Tens of Thousands Protest in Brussels over Government Austerity Measures

protestersAlot of people from Europe, particularly in Belgium were very anxious with the new austerity moves that the European Union government is implementing. The citizens fear that this will slowly worsen the economy of the country. Thousands of people from Brussels, nay, tens of thousands had a strike march along the streets of Brussels to show their protest against such a move by the government.

Aside from slowing the economic recovery, the citizens fear that this will also be a punishment to the poor. This protest does not only reverberate across the Belgian capital, but 13 other cities have called for protests against the measure. For example, Spain also held a strike. Several Spanish and Warsaw Unions staged protests to go against this measure and consequent measures, including labour and pension market reforms and spending cuts.

The organizers of the rally at Brussels claimed that they were successful in bringing over 100,000 people into the rally, but the police said their official count is around 56,000, where 218 of those were arrested for minor criminal offenses. In other places the rallies are much smaller.

This is just the beginning, according to John Monks, who is the head of the European Union Trade Conference. Their ultimate goal is for the government to hear their voices; they want growth and jobs, and they are against austerity measures.

GE goes Green with its Refrigerators

gelike many other companies in the world today, General Electric, one of the leading appliance companies worldwide, has shifted its attention towards making greener appliances, particularly refrigerators. Now, people who choose to buy from their company will not only be able to use green refrigerators which contribute to reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, they will also be able to enjoy the features and benefits of modern day refrigerators.

This move has a lot to do with the EPA, or the Environmental Protection Agency, which has requested GE to use a safer refrigerant in the form of isobutane in all its products. The EPA has approved a proposed rule stating that isobutane is safe for use in household refrigerators, and GE has earlier filed a petition that it will support the move to look for alternatives to previous substances which are already banned for use because of their harmful effects on the ozone layer.

The good thing about isobutane is that it is not a Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-based refrigerant which is commonly used in the United States and ironically very harmful to the environment. The use of isobutane by GE will mark the first time that refrigerators in the US will use a Hydrocarbon refrigerant in isobutane.

Forbes Lists Down World’s Most Powerful Women

forbesThe Forbes magazine has just recently released its 2010 Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women.

The list ranked Michelle Obama as number 1 replacing German chancellor Angela Merkel as the most powerful woman in the world. She also surpassed everybody’s favorite Lady Gaga on 7th place.

This year’s list of Forbes world’s most powerful women had surprisingly consisted of a number of media personalities. This includes Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, and Ellen DeGeneres.

Michelle Obama was described by Forbes as “a forceful advocate of school nutrition standards.” This actually directs a new look for the Forbes’ list. Last year’s Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women appeared to be mostly dominated by politicians and chief executives of world-known international companies.

Forbes explained on the fresh ranking they had made this year. According to them, “We’ve come up with a new ranking of the female power elite that reflects the New Order of now.”

Forbes showed how different the list is this year compared to last year. Obama ranked first, having been ranked as 40th last year. Winfrey who was ranked 41st last year is placed on 3rd this year. Lady Gaga comes in to 7th place as a fresh face in the list. Beyonce Knowles is on 9th place, again a fresh face on the list; the same goes with DeGeneres who ranked 10th on the list.

Resigned HP CEO Now Works for Oracle

mark hurd,larry ellison,chief executive officer,scandal,hewlett packard,oracle,hpThe shares of Oracle have increased by as much as 7.7 percent. This happened right after they hired the former Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett Packard, Mark Hurd, to work for them. Mark Hurd resigned from HP because of a scandal he was involved in at that company. Hurd is a close friend of the chief executive officer of Oracle, Larry Ellison.

Upon joining Oracle, Mark Hurd is hired as co-president. He will replace Charles Phillips, then co-president who resigned, and Mark Hurd will join Safra Catz, the other co-president. One of the many credentials of Hurd include cutting costs and making ambitious purchases which really helped HP get back on track and become a highly successful company.

When Mark Hurd resigned from HP, due to alleged accusations of sexual harassment, the shares of Hewlett Packard went down to about 14 percent. HP stated that Mark Hurd filed inaccurate and incomplete expense reports during the period when a marketing contractor named Jodie Fisher, was working for him.

Because of the positive economic effects that these have on Oracle, Goldman Sachs has put it to its list of conviction buys this Tuesday. Indeed, this is good news for Mark Hurd, and he will be able to move on from the scandal he was involved in.

Tunnel Fire in Colorado Kills 5 Workers, Ireland Criticizes S&P Rating

Tunnel Fire in Colorado KillsA tunnel fire caused the death of five workers inside a hydroelectric plant in Colorado. Investigations are now going under way, with the U.S. Chemical safety board planning to make a 15 minute video pertaining to the accident. Aside from that video, the board also plans to write a final report about their investigation.

This agency, which is an independent federal agency, is responsible for undergoing investigations related to critical chemical accidents. After doing investigations, they will then make recommendations to make the locations safer. For this case, it was decided upon that the maker of the safety video is a contractor which was chosen by Xcel Energy Inc., because it’s bid was lowest.

In other news, Ireland was angry with Standard and Poor’s downgrade of their credit rating towards the country. Ireland criticized the move last Wednesday because it caused the government bonds of the country to tumble during the early trading.

According to John Corrigan, who is the chief executive from the National Treasury Management Agency, Standard and Poor’s did a very poor analysis regarding the country’s debt. In fact, the calculations of Standard and Poor’s were not the same as that of the results obtained from the methods used by Eurostat or IMF.

Moon is Shrinking According to Latest Photos

thrust faults,photos of the moon,scientists,conclusionAccording to the latest findings of scientists, considerable amount of data which was obtained may lead them to the conclusion that the moon is getting smaller and smaller. As seen in photos of the moon all across its surface, there appeared thrust faults all over the moon’s face which was not there before. These thrust faults are indications that the surface is contracting.

Thrust faults are physical evidence that a surface is contracting, and as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter of NASA took thousands of pictures of the moon’s surface, it has been seen to be distributed all across. These faults are called lobate scarps, and are one of the newest land form structures in the moon.

Since these faults are located all around the moon, and not regionally, it has been postulated by several scientists, including Thomas Watters, who is the leader of the study, and is with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, that the moon is cooling inside. This cooling causes the reduction.

On the other hand, one should not worry that the moon is dramatically shrinking away. In fact, over the course of 1 billion years, it has shrunk to just around 100 meters or 328 feet.

1907 Malt Whisky Bottles by Ernest Shackleton Carefully Opened

1907 Malt Whisky Bottles by Ernest Shackleton Carefully Opened A malt whisky that was discovered under the hut of Sir Ernest Shackleton during his expedition to the Antarctic for the year 1907, has now been recovered and will be replicated by distillers from Scotland. 11 bottles have been recovered from the Mackinlay’s scotch crate which was seen beneath the floor of the hut.

The people who discovered the crates are from the Antarctic Heritage Trust as they were restoring buildings located in Ross Island. During that time in 1907, Ernest Shackleton ordered the whisky as 10 year old liquor for the Nimrod Expedition. This expedition made him one of the most revered explorers in history.

The bottles were brought to Christchurch this year, and they were brought as frozen bottles, but nearly not enough to freeze the malt whisky inside the bottles, and remarkably, the beverages were in very good condition when they were brought to Christchurch.

The next process was to thaw it slowly but surely so that the bottles and everything else will not be damaged. Just last Friday, the crate was very carefully opened to reveal 11 bottles of malt whisky, not the previously expected 12 bottles. Furthermore, one was not as full as the rest.

India Warns Companies For Safety Against Militants

India Warns Companies For Safety Against MilitantsIndia has warned other companies, such as Google and Skype, to allow the government to access their encrypted communication transfer for national security. The problem is that with encrypted means of communication, these companies’ products can be used by militants and terrorists for communication, setting up plans to attack the safety of the nation.

One such company that has already been heavily scrutinized by the Indian government, and by other governments as well, is the Blackberry. In fact, the Indian government has given the company the deadline, August 31, to allow it to access the encrypted messaging and email services of the phone. If the company will not comply, the Indian government will shut down these services by Blackberry.

Research in Motion is also facing pressure from other parts of the world, not just from India. This includes Indonesia and the United States, among others. This concern is especially vivid nowadays because government officials have made their fight against Islamic extremist’s militants more intense.

According to a senior interior security official from India, who does not want to be named, a government has every right, as long as it is within the law, to interfere in a lawful manner. For the case of RIM, Google or Skype, whose messaging services can be used for terroristic communications , governments can demand data access.

Putin Declares Wheat Export Ban due to Massive Russian Drought

Putin Declares Wheat Export Ban due to Massive Russian DroughtVladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of Russia, said that the Russian government will ban grain exports for until around December 31, 2010. This is a move which was decided with his cabinet at a recent government meeting, and this was spearheaded because of a drought that was one of the worse to hit Russia in a matter of decades.
Because of this announcement by Putin, extreme changes in wheat futures were recorded in Europe and Chicago, increasing wheat future values up 10 percent and setting records in a 2 year period. This situation was also seen by the United Nations food agency as catapulting a very serious situation in the overall food market all over the world.
The drought has so severely affected Russia in fact, that around 10 million hectares of land have dried up to the point that it can no longer be used for a significant amount of time. A lot of economists new about this situation even before the announcement by Putin, and they were in fact reassured by the Russian government that exports will remain the same compared to last year.
However, that will not be the case, and in fact, Kazakhstan might follow suit because of an agreement between the two countries, severely affecting the wheat market even further because Kazakhstan is also a major wheat exporter.

Drought hits Russia big time!

Drought hits Russia big time!An export ban covering a period of more than four months shall be imposed by Russia.  Hitting the ban starting August 15, Sunday, will be grain and and other crop produce.  Russia takes on this course of action as the drought has caused a major effect on the crops the country makes. How big is big time? Here’s how.
The exact period for the ban is from August 15 to Dec 31, 2010. This was given in a statement from Dmitry Peskov, spokesman to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In an earlier statement from Putin himself, he said that it is ‘appropriate’ to impose the export ban as the drought hit central Russia and the length of Volga River, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency in the country’s 28 major crop-producing areas.

Kirill Podolsky, CEO of Valars Group, the country’s third-biggest grain trader, said: “As of today, Russia has no grain market. This will be a catastrophe for farmers and exporters alike.”
Podolsky further said there is even a possibility that Russia will call off deliveries of around 600 thousand metric tons of wheat to Egypt due to the ban.  Valars itself will at right away discontinue its exports, which includes a pending load for Egypt as well.  This is brought about by anxieties that customs will control the deliveries until the ban is in effect, Podolsky added

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