Doug the Dem
Doug the Dem's JournalGerman ministry rejects calls for modern diesel tax incentives
Source: Reuters
July 29, 2017 / 8:47 AM
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German environment ministry has rejected calls from two of the country's states for tax incentives to promote the sale of low-emission modern diesels and electric cars.
Representatives of Germany's federal government, states and major automakers will meet on Wednesday to discuss ways to avert driving bans on diesel cars which have drawn public attention since Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) emissions test-cheating scandal broke almost two years ago.
The head of Lower Saxony, where VW is based, has proposed financial incentives for drivers of older diesel cars to switch to more efficient models, while the premier of Bavaria, home to BMWG (BMWG.DE), wants car tax to be lowered for owners of diesel models designed to meet the latest Euro-6 emission standards.
But the environment ministry, one of the hosts of the August 2 diesel summit, is rejecting the proposals. "We are not particularly interested in supporting a technology that in the foreseeable future no longer belongs on the roads anyway," a spokeswoman for the Berlin-based ministry said on Saturday.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-emissions-idUSKBN1AE0GQ?il=0
I don't quite get the thing about electric cars, but the Germans are hellbent on having ZERO carbon-fueled vehicles as soon as possible, unlike another major country I could name.
Species Invasions and Global Warming a 'Deadly Duo'
Source: Climate Central
Published: July 29th, 2017
By Damian Carrington, The Guardian
Invasions by alien species and global warming form a “deadly duo”, scientists have warned, with the march of Argentine ants in the UK a new example. The public are being asked to be on alert for invaders such as the raccoon dog and Asian hornet, as eradication can be near impossible after a species becomes established.
As trade and human travel has become globalised many thousands of species have crossed oceans or mountain ranges and become established in new regions, with some causing “invasional meltdown” and over a trillion of dollars of damage a year.
Scientists from around the world are gathering this week in Durham, UK, to assess the issue. Prof Rob Colautti of Queens University in Canada warned: “There are very clear economic and human health consequences.”
The combination of invasive alien species and climate change was a “deadly duo”, said Prof Helen Roy, at the UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology: “Changing climate might facilitate the establishment of some species that otherwise might not have been able to establish.”
Read more: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/species-invasions-global-warming-deadly-duo-21654
How would you like THAT staring you in the face when you open your eyes in the morning?
Iran says US Navy fires warning shots near its vessels
Source: Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard said Saturday a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier fired a warning shot in an “unprofessional” confrontation with Iranian vessels, the official IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted a statement from the Guard as saying that the USS Nimitz and an accompanying ship came near an Iranian oil offshore platform in the Persian Gulf and a helicopter from the ship hovered near vessels manned by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard.
The report said the confrontation took place Friday afternoon and the U.S. navy ships left the area following the encounter.
The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet had no immediate comment.
Read more: https://apnews.com/9b1d841a267f4bb7968f8aa708b7d220/Iran-says-US-Navy-fires-warning-shots-near-its-vessels
Waiting for Trump to tweet it was the Iranian ships who fired on us. In the Gulf of Tonkin.
Pakistan's Prospects for Democracy Weaken as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Is Disqualified
Source: Slate
July 28 2017 6:12 PM
Pakistan faces political turmoil as the country’s Supreme Court disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from office on Friday over undeclared assets brought to light in the 2016 Panama Papers leak. The democratically elected leader becomes the latest Prime Minister not to have completed a five-year term in office, in a country where civilian governments are often toppled by Pakistan’s powerful military, which has governed the country for approximately half of its 69-year-history.
The disqualification of Sharif—who was elected to the office three times, each with huge landslide victories—raises serious concerns over Pakistan’s road to democracy, as his ouster creates a political vacuum in the country that can be filled anytime by a military-backed government. In the past, resignations of prime ministers on allegations of corruption and wrongdoing have been followed by periods of dictatorship either led or supported by members of Pakistan’s military. In November 1996, for instance, the country’s only female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was disqualified by the Supreme Court over corruption allegations brought forth by her political rival. This led to a period of dictatorship in Pakistan, destroying the progress made by previous civilian governments to protect democratic rights of its citizens.
While it is true that Sharif is no saint, the story of his disqualification is not simple. As per the latest verdict of the apex court, Nawaz Sharif is not explicitly guilty of corruption but of violating Articles 62 and 63 of Pakistan’s constitution, which order office-holders and legislative members to be “sadiq” and “ameen”—vague terms for being honest and morally upright Muslims. These unexplained terms were written into the country’s constitution by a past military dictatorship and have often been deployed to intimidate political rivals. Interestingly, the Supreme Court has previously criticized the vagueness of the terms even as it now cites them in its disqualification of Sharif. “There is no definition of sadiq and ameen in Article 260 of the Constitution — a provision that provides description and meaning of words used in the green book,” observed Justice Dost Mohammad Khan after receiving petitions to disqualify Nawaz Sharif in 2014.
Read more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/07/28/nawaz_sharif_is_out_as_prime_minister_of_pakistan.html
Just wondering: Could we invite the Pakistani Supremes over here to rule on Trump?
What Episode of a Television Series Made You Stop Watching?
The possibilities abound! The Sopranos, Lost, Girls, Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, Dallas, How I Met Your Mother, etc.
For me, it was Mrs Hufnagel's death on St Elsewhere. See, she wasn't "cool" or "hip" like most of the other characters. In fact, here's her listing on Wikipedia:
But, before the rest of the characters knew the full story, they were having Grand Old Chuckles about how she was sandwiched to death by her own bed.
I didn't find it funny in the least, and I never watched another episode of the show.
What about you? Which TV moment made YOU "mad as Hell and I'm not going to watch it anymore!"? And it doesn't matter if it occurred on one of the shows I mentioned in the first paragraph. Hey, it's the middle of summer: LET LOOSE!
Rick Tyler: 'I Think This Presidency Is Effectively Over'
And Tyler is a Republican.
Note: I believe this quote was included in erpowers' post earlier; I am just posting the brief clip focused on Tyler's statement.
TransCanada to make final decision on Keystone XL by December
Source: Reuters
July 28, 2017 / 7:54 PM / 12 minutes ago
TransCanada Corp, Canada's No.2 pipeline operator, will make a final investment decision on its Keystone XL project by December, the company said on Friday as it reported a better-than-expected profit.
The December timeline is the first time the company has publicly set a deadline about making an investment decision for the project since U.S. President Donald Trump approved Keystone XL in March, reversing a decision by Barack Obama.
The investment decision will be based on shipper demand and a regulatory outcome from the U.S. state of Nebraska, through which the project passes, Paul Miller, executive vice president and president of liquid pipeline at TransCanada, said in a conference call after the release of quarterly results.
"Our assessment of these factors will really drive our investment decision when we get into that November-December time frame," he said.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-transcanada-results-idUSKBN1AD1FZ?il=0
Foreigners deciding our fate: first, a Russian dictator, now a Canadian company. Great job of Making America Great Again, Trump!
I actually have LESS respect for McCain today
He could have ended the shitshow on Tuesday. He didn't, causing stress and grief for millions of Americans. But he had to continue his narcissistic "heroism", by coming in at the last moment and SAVING THE DAY!
Murkowski and Collins have been consistent in their courage, the former spitting in the face of both political and physical threats. Yet neither of these women are getting any substantial media coverage this morning. All the credit is being given to McCain, Macho War Hero Who Once Again Comes Through In The Clutch!
Fuck that. McCain is a war hero, no doubt about it. But his behavior in the Senate over the last few years hasn't been heroic, and this latest action of "redeeming" himself three days after demonizing himself strikes me as nothing short of craven!
Be Honest: If you posted your true thoughts on today's Senate vote, would you get banned?
I know I sure as fuck would, which is why I'm taking a few days off from reading or posting here.
Former CIA Director Calls For A Coup If Trump Fires Mueller
Type those words into a search engine and you'll get dozens of hits, none of them from any news sources I've heard of.
I did not hear John Brennan saying that, did you? That being stated, I agree with everything he did say!
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Member since: Fri May 26, 2017, 03:19 PMNumber of posts: 1,297
