Lead-based Batteries
Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM)
New Lead Acid Systems
Nickel-based Batteries
Lithium-based Batteries
Types of Lithium-ion
Li-polymer Battery: Substance or Hype?
Cycle Performance
Supercapacitor
Fuel Cell Technology
The Miniature Fuel Cell
Alternate Battery Systems
Experimental Rechargeable Batteries
I was commenting on an article and realized I needed to know more about the different types of batteries used these days because my comment would be mostly for the types of batteries found in most non-hybrid and non-electric based 4, 6 and 8 cylinder vehicles. However, I realized after thinking about it that there are many different types of batteries that would cause various different problems if one were in such a vehicle in an accident. Some would simply short out, some would leak battery acid on people in overturned cars and trucks, and some would have other problems. I didn't find out exactly what I wanted to know about but I put all these buttons above for any of you that want to do more research on the subject.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Hopeful energy Stories of 2012
- Note: By clicking on each of the pictures you can read all 5 energy stories.
- Wireless Power May Cut the Cord for Plug-In Devices, Including Cars
- Pictures: Race Against Time to Build a New Tomb for Chernobyl
- Pictures: Eight Biggest Energy Stories of 2012
- Pictures: Five Most Overlooked Energy Stories of 2012
- Pictures: Five Most Hopeful Energy Stories of 2012
Pictures: Five Most Hopeful Energy Stories of 2012
Concern for Wildlife Alters Energy Plans
Photograph by Joel Sartore
Bison
cluster on the native grassland at Fort Niobrara National Wildlife
Refuge, just one example of the Nebraska wildlife in the ecosystem at
the center of a major energy battle this year—the fight over the
TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline.Pressure built against the project in part over concern for the unique 19,600-square-mile (51,000-square-kilometer) ecosystem in Nebraska called the Sandhills, and the Obama Administration blocked the proposed pipeline route. (See "Pictures: Animals That Blocked Keystone XL Pipeline Path.") TransCanada says it remains fully committed to the project to move crude from Canada's oil sands some 1,700 miles (2,740 kilometers) to refineries in Texas, and a decision on a revised plan is expected from Washington early in 2013.
Climate change activists are sure to continue their opposition, because of concern over carbon-intensive oil sands production. But the debate forced a rethinking of the project with renewed attention on the importance of protecting the Sandhills and the underlying Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to about two million people in Nebraska and seven other states.
On the other side of the globe, in Sabah, Malaysia, threats to the critically endangered Sumatran rhino and vibrant coral reefs derailed a planned coal-fired power plant in one of the region's top biological hot spots—an ecotourism destination to boot. While green advocates hope to see renewable energy thrive here, Sabah's short-term needs will be filled by a 300-megawatt natural gas plant, which is cleaner than the coal alternative. (See "Concern Over Rare Rhino Rouses Clean Energy Drive in Malaysia.")
—Brian Handwerk
Published December 14, 2012
end quote from:
Biggest Energy Stories of 2012
Pictures: Eight Biggest Energy Stories of 2012
Energy Impacts from Extreme Weather
Photograph by Karly Domb Sadof, AP
An
exploding transformer lit up part of lower Manhattan, which was
otherwise plunged into darkness during power outages in the wake of
Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Mother Nature roughed up the power
industry this year—and some believe she got a boost from human-driven
climate change.Sandy knocked out power to some 8.5 million homes and businesses in 16 states. Damage from the storm highlighted the aging and vulnerable grid infrastructure found across much of the U.S., which many states are working to update with smarter electric-distribution systems that can quickly identify and respond to trouble. (See "Can Hurricane Sandy Shed Light on Curbing Power Outages?")
During the lead-up to Labor Day, Hurricane Isaac was part of a perfect storm that drove pump prices sky high just before one of the year's biggest travel weekends. The approaching storm shut down Gulf Coast refineries, which caused dips in inventory and reactionary spikes in gasoline prices. (See "Isaac Drives Spike in U.S. Gas Prices Ahead of Labor Day Weekend.")
Not all of the stress on the power grid came from storms. Record-breaking drought conditions that gripped much of the U.S. over the summer also took a toll. Nuclear power plants, which require water for cooling, were forced to scale back production, and some shut down—even as heat drove demand for air-conditioning and electricity. Hydroelectric power production was also slowed during summer 2012's extended dog days. (See "Record Heat, Drought Pose Problems for U.S. Electric Power.")
—Brian Handwerk
New Tomb for Chernobyl?
Pictures: Race Against Time to Build a New Tomb for Chernobyl
Steel Skeleton at a Deathly Site
Photograph by Sergey Dolzhenko, European Pressphoto Agency
Visitors
gaze overhead at the steel lattice that will underpin the new
protective shelter at Chernobyl, site of the worst nuclear accident in
history. The so-called New Safe Confinement,
designed to seal the destroyed reactor and contain the radioactive
material inside, is the latest step in a more than 26-year cleanup at
the desolate plant site in Ukraine. (Related Quiz: "What Do You Know About Nuclear Power?")
On April 26, 1986, an explosion in one of the plant's reactors spewed large amounts of radioactive material
over Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia. The immediate area was
evacuated, but the cloud that rose from the burning reactor spread
iodine and radionuclides over much of Europe. Some 30 workers were
killed immediately, and as many as 4,000 people are expected to die
eventually as a result of radiation exposure from the Chernobyl plant,
by the World Health Organization's reckoning. Some estimates of the excess cancer toll
are far higher. Immediately following the accident, workers braved
dangerous conditions to build a steel and concrete structure to contain
the uranium, plutonium, and other radioactive materials at the ruined
plant. Known as the "sarcophagus," the structure was never meant to be a
permanent solution. It is supported by faulty beams and has developed
cracks, causing experts to worry it could collapse and once again allow
radioactive material to escape.
A plan for a more
permanent protective solution, developed more than 15 years ago by
European and Western experts, finally is being put into action. The $2
billion (1.6 billion Euro) effort, funded by more than two dozen
nations and the European Union, is "an unparalleled project in the
history of engineering," says the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, the project administrator.
After
shoring up the sarcophagus, workers raised the first section of the new
structure’s arched roof, seen here in November. The new shelter will
eventually cover the damaged reactor. The mammoth structure, which is
slated for completion in 2015, will weigh 29,000 tons and stand tall
enough to house the Statue of Liberty.
—Joe Eaton
end quote from:
Birth old age Sickness and Death
The Tibetan Buddhists define these states of being as the most difficult times for a soul to transit through. The distinction is not limited to human beings.
I would look at these states as times of confusion and grief even though for most people watching a baby being born this is a happy time. However, the point is that being born might not be a happy time as the baby experiences it because it might not understand who and what it is, where it came from, how to speak or what it is doing here on earth.
I can remember back quite a ways and apparently more than most people tend to. For example, I can remember quite clearly understanding English completely but not being able to speak it yet. This was incredibly frustrating for me and I would cry. Because I remember family and friends gathered there and wanting to speak too and to share my story but I couldn't. So, at this point I must have been before 1 years of age when this happened. I can remember completely understanding what everyone said, (maybe not all the nuances that an adult can perceive from years of experience in a language), but understanding all the basic words and knowing what was being said in general and wanting desperately to participate in the conversation. It is my thought that this was so frustrating for me that eventually I contracted whooping cough because of this incredible frustration in my young life. It was as if I was a fully formed adult in this baby body and I didn't have the full use of my abilities yet. So, it was an incredible state of grief for me.
Most people equate grief with Old age, Sickness and Death in all cultures around the world with grief and with death and dying. But I think it is very perceptive of the Tibetan Buddhists to also understand the grief a baby experiences being born out of the safety of it's heaven realm or wherever it is coming from as a soul. For a soul to be born on earth is not necessarily a safe thing to do for anyone.
Though a baby is almost always a blessing to those to whom it comes it is also a strain for them often to have another mouth to feed. So, often it is a mixed blessing at best for people worldwide even though most babies are welcomed with open arms by their parent or parents and relatives and friends.
I found myself experiencing dreams that were regarding deep grief of loved ones long lost and grieving the loss of everyone who has passed on who I have known or loved throughout my life. I guess it is a time for dealing with loss as we deal with the passing of yet another year. I have lived 64 years so far so I have lost many friends, relatives, movie star heros and heroines and political leaders along the way so far. And it gives a very different perspective to life having done that than when I was a teenager or young person. At this stage nothing in life seems very permanent. The person who has been there the longest and been around me the longest at present is my 38 year old son and in a whole lot of ways that always seems kind of strange that that is now true. Though I still have many relatives and friends from the early 1960s during my teens they mostly now live in other places than I do now so I see them at most once or twice a year. Happy 2013! Happy New Year!
I would look at these states as times of confusion and grief even though for most people watching a baby being born this is a happy time. However, the point is that being born might not be a happy time as the baby experiences it because it might not understand who and what it is, where it came from, how to speak or what it is doing here on earth.
I can remember back quite a ways and apparently more than most people tend to. For example, I can remember quite clearly understanding English completely but not being able to speak it yet. This was incredibly frustrating for me and I would cry. Because I remember family and friends gathered there and wanting to speak too and to share my story but I couldn't. So, at this point I must have been before 1 years of age when this happened. I can remember completely understanding what everyone said, (maybe not all the nuances that an adult can perceive from years of experience in a language), but understanding all the basic words and knowing what was being said in general and wanting desperately to participate in the conversation. It is my thought that this was so frustrating for me that eventually I contracted whooping cough because of this incredible frustration in my young life. It was as if I was a fully formed adult in this baby body and I didn't have the full use of my abilities yet. So, it was an incredible state of grief for me.
Most people equate grief with Old age, Sickness and Death in all cultures around the world with grief and with death and dying. But I think it is very perceptive of the Tibetan Buddhists to also understand the grief a baby experiences being born out of the safety of it's heaven realm or wherever it is coming from as a soul. For a soul to be born on earth is not necessarily a safe thing to do for anyone.
Though a baby is almost always a blessing to those to whom it comes it is also a strain for them often to have another mouth to feed. So, often it is a mixed blessing at best for people worldwide even though most babies are welcomed with open arms by their parent or parents and relatives and friends.
I found myself experiencing dreams that were regarding deep grief of loved ones long lost and grieving the loss of everyone who has passed on who I have known or loved throughout my life. I guess it is a time for dealing with loss as we deal with the passing of yet another year. I have lived 64 years so far so I have lost many friends, relatives, movie star heros and heroines and political leaders along the way so far. And it gives a very different perspective to life having done that than when I was a teenager or young person. At this stage nothing in life seems very permanent. The person who has been there the longest and been around me the longest at present is my 38 year old son and in a whole lot of ways that always seems kind of strange that that is now true. Though I still have many relatives and friends from the early 1960s during my teens they mostly now live in other places than I do now so I see them at most once or twice a year. Happy 2013! Happy New Year!
Wireless Power
Wireless Power May Cut the Cord for Plug-In Devices, Including Cars
New technology that
allows for wireless charging of electronic devices could make a rarity
of cord jungles like the one in this image, captured this year at a
power generation station in New York City during the blackout caused by
Hurricane Sandy.
Photograph by Timothy A. Clary, AFP/Getty Images
Published December 28, 2012
A mobile phone that charges in your pocket, a flat-screen
TV that needs no power cord, a car fueled by a cordless panel in the
floor: In a nondescript building just outside Boston, these and other
applications of wireless electricity signal a future with fewer snaking
cables.
WiTricity, a company spun off from research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), aims to redefine how people use energy, making it possible to power devices without ever plugging them into an outlet. In WiTricity's lab, various devices run on power transmitted via electric coils through the air.
Plugged In, Virtually
"It is not hard to imagine that in the next few years, you go to a coffee shop, sit down in a chair, sign into a power zone, and charge your phone or laptop," said Richard Martin, editorial director for Pike, a market research group that focuses on smart-energy solutions. "We predict this technology taking off in a similar fashion to how Wi-Fi got its start a decade or so ago."
Martin says the industrial potential for wireless power is huge, especially in the realm of electric vehicles and wireless sensors, where harsh environments make it difficult to run wiring. In addition, he says wire-free electricity transmission is often a more convenient, greener alternative to conventional plug-in charging. (See related blog post: "Wireless Power Can't Yet Replace Utility Poles, but Could Offer More Options for Electronic Charging") "Part of this is that there is an obviously big space in the market waiting to be filled," Martin said.
WiTricity CEO Eric Giler imagines a future where power devices are embedded in the walls and carpets of homes, making for a truly wire-free household. He says with a big enough power supply and small wireless repeaters, one could even power a grocery store or office building.
Conventional charging devices such as the cord for a cell phone use electromagnetic induction to transmit power. Through electromagnetic induction, an electric current is sent through a magnetic field generated by a power conductor to a smaller magnetic field generated by a receiving device. (See related quiz: "What You Don't Know About Electricity")
"Think of your electric toothbrush," Giler says. "It works very efficiently, but the problem is that it can only transmit power wirelessly a few inches."
WiTricity devices share energy through magnetic fields as well. However, unlike those generated by your toothbrush or iPod cable, WiTricity's devices produce magnetic fields through a process called resonant magnetic coupling, which allows power to be transmitted several meters in distance.
Resonant coupling is a well-understood concept illustrated by many everyday examples. A child pumps her legs at the resonant frequency of a swing to fly through the air, or an opera singer shatters a wine glass by singing a single note at a frequency that matches the acoustic resonance of the glass.
WiTricity founder and MIT professor of physics Marin Soljačić wondered whether electricity could be passed from a wall outlet to an electronic device in a similar manner after he was awoken late one night in 2007 by the beeping of his wife's dying cellphone.
He experimented with two electromagnetic resonators vibrating at a specific frequency and found they shared power through their magnetic fields at distances far greater than their conventional, magnetic induction counterparts. The results of his work were published in the journal Science later that year, and WiTricity was founded soon after to develop the technology for commercial use.
Hope for the Electric Car Market?
Giler says materials such as wood, brick, and concrete are essentially transparent to magnetic fields, enabling two WiTricity devices to transfer power through them in amounts ranging from a few milliwatts to several kilowatts.
As the number of household electronic devices proliferates, so do concerns about electromagnetic radiation exposure from these devices and the possible health effects. Giler, however, says WiTricity's technology is safe. While the human body responds strongly to electric fields, (the same response that makes it possible to cook the meat of a chicken or steak in a microwave), Giler says humans do not absorb power from the low-level, magnetic field generated by a WiTricity device.
"If you are OK living on Earth, then you should be OK with what we are doing at WiTricity," he says. "Our technology generates less radiation than the Earth's magnetic field; it is one hundred times safer than a cell phone and generates a million times less radiation than an MRI machine."
He says WiTricity is developing wirelessly powered devices ranging from an iPhone to implanted medical devices and military robots. Both Giler and Martin agree that the electric-vehicle industry will be the first market sector to benefit from wireless power transmission.
"The electric-car industry has figured out that people aren't going to use electric vehicles if they have to constantly plug them in," Giler says. "We are trying to make charging your car as convenient as fueling it at the pump."
In the bumper of an electric BMW coupe, WiTricity has placed a wireless coil that receives power from a resonator embedded in the floor beneath the car. The system can transmit up to 3,300 watts per hour and takes four to six hours to fully charge the vehicle.
A market report recently released by Pike predicts wireless charging systems will make a big difference for the sluggish electric vehicle market worldwide, helping to increase EV sales from 120,000 in 2012 to more than 280,000 by the end of the decade. Martin says this is primarily due to big investments in the technology on the part of major EV manufacturers. He predicts that as the systems become prevalent in towns and cities, the added convenience of not having to plug in will make buying an EV a more palatable option for convenience-minded consumers. (Related blog post: "How to Compare the Cost of Electric and Gas Cars")
Martin says wireless power is currently being used both in the United States and abroad in experimental vehicle systems. In South Korea, researchers are using power pads on a prototype bus route to feed energy to transport vehicles. At Google headquarters in California, wireless power is being offered free of charge to employees who choose to go electric.
In Europe, wireless-energy developer Qualcomm recently kicked off a two-year project with Renault to test the feasibility of embedding wireless power in the roadway. Called Halo, the technology involves inductive coils placed both in the road and on the underbelly of a vehicle. When a car drives over segments of roadway with the inductive coils, it will receive an energy boost.
While tearing up roadways for electric-powered driving would be a multibillion-dollar project decades down the line, Martin says to expect dynamic charging stations at stoplights and landing pads on bus routes in the not-too-distant future.
"It is really not that hard to envision," Martin says. "Similar to a wireless Internet provider, you will be signed up with a particular service, and the system will charge you automatically when you download power from an overhanging station or pad in the roadway." (See related photos: "Five Most Hopeful Energy Stories of 2012")
This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.
end quote from:
Wireless Power May Cut the Cord for Plug-In Devices, Including Cars
Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should. I tend to be skeptical about people telling me they can recharge an electric car wirelessly because of the level of voltage you would need to do that. For example, as it is it really isn't completely safe for people to even be riding in Electric cars all the time for months and years. So, as you increase the voltage of trying to charge things you also increase the risk of things like different kinds of cancers and things like leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers because of the corona effects of generating or discharging large voltages around human bodies without lead or other shielding like you wear in the dentists office for x-rays. My thought is that eventually when enough people die from riding too many hours or driving too many hours in electric cars they might start lead shielding the cars to protect the drivers and riders from this problem. I haven't heard whether they have started to do this yet. However, I do know that they now have an emergency breaker in the trunk of most Priuses in case of a traffic accident so passengers and drivers and firemen and policemen don't have to die of electrocution trying to rescue or be rescued after an accident in a Prius or other hybrid or electrical vehicle. Many people were electrocuted during or after accidents until they did this including police and firemen. Another problem in Electric or Hybrid cars might be the battery acid if the car turned upside down if the batteries were broken and the battery acid came over people and blinded them or something. Unless you have water it will burn your fingerprints off, make you blind, or burn your skin off until you wash it off with water.
Also, even though I could recharge my phone or Ipad wirelessly I would rather not just for basic safety reasons but that is only because I learned the electrical trade while growing up from my father who was an Electrical Contractor in Los Angeles County in California.
And, in regard to Electric cars because of what I know regarding potential health problems from driving or crashing in one, I likely would prefer to drive something like a Hyundai Elantra which after all is the car of the year that gets 35 or 40 miles per gallon without endangering my health or the health of my family and friends.
WiTricity, a company spun off from research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), aims to redefine how people use energy, making it possible to power devices without ever plugging them into an outlet. In WiTricity's lab, various devices run on power transmitted via electric coils through the air.
Plugged In, Virtually
"It is not hard to imagine that in the next few years, you go to a coffee shop, sit down in a chair, sign into a power zone, and charge your phone or laptop," said Richard Martin, editorial director for Pike, a market research group that focuses on smart-energy solutions. "We predict this technology taking off in a similar fashion to how Wi-Fi got its start a decade or so ago."
Martin says the industrial potential for wireless power is huge, especially in the realm of electric vehicles and wireless sensors, where harsh environments make it difficult to run wiring. In addition, he says wire-free electricity transmission is often a more convenient, greener alternative to conventional plug-in charging. (See related blog post: "Wireless Power Can't Yet Replace Utility Poles, but Could Offer More Options for Electronic Charging") "Part of this is that there is an obviously big space in the market waiting to be filled," Martin said.
WiTricity CEO Eric Giler imagines a future where power devices are embedded in the walls and carpets of homes, making for a truly wire-free household. He says with a big enough power supply and small wireless repeaters, one could even power a grocery store or office building.
Conventional charging devices such as the cord for a cell phone use electromagnetic induction to transmit power. Through electromagnetic induction, an electric current is sent through a magnetic field generated by a power conductor to a smaller magnetic field generated by a receiving device. (See related quiz: "What You Don't Know About Electricity")
"Think of your electric toothbrush," Giler says. "It works very efficiently, but the problem is that it can only transmit power wirelessly a few inches."
WiTricity devices share energy through magnetic fields as well. However, unlike those generated by your toothbrush or iPod cable, WiTricity's devices produce magnetic fields through a process called resonant magnetic coupling, which allows power to be transmitted several meters in distance.
Resonant coupling is a well-understood concept illustrated by many everyday examples. A child pumps her legs at the resonant frequency of a swing to fly through the air, or an opera singer shatters a wine glass by singing a single note at a frequency that matches the acoustic resonance of the glass.
WiTricity founder and MIT professor of physics Marin Soljačić wondered whether electricity could be passed from a wall outlet to an electronic device in a similar manner after he was awoken late one night in 2007 by the beeping of his wife's dying cellphone.
He experimented with two electromagnetic resonators vibrating at a specific frequency and found they shared power through their magnetic fields at distances far greater than their conventional, magnetic induction counterparts. The results of his work were published in the journal Science later that year, and WiTricity was founded soon after to develop the technology for commercial use.
Hope for the Electric Car Market?
Giler says materials such as wood, brick, and concrete are essentially transparent to magnetic fields, enabling two WiTricity devices to transfer power through them in amounts ranging from a few milliwatts to several kilowatts.
As the number of household electronic devices proliferates, so do concerns about electromagnetic radiation exposure from these devices and the possible health effects. Giler, however, says WiTricity's technology is safe. While the human body responds strongly to electric fields, (the same response that makes it possible to cook the meat of a chicken or steak in a microwave), Giler says humans do not absorb power from the low-level, magnetic field generated by a WiTricity device.
"If you are OK living on Earth, then you should be OK with what we are doing at WiTricity," he says. "Our technology generates less radiation than the Earth's magnetic field; it is one hundred times safer than a cell phone and generates a million times less radiation than an MRI machine."
He says WiTricity is developing wirelessly powered devices ranging from an iPhone to implanted medical devices and military robots. Both Giler and Martin agree that the electric-vehicle industry will be the first market sector to benefit from wireless power transmission.
"The electric-car industry has figured out that people aren't going to use electric vehicles if they have to constantly plug them in," Giler says. "We are trying to make charging your car as convenient as fueling it at the pump."
In the bumper of an electric BMW coupe, WiTricity has placed a wireless coil that receives power from a resonator embedded in the floor beneath the car. The system can transmit up to 3,300 watts per hour and takes four to six hours to fully charge the vehicle.
A market report recently released by Pike predicts wireless charging systems will make a big difference for the sluggish electric vehicle market worldwide, helping to increase EV sales from 120,000 in 2012 to more than 280,000 by the end of the decade. Martin says this is primarily due to big investments in the technology on the part of major EV manufacturers. He predicts that as the systems become prevalent in towns and cities, the added convenience of not having to plug in will make buying an EV a more palatable option for convenience-minded consumers. (Related blog post: "How to Compare the Cost of Electric and Gas Cars")
Martin says wireless power is currently being used both in the United States and abroad in experimental vehicle systems. In South Korea, researchers are using power pads on a prototype bus route to feed energy to transport vehicles. At Google headquarters in California, wireless power is being offered free of charge to employees who choose to go electric.
In Europe, wireless-energy developer Qualcomm recently kicked off a two-year project with Renault to test the feasibility of embedding wireless power in the roadway. Called Halo, the technology involves inductive coils placed both in the road and on the underbelly of a vehicle. When a car drives over segments of roadway with the inductive coils, it will receive an energy boost.
While tearing up roadways for electric-powered driving would be a multibillion-dollar project decades down the line, Martin says to expect dynamic charging stations at stoplights and landing pads on bus routes in the not-too-distant future.
"It is really not that hard to envision," Martin says. "Similar to a wireless Internet provider, you will be signed up with a particular service, and the system will charge you automatically when you download power from an overhanging station or pad in the roadway." (See related photos: "Five Most Hopeful Energy Stories of 2012")
This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.
end quote from:
Wireless Power May Cut the Cord for Plug-In Devices, Including Cars
Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should. I tend to be skeptical about people telling me they can recharge an electric car wirelessly because of the level of voltage you would need to do that. For example, as it is it really isn't completely safe for people to even be riding in Electric cars all the time for months and years. So, as you increase the voltage of trying to charge things you also increase the risk of things like different kinds of cancers and things like leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers because of the corona effects of generating or discharging large voltages around human bodies without lead or other shielding like you wear in the dentists office for x-rays. My thought is that eventually when enough people die from riding too many hours or driving too many hours in electric cars they might start lead shielding the cars to protect the drivers and riders from this problem. I haven't heard whether they have started to do this yet. However, I do know that they now have an emergency breaker in the trunk of most Priuses in case of a traffic accident so passengers and drivers and firemen and policemen don't have to die of electrocution trying to rescue or be rescued after an accident in a Prius or other hybrid or electrical vehicle. Many people were electrocuted during or after accidents until they did this including police and firemen. Another problem in Electric or Hybrid cars might be the battery acid if the car turned upside down if the batteries were broken and the battery acid came over people and blinded them or something. Unless you have water it will burn your fingerprints off, make you blind, or burn your skin off until you wash it off with water.
Also, even though I could recharge my phone or Ipad wirelessly I would rather not just for basic safety reasons but that is only because I learned the electrical trade while growing up from my father who was an Electrical Contractor in Los Angeles County in California.
And, in regard to Electric cars because of what I know regarding potential health problems from driving or crashing in one, I likely would prefer to drive something like a Hyundai Elantra which after all is the car of the year that gets 35 or 40 miles per gallon without endangering my health or the health of my family and friends.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: The movie
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) - IMDb
www.imdb.com/title/tt0119668/
Rating: 6.5/10 - 23509 votes
A visiting city reporter's assignment suddenly revolves around the murder trial of a local millionaire, whom he befriends.Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring John Cusack, Kevin Spacey.
My wife bought me for Christmas a year ago: The Clint Eastwood limited edition gift set of DVD's. There are over 30 of his movies on DVD and a large coffee table type of book about all his movies included there. My son found it on top of one of our collections of about 20+ years of DVD's and Blue Ray DVD's and realized I hadn't opened it yet. I said, "I mostly like to watch movies with other people now so I mostly watch them on cable because other people are watching them too around the world or I wait until a friend or family member wants to watch a DVD with me. He looked through them and mentioned this movie and I said it was a really good one so we watched it again.
I was kind of surprised it was made in 1997 because it seems like just yesterday when I first saw it with my wife. So, my youngest daughter must have been just a baby then.
This movie stars John Cusack and Kevin Spacey as well as John Cusack's love interest in the movie Alison Eastwood (one of Clint's daughters).
This movie is delightfully eccentric in a Savannah, Georgia kind of way. I had remembered it being set in New Orleans but I realized it was in Savannah, Georgia because of the very polite Southern ways of the people that are unmistakable.
Another remarkable thing about this movie is that there is a very Young Jude Law that you almost can't recognize when he first sort of started his career here in the U.S. (look for the Camaro).
I think if you haven't seen this one you will like this offbeat murder mystery. John Cusack is a New York Writer for a magazine and is totally unprepared for everything he finds in Savannah High Society, including Keven Spacey. So, it is a rare treat of a movie!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
a 2nd Cold War?
I was thinking today that if there ever was a 2nd cold war it would not be conducted like the first one. It would be between the largest Nuclear powers and it would be a war for resources whether that be food, water, oil, technology (all these things and more) and the main instruments of that war would be money and currency exchanges, the Internet (as in syphoning money out of competing nations) and the control of the mining of precious minerals and access to good water and use of the oceans. And there would never be a nuclear war because this would be a 100 or 200 year long cold War that would be very polite and even businesslike. But no one should mistake that it might be happening right now for the next few hundred years. There would never be a nuclear war. We came much to close to that on multiple occasions in the past cold war as in the Cuban Missile Crisis and various other times. But, I think instead of calling it a 2nd Cold War maybe a better name for it might be: "The Polite War" that lasts generations.
Another really strange thing about something like this is that nationalism is on the wane. So, in the end it will become more and more like areas just competing for resources any way they can.
Nationalism in general is on the wane because of the Internet and I think that is the complaint many nations in the United Nations are addressing because the most serious end of nationalism would be in the smaller countries. The larger the country the more enthnocentric the people tend to be. For example, China and Russia and the U.S. are the three most ethnocentric nations on earth. An ethnocentric nation thinks it is the cultural center of the universe and this tends to make ethnocentric nations dangerous to each other and the world because of this. However, eventually even the biggest ethnocentric nations will start to lose nationalism more and more as well. It is inevitable because of our shrinking world in entertainment, the news, and products and Social Media worldwide.
So, just like the European Union formed it is likely other areas of the world will form more and more formal economic groupings which in the end might look a lot like something called "The World Union" based upon the needs of all nations and likely will come eventually through the United Nations and the IMF or something like that.
I wrote this as I looked into 2013 and beyond to see what was coming more as an intuitive and this is what will tend to happen as time moves on.
Another really strange thing about something like this is that nationalism is on the wane. So, in the end it will become more and more like areas just competing for resources any way they can.
Nationalism in general is on the wane because of the Internet and I think that is the complaint many nations in the United Nations are addressing because the most serious end of nationalism would be in the smaller countries. The larger the country the more enthnocentric the people tend to be. For example, China and Russia and the U.S. are the three most ethnocentric nations on earth. An ethnocentric nation thinks it is the cultural center of the universe and this tends to make ethnocentric nations dangerous to each other and the world because of this. However, eventually even the biggest ethnocentric nations will start to lose nationalism more and more as well. It is inevitable because of our shrinking world in entertainment, the news, and products and Social Media worldwide.
So, just like the European Union formed it is likely other areas of the world will form more and more formal economic groupings which in the end might look a lot like something called "The World Union" based upon the needs of all nations and likely will come eventually through the United Nations and the IMF or something like that.
I wrote this as I looked into 2013 and beyond to see what was coming more as an intuitive and this is what will tend to happen as time moves on.
We Survived 12-21-12 but what about Cliff and debt ceiling?
Compared to the Fiscal Cliff and the Debt Ceiling after that maybe the real joke on all of us will be the fiscal cliff(benefits and jobs might go away and taxes go up) and Debt Ceiling (will we lose more of our good credit rating again?
Hopefully, our President and Congress somehow will put what is good for the country above getting re-elected. I think if it was up to the President (if it was up only to him) he would use executive privilege and solve this problem for all of us if he were allowed to because this will be his last election that he just went through.
However, it doesn't sound like that is what is happening so hopefully someone can be very creative and useful in the way they figure a way through all this before it gets any worse.
Though Republicans want to wait so they can say they reduced taxes after January 1st. However, the problem with that is what if no one can put all the pieces back together again after we fall off the cliff. It isn't a very simple problem because of so many various components to how the government operates. Once you explode the government into all these pieces, how are you going to get that many people to agree on how to put humpty dumpty together again if they can't agree to something so simple now?
Hopefully, our President and Congress somehow will put what is good for the country above getting re-elected. I think if it was up to the President (if it was up only to him) he would use executive privilege and solve this problem for all of us if he were allowed to because this will be his last election that he just went through.
However, it doesn't sound like that is what is happening so hopefully someone can be very creative and useful in the way they figure a way through all this before it gets any worse.
Though Republicans want to wait so they can say they reduced taxes after January 1st. However, the problem with that is what if no one can put all the pieces back together again after we fall off the cliff. It isn't a very simple problem because of so many various components to how the government operates. Once you explode the government into all these pieces, how are you going to get that many people to agree on how to put humpty dumpty together again if they can't agree to something so simple now?
13 News Stories for 2013
| CNN | - |
More turmoil for Syria and its neighbors. If anything can be guaranteed, it is that Syria's gradual and brutal disintegration will continue, sending aftershocks far beyond its borders.
13 stories for 2013: From Syria to the climate to the 'post-Gangnam' era
updated 10:44 PM EST, Sat December 29, 2012
Among the few virtual certainties of 2013 is the ongoing anguish of Syria and the decline of its president, Bashar al-Assad.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Look for more unrest amid power transitions in the Middle East
- Disputes and economic worries will keep China, Japan, North Korea in the news
- Europe's economy will stay on a rough road, but the outlook for it is brighter
- Events are likely to draw attention to cyber warfare and climate change
More turmoil for Syria and its neighbors
If anything can be
guaranteed, it is that Syria's gradual and brutal disintegration will
continue, sending aftershocks far beyond its borders. Most analysts do
not believe that President Bashar al-Assad can hang on for another year.
The more capable units of the Syrian armed forces are overstretched;
large tracts of north and eastern Syria are beyond the regime's control;
the economy is in dire straits; and the war is getting closer to the
heart of the capital with every passing week. Russian support for
al-Assad, once insistent, is now lukewarm.
Amid the battle, a
refugee crisis of epic proportions threatens to become a catastrophe as
winter sets in. The United Nations refugee agency says more than 4
million Syrians are in desperate need, most of them in squalid camps on
Syria's borders, where tents are no match for the cold and torrential
rain. Inside Syria, diseases like tuberculosis are spreading, according
to aid agencies, and there is a danger that hunger will become
malnutrition in places like Aleppo.
The question is whether
the conflict will culminate Tripoli-style, with Damascus overrun by
rebel units; or whether a political solution can be found that involves
al-Assad's departure and a broadly based transitional government taking
his place. U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has not been explicit about
al-Assad's exit as part of the transition, but during his most recent
visit to Damascus, he hinted that it has to be.
2012: The year in pictures
What to expect in 2013
2013's fiscal future
"Syria and the Syrian people need, want and look forward to real change. And the meaning of this is clear to all," he said.
The international
community still seems as far as ever from meaningful military
intervention, even as limited as a no fly-zone. Nor is there any sign of
concerted diplomacy to push all sides in Syria toward the sort of deal
that ended the war in Bosnia. In those days, the United States and
Russia were able to find common ground. In Syria, they have yet to do
so, and regional actors such as Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran
also have irons in the fire.
Failing an unlikely
breakthrough that would bring the regime and its opponents to a Syrian
version of the Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian war, the greatest
risk is that a desperate regime may turn to its chemical weapons,
troublesome friends (Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Kurdish PKK in Turkey)
and seek to export unrest to Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.
The Syrian regime has
already hinted that it can retaliate against Turkey's support for the
rebels -- not by lobbing Scud missiles into Turkey, but by playing the
"Kurdish" card. That might involve direct support for the PKK or space
for its Syrian ally, the Democratic Union Party. By some estimates,
Syrians make up one-third of the PKK's fighting strength.
To the Turkish
government, the idea that Syria's Kurds might carve out an autonomous
zone and get cozy with Iraq's Kurds is a nightmare in the making. Nearly
800 people have been killed in Turkey since the PKK stepped up its
attacks in mid-2011, but with three different sets of elections in
Turkey in 2013, a historic bargain between Ankara and the Kurds that
make up 18% of Turkey's population looks far from likely.
Many commentators expect
Lebanon to become more volatile in 2013 because it duplicates so many
of the dynamics at work in Syria. The assassination in October of
Lebanese intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan -- as he
investigated a pro-Syrian politician accused of obtaining explosives
from the Syrian regime -- was an ominous portent.
Victory for the
overwhelmingly Sunni rebels in Syria would tilt the fragile sectarian
balance next door, threatening confrontation between Lebanon's Sunnis
and Hezbollah. The emergence of militant Salafist groups like al-Nusra
in Syria is already playing into the hands of militants in Lebanon.
Iraq, too, is not immune
from Syria's turmoil. Sunni tribes in Anbar and Ramadi provinces would
be heartened should Assad be replaced by their brethren across the
border. It would give them leverage in an ever more tense relationship
with the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad. The poor health of one of
the few conciliators in Iraqi politics, President Jalal Talabani, and
renewed disputes between Iraq's Kurds and the government over boundaries
in the oil-rich north, augur for a troublesome 2013 in Iraq.
More worries about Iran's nuclear program
Syria's predicament will
probably feature throughout 2013, as will the behavior of its only
friend in the region: Iran. Intelligence sources say Iran continues to
supply the Assad regime with money, weapons and expertise; and military
officers who defected from the Syrian army say Iranian technicians work
in Syria's chemical weapons program. Al-Assad's continued viability is
important for Iran, as his only Arab ally. They also share sponsorship
of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which, with its vast supply of rockets and even
some ballistic missiles, might be a valuable proxy in the event of an
Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear program.
Speaking of which, there
are likely to be several more episodes in the behind-closed-doors drama
of negotiations on Iran's nuclear sites. Russia is trying to arrange
the next round for January. But in public, at least, Iran maintains it
has every right to continue enriching uranium for civilian purposes,
such as helping in the treatment of more than 1 million Iranians with
cancer.
Iran "will not suspend
20% uranium enrichment because of the demands of others," Fereydoun
Abbasi-Davani, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said this
month.
International experts
say the amount of 20% enriched uranium (estimated by the International
Atomic Energy Agency in November at 297 pounds) is more than needed for
civilian purposes, and the installation of hundreds more centrifuges
could cut the time needed to enrich uranium to weapons-grade. The
question is whether Iran will agree to intrusive inspections that would
reassure the international community -- and Israel specifically -- that
it can't and won't develop a nuclear weapon.
This raises another
question: Will it take bilateral U.S.-Iranian talks -- and the prospect
of an end to the crippling sanctions regime -- to find a breakthrough?
And will Iran's own presidential election in June change the equation?
For now, Israel appears to be prepared to give negotiation (and sanctions) time to bring Iran to the table. For now.
Egypt to deal with new power, economic troubles
Given the turmoil
swirling through the Middle East, Israel could probably do without
trying to bomb Iran's nuclear program into submission. Besides Syria and
Lebanon, it is already grappling with a very different Egypt, where a
once-jailed Islamist leader is now president and Salafist/jihadi groups,
especially in undergoverned areas like Sinai, have a lease on life
unimaginable in the Mubarak era.
The U.S. has an awkward
relationship with President Mohamed Morsy, needing his help in mediating
with Hamas in Gaza but concerned that his accumulation of power is fast
weakening democracy and by his bouts of anti-Western rhetoric. (He has
demanded the release from a U.S. jail of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman,
convicted of involvement in the first bombing of the World Trade Center
in 1993.)
The approval of the
constitution removes one uncertainty, even if the opposition National
Salvation Front says it cements Islamist power. But as much as the
result, the turnout -- about one-third of eligible voters -- indicates
that Egyptians are tired of turmoil, and more concerned about a
deepening economic crisis.
Morsy imposed and then
scrapped new taxes, and the long-expected $4.8 billion loan from the
International Monetary Fund is still not agreed on. Egypt's foreign
reserves were down to $15 billion by the end of the year, enough to
cover less than three months of imports. Tourism revenues are one-third
of what they were before street protests erupted early in 2011. Egypt's
crisis in 2013 may be more about its economy than its politics.
Libya threatens to spawn more unrest in North Africa
Libya's revolution, if
not as seismic as anything Syria may produce, is still reverberating far
and wide. As Moammar Gadhafi's rule crumbled, his regime's weapons
found their way into an arms bazaar, turning up in Mali and Sinai, even
being intercepted off the Lebanese coast.
The Libyan government,
such as it is, seems no closer to stamping its authority on the country,
with Islamist brigades holding sway in the east, tribal unrest in the
Sahara and militias engaged in turf wars. The danger is that Libya, a
vast country where civic institutions were stifled for four decades,
will become the incubator for a new generation of jihadists, able to
spread their influence throughout the Sahel. They will have plenty of
room and very little in the way of opposition from security forces.
The emergence of the
Islamist group Ansar Dine in Mali is just one example. In this
traditionally moderate Muslim country, Ansar's fighters and Tuareg
rebels have ejected government forces from an area of northern Mali the
size of Spain and begun implementing Sharia law, amputations and
floggings included. Foreign fighters have begun arriving to join the
latest front in global jihad; and terrorism analysts are seeing signs
that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and groups like Boko Haram
in Nigeria are beginning to work together.
There are plans for an
international force to help Mali's depleted military take back the
north, but one European envoy said it was unlikely to materialize before
(wait for it) ... September 2013. Some terrorism analysts see North
Africa as becoming the next destination of choice for international
jihad, as brigades and camps sprout across a vast area of desert.
A bumpy troop transition for Afghanistan
The U.S. and its allies
want to prevent Afghanistan from becoming another haven for terror
groups. As the troop drawdown gathers pace, 2013 will be a critical year
in standing up Afghan security forces (the numbers are there, their
competence unproven), improving civil institutions and working toward a
post-Karzai succession.
In November, the International Crisis Group said the outlook was far from assuring.
"Demonstrating at least
will to ensure clean elections (in Afghanistan in 2014) could forge a
degree of national consensus and boost popular confidence, but steps
toward a stable transition must begin now to prevent a precipitous slide
toward state collapse. Time is running out," the group said.
Critics have also voiced
concerns that the publicly announced date of 2014 for withdrawing
combat forces only lets the Taliban know how long they must hold out
before taking on the Kabul government.
U.S. officials insist
the word is "transitioning" rather than "withdrawal," but the shape and
role of any military presence in 2014 and beyond are yet to be settled.
Let's just say the United States continues to build up and integrate its
special operations forces.
The other part of the
puzzle is whether the 'good' Taliban can be coaxed into negotiations,
and whether Pakistan, which has considerable influence over the Taliban
leadership, will play honest broker.
Private meetings in
Paris before Christmas that involved Taliban envoys and Afghan officials
ended with positive vibes, with the Taliban suggesting they were open
to working with other political groups and would not resist girls'
education. There was also renewed discussion about opening a Taliban
office in Qatar, but we've been here before. The Taliban are riven by
internal dissent and may be talking the talk while allowing facts on the
ground to work to their advantage.
Where will North Korea turn its focus?
On the subject of
nuclear states that the U.S.-wishes-were-not, the succession in North
Korea has provided no sign that the regime is ready to restrain its
ambitious program to test nuclear devices and the means to deliver them.
Back in May 2012, Peter
Brookes of the American Foreign Policy Council said that "North Korea is
a wild card -- and a dangerous one at that." He predicted that the
inexperienced Kim Jong Un would want to appear "large and in charge,"
for internal and external consumption. In December, Pyongyang launched a
long-range ballistic missile -- one that South Korean scientists later
said had the range to reach the U.S. West Coast. Unlike the failure of
the previous missile launch in 2009, it managed to put a satellite into
orbit.
The last two such launches have been followed by nuclear weapons tests -- in 2006 and 2009. Recent satellite images of the weapons test site analyzed by the group 38 North show continued activity there.
So the decision becomes a
political one. Does Kim continue to appear "large and in charge" by
ordering another test? Or have the extensive reshuffles and demotions of
the past year already consolidated his position, allowing him to focus
on the country's dire economic situation?
China-Japan island dispute to simmer
It's been a while since
East Asia has thrown up multiple security challenges, but suddenly North
Korea's missile and nuclear programs are not the only concern in the
region. There's growing rancor between China and Japan over disputed
islands in the East China Sea, which may be aggravated by the return to
power in Japan of Shinzo Abe as prime minister.
Abe has long been
concerned that Japan is vulnerable to China's growing power and its
willingness to project that power. Throughout 2012, Japan and China were
locked in a war of words over the Senkaku or Diaoyu islands, with
fishing and Coast Guard boats deployed to support claims of sovereignty.
In the days before
Japanese went to the polls, Beijing also sent a surveillance plane over
the area, marking the first time since 1958, according to Japanese
officials, that Bejing had intruded into "Japanese airspace." Japan
scrambled F-15 jets in response.
The islands are
uninhabited, but the seas around them may be rich in oil and gas. There
is also a Falklands factor at play here. Not giving in to the other side
is a matter of national pride. There's plenty of history between China
and Japan -- not much of it good.
As China has built up
its ability to project military power, Japan's navy has also expanded.
Even a low-level incident could lead to an escalation. And as the
islands are currently administered by Japan, the U.S. would have an
obligation to help the Japanese defend them.
Few analysts expect
conflict to erupt, and both sides have plenty to lose. For Japan, China
is a critical market, but Japanese investment there has fallen sharply
in the past year. Just one in a raft of problems for Abe. His
prescription for dragging Japan out of its fourth recession since 2000
is a vast stimulus program to fund construction and other public works
and a looser monetary policy.
The trouble is that
Japan's debt is already about 240% of its GDP, a much higher ratio than
even Greece. And Japan's banks hold a huge amount of that debt. Add a
shrinking and aging population, and at some point the markets might
decide that the yield on Japan's 10-year sovereign bond ought to be
higher than the current 0.77%.
Economic uncertainty in U.S., growth in China
So the world's
third-largest economy may not help much in reviving global growth, which
in 2012 was an anemic 2.2%, according to United Nations data. The parts
of Europe not mired in recession hover close to it, and growth in India
and Brazil has weakened. Which leaves the U.S. and China.
At the time of writing,
the White House and congressional leadership are still peering over the
fiscal cliff. Should they lose their footing, the Congressional Budget
Office expects the arbitrary spending cuts and tax increases to be
triggered will push the economy into recession and send unemployment
above 9%.
A stopgap measure,
rather than a long-term foundation for reducing the federal deficit,
looks politically more likely. But to companies looking for predictable
economic policy, it may not be enough to unlock billions in investment.
Why spend heavily if there's a recession around the corner, or if
another fight looms over raising the federal debt ceiling?
In September, Moody's
said it would downgrade the U.S. sovereign rating from its "AAA" rating
without "specific policies that produce a stabilization and then
downward trend in the ratio of federal debt to GDP over the medium
term." In other words, it wants action beyond kicking the proverbial
can.
Should the cliff be
dodged, most forecasts see the U.S. economy expanding by about 2% in
2013. That's not enough to make up for stagnation elsewhere, so a great
deal depends on China avoiding the proverbial hard landing.
Until now, Chinese
growth has been powered by exports and infrastructure spending, but
there are signs that China's maturing middle class is also becoming an
economic force to be reckoned with. Consultants PwC expect retail sales
in China to increase by 10.5% next year -- with China overtaking the
U.S. as the world's largest retail market by 2016.
Europe's economic outlook a little better
No one expects Europe to
become an economic powerhouse in 2013, but at least the horizon looks a
little less dark than it did a year ago. The "PIGS' " (Portugal,
Ireland/Italy, Greece, Spain) borrowing costs have eased; there is at
least rhetorical progress toward a new economic and fiscal union; and
the European Central Bank has talked tough on defending the Eurozone.
Mario Draghi, president
of the European Central Bank, fended off the dragons with the
declaration in July that "Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do
whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be
enough."
Draghi has promised the
bank has unlimited liquidity to buy sovereign debt, as long as
governments (most likely Spain) submit to reforms designed to balance
their budgets. But in 2013, the markets will want more than brave talk,
including real progress toward banking and fiscal union that will leave
behind what Draghi likes to call Europe's "fairy world" of unsustainable
debt and collapsing banks. Nothing can be done without the say-so of
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, renowned for a step-by-step approach
that's likely to be even more cautious in a year when she faces
re-election.
Elections in Italy in
February may be more important -- pitching technocrat Prime Minister
Mario Monti against the maverick he replaced, 76-year old Silvio
Berlusconi. After the collapse of Berlusconi's coalition 13 months ago,
Monti reined in spending, raised the retirement age and raised taxes to
bring Italy back from the brink of insolvency. Now he will lead a
coalition of centrist parties into the election. But polls suggest that
Italians are tired of Monti's austerity program, and Berlusconi plans a
populist campaign against the man he calls "Germano-centric."
The other tripwire in
Europe may be Greece. More cuts in spending -- required to qualify for
an EU/IMF bailout -- are likely to deepen an already savage recession,
threatening more social unrest and the future of a fragile coalition. A
'Grexit' from the eurozone is still possible, and that's according to
the Greek finance minister, Yannis Stournaras.
Expect to see more evidence of climate change
Hurricane Sandy, which
struck the U.S. East Coast in November, was the latest indicator of
changing and more severe weather patterns. Even if not repeated in 2013,
extreme weather is beginning to have an effect -- on where people live,
on politicians and on the insurance industry.
After Sandy, New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that after "the last few years, I don't think
anyone can sit back anymore and say, 'Well, I'm shocked at that weather
pattern.' " The storm of the century has become the storm of every
decade or so, said Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences at
Princeton.
"Climate change will
probably increase storm intensity and size simultaneously, resulting in a
significant intensification of storm surges," he and colleagues wrote
in Nature.
In the U.S., government
exposure to storm-related losses in coastal states has risen more than
15-fold since 1990, to $885 billion in 2011, according to the Insurance
Information Institute. The Munich RE insurance group says North America
has seen higher losses from extreme weather than any other part of the
world in recent decades.
"A main loss driver is
the concentration of people and assets on the coast combined with high
and possibly growing vulnerabilities," it says.
Risk Management
Solutions, which models catastrophic risks, recently updated its
scenarios, anticipating an increase of 40% in insurance losses on the
Gulf Coast, Florida and the Southeast over the next five years, and 25%
to 30% for the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. Those calculations
were done before Sandy.
Inland, eyes will be
trained on the heavens for signs of rain -- after the worst drought in
50 years across the Midwest. Climatologists say that extended periods of
drought -- from the U.S. Midwest to Ukraine -- may be "the new normal."
Jennifer Francis at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at
Rutgers University has shown that a warmer Arctic tends to slow the jet stream,
causing it to meander and, in turn, prolong weather patterns. It's
called Arctic amplification, and it is probably aggravating drought in
the Northwest United States and leading to warmer summers in the
Northern Hemisphere, where 2012 was the hottest year on record.
It is a double-edged
sword: Warmer temperatures may make it possible to begin cultivating in
places like Siberia, but drier weather in traditional breadbaskets would
be very disruptive. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization reports
that stocks of key cereals have tightened, contributing to volatile
world markets. Poor weather in Argentina, the world's second-largest
exporter of corn, may compound the problem.
More cyber warfare
What will be the 2013
equivalents of Flame, Gauss and Shamoon? They were some of the most
damaging computer viruses of 2012. The size and versatility of Flame was
unlike nothing seen before, according to anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab.
Gauss stole online
banking information in the Middle East. Then came Shamoon, a virus that
wiped the hard drives of about 30,000 computers at the Saudi oil company
Aramco, making them useless. The Saudi government declared it an attack
on the country's economy; debate continues on whether it was
state-sponsored.
Kaspersky predicts that
in 2013, we will see "new examples of cyber-warfare operations,
increasing targeted attacks on businesses and new, sophisticated mobile
threats."
Computer security firm McAfee also expects more malware to be developed to attack mobile devices and apps in 2013.
U.S. Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta is more concerned about highly sophisticated attacks on
infrastructure that "could be as destructive as the terrorist attack on
9/11."
"We know that foreign
cyber actors are probing America's critical infrastructure networks.
They are targeting the computer control systems that operate chemical,
electricity and water plants and those that guide transportation
throughout this country," he said in October.
Intellectual property
can be stolen, bought or demanded as a quid pro quo for market access.
The U.S. intelligence community believes China or Chinese interests are
employing all three methods in an effort to close the technology gap.
In the waning days of
2012, the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United
States said "there is likely a coordinated strategy among one or more
foreign governments or companies to acquire U.S. companies involved in
research, development, or production of critical technologies."
It did not name the
country in its unclassified report but separately noted a growing number
of attempts by Chinese entities to buy U.S. companies.
Who will be soccer's next 'perfect machine'?
There's room for two
less serious challenges in 2013. One is whether any football team, in
Spain or beyond, can beat Barcelona and its inspirational goal machine
Lionel Messi, who demolished a record that had stood since 1972 for the
number of goals scored in a calendar year. (Before Glasgow Celtic fans
start complaining, let's acknowledge their famous win against the
Spanish champions in November.)
Despite the ill health
of club coach Tito Vilanova, "Barca" sits imperiously at the top of La
Liga in Spain and is the favorite to win the world's most prestigious
club trophy, the European Champions League, in 2013. AC Milan is its
next opponent in a match-up that pits two of Europe's most storied clubs
against each other. But as Milan sporting director Umberto Gandini
acknowledges, "We face a perfect machine."
Will Gangnam give it up to something sillier?
Finally, can something
-- anything -- displace Gangnam Style as the most watched video in
YouTube's short history? As of 2:16 p.m. ET on December 26, it had
garnered 1,054,969,395 views and an even more alarming 6,351,871
"likes."
Perhaps in 2013 the
YouTube audience will be entranced by squirrels playing table tennis, an
octopus that spins plates or Cistercian nuns dancing the Macarena. Or
maybe Gangnam will get to 2 billion with a duet with Justin Bieber.
end quote from:
Disputes and economic worries will keep China, Japan, North Korea in the news
Egypt Islamist trying to Stifle Dissent?
- Egypt opposition says Islamists trying to stifle dissentYahoo! News (blog) - 21 hours agoFrom Yahoo! News: CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's opposition accused President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies of trying to muzzle dissent on ...
- Ahram Online - 18 hours ago
- Voice of America (blog) - 5 days ago
Egypt opposition says Islamists trying to stifle dissent
By Tom Perry and Yasmine Saleh | Reuters – 21 hrs ago- Enlarge PhotoReuters/Reuters - Policemen stand guard near a banner outside the constitutional court put up by supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi as they stage a sit-in, in Cairo December 23, 2012. REUTERS/Khaled
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's opposition accused President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies of trying to muzzle dissent on Friday after prosecutors decided to investigate whether prominent government critics were guilty of sedition.The probe, which comes a month after Mursi replaced the chief prosecutor, further sours the political climate as the leader and his opponents face off over a new constitution that became law on Wednesday.
Critics of the new charter say it uses vague language, fails to enshrine the rights of women and minorities and does little to champion the rights of Egyptians who rose up last year to overthrow army-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak.Supporters say it protects personal rights that were often trampled upon during the Mubarak era and a subsequent spell of army rule.
The constitution text won about 64 percent approval in a two-stage referendum but Mursi's opponents vowed to continue protests and rejected his calls for a national dialogue.
Prosecutors ordered the inquiry into three of the president's most prominent opponents on Thursday - former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and leftist Hamdeen Sabahy.Moussa and Sabahy both challenged Mursi for the presidency in a June election which followed the 2011 uprising.
The prosecutor's office said the three had been accused of inciting supporters to rise up and overthrow Mursi, the country's first fairly elected leader.
Mursi's critics saw an attempt to intimidate them into silence and vowed to continue challenging his rule.
"I believe this is orchestrated by the Brotherhood leadership," Hussein Abdel Ghani, a spokesman for the country's main opposition umbrella group, told Reuters. "The Mubarak regime used to order the same tactics.""But we are going to use our full rights, our civil tactics, to demonstrate our opposition to this regime," he said.
The charged atmosphere makes it harder for Mursi to bolster his authority and muster a consensus for unpopular austerity measures vital to preventing a weak economy from collapsing.
AN END TO TURMOIL
Mursi is hoping that the quick adoption of the constitution and holding elections to a permanent new parliament soon will help end the long period of turmoil since Mubarak's overthrow in February 2011 that has wrecked the economy.
But the Egyptian pound tumbled to its weakest in almost eight years this week after the constitution was approved. People unnerved by the continued political tension rushed to hoard dollars and gold.
The government ordered new restrictions on foreign currency apparently designed to prevent capital flight. Leaving or entering with more than $10,000 cash is now banned.
Mursi was propelled into office thanks to the rallying power of his Muslim Brotherhood, the country's main opposition group under Mubarak that was banned from formal politics for decades.Ahmed Sobeih, a spokesman for the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, dismissed Abdel Ghani's accusation of an organised legal campaign against Mursi's opponents."We must get away from the language of mutual accusations," he said, adding that "dozens" of similar complaints had been filed against Brotherhood leaders.Mursi appointed Chief Public Prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim when he assumed sweeping new powers on November 22. Ibrahim's predecessor, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, had served for many years under Mubarak.Judicial sources said the inquiry against Moussa, ElBaradei and Sabahy followed a complaint from lawyers sympathetic to Mursi.The trio are part of the National Salvation Front, an alliance of political groups that has spearheaded street protests against the government."The mere referral of these complaints to an investigative judge and the accompanying public announcement is already cause enough for serious concern," said Heba Morayef, Egypt director at New York-based Human Rights Watch.A spokesman for Moussa said the accusations against him were groundless."What we read in the papers are several allegations that we have denied over and over in the past few months," said Ahmed Kamel, a spokesman for Moussa's Congress Party. "They are completely unfounded and have no relation to reality."end quote from:
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