All-purpose news and politics thread

[Iangould]

Yingluck Shinawatra appears likely to become Thailand's first female Prime minister.

And that's a bad thing.

Because she's the sister of deposed ex-Prime Minister Thakshin Shinawatra and will likely try to return the country to his policies including an attack on the rights of the non-Thai and non-Buddhist minorities and a culture of corruption and nepotism.

That's assuming the military and royalist forces that deposed Thaksin Shinawatra in the first place allow her to take office.

[Iangould]

Faced with a rapidly growing population, high rents and an infrastructure that can hardly keep pacing with ever-growing demands for more roads, more power, more trains, more schools and more hospitals, Sydney is paying residents to leave.

With its sparkling harbour, enticing beaches and a climate to die for, Sydney is regularly rated as one of world's top ten most liveable cities. But from Friday the state government of New South Wales will pay residents A$7,000 (£4,500) to leave.

In one of the clearest signs of official alarm at the growth rate of a city that already plays host to a fifth of Australia's population, the money will be made available to individuals or families who sell up and buy a home in the country.

The plan is also aimed at boosting moribund rural areas which suffered both economically and socially in last year's devastating drought.

"Regional NSW is a great place to live, work and raise a family – these A$7,000 grants will provide extra assistance," said the state deputy premier, Andrew Stoner.

The only catch is that the rural home must be worth less than A$600,000.

The scheme is also about making Sydney more livable. With 4.5 million residents at present, Sydney is predicted to grow by 40% over the next 30 years, putting unprecedented pressure on infrastructure and housing.

Sydney is already the most expensive Australian city to reside in. The median house price is A$670,000 (£435,000) when the average wage is A$56,000. Renting is not much better, with vacancy rates at around 1% and rents rising.

[Paul McEnery]

I'm stretching the definition of news here but I find science and tech stuff so damn fascinating:

New 3D printer prototype works using only sand and concentrated solar energy.

We find the all-purpose cool science thread works well for this.

[Iangould]

We find the all-purpose cool science thread works well for this.

Technology isn't science.

Yeah, I'm a pedant.

[Charles RB]

What exactly is it they think the government should be doing?

I doubt they know.

Speaking of Greece, the BBC's business editor makes the point that even if you think a default would be preferable - and he has a theory that Greece defaulting might allow it to renegotiate how it pays back, due to various issues - they still need the bailout first because they have a primary fiscal deficit.

Is it wrong that I kinda want to go find a Dutch person to watch them squirm around explaining how this totally ISN'T Islamophobic, yo?

Something something national culture something integration something.

And the Jews are collatoral damage, I guess (officially).

Mom recently received an email informing her that the friendship was over because of the way Germany had shamed Greece.

It must have come as quite a shock for her to learn she was the Finance Minister.

[Paul McEnery]

Technology isn't science.

Yeah, I'm a pedant.

Applied science is so too science.

So there.

[Paul McEnery]

And the Jews are collatoral damage, I guess (officially).

Why, it's just like 1000 years ago!

[Charles RB]

Potential good news from the UK's coalition: English councils will get to keep the business rates they collect for themselves, rather than putting it into a central pot that gets distributed. Counties with more businesses will be able to pay more on their services. This means poorer areas would lose out - they don't have a business base - except Nick Clegg has stated:

"More deprived areas will not lose out. From the start, no authority will receive less funding when the new arrangements are introduced than they would have done previously.

"The new system will start on a level playing field. How far you progress from there is entirely up to you."

If the government sticks with that, then this could be quite good.

-

Also good, Justice Secretary Clarke intends to clarify English & Welsh laws on self-defence - this will mean a homeowner will no longer be in danger of prosecution if they use force on a home invader. And the law will still forbid pursuing and attacking/killing the invader when he's fleeing and other acts of taking the piss. (He also wants to repeal indeterminate public protection sentences in favour of more fixed-sentence ones, which is either good or bad depending on who's talking so I dunno here)

[Charles RB]

Thursday's mass strikes are starting early as the Border Agency staff go walkies.

Two in three schools will be hit tomorrow, which means even more people staying home from work (to look after the sprogs).

[the4thpip]

It must have come as quite a shock for her to learn she was the Finance Minister.

Well, mom does check the books for the AIDS charity where I volunteer.

[the4thpip]

Malaysia Airlines bans babies from first class

This is an outrage!


...

Now there'll be even more screaming babies flying coach with me.

[the4thpip]

Hacker claims to cripple Al Quaeda Internet comms

NBC News quoted terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann as saying that the hackers managed to disrupt Al-Qaeda's flow of videos and communiqués.

"Al-Qaida's online communications have been temporarily crippled, and it does not have a single trusted distribution channel available on the Internet," said Kohlmann, of Flashpoint Global Partners.

...

"When followers tried to download the 67-page colour magazine, instead of instructions about how to 'Make a bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom' by 'The AQ Chef' they were greeted with garbled computer code," the report said.

The "code" was actually a web page of recipes for “The Best Cupcakes in America", published by the Ellen DeGeneres chat show.

It even included a recipe for Mojito and Rocky Road Cupcakes, the report said.

Both recipes replaced the original magazine's recipe for a pipe bomb, which The Telegraph reported as using "sugar, match heads and a miniature lightbulb attached to a timer."

So, Al-Qaeda has a new, not very charismatic, nor unifying leader. They don't have the means for global communications anymore.

Can I please take a bottle of water onto an air plane again? And not have my junked touched by an TSA agent who still has adult diaper germs on his hands?

[the4thpip]

BERLIN (AP) -- German lawmakers overwhelmingly approved on Thursday plans to shut the country's nuclear plants by 2022, putting Europe's biggest economy on the road to an ambitious build-up of renewable energy.

The lower house of parliament voted 513-79 for the shutdown plan drawn up by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government after Japan's post-earthquake nuclear disaster. Most of the opposition voted in favor; eight lawmakers abstained.

Lawmakers sealed for good the shutdown of eight of the older reactors, which have been off the grid since March. Germany's remaining nine reactors will be shut down in stages by the end of 2022.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-30-07-29-45

[king mob]

Potential good news from the UK's coalition: English councils will get to keep the business rates they collect for themselves, rather than putting it into a central pot that gets distributed. Counties with more businesses will be able to pay more on their services. This means poorer areas would lose out - they don't have a business base - except Nick Clegg has stated:



If the government sticks with that, then this could be quite good.

Except they won't and poorer areas are going to get royally shafted, which is of course the point.

Also good, Justice Secretary Clarke intends to clarify English & Welsh laws on self-defence - this will mean a homeowner will no longer be in danger of prosecution if they use force on a home invader. And the law will still forbid pursuing and attacking/killing the invader when he's fleeing and other acts of taking the piss. (He also wants to repeal indeterminate public protection sentences in favour of more fixed-sentence ones, which is either good or bad depending on who's talking so I dunno here)

The law never needed changing. It's pandering of the worst kind from Clarke here.

[king mob]

Thursday's mass strikes are starting early as the Border Agency staff go walkies.

Two in three schools will be hit tomorrow, which means even more people staying home from work (to look after the sprogs).

One of the things that the coalition will find hard to spin now is that the public sector doesn't matter, and these strikes show just how essential it is.