Gun violence in America, in 17 maps and charts

By Germán López. Vox.

America is an exceptional country when it comes to guns. It's one of the few countries in which the right to bear arms is constitutionally protected, and presidential candidates in other nations don't cook bacon with guns.

But America's relationship with guns is unique in another crucial way: Among developed nations, the US is far and away the most violent — in large part due to the easy access many Americans have to firearms. These charts and maps show what that violence looks like compared with the rest of the world, why it happens, and why it's such a tough problem to fix.

At: http://www.vox.com/2015/8/24/9183525/gun-violence-statistics

The Gun Violence Chart President Obama Asked For

When President Barack Obama took the podium on Thursday night to speak about the mass shooting at Oregon's Umpqua Community College, he blasted Congress for its inaction on gun safety legislation. "Our thoughts and prayers are not enough," he said, visibly angry.

He also had a request for the media: "Have news organizations tally up the number of Americans who have been killed through terrorist attacks over the last decade and the number of Americans who have been killed by gun violence, and post those side by side on your news reports."

Wish granted, Mr. President. We compared gun deaths with other highly publicized causes of death in the chart below. (Note that about two-thirds of American gun deaths are suicides). The numbers come from 2013 — the most recent year that data is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Breast cancer__________________________41,325
Guns________________________________33,636
Car crashes___________________________32,719
War in Afghanistan (U.S. deaths)_________127
Terrorism in the U.S.___________________7

The Day after Tomorrow? Cold Atlantic 'blob' puzzles scientists

One of the only places on the globe that is abnormally cold in a year that will likely shatter records as the warmest globally, it's being called the "Atlantic blob." It's a large area in the North Atlantic that is seeing a pronounced cooling trend. The ocean surface is much cooler than normal and in fact record cold in some locations.

Scientists began to notice it developing over the last couple of years, this cooling in the Atlantic is the complete opposite of the warming over in the Pacific. Much of the warming is attributed to El Niño, a natural process where warm water sloshes over the Central Pacific and extends to South America, but scientists are unable to completely explain what has been dubbed the Pacific Blob. This pronounced warming over large areas of the entire Pacific basin has fueled a well above average season for hurricanes and typhoons over the entire Pacific, and could have contributed to everything from the California drought, impacts on the salmon industry, and even tropical sharks seen in waters further north than ever before.

A recent study by top climatologists shows massive ice-loss is occurring over Greenland and is disturbing the normal Atlantic Ocean circulation, called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). You may be familiar with part of this circulation, the Gulf Stream, which brings warm, tropical surface water northward along the East Coast of the U.S. and Western Europe during winter before funneling towards the poles. The other main current in the AMOC is a return flow of deep, cold water that runs southward from the poles towards the tropics. This current has dramatic impacts on our weather globally. The heat and cold driven by the current transfer to the atmosphere and help to drive our weather patterns.

Normally, cold salt water in the North Atlantic sinks, because it is denser, and it is replaced by warm water moving in from the south. It's a similar process that drives the high and low pressure systems and Jetstream that drive our weather. In this case, the study suggests that the massive amounts of freshwater melting into the ocean from Greenland can prevent the sinking of the dense, cold, salty water and alter the AMOC circulation.

Believe it or not, this was the very scenario in the popular 2004 movie "The Day After Tomorrow." In the movie, the global climate changes in a matter of days, causing tornadoes in Los Angeles, deadly hail in Tokyo, and a massive blizzard in New York City.

Fortunately "The Day After Tomorrow" scenario is Hollywood fiction at its best, and not based on sound science. That said, there is cause for concern that the changes we have observed in both the Atlantic and Pacific.

While there is certainly not scientific consensus that either the Pacific or Atlantic blob is related to climate change, there is evidence that is the case. The impacts, while not like the movie, could be bad enough: the loss of the normal ocean circulation could cause drastic shifts in weather patterns, and continued loss of ice in Greenland will lead to the continued rise in sea level, threatening coastal cities around the globe.

At: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/30/weather/atlantic-cold-blob/index.html

FBI spied on Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez for 24 years, documents show.

The FBI spied on the late Colombian Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez for 24 years, according to recently unclassified documents obtained by the Washington Post.

According to the newspaper, the federal police agency began spying on García Márquez after he arrived in New York for a brief stay in 1961 and didn’t stop spying on him until 1985, well after the Colombian writer had been awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature for his most famous novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

According to the Post, the released 137 pages of an at least 270-page file left unclear why the FBI began spying on the author. However, in the year the FBI began its spying practices García Márquez helped found the still active press agency, Prensa Latina for Cuba, which had been overtaken by communist dictator Fidel Castro only two years before. Additionally, the writer had supported a Communist-backed coup attempt in Venezuela in 1958 when working in that country as a journalist.

According to one of the first entries in the García Márquez file, dated February 8, 1961, an order that appears to have come straight from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover directed that “in the event he enters the U.S. for any purpose, the Bureau should be promptly advised.”

The spying went so far that a team of FBI agents contacted at least nine of García Márquez’s friends, one of whom informed the federal police agency of the writer and his family’s departure to Mexico, where he lived for the rest of his life. The FBI reportedly continued spying on García Márquez in Mexico, even until after he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in 1982. Until his death in 2014, García Márquez maintained a close friendship with Castro and was a vociferous critic of US foreign policy in the Americas.

Colombia’s most famous author is not the only artist who has been spied on by the FBI: the agency also spied on authors such as Normal Mailer, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck.

At: http://colombiareports.com/fbi-spied-on-nobel-laureate-gabriel-garcia-marquez-for-24-years/
________________________________________________________

Mary Hoover wasn't as much "anti-communist", as he was anti-talent.

Blue Alert issued by Interpol on Argentina's behalf for former spy Antonio Stiuso

Interpol demanded the “urgent register and circulation” of the blue notice requested by the government of Argentina to locate former counterintelligence chief Antonio “Jaime” Stiuso. Earlier today, the head of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) Oscar Parrilli confirmed the Foreign Ministry will be summoning U.S. Ambassador Noah Mamet following the decision of the Obama administration to refuse to cooperate with Argentina in the search for Stiuso (believed to be in the U.S. since skipping a court subpoena in February).

Stiuso’s testimony as a witness has been sought for multiple cases, including the use of numerous shell companies for money laundering and as a person of interest in the case of prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s death. The Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) had petitioned a local court to request that Interpol issue a Blue Notice to determine his location. The AFI's is the second such request by Argentine authorities, following an earlier petition from the prosecutors at the Attorney General’s Unit for the Investigation into the 1994 AMIA attack (the office headed by Nisman for a decade until his death in January of this year).

Yesterday marks the second consecutive day that Buenos Aires has asked for greater cooperation from the United States on the AMIA probe. During her eighth and final address to the United Nations General Assembly as a head of state on Monday President Cristina Kirchner asked whether Stiuso, and other former members of SI believed to have fled the country, were currently residing on U.S. soil. “Is he here?” she asked rhetorically during her address, referring to Stiuso.

Revelations earlier this year uncovered by Parrilli showed that Stiuso had been in close contact with Nisman in the weeks before the late prosecutor was found dead on a gunshot in his apartment on January 18, just hours before he was due appear before Congress to explain a criminal complaint accusing the President herself of involvement in the alleged cover-up. The complaint, filed four days earlier with all relevant documents, was discredited by Interpol and later thrown out by multiple Argentine courts.

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/199911/blue-alert-issued-by-interpol-to-locate-stiusos-whereabouts-released

And: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/199896/gov%E2%80%99t-slams-us-envoy-in-stiuso-row
_________________________________________________

“Yes, Madame President. He's playing dominoes with Luis Posada Carriles and Miguel Recarey as we speak.”

Who is the U.S. official that offered Argentina a deal with Iran?

Speaking at the General Assembly of the United Nations on Monday, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner welcomed the agreement the United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, and France negotiated with Iran in order to stop its nuclear arms development, stating however that "there is a lot of hypocrisy and little interest in the truth." To this effect, she pointed to a 2010 request by a White House official that Argentina collaborate in providing Iran with nuclear fuel for its reactor.

Who was she talking about? White House Coordinator for Arms Control (WMD czar) Gary Samore, who informed Mrs. Kirchner at the time that his country was in dialogue with Tehran and who made the request. In response, the Argentine government asked that the request to grant fuel to Iran be put in writing; but far from happening, Samore disappeared from these talks without further notice.

"I told the Foreign Minister (Héctor Timerman) that if the request were made ​​in writing, we would cooperate - because the goal of nuclear non-proliferation was important." Mrs. Kirchner said. "I think it was the last time Foreign Minster Timerman saw Gary Samore."

"When in 2013 Argentina signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran to unblock the investigation of the 1994 AMIA attack, it seemed to have unleashed the demons. And now that the April 2 agreement between Iran and the U.S. has been signed, one wonders what the reason was to oppose the judicial cooperation agreement between Iran and Argentina. What is the reason? I heard another president speak here today of hypocrisy. There is indeed a lot of hypocrisy, much geopolitical posturing, and little interest in reaching memory, truth, and justice for the families." she said.

At: http://www.politicargentina.com/notas/201509/8612-quien-es-el-funcionario-estadounidense-que-le-ofrecio-a-argentina-un-acuerdo-con-iran.html

Niembro case (Argentina): Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri had similar arrangements w/ other firms

A report published by journalist Werner Pertot in local news daily Página/12 revealed that the methodology Mayor Mauricio Macri used to award Fernando Niembro's shell company, La Usina Productions, with 21 million pesos ($2.3 million) in municipal contracts for ads benefiting Macri, is common practice in his administration.

Two firms awarded 24 direct contracts for sidewalk repairs by the city have no employees registered and are listed at the AFIP revenue agency as small businesses with a monthly income of less than 15,000 pesos ($1,600) - while earning 47 million pesos ($5 million) by way of municipal contracts in the past five months alone.

These new cases involve two companies, Derby Eland SA and EcomLat SA, with no background in public works or even registered employees; but which are apparently associated and one of whose owners has a digital marketing company whose sole client is Macri.

Macri is currently running for president on the right-wing "Let's Change" ticket.

Macri privatized and outsourced numerous public services previously managed directly by the city, and by 2013 over $500 million in contracts was awarded annually. A survey of municipal contracts conducted by City Legislator (councilperson) Julieta Costa Díaz found that of all contracts signed by Macri in 2014, 69% were done on a no-bid basis.

The two firms named in the Pertot report, Derby Eland and EcomLat, are domiciled in residential addresses on Vuelta de Obligado Street, four blocks from each other.

Derby Eland SA was registered in 2013 as a residential refurbishment contractor - but no employees registered with the AFIP. The firm invoiced about 20 million pesos ($2.1 million) in three months in sidewalk repair contracts and by selling mobile applications to the city. Its owner, Héctor Santander, is listed in AFIP records as a monotributista - a self-employed small business owner earning within the lowest tax bracket, less than 15,000 pesos ($1,600) a month. Santander and his brother, Gustavo, own Santabros SA, a marketing firm whose chief client is Macri.

Ecomlat SA, owned by Alejandro Monti, was established in 2006 as a military contractor providing "machines, tools and special metallurgical items, optical and precision equipment, and other products required by the armed and security forces with the exception of arms and explosives." But in 2013 - the same year Derby Eland was established - EcomLat changed its stated rubric to "repair and enhancement of public works" and began receiving direct municipal contracts almost simultaneously with Derby Eland. Like Santander, Monti also filed as a monotributista and has no employees registered with the AFIP. His firm received the remaining 27 million pesos ($2.9 million) referenced in the investigation.

Costa Díaz also reported that tenders for these companies came in batches of four for 1,999,948 pesos ($210,000) each - structured to evade municipal no-bid limits of 2 million pesos per contract. "These two companies systematically placed winner and runner-up in the 24 contracts awarded between them since February," she said. The pattern of batches continued until July, and of the 47 million pesos awarded in total none of the contracts exceeded the figure above (52 pesos below the no-bid limit).

"There has been a move explicitly prohibited by law which is the splitting of contracts that have the same object," concludes Costa Díaz.

Macri has also come under fire for padded sanitation contracts (which cost Buenos Aires twice as much as Madrid) and for skyrocketing spending on publicity, which reached 1.2 billion pesos ($130 million) in FY 2015. This figure is three times what was spent by the national government (which governs 15 times more people), and three times what was budgeted for public school and hospital infrastructure and maintenance (of which the city typically spends two-thirds or less).

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.politicargentina.com/notas/201509/8559-nuevo-caso-niembro-el-pro-habria-realizado-el-mismo-tipo-de-negocio-con-empresas-que-reparan-veredas.html&prev=search

Pope Francis 'moved' by Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island flight.

Pope Francis on Saturday flew over the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the onetime gateway to America for millions of immigrants, by helicopter before leaving New York -- and was reportedly 'very moved' by the experience.

"As we circled Ellis Island, as we circled the Statue of Liberty, I could see he was very 'commosso' — as the Italians say, very moved," CBS Radio quoted Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was with the pope, as saying.

The impromptu tour came as the 78-year-old pontiff headed by helicopter to New York's John F. Kennedy airport for his flight to Philadelphia. Francis, the son of Italian immigrants who moved to Argentina, specifically asked the helicopter pilot to make the slight detour over New York Harbor.

Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, said Francis had noted that Buenos Aires was "a city of immigrants too."

At: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-moved-statue-liberty-ellis-island-flight-200959939.html

ARSAT-2: Argentina consolidates as Latin American satellite leader

When Ariane 5 flight VA226 launches on September 30, the orbital slot for the 81 West geostationary position will finally get its long-term dweller that it has been promised for over 17 years. Riding along with the Sky Muster satellite, ARSAT-2 is the second geostationary satellite designed and manufactured in Argentina (and all of Latin America).

ARSAT-2 is the younger twin of ARSAT-1. It is a near copy of the first Argentinean geosynchronous orbit satellite, with the only difference being the payload and associated structures. The story begins with the separation of the Argentine military forces from the national space program in the early 1990s.

By 1998, DirecTV wanted to enter the local market, since it was the country with the highest per capital cable television penetration in the world. In exchange for that, Argentina gained the rights to a prime orbital real estate: the 81 West orbital slot.

Not only did it include both Ku and C band right, but instead of just allowing signals to Argentina and neighbors, it included all of the Americas from Alaska to Patagonia. Since Argentina is the biggest exporter of Spanish media content in the continent, it was a particularly attractive position for the country. Also given that the slot goes right through the center of the continental United States – and it was acquired as a trade for allowing DirecTV to enter the television market in Argentina – it could potentially enable to tap the satellite TV market in the United States.

With the imminent failure of Argentina's only orbital asset at the time (Nahuelsat), however, and without any actual willingness to invest in a replacement, after some negotiations the Nahuelsat stockholders accepted to transfer all assets and obligations to the newly created and government owned ARSAT.

?Instead of ordering a couple of satellites from the international market – and thanks to the successful experience of the SAC-C (2000) and SAC-D (2011) – the national government decided that ARSAT should acquire the satellites from local companies. The only real choice was INVAP S.E., a technology company that has craved a niche in the research nuclear reactor market and had also been building the national LEO satellites.

The contract for the ARSAT-1 was thus signed by 2008. While INVAP was the prime contractor, the design rights would belong to ARSAT. While they did rely on foreign suppliers for some commodity elements, like propulsion engines, solar panels and on board computer hardware, over 50% of parts, and all design, qualification and testing was done locally. Also, every single piece of software was written from scratch by Argentine industry, as was the ground control segment.

With this development, the country could control the specification, design, manufacturing, testing and operations of GEO satellites.

Sophisticated modules like the ACE (the Attitude Control Electronics) and TCE (Thruster Control Electronics), the whole structures, and all software and algorithms were done by INVAP. This was no small feat since it is the critical part of design that usually more heavily covered by dual-use technology transfer laws -like the American ITAR- and geosynchronous orbital maneuvering is just a small step from interplanetary. Even the ground control station software and satellite control and telemetry system were built by Argentine contractors. This enables control of the whole technology stack of the satellite from production to control without foreign help.

ARSAT-2 will cover all the Americas offering data services as well as television content distribution. This is a strategic asset since Argentina is the leader on broadcast content production for Latin America and ARSAT-2 will enable it to distribute it directly through all the continent. This development also allowed Argentina to retain the West 81 orbital slot - which was almost lost to the UK in 2007 after a decade of British lobbying to obtain the coveted slot.

Being the clear leader in satellite design and manufacturing in Latin America was a national effort, and Argentina clearly believes in pushing this technology forward.

At: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/09/arsat-2-argentina-consolidates-latin-american-satellite-leader/

Argentina joins hands with China in developing clean energy

Argentina, whose energy trade deficit stood at $8 billion last year, has joined hands with China to develop renewable energy ranging from hydro and nuclear power to wind and solar power. For every percentage point increase in the share of renewable energy in the country's total energy supply, $500 million on energy imports will be saved according to the country's Renewable Energy Association

Two dams, named after former President Néstor Kirchner and former Santa Cruz Governor Jorge Cepernic, are being built along the Santa Cruz River, over 2,750 km (1,700 mi) south of Buenos Aires. Those projects were made possible by the assistance of Chinese engineers and machinery, as part of the two countries' growing partnership. The two dams reportedly have a planned construction investment of 4.714 billion U.S. dollars.

The dams, which are set to generate 6,000 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs during their construction phase, will generate an estimated 5,000 GWh a year and will supply energy for over 1.5 million homes. Once completed, the projects will save Argentina $1.2 billion annually on importing fuels and will lower the cost of industrial electricity by 6%.

Nuclear energy cooperation with China plays a key role in guaranteeing Argentina's energy security and independence, according to the state-run nuclear energy company, Nucleoeléctrica Argentina (NA-SA).

During Argentine President Cristina Kirchner's visit to China in February 2015, the two countries signed an agreement to joint build two nuclear plants in Argentina. Argentina currently has three operational nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of 1,755 MW (7% of the total), which use technology from Germany and Canada. The two new plants, with a total output of 1,800 MW, will therefore double the country's nuclear power capacity.

Under the agreement, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) will partner with Argentina's NA-SA to build the two nuclear reactors. The CNNC will contribute technology, equipment and services, and offer Argentina 70% of the funds and services needed for the project. This will be the first time for China exports nuclear technology to Latin America.

In addition to nuclear and hydropower, China has been playing an important role in other clean energy sectors in Argentina such as wind power by offering key technology and funds. Earlier this year, Chinese company Hydrochina International Engineering Co. signed a deal with the La Rioja Province worth of more than $300 million to raise Arauco Wind Farm's installed capacity by 104 megawatts.

"In Argentina, the energy matrix is mainly composed of fossil fuels and to a lesser extent hydraulic and nuclear energy. This makes the relative cost of energy fluctuate based on the quantity of fuel available. If we don't have it then we need to import it with a constant flight of capital to balance the matrix," said Juan Fernando Carbel, president of Arauco Wind Farm.

At: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-09/16/c_134627568.htm