Views from the Solar System (51)

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Petermann Glacier
NASA – The Petermann Glacier grinds and slides toward the sea along the northwestern coast of Greenland, terminating in a giant floating ice tongue. Like other glaciers that end in the ocean, Petermann periodically calves icebergs. A massive iceberg, or ice island, broke off of the Petermann Glacier in 2010. Now, nearly two years later, another chunk of ice has broken free.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, on NASA’s Aqua satellite observed the new iceberg calving and drifting downstream on July 16–17, 2012. Because Aqua is a polar-orbiting satellite, it makes multiple passes over the polar regions each day.

Related articles

• As predicted, humongous iceberg breaks away from Greenland glacier (+video) – Christian Science Monitor (csmonitor.com)
• Manhattan-Size Iceberg Breaks Away from Greenland Glacier (livescience.com)
• Manhattan-Size Iceberg Breaks Away (news.discovery.com)
• Glacier break creates ice island twice size of Manhattan (sciencedaily.com)
• Greenland glacier loses ice island twice the size of Manhattan (phys.org)

You’re Wrong President Obama, Howard Johnson Built His Business

By John Berlau – At a campaign event Friday (July 13) evening in Roanoke, Va., Obama laid out his contempt for business men and women who somehow thought they earned their wealth. ‘If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that,” he proclaimed to the crowd. “Somebody else made that happen.”

Both Obama and Elizabeth Warren’s attacks on entrepreneurs suffer from the same basic flaws. First, the existence of general government programs that future entrepreneurs may benefit from, such as roads and schools (as opposed to specific aid to entrepreneurs selected by the government, i.e. Solyndra), does not take away from entrepreneurs’ achievements or create any kind of individual debt. This is because –putting aside the question of whether these programs are wise — entrepreneurs already paid for them as taxpaying citizens before their success, and will pay even more afterwards, even without the tax hikes Obama is advocating. more> http://tinyurl.com/8xlajjk

Related articles

• Yes, President Obama, Howard Johnson “Built” Your Favorite Motels, And Private Equity Saved Them (openmarket.org)
• You’re Wrong President Obama, Howard Johnson Built His Business (forbes.com)
• You Own a Business? “You Didn’t Build That,” Says Obama (reason.com)
• President Obama Is Wrong about Businessmen (cato-at-liberty.org)
• Obama reminds business owners, ‘You didn’t build that’ (twitchy.com)
• Barack Obama Hates This Country [Video] [Transcript] (johnmalcolm.me)
• Barack Obama Hates This Country (rushlimbaugh.com)
• Obama channels Elizabeth Warren (hotair.com)
• Obama’s Elizabeth Warren Moment (cato-at-liberty.org)

The Libor Scandal: Three Things to Know

Sebastian Mallaby – [VIDEO 2:51] Following investigations into Barclays’ manipulation of London Interbank Offered Rates (Libor), CFR’s Sebastian Mallaby highlights three implications from the unfolding scandal:

• Conflicts of Interest Within Banks
• The Role of Regulators
• Responding to the Scandal

more> http://tinyurl.com/6v9a98o

Related articles

• Libor Scandal’s Cost To Banks Swells (huffingtonpost.com)
• Libor scandal: how the events have unfolded (telegraph.co.uk)
• Libor Scandal Highlights Regulatory Failure (news.firedoglake.com)
• LIBOR for Laymen – What is it and why should you care? (americablog.com)
• How the LIBOR Scandal Affected Your Car Loan Rates (loans.org)
• Bernanke Defends Response to Libor Scandal – Businessweek (businessweek.com)
• The LIBOR Scandal Might Destroy the Banking Industry (motherjones.com)
• Who wants to cover Libor? (washingtonpost.com)
• Warren Buffett: Libor Scandal ‘Involves The Whole World’ (huffingtonpost.com)

How Would You Cope With High Gas Prices?

By Charles Murray – A Consumer Reports survey conducted this year proves that. The magazine didn’t query its respondents about what they would do if gas prices skyrocketed. It merely asked what they would look for in their next vehicle. The responses showed that they are concerned about the future of gasoline-burning cars.

Thirty-seven percent of the survey respondents told Consumer Reports that fuel economy was their most important consideration — more important than quality, safety, value, performance, styling, or technological innovation. more> http://tinyurl.com/c672o4a

Related articles

• Consumer Reports: Fuel Economy #1 Auto-Buying Factor (carlotsusa.com)
• Americans Say Fuel Economy Primary Car Buying Factor, Says Consumer Reports Survey (bfreenews.com)
• 3 Fuel Economy Myths Debunked (keystoneautoloans.com)
• Fuel Economy Now #1 Factor In Car-Buying, Consumer Reports Study Says (greencarreports.com)
• Consumers say they want more fuel-efficient vehicles, but do they buy? (green.autoblog.com)
• Consumer Reports: Forget Good Quality, Buyers Want Fuel Economy (inquisitr.com)

Stop Balkanizing the Internet

By Marietje Schaake – China, Iran and Cuba are notorious for building electronic walls that cut off Internet users. These de facto ‘intranets‘ are governed by strict terms of use that regulate access to information and monitor all Internet traffic. The balkanization of the Internet is looming.

At the UN level there’s the “Internet Governance Forum,” which co-exists with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which was established in 1865. It is in these forums that governments and businesses are waging an ongoing battle to regain influence and power online.

In the ITU, for example, authoritarian regimes are gaining ground by ‘buying’ the votes of developing countries. Draft regulations and proposals that aim for centralized control to fight cybercrime or to regulate information services are submitted and discussed. These measures would seriously hamper the online freedom of Internet users. more> http://tinyurl.com/84wmokj

Related articles

• Keep UN Out Of Internet Regulation (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• House to examine plan for United Nations to regulate the Internet (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• What is the ITU? The Struggle for Internet Governance (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• U.N. Telecom Agency Releases Secret Treaty, Critics Unswayed (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• Groups Say ITU’s Transparency Efforts Aren’t Enough (pcworld.com)
• Marietje Schaake: Stop Balkanizing the Internet (huffingtonpost.com)
• ITU Gives a Nod Towards Transparency; Still a Long Road to Full Civil Society Participation, Cynthia Wong, Center for Democracy & Technology