1 Eurozone joblessness stuck until 2015 (Larry Elliott in The Guardian) The
European commission is warning that it is too early to claim victory in the
euro area's fight against recession after its latest forecasts showed it would
be 2015 before weak growth generated a fall in the jobless total. Although the
17-nation single currency zone started to expand in the summer after a
six-quarter double-dip recession, Brussels said there will be a lag before the
pickup in activity leads to a fall in unemployment.
The commission trimmed its growth forecast for the euro area in 2014 from 1.2% to 1.1% and said unemployment will remain stuck at a record 12.2% next year. It added that there were encouraging signs that the recovery would continue but said the legacy of Europe's debt crisis would continue to act as a brake on growth. Only in 2015, when growth is expected to increase to 1.7%, does the commission see a dent being made in the jobless total, with unemployment predicted to drop to 11.8%.
Olli Rehn, the commission's vice-president for economic and monetary affairs and the euro, said: "There are increasing signs that the European economy has reached a turning point. The fiscal consolidation and structural reforms undertaken in Europe have created the basis for recovery. But it is too early to declare victory: unemployment remains at unacceptably high levels. That's why we must continue working to modernise the European economy, for sustainable growth and job creation."
Of the bigger euro area countries, only Germany is forecast to grow by more than 1% in 2014. Spain is expected to expand by 0.5%, Italy by 0.7% and France by 0.9%. By contrast, the commission said the outlook for the UK – which has exceeded expectations in 2013 – was "quite bright". Growth of 2.2% is pencilled in for 2014, rising to 2.4% in 2015.
In order for the MOM to embark on the right trajectory for its 300-day,
780-million km journey, it must carry out its final orbital burn by 30
November. Some observers are viewing the launch of the MOM, also known by the
informal name of Mangalyaan (Mars-craft), as the latest salvo in a burgeoning
space race between the Asian powers of India, China, Japan, South Korea and
others.
Prof Andrew Coates, from University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said: "I think this mission really brings India to the table of international space exploration. Interplanetary exploration is certainly not trivial to do, and [India] has found some interesting scientific niches to make some measurements in."
Those niche areas include searching for the signature of methane (CH4) in the Martian atmosphere, which has previously been detected from Martian orbit and telescopes on Earth. However, Nasa's Curiosity rover recently failed to find the gas in its measurements of atmospheric gases.
3 Putin the powerful (Mahir Ali in Khaleej Times) Vladimir Putin must have
been thrilled to bits last week when Forbes magazine designated him the most
powerful person in the world. It is no secret, after all, that the Russian
president is something of a narcissist, with a self-belief bordering on
autotheism. Forbes' decision was based more on endeavours in the realm of
realpolitik, notably Russia’s success, thus far, in averting foreign military
intervention in Syria and its willingness to poke the US in the eye by granting
at least temporary asylum to National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower
Edward Snowden. The motivations in both cases may be open to question,
notwithstanding the relatively desirable consequences.
The bloodshed in Syria is utterly appalling, not least on account of associated factors such as mass starvation and disease in certain areas. What guarantee is there, though, that US-led bombardment would have sorted out the problem? Moscow must also be chuffed by the fact that Snowden’s NSA revelations have lately led to a rift between the US and some of its closest European allies, most notably Germany — where a public campaign has been launched in favour of German asylum for Snowden.
When he came to power - rising from relative obscurity as the deputy mayor of St Petersburg to a key post in the Kremlin, followed by his elevation to prime minister and, eventually, his designation as successor to Boris Yeltsin — his pursuit of the oligarchs who had robbed Russia blind following the disintegration of the Soviet Union was initially widely hailed as a partial salvation of the state after the neoliberal anarchy of the Yeltsin years.
It turned out soon enough, though, that Putin’s aversion to the consolidation of economic power related primarily to whose hands it was in. Crony capitalism was fine as long as he was in control. The kleptocracy that has eventuated is arguably typified by the arrangements for next February’s Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The bill for the Beijing Summer Olympics came to $43 billion, while Britain spent $13.9 billion on last year’s London Olympics. In the case of Sochi, costs have already topped $51 billion, and there are still three months to go.
Putin’s personal fortune, based on alleged stakes in state-owned corporations, is rumoured to be between $40 billion and $70 billion. If these claims — which, inevitably, come from opponents — could be corroborated, he may well figure highly in another periodic Forbes list, which ranks the world’s richest individuals. Whatever anyone may make of the Forbes designation, the former KGB agent and FSB chief really ought not to consider it a compliment. It may well be repeated, though, as long as his dictatorship of the explotariat faces no prospect of a Russian spring that stretches far beyond the confines of Moscow and St Petersburg.
4 From work life to nerd life balance (Nellie Bowles in San Francisco Chronicle) At a recent software programmers conference at the San Francisco, one senior engineer, Nick Floyd, stood up to give a talk on work/life balance. Ditch it, he said.
The idea of work and life being separate is outdated and impractical, he claimed. Instead, he proposed something new: Nerd Life Balance, in which work and nonwork hours are no longer divided. "What if we made work and life more like Velcro and less like sandpaper?" he said as his audience of programmers responded by nodding and clapping. "What if I could bring my nerd side home?"
Programmers - who are known to sleep under their desks, wear pajamas all day, and code for 16 hours straight without standing up - have long been pushing against workplace mores. Traditional labor unions have worked to strengthen the work/life divide, fighting for such separations as weekends and eight-hour workdays. Meanwhile, tech executives, who pay their employees partly in perks like haircuts, gym equipment and snacks, have built cultures that blur that divide. Programmers are encouraged to stay all night for "hackathons," and many offices have nap rooms.
Under his Nerd Life Balance philosophy, Floyd doesn't try to fight this new blend of office and home but argues that programmers can still start families (teach your kids to code) and live normal lives (think of exercise as a pleasure as great as coding). Chris Kelly, director of developer relations for a software company, agreed that the traditional work/life divide is an antiquated vision. "We're talking about the engineering culture of the future," he said. "It doesn't mean you have to work 16 hours a day, but it means your brain is kind of always thinking about work. While you're rock climbing, you're thinking about it."
Floyd ended his talk with a promise: "Welcome to the Nerd World Order."
The commission trimmed its growth forecast for the euro area in 2014 from 1.2% to 1.1% and said unemployment will remain stuck at a record 12.2% next year. It added that there were encouraging signs that the recovery would continue but said the legacy of Europe's debt crisis would continue to act as a brake on growth. Only in 2015, when growth is expected to increase to 1.7%, does the commission see a dent being made in the jobless total, with unemployment predicted to drop to 11.8%.
Olli Rehn, the commission's vice-president for economic and monetary affairs and the euro, said: "There are increasing signs that the European economy has reached a turning point. The fiscal consolidation and structural reforms undertaken in Europe have created the basis for recovery. But it is too early to declare victory: unemployment remains at unacceptably high levels. That's why we must continue working to modernise the European economy, for sustainable growth and job creation."
Of the bigger euro area countries, only Germany is forecast to grow by more than 1% in 2014. Spain is expected to expand by 0.5%, Italy by 0.7% and France by 0.9%. By contrast, the commission said the outlook for the UK – which has exceeded expectations in 2013 – was "quite bright". Growth of 2.2% is pencilled in for 2014, rising to 2.4% in 2015.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/05/eurozone-unemployment-stuck-2015-european-commission
2 India in Mars club (BBC) India has successfully launched
a spacecraft to the Red Planet - with the aim of becoming the fourth space
agency to reach Mars. The head of India's space agency said the mission would
demonstrate the technological capability to reach Mars orbit and carry out
experiments. The spacecraft is set to travel for 300 days, reaching Mars orbit
in 2014. If the satellite orbits the Red Planet, India's space agency will
become the fourth in the world after those of the US, Russia and Europe to
undertake a successful Mars mission.
Prof Andrew Coates, from University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said: "I think this mission really brings India to the table of international space exploration. Interplanetary exploration is certainly not trivial to do, and [India] has found some interesting scientific niches to make some measurements in."
Those niche areas include searching for the signature of methane (CH4) in the Martian atmosphere, which has previously been detected from Martian orbit and telescopes on Earth. However, Nasa's Curiosity rover recently failed to find the gas in its measurements of atmospheric gases.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073
The bloodshed in Syria is utterly appalling, not least on account of associated factors such as mass starvation and disease in certain areas. What guarantee is there, though, that US-led bombardment would have sorted out the problem? Moscow must also be chuffed by the fact that Snowden’s NSA revelations have lately led to a rift between the US and some of its closest European allies, most notably Germany — where a public campaign has been launched in favour of German asylum for Snowden.
When he came to power - rising from relative obscurity as the deputy mayor of St Petersburg to a key post in the Kremlin, followed by his elevation to prime minister and, eventually, his designation as successor to Boris Yeltsin — his pursuit of the oligarchs who had robbed Russia blind following the disintegration of the Soviet Union was initially widely hailed as a partial salvation of the state after the neoliberal anarchy of the Yeltsin years.
It turned out soon enough, though, that Putin’s aversion to the consolidation of economic power related primarily to whose hands it was in. Crony capitalism was fine as long as he was in control. The kleptocracy that has eventuated is arguably typified by the arrangements for next February’s Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The bill for the Beijing Summer Olympics came to $43 billion, while Britain spent $13.9 billion on last year’s London Olympics. In the case of Sochi, costs have already topped $51 billion, and there are still three months to go.
Putin’s personal fortune, based on alleged stakes in state-owned corporations, is rumoured to be between $40 billion and $70 billion. If these claims — which, inevitably, come from opponents — could be corroborated, he may well figure highly in another periodic Forbes list, which ranks the world’s richest individuals. Whatever anyone may make of the Forbes designation, the former KGB agent and FSB chief really ought not to consider it a compliment. It may well be repeated, though, as long as his dictatorship of the explotariat faces no prospect of a Russian spring that stretches far beyond the confines of Moscow and St Petersburg.
http://khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2013/November/opinion_November9.xml§ion=opinion
4 From work life to nerd life balance (Nellie Bowles in San Francisco Chronicle) At a recent software programmers conference at the San Francisco, one senior engineer, Nick Floyd, stood up to give a talk on work/life balance. Ditch it, he said.
The idea of work and life being separate is outdated and impractical, he claimed. Instead, he proposed something new: Nerd Life Balance, in which work and nonwork hours are no longer divided. "What if we made work and life more like Velcro and less like sandpaper?" he said as his audience of programmers responded by nodding and clapping. "What if I could bring my nerd side home?"
Programmers - who are known to sleep under their desks, wear pajamas all day, and code for 16 hours straight without standing up - have long been pushing against workplace mores. Traditional labor unions have worked to strengthen the work/life divide, fighting for such separations as weekends and eight-hour workdays. Meanwhile, tech executives, who pay their employees partly in perks like haircuts, gym equipment and snacks, have built cultures that blur that divide. Programmers are encouraged to stay all night for "hackathons," and many offices have nap rooms.
Under his Nerd Life Balance philosophy, Floyd doesn't try to fight this new blend of office and home but argues that programmers can still start families (teach your kids to code) and live normal lives (think of exercise as a pleasure as great as coding). Chris Kelly, director of developer relations for a software company, agreed that the traditional work/life divide is an antiquated vision. "We're talking about the engineering culture of the future," he said. "It doesn't mean you have to work 16 hours a day, but it means your brain is kind of always thinking about work. While you're rock climbing, you're thinking about it."
Floyd ended his talk with a promise: "Welcome to the Nerd World Order."
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/High-tech-turning-work-life-balance-obsolete-4948097.php
No comments:
Post a Comment