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POPSThe "air car": a compressed-air engine Energy-efficient and near-zero or zero emissions? Sounds like a winner to me. Apparently it relies on stored compressed air mixed with fuel. I don't quite understand the technology. An India-based company is developing it.
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POPSLatest on the fate of Burmese protesters Prosecutions of those detained in September's protests in Burma are beginning. The government says it plans to prosecute only those involved in violent protests; international observers say many thousands are still in detention or unaccounted for.
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POPSMusharraf's speech defending martial law You probably know that Musharraf declared martial law on Nov. 2 against the strongly expressed wishes of U.S. and other Western diplomats. The irony is that he claims (quite plausibly, in my view, but I don't know that much about it) to be doing it in order to prevent Pakistan being overrun by violent Islamist agitators, which would be a disaster of unfathomable proportions for the GWOT and U.S. policy generally (not to mention India and Afghanistan). I'm mystified about what the U.S. really wants Musharraf to do.
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POPSIs an end to capital punishment possible? Today was the international Day against the Death Penalty. Worldwide, more countries are placing moratoria on executions. Only "25 countries carried out executions in 2006," and "91% in just six countries: China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and the USA." Hmm. I suppose we're in good company.
1
POPSMusic video: "Galang," by M.I.A. (a/k/a Maya Arulpragasam) London-born Sri Lankan painter, film and recording artist Maya Arulpragasam (nom de guerre M.I.A.) was Spin magazine's Artist of the Year in 2005. This single came out in 2003. Her music is controversial; her father was connected with the Tamil Tigers and she's expressed sympathy for the PLO. See http://answers.com/M.I.A.
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POPSNew Palestinian PM warns religious militants Key quote: "Salam Fayyad has said he won't tolerate calls for violence delivered from mosque pulpits and plans to collect militants' weapons." I wonder whether he actually has enough control over the situation to back this up.
8
POPSPalestinian blogger: Hamas & Fatah, go to hell! The title says it all. He, too, sees Western support of Fatah as a treacherous and cynical way of prolonging intra-Palestinian conflict and sacrificing Palestinian lives. Palestinians, he says, want the PA and Fatah -- both corrupt -- and Hamas -- equally brutal and dangerous -- dismantled and an international peacekeeping force sent in to keep order. PS If you're interested in this kind of thing, and you don't read http://globalvoicesonline.org, check it out!
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POPSFlags of the world, given new meanings Very clever idea... Using UN statistics, an artist has attached "legends" to some of the world's flags such that the area filled by each color represents some statistic about that country. If you look at it, it'll make sense.
4
POPSReaction to State of the Union address in Arab world While Bush tries to fan the flames in the Middle East by equating Shi'ite militias with al-Qaeda, we're seeing a significant (and, as far as I know, unprecedented) rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, both of whom are interested in keeping Iraq's violence from spilling over the borders.
0
POPSNazi-hunter Wiesenthal no longer to be "vicarious" Mormon Apparently Simon Wiesenthal's name was entered into the Latter-Day Saints' genealogical database, a first step towards "vicarious" (posthumous) baptism into the Church. After vehement protests from the Wiesenthal Center, LDS spokespeople say the name is removed.
0
POPSThe rappin' priest, Father Stan Learned about this guy via the National Catholic Reporter. A long-haired white priest whose ministry is traveling around the world, rapping about the Pope and the Blessed Virgin, etc. His DVD is called "Everybody Got 2 Suffer." Very strange.
0
POPS"The Truth Project" homepage "The Truth Project," run by Focus on the Family, is a two-day, $179-a-head seminar aimed at evangelicals whose "Biblical worldview" and Bible literacy need shoring up.
3
POPSChina, India, Russia, and global energy security Russia has led a worldwide move away from fungible petroleum sold on dollar-denominated exchanges towards an increasing reliance on long-term, rigid, bilateral supply contracts and nationalized resource companies, effectively taking oil "off the market" with respect to Western economies and throttling growth. In addition, new petroleum exchanges coming online in Shanghai, St. Petersburg, and Qatar, denominated in yuan, rubles and Euros, threaten to torpedo the dollar.
3
POPSCorporate control over water supplies A 2003 investigative report from the CBC on "water as business opportunity": in the last 10 years, three corporate giants have attained control over much of the developing world's water resources and are beginning to do the same in the developed world. Consequences aren't good for normal folks. I don't know why the image looks so weird. Apparently the whole program is not available for free download, like (sadly) so many of the CBC's superlative documentaries. But there is a lot of information here.
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