Celestial Mountains

EARTH WATCH
NASA – The Tien Shan mountain range is one of the largest continuous mountain ranges in the world, extending approximately 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometers) roughly east-west across Central Asia. This image taken by the Expedition 27 crew aboard the International Space Station provides a view of the central Tien Shan, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of where the borders of China, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan meet.

The uplift of the Tien Shan, which means celestial mountains in Chinese, like the Himalayas to the south, results from the ongoing collision between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. The rugged topography of the range is the result of subsequent erosion by water, wind and, in the highest parts of the range, active glaciers.

Two high peaks of the central Tien Shan are identifiable in the image. Xuelian Feng has a summit of 21,414 feet (6,527 meters) above sea level. To the east, the aptly-named Peak 6231 has a summit 6,231 meters, or 20,443 feet, above sea level.

The Real GE Scandal

By Robert J. Samuelson – GE’s status as a multinational didn’t eliminate its 2010 U.S. taxes; that resulted from the financial crisis.

Love them or hate them, multinationals are here to stay. By 2008, IBM, Caterpillar, and all U.S. multinationals had invested $3.2 trillion abroad; meanwhile, Toyota, Siemens, and other foreign companies had invested $2.2 trillion here. Waging war against multinationals is senseless.

The scandal is not that GE is paying no U.S. taxes in 2010; that will be temporary. The scandal is that we’re not facing the realities of globalized business. more> http://twurl.nl/fuf8vm

related>

• GE’s Immelt Quits New York Fed Board of Directors Citing Demands on Time, Caroline Salas and Rachel Layne, Bloomberg
• House Dems wary of Immelt’s corporate tax reform advice, Bernie Becker, Hill
• Five Ways GE Plays The Tax Game, Allan Sloan and Jeff Gerth, ProPublica/Business Insider
• Actually, GE is paying taxes for 2010, Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
• The truth about GE’s tax bill, Allan Sloan and Jeff Gerth, Fortune
• The Case For GE: Gas Turbines, Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes

Boeing, Air France reveal green air travel findings

Relaxnews/Independent – On March 31, US aircraft manufacturer Boeing released a report which it said showed “significant potential” for sustainable aviation fuel based on the jatropha-curcas, a plant which yields oil that can replace traditional fuel.

The study, which was conducted by the Yale University School of Environmental Studies, looked at the production of jatropha in Latin America, where governments in places such as Mexico and Brazil are keen to grow the crop, and suggested that greenhouse gas reductions of up to 60 percent could be made, compared to traditional jet fuel.

Air France has also been experimenting with its own green technology, using the enormous A380 superjumbo which it flies daily between Paris Charles de Gaulle and New York JFK. more> http://twurl.nl/dpdrk1

related>

• Aviation biofuels: A pie in the sky? EurActiv
• EU’s airline emission goals under scrutiny, EurActiv http://tinyurl.com/3txaggo
• Search results for: Boeing, jatropha.com
• Poison Nut Boeing’s Eco-Friendly Fuel, Beth Hawley, GovCon Executive
• Jatropha curcas – Physic nut, Tropilab Inc.
• Boeing Issues First Latin American Study on Jatropha Sustainability, Boeing
• [VIDEO] Objective: less CO² emissions, Air France

Reinvented Inbox

By Dan Burger – Email is a big part of business. Before terms like collaboration and social business began dominating the lexicon, email was the digital darling that replaced much of the snail mail and faxing that relied on “hard copies” and filing cabinets.

Ed Brill typically doesn’t speak email. He is, however, fluent in the language of collaboration. He can talk a Big Blue streak when it comes to social business.

From Brill’s point of view, email as an alerting mechanism is a more effective attention-management device that allows the user to choose when to be attentive to interactions with external parties who might be using various collaborative tools such as Facebook, the company intranet blogs, or sharing files related to a specific project. more> http://twurl.nl/0srnxx

Momentum building for online piracy laws

By Gautham Nagesh – The legislation in question will likely resemble the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) last year and approved by the full committee. That bill would have given the Department of Justice an expedited process for taking down websites that link to pirated or counterfeit goods and content.

Leahy has promised to reintroduce the bill this year after considering criticism from advocacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which claims the expanded government authorities in the bill could lead to online censorship. EFF has argued measures ostensibly intended to fight copyright infringement could potentially lead to the removal of political content and restrictions on free speech. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) threatened to put a hold on the bill last year. more> http://tinyurl.com/42akg4a

related>

• Leahy stands by piracy bill, says First Amendment doesn’t protect thieves, Gautham Nagesh, Hill
• Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), Library of Congress