m yuan in April. It is a classic internet business model: build an audience then monetise it later, as Google and Facebook did, notes Mr Lin. Selling games, custom wallpapers and virtual gifts may not sound very lucrative, but China’s internet giants have found a huge market for virtual goods: the biggest, Tencent, sold $5 billion-worth of them last year.

Another big difference is their openness to user feedback. Apple takes an almost Stalinist approach to its handsets, limiting user customisation in favour of a “we know best” design philosophy. Xiaomi is more guided by its users, releasing a new version of its MIUI software (based on Google’s Android operating system) every week in response to their suggestions. In some cases Xiaomi asks users to vote via weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, on whether particular features should be included or how they should work—a form of democracy its American rival would never countenance.

Latest News Clips 2013.09.09

                 

1.      Tony Abbott will be Australian prime minister after decisive election victory

Voters register brutal verdict on Labor, with early counting indicating a swing of at least 4-5% to the Coalition

the Guardian, 7 September 2013

Tony Abbott and his family cast their votes in Sydney on Saturday. Photograph: William West/AFP

Tony Abbott will be Australia’s 28th prime minister after a decisive victory became clear almost as soon as ballot counting began, with voters casting a brutal verdict on a divisive Labor era that lasted just six years.

Early counting indicated a swing of at least 4-6% to Abbott’s Liberal National party Coalition, with much bigger swings in some areas.

Abbott has been a relentlessly negative opposition leader who won the job with a pledge not to recognise Labor’s 2007 mandate to implement its emissions trading scheme, but who now promises a conflict-weary electorate calm, stable “grown-up” government and demands the upper house recognise his electoral mandate to immediately repeal the carbon tax.

The swing to the Coalition appears to have ripped through Labor’s heartland, despite the last-minute ousting of Julia Gillard in favour of Kevin Rudd on the calculation that Rudd’s higher popularity ratings would “save the party’s furniture”.

In many traditional Labor areas the swings appear to be much bigger than the national average, and even before vote counting began senior Labor figures were publicly conceding that all hope was lost. Their predictions were confirmed as vote counting started. The anti-Labor swing is particularly strong in Tasmania, where Labor holds four seats.

2.      Obama Falls Short on Wider Backing for Syria Attack

The New York Times   September 6, 2013

STRELNA, Russia — President Obama raced home on Friday to confront one of the biggest tests of his presidency as he ramped up a campaign to persuade Congress to support airstrikes against Syria that many world leaders he had consulted declined to back.

After two days of tense discussions, including a dinner debate that went into the morning hours, Mr. Obama left without forging an international consensus behind military action as other leaders urged him not to attack without United Nations permission. But he won agreement from some allies on blaming Syria’s government for a chemical weapons attack and on endorsing an unspecified response.

The deep divisions on display here at the Group of 20 summit meeting raised the stakes even further for Mr. Obama as he seeks authorization from Congress for a “limited, proportional” attack. While aides said he never expected or sought a more explicit endorsement of military action during the meeting, the president hoped to use the statement from allies condemning Syria to leverage more domestic support, but he acknowledged that he had a “hard sell” and might fail to win over an American public that polls show still opposes a strike.

Mr. Obama wasted little time vaulting back into the domestic debate as he called members of Congress from both parties from Air Force One on his way back to Washington. He ordered aides to fan out in coming days with a series of speeches, briefings, telephone calls and television appearances to sway both Democrats and Republicans reluctant to get involved in yet another Middle East war. He also announced that he would address the nation from the White House on Tuesday evening to lay out his case before Congress votes.

“Failing to respond to this breach of this international norm would send a signal to rogue nations, authoritarian regimes and terrorist organizations that they can develop and use weapons of mass destruction and not pay a consequence,” he said at a news conference in this St. Petersburg suburb.

3.      The Six-Figure Price Tag for Selling a $2 Hot Dog

The New York Times     September 4, 2013

Call it the half-million-dollar hot dog cart. Mohammad Mastafa of Astoria, Queens, has to sell almost that much in drinks and snacks annually to break even on the pushcart he owns at Fifth Avenue and East 62nd Street near the Central Park Zoo. He pays the city’s parks department $289,500 a year just for the right to operate his single cart there.

It may seem like an exorbitant amount of money, but it isn’t shocking to many of the other food vendors like Mr. Mastafa who compete to operate pushcarts in New York City parks.

The zoo entrance drew the highest bid among the 150 pushcart sites in public parks, but the operators of four other carts in and around Central Park also pay the city more than $200,000 a year each. In fact, the 20 highest license fees, each exceeding $100,000, are all for Central Park carts.

“It’s a lot of peanuts, it’s a lot of hot dogs,” said Elizabeth W. Smith, the assistant parks commissioner for revenue and marketing.

It is a lot of visitors in need of sustenance. So while vendors are adamant about not divulging details about what they make, most pushcart sites presumably turn a profit or they would not attract such high bids.

4.      Can’t Sleep? This (Yawn) Might Work

The New York Times   September 4, 2013

As any traveler knows, sleep — on a plane or in a hotel room — can be elusive. And there’s no shortage of odd-looking contraptions that promise to help, be it the aptly namedOstrich Pillow that cocoons your head in a padded sack or the UpRight Sleeper that prevents your head from falling forward so long as you’re willing to look like Hannibal Lecter post-incarceration.

These gadgets may work — like the SkyRest travel pillow that has won over a number of fliers despite resembling a giant inflatable cheese wedge — but many people prefer not to travel the world calling to mind large birds and cannibals. And let’s not pretend we’re going to practice good sleep hygiene by avoiding late-night meals (research shows they can disrupt sleep) and banishing smartphones from our beds either (the backlight can rattle your body clock).

If you want shut-eye but don’t want to reach for pills or cocktails, road warriors and sleep studies suggest you must control what you see and hear. Of course, sleep is so complex and personal that there’s no universal cure for insomnia. That said, I — a reluctant authority on the subject as I don’t sleep well even in my own bed — set out to test an assortment of new or traveler-recommended products designed to regulate two sleep hurdles we all share: sound and light.

Let’s begin with sound, given the increasingly creative ways to manage it. When your plane cabin is a racket, when music is thumping through the walls of your hotel room, or when you simply can’t quiet your mind, ear plugs just won’t do.

Airsleep, a new app for iPhones, iPods and iPads, is meant to transport you to dreamland with the sound of rain, waves and wind along with “dreamwave brainwave” technology that supposedly alters your brain wave patterns to help you relax. Neurophysiological claims aside, the app was designed for travelers and has some useful features: you can adjust the length of each track based on travel time (up to 10 hours) and listen while your iPhone is in Airplane Mode (though be sure to download tracks before your flight, when you have an Internet connection). If in fact your brain waves are lulled into submission, you can choose how you want the spell to be broken: chimes, bells, harp, gong, xylophone or silence.

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