"My job this morning is to be so persuasive.....that a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany, and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Barrack."

-Barrack Obama, Dartmouth College Rally

Quoted, in The Village Voice

The audacity of this man to self proclaim himself as...?????? Anyone with some brains fill with an ounce of common sense can figure out how high and mighty the ego is of Barrack. Those who chose to follow into this path to vote for Barrack, deem themselves without brains to think for themselves. I cannot figure out the euphoria that follows this man, even after his connection with Rev. Wright who wants to annilate America, the  very country that provide his bread and butter! His sermons put FEAR in people hearts and mind!

In my book , he is fired even before he sets foot into office. LISTEN people, make use of your God given brain and your ability to think for yourselves. This is not somebody fit to be your next Commander-in-chief.

By the way all you who are thinking of voting for him, please make sure you have seen the beam of light and have had an epiphany experiences.

 Fear leads to hatred, hatred leads to violence, violence leads to evil.

The China Investment Corporation has launched a new website promoting its image as a "world-class investment institution." The website has information on CIC's governance and investments as well as careers at CIC. (As mentioned in our previous coverage, the CIC has been trying to recruit more staff, especially Western-educated talent.)

The new CIC site also has press releases, the latest of which (Sept 27) announces the appointment of Jin Liqun to Chairman of CIC's Board.

The section on governance features an organizational map:

The Governance section also features the abstract of CIC's Articles of Association, short bios of the Board of Directors, Board of Supervisors, and seven-seat Executive Committee, as well as a list of CIC's Functional Departments.

Under Investments, the new site lists the following four principles

CIC selects investments based on economic and financial objectives, and an assessment of the commercial return.

CIC allocates capital and assets within the given risk tolerance of the owner to maximize shareholder value.

CIC usually does not seek an active role in the companies in which it invests nor attempts to influence those companies’ operations.

CIC seeks long-term, stable, sustainable, and risk-adjusted return.

Also of note is the section of CIC's use of External Fund Managers.

The Resources section is still a bit thin, featuring only press releases and PR-related speeches and interviews. It will be interesting to see if CIC uses this new site as a venue for the delivering hard data in the interest of promoting transparency, or if it stays basically as-is, a classy-looking but relatively information-light public relations tool. Given that the website is brand new, it's probably too early to judge, and it certainly seems like a good start.

By David D. Shafransky

I am tired of people my age not knowing, or not caring about what is going on in politics and what direction our country is taking.  It is important, and if you don't care, don't vote.  For all those who do vote, be smart and realize who you are voting for.  It seems that every young person is voting for Obama these days.  He says he represents “change”, but not all change is good.  The sources of information readily available to young voters are horrifically skewed to the left.  People want change, but some change might not actually be in the best interest of the country in the long run.  Realize what exactly will change if Obama is elected, but do not simply choose Obama because you want change (whatever it is). 

Know who you are voting for; look at both candidates with an unbiased perspective.  One thing I learned in college was that you need to look at people's actions, not their words.  If you were to line up the two presidential candidates, you would plainly see that one of them has a much larger and more impressive resume.  I want that guy.  That’s not a crazy notion, I mean, we are hiring this guy for the job as president; if you were looking for a new employee and had two potentials lined up, wouldn’t you like to hire the one with the best track record?  Not the one who voted “present” more than half of his career as a senator!

Most of us spend our ignorant little lives playing video games and slacking off.  I say, get educated and vote for the only candidate with the intestinal fortitude and experience to get the job done.  How can a man, who has never put on a U.S. military uniform, be our COMMANDER-in-CHIEF?  How can a community organizer hope to sit down and talk and stand up to heads of other countries both friends and foes?

I am really starting to wonder about you guys now.  How can an intelligent American like you allow this snake charmer to fool you into thinking that he is qualified for this job?  He bribes you by telling you he is going to give you about a thousand dollars back on your taxes a year, he says he is going to provide health care for all and save the environment, but at what price.  He promises things that sound too good to be true, and from my experience this is often the mark of a lie.  He makes it seem like money will fall from the heavens and Iranians, Israelis and Arabs will embrace and peace and love will reign on Earth; just vote Obama.  Notice how he cannot define his plans to make all this happen.  These promises look great on paper, they always do, but who, WHO, can actually do it.  Not OBAMA, who can’t make a decision without consulting his handlers.

 Part 2

Listen…

If we lose the Iraq war, it will be the single most powerful incentive the Muslim terrorists will have to increase their attacks on us.  They will gain more support from others who hate us, because now they will be seen as the UNDERDOGS WHO DEFEATED THE GIANT!  We cannot allow this to happen.  We cannot stop funding the war; we cannot pull out until our military strategists say so.  Why do you think the Muslims hate Bush and McCain, but they want Obama to win.  They know something that the American public doesn’t.  Maybe Obama really is the terrorist’s Trojan horse.  We already know that he spent almost half his life going to a church with an anti-Semitic pastor who hates America.  How can people believe his innocence?  He wants us to believe during the 20 years he was a part of that church that he never heard one comment of this nature and tone?

You ever wonder why the democrats always aim their campaigns at college students.  College kids generally are easy to mold.  Most have little experience with finance, politics, and how they affect them. 

Even though I am currently not in the $250,000 income bracket, I still believe it is fundamentally wrong to redistribute income the way Obama wants to.  Just try this exercise real fast.  Imagine, you are in college, living off of student loans and cash from your side job.  In school you study really hard and you pass all your tests, and then graduate with a degree.  Now you are working hard in your career, saving and investing your money.  You forego immediate pleasures, so that one day you can reap the benefits of prudence.  Now after years of working towards your goal, you finally make about $300,000 a year.  Would you be okay with the government taking 50% of your income to do with it what they please?  That’s ridiculous because I know firsthand that not everyone they give it to, REALLY needs it.  It is just wrong to take more money from people who make more, because the government feels that you have enough money.  Does anyone else feel that this is wrong?  One day when I make over a million dollars a year, I will not want to give up half of it.  I am a strong believer in giving back to society but it will be by a means that I choose; I want to choose how to spend my money. 

The environment is a big issue, but we need to focus on what we can do to get there right now.  Our dependence on oil needs to end.  Meanwhile we should buy less and less oil from foreign countries especially anti-American oil producing countries. We should offset the shortfall by drilling in our own country.  We need to put more money into researching and developing alternative fuels.   If we end our dependence on foreign oil, we will have cheaper gas, better economies, and more money for research and development of alternative fuels.  That is what I believe the Republicans will do, and the Democrats will not.  Some democrats will argue that even if we start drilling we won’t be able to use the oil for about 10 years.  Did you know, Bush proposed drilling about a decade ago and was shot down by the Democratic run congress?  Wouldn’t it be nice to have that oil now?  Let’s get this thing started for our future, stop being so selfish and impulsive now, plan for the future generations.

One further note about drilling: Annually the average U.S. offshore oil spillage is 6,555 barrels.  Natural oil oozes out of the ocean floor on average 620,500 barrels per year (Source:  U.S. Minerals Management Service, Human Events). Do the math.

 Part 3

Change is a big topic during this election.  One of Obama’s strongest weapons is aligning McCain with Bush.  Stupid people will say that because of Bush 9/11 happened, and the economy went down, unemployment, and hurricane Katrina happened and it is all Bush’s fault.  Let me ask you…if this war was not going on, do you think the economy would still be bad?  It is hard to say, but I would like to think that if we had at least 10 billion more put back into the U.S. a month, a lot of these problems wouldn’t exist.  Therefore, I can conclude, that Bush, himself, did not mess up the economy.  “But he started the war” you might say and I would respond…no, the stupid Arabs who crashed airplanes into our buildings declared war on us; and all you yuppies who don’t stay current on news probably didn’t know that the war had been declared long before that.  Bush may not be a slick talker like Obama and sometimes he speaks as if English is his second language, but one thing you can be sure of is that Bush stands firm on his resolve to do what is best for this country, which automatically makes him unpopular to most people here and abroad.

You want to blame someone for all the unemployment, how about all illegal aliens.  The current unemployment rate is 5%.  Illegal aliens represent about 4-5% of the workforce.  I wonder if anyone has caught on to what I am trying to say.

What do you want America to do when it is attacked, give the bad guys a slap on the wrist and say they were bad?  No, we got so tired of the garbage coming out of that side of the world; we just couldn’t take it anymore.  Nobody is going to come into my neighborhood and kill my people and be allowed to continue on.  We are there (Iraq) with a purpose, and we will fix this problem so that my grandchildren don’t have to deal with this nonsense.

You know what sickens me the most about Democrats.  They are complainers by nature.  They want hand outs from the government when most of them don’t need it, and they want to throw their liberal opinions in wherever they can.  The worst examples are pea-brained Hollywood pretty boys and girls.  These people feel so guilty that they make so much money by standing in front of a camera and spewing a few lines.  They now want to give real meaning in their life and erase their guilt so they become advocates for all kinds of causes, but the one that helps them break out of their guilt the most seems to be the liberal party.    

Anyone who votes for Obama, because he is black is as much of a racist bigot as the guy who votes against him simply because he is black.  It is impossible to have a politician who doesn’t lie.  You cannot please everyone, and people will say whatever needs to be said to get your vote.  You want my advice?  Pick the liar with the best resume.

Watch real news, not the liberal left wing biased stations which are comparable to Hitler’s propaganda back in World War 2.  Watch FOX NEWS, they will always give both sides of the story.  Don’t be lead by the liberal media, be smart, and make your own decision.

Rick Carew has an article up in Deal Journal, a Wall Street Journal blog, titled "China Investment Corporation Wants You." Carew discusses CIC's attempt to hire more Western staff, especially the new job listings listed online:

CIC needs all the help it can get. Set up a year ago, it started with some staff borrowed from a government agency–Central Huijin Investment Ltd.–created to bail out and hold shares in Chinese banks. CIC launched a recruiting drive in November last year, but senior managers have had trouble attracting talent and have instead turned to global investment banks and law firms to second some of their junior staff. Many firms have seconded workers to CIC in an effort to win favor with Chinese officials. One banker recently described a pitch meeting with CIC in which a seconded colleague sat on the other side of the negotiating table.

Jane Xu, a Chinese citizen and member of Oxford International Review's sovereign wealth funds team, wrote about this phenomenon back on August 25th in "Inside the CIC's Personnel Practices." An excerpt:

My friend described a Stanford JD with only two years of experience at a second  tier American law firm who now works for CIC as Vice President. He doesn’t know much about the industry or speak much Chinese. What can CIC expect from him? Not much... Right, now, because of personnel challenges, CIC lacks both experienced staff and incentives for staff achievement. Although the youngest in his team, my friend has been relied on a lot. This makes sense in part, because he was sent by JP to help facilitate a knowledge transfer process, but he was surprised by the lack of professionalism and, at times, the lack of respect for professionalism within CIC. “If you’re managing 200 billion USD, I’d expect you have some really good people, unless you just want to spend your money and gamble that maybe you’ll get something in return,” he said.

And if you haven't read this already, check out Landon Thomas, Jr.'s "A Fund to Rival Those of Other Governments" in the New York Times.

Esquire magazine has listed Gao Xiqing as one of its 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century.

This is how China has changed. In the late 1980s, when he was in his mid-30s, Gao Xiqing returned to China determined to help modernize his country. He had spent the previous five years in the United States, getting a law degree at Duke and then practicing law in New York. Upon his return, his big project was to help create China's first stock exchange. "Building the economy is the best way to change China," he used to say. "It's the most effective way to create a more democratic nation."....As it turns out, Gao was right to believe that building the economy would change China. But it didn't bring democracy. It brought pure power.

How correct is their analysis?

Let me be serious for a second.  I'm not a fan of block voting.  A CIC executive once came to our Centre and tried to sell us on the idea, and it went over like a turd in a punchbowl.  I don't think Canada will ever see a "Muslim vote," and I think that's a good thing.  Ethnic politics drive me nuts, and here in BC we see it in spades.  Religious block voting is even worse, and the day a religious leader tells me for whom to vote, I'm walking out and won't come back until I've got reasonable assurance that sort of thing won't happen again.

But in this post, Mohamed Elmasry of the CIC puffs the NDP as the real party of change, the Grits and Tories being continuations of past and failed policies (now where have we heard that before?). Granted, he's not speaking in this instance of what he believes Muslims should do; Media Matters isn't a sectarian site after all. But it is reasonable to assume, given that Elmasry's CIC does believe in block voting, that he'd like to be able to tell Layton he'll give the NDP our votes.

He starts with a pretty crude caricature of American politics:

Thank God that Canadians, unlike Americans, do not vote in elections based on their family histories. Traditionally, a Republican votes Republican irrespective of who is running for the White House, or their political platform. A Democrat does likewise. And both follow the rationale that "it was good enough for my parents and grandparents, so it’s good enough for me." It’s a tribal mentality at best, and our neighbors to the south seem happy with their inherited political status quo.

Frankly, I don't buy that. True, you've got registered Democrats and registered Republicans, but we've got the same thing here, particularly among Tories and Liberals, and to a lesser degree Greens and NDPers. But that's not "tribal mentality at best," it's partisan politics and it's never going to go away--and I really don't think it's genetic. It's based on ideologies and convictions, which are shaped in part by the culture of the place you're from, which--what a shock--tends to have some geographical and generational patterns. Not so different from Canada.

Don't believe me? Think what political party is going to take Alberta. Take a minute.

If you didn't come up with "Conservative," of course, you're entitled to your opinion. But you're wrong.

Anyway, Dr. Elmasry comes up with some pretty good reasons to vote NDP, among them:

• Jack Layton seems to be a strong leader.
• The NDP have a timeline for withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• Jack's likely to push Canada's peacekeeper role in international relations.
• NDP loves welfare.

Yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, the more I think about the big-government policies of the NDP, the more angry I get. This ultimately derives from a deeply-seated belief I have that politicians are, to a man or woman, incompetent boobs who can't get decent jobs doing anything else, and as a result I would like to limit their influence on my freedom, choices, and wallet. The NDP stands for everything but. I would agree that Jack Layton is the strongest leader of the bunch, but that's not saying much.

Regardless, I just want to focus on the Afghanistan issue for a minute. I know Dr. Elmasry thinks he's preaching to the choir here, especially among his Muslim readers, and I realise I may be alone in this, but I'm pretty convinced that an unconditional withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2011, no matter who's proposing it (and you'll note Layton's timeline is pretty close to Harper's), is a big mistake. What in our history of dealing with Afghanistan indicates cutting and running will make things better? It didn't work for the British or the Russians; why would it work for NATO?

Call me what you will. The Taliban are retrograde evil, and they need to be crushed, utterly and without hope for recovery. I'm not so warlike as to think a military answer is the only answer. Afghans need to have options other than joining the Taliban. That means economic investment and infrastructure development that will make Afghanistan the type of place people want to live and do business safely, and Canadians need to play a role beyond just the role our armed forces are undertaking. That's the only compassionate solution. But pulling out the armed forces when we can't be sure the Afghan forces will be able to handle the Taliban insurgency is basically telling the Afghans, once again, we don't care about them. And that's wrong.

Anyway, I know that opinion isn't very popular and probably doesn't have much traction among fellow Muslims. To be honest, I'm not even remotely sure who I'll be voting for come October. The only thing I know is I'll have to hold my nose while I do it.

Not everyone thinks the new Generally Accepted Principles and Practices (GAPP) agreed to by sovereign wealth funds at an IMF meeting in Chile will make much difference.

Nicholas Pettifer of the International Financial Law Review quotes two unnamed finance professionals who are dissatisfied with the arrangement. One said, "Protectionist governments will still block SWF activity in sensitive areas if it wants to regardless of whether a fund complies with the IMF or not."

Another of Pettifer's anonymous sources said, "A strict, compulsory code would go a long way to relieving protectionist concern, but instead the IMF has come up with something half-hearted...Personally, I wouldn't want a strict code, but I can't see the point of creating one at all if it has no impact."

Pettifer has also expressed such skepticism about voluntary guidelines before.

By all accounts, the IWG meetings in Santiago were a success. The IMF appears to have brokered an agreement on a series of Generally Accepted Principles and Practices for SWFs. Apparently, SWFs, such the CIC, who were previously sceptical have had a change of heart.

As I suggested in my post on Tuesday morning, this will be a positive development for the CIC. As with many new SWFs, the CIC still has some institutional hurdles to jump.  Improving governance practices cannot help but have positive impacts on these institutions' performance.

The International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds, which is comprised of 26 IMF member countries, is currently meeting in Santiago, Chile. The working group's goal is to agree on a common set of voluntary principles and practices that will guide investment practices by SWFs. Such principles are intended to cover all components of investment decision-making and risk management.

According to the IMF, ‘significant progress' is being made towards--what it is calling--the Generally Accepted Principles and Practices (GAPP) on SWFs. The unveiling of GAPP is expected for the Annual Meeting in October. However, while the IMF is optimistic, some SWFs remain ‘wary'. Take as an example the CIC: Executive Vice President Jesse Wang recently called the IMF process "unfair". He went on to say, "We don't need outsiders to come tell us how we should act."

While Wang's comments may have been strategic--responding to Western headlines about a possible CIC threat--they were incorrect. Jane's remarkable post last week illustrates the extent to which the CIC does in fact require "outside" assistance at this stage in its institutional development. Indeed, Jane portrays the CIC as an institution that cannot currently match its level of financial capital with necessary levels of human capital.

Given this, I am hopeful that the Working Group will come up with a series of worthwhile principles and practices. Though ‘wary', the CIC may be one of the funds to benefit most from the IMF's principles--if GAPP offers funds a realistic path towards 'good governance', it could actually boost returns: According to Useem and Mitchell (2000), "governance policies do influence investment strategies, and investment strategies in turn shape financial performance."

Institutos de investigación, academias de ciencias, universidades, clubes de ciencia y museos abrirán sus puertas para brindar a estudiantes y docentes, de todos los niveles del ámbito escolar, y a la comunidad en general, talleres, charlas explicativas, exposiciones, conferencias y visitas guiadas, que les permitirán conocer los últimos avances en ciencia y las principales líneas de investigación que los científicos nacionales están desarrollando.

También, los organizadores invitan a investigadores e institutos de investigación a presentar temas de charlas o actividades para que puedan difundirse en otras instituciones.

Puede consultar las actividades generales que se realizaron haciendo click en el siguiente link: http://www.actj.mincyt.gov.ar/actividad_visemana.php

Juana Tejada, the Filipina caregiver with terminal cancer that fought against her deportation and won, is an inspiration to caregivers and the Filipino community at large. Come celebrate her victory with her next Sunday (24 Aug), and join in the new campaign to ensure what happens to her doesn't happen to anyone else.

Visit the Facebook events page: http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=21854964613&success#/event.php?eid=21854964613

[***UPDATE 25aug: My post about the event can be seen by CLICKING HERE.]

Below is the info sent to me by Migrante-Ontario:

After JuanaTejada got her right to permanent residency, the challenge to have better conditions for caregiver continues.

Join us in celebrating the victory of Juana Tejada and launching of a campaign.

WHERE: Trinity St. Paul United Church - 427 Bloor St. West (5 minutes west of Spadina Subway line)
WHEN: Sunday, August 24 at 1:00PM to 4:00PM

For more info call: 1-866-621-9655 or 647-205-5908

Please circulate widely.

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Migrante-Ontario member organizations:
Filipino Migrant Workers Movement; AWARE; Philippine Advocacy Through Arts and Culture (PATAC); Damayan Migrant Education and ResourceCenter; Migrante Youth; Migrant Workers and Family Resource Center -Hamilton; Pilipinong Migrante sa Canada (PMSC) - Ottawa

For the past 8 months of my pseudo-relationship with T, I have become a calmer, more patient person.  I am learning to try to think---REALLY think before I speak---AND I swear my blood pressure has dropped a little bit. But today---today was a bad day.

About a year ago, I joined the Community Involvement Committee (CIC) at work <----it is kinda like National Honor Society and/or Student Council but in a work settingand on top of that, I still have to have 1600 billable hours a year.  Not impossible, but challenging none-the-less.  I join the CIC knowing good and well that it is going to take up a lot of my time---but I also knew that I did not want to be in charge of any of the major community service events that we had planned.  I am not really sure how I was put in charge or I guess more of a Co-chair of the North Texas Book Bank drive, but it happened and I wasn't happy about it.  Honestly, I don't mind helping with events but I just don't want to be in charge.  It is not that I am not capable of it, I just choose not to be.  I did all that crap in high school and at 25 years old, I am over it.

So this food drive lasted for a few weeks and the other person, LK that was in charge of it did most of the communication with the NTFB---however, TC and I did the bulletin board for the breakroom as well as organized and wrote the skit and powerpoint for the NTFB presentation at the All Associates Meeting.  All LK had to do was email the lady from NTFB---email---JUST EMAIL.  We LK was out of the office for a week or so for "surgery" and I had all these people asking me questions about the food drive---stuff I didn't know.  I handled it best I could, but I just didn't have all the answers.

Well the NTFB came to our office today to pick up the boxes of food---and since all of the communication between work and NTFB were done with LK, they naturally called her to meet them at the front desk at work.  I do not know what was going on with LK today....whether she was feeling lazy or trying to get back at me for what she thought was lack of participation from me...but she told our receptionist to call me and meet the food bank people downstairs.  Not a huge deal right?  Agreed, but I didn't know what the hell to do.  I explained to our receptionist that I didn't know what to do and she said that LK told her to call me.  I promptly hung up the phone and called LK not expecting her to answer---and when she did, I frantically explained to her that I didn't know exactly what to do.  Her response, "YOU got the same emails I did."  My response, "Well, I didn't read them" (which I hadn't).  Her response, "You said you felt bad for not helping enough."  My response (in my head), "You f-ing b.  I did enough for this event, get off your ass and meet the people downstairs."  My real response, "I don't feel that bad."  I slammed down the phone, yelled a couple of obscenities and met the guy downstairs.  It took less than 30 minutes to take care of.

I guess the reason I was so pissed is because I wasn't prepared.  I HATE that feeling.  It makes me sick to my stomach---even for the simplest things.  LK was nasty to me on the phone which in turn made me nasty back to her.  I lost my composure and I was embarrassed.

Apparently, some people around the office heard her talking shit on me.  MPK said she heard her walking down the hall loudly exclaiming, "She didn't give me the help she was supposed to."  Are you kidding me?  Are we 12?  Didn't I meet the food bank reps downstairs and take care of it while you sat on your ass doing nothing?

I guess what I really wanted to happen---or at least what I keep telling myself, is that if she had just called me and explained that she was busy and asked me to take care of it, I would have.  But she basically just passed it off to me to get back at me for "not helping enough."

So after everything that happened today, I have decided to quit the CIC.  Childish?  Probably.  I just don't want to deal with this crap anymore.  I spend too many hours of non-billable time at CIC meetings where we just bullshit for 30 mins.

Investigadores de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) diseñaron un novedoso equipo para eliminar arsénico del agua. Se trata de un método simple, de bajo costo y fácil de usar que, en cuatro horas, purifica hasta 5.000 litros. El hallazgo puede servir para frenar el envenenamiento progresivo en numerosas poblaciones rurales del país donde el recurso natural está contaminado.
El grupo está integrado por científicos del Centro de Química Inorgánica (Cequinor), el Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de Ciencias Aplicadas (Cindeca) y la Planta Piloto Multipropósito (PlaPiMu), de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas; y el Instituto de Recursos Minerales (Inremi), de Ciencias Naturales.
Los científicos hicieron varios ensayos y comprobaron que, al finalizar el proceso, el agua era apta para su consumo. “El sistema funciona. El agua sale con menos de 10 pbb (partes por billón) de arsénico”, afirmó el químico Horacio Thomas, director del Cindeca, a Hoy.
Agregó que los valores a los que se logró disminuir el nivel de arsénico son “inferiores al establecido por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS)”.
El equipo funciona como una batidora. Consiste en un tanque de 5.000 litros en el que se coloca agua contaminada con arsénico, arcilla y un agitador. Para hacer arrancar el agitador se necesita de un motor eléctrico que es lo que lo hace girar.
“El agua se agita con la arcilla en su interior y, después de un cierto tiempo, se lo detiene y se lo deja decantar. De esa manera, lo sólido vuelve al fondo. Lo que ocurre es que la arcilla absorbe el arsénico”, explicó Thomas.
Con ese método se pueden tratar entre 2.000 y 5.000 litros de agua en cuatro horas. Después de ese proceso el agua puede ser consumida. El químico destacó que el gasto de energía eléctrica para hacer funcionar el agitador es mínimo. “Cada litro de agua cuesta sólo 1 centavo de electricidad”, manifestó.
Los investigadores del Inremi estudiaron diferentes tipos de arcillas hasta obtener diversas materias primas naturales aptas para la retención del arsénico presente en el agua. Los ensayos de laboratorio para ver si se eliminaba se realizaron en el Cequinor y en el Cindeca. El equipo a escala banco fue construido en la PlaPiMu y los ensayos se realizaron con muestras de aguas subterráneas de diferentes localidades de la región chaco-pampeana.
Las pruebas experimentales a escala piloto se realizaron exitosamente en una escuela rural del partido de General Viamonte, en el marco de una actividad de extensión universitaria entre el Inremi y el Programa GIRE de la dirección de Cultura y Educación bonaerense, para la eliminación de arsénico de aguas subterráneas.
Thomas indicó que para las pruebas en la escuela recibieron el apoyo de una empresa que, además de proveer de la materia prima para absorber el arsénico, se hizo cargo de la construcción y traslado del prototipo hasta la zona de experimentación.
Actualmente, la empresa y la UNLP están realizando los trámites de patentamiento del proceso. Además, los investigadores presentaron un proyecto a la Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas (CIC) bonaerense para construir cinco equipos. El objetivo es instalarlos en diferentes lugares de la Provincia. La iniciativa tiene grandes posibilidades de ser financiada.
“Para una escuela rural es una cosa fabulosa. Si asisten unos 500 alumnos con una sola experiencia por día se pueden producir 10 litros por persona. Tienen para tomar, para regar las plantas y hasta para llevarse a su casa. Si el proceso se repite dos veces por día se le puede dar también al resto de la comunidad”, señaló Thomas.
Además del químico, participaron de los estudios Irma Lía Botto, directora del proyecto y subdirectora del Cequinor, y Abel Schalamuk, director del Inremi.

29 JUL 2008
FUENTE: DIARIOHOY.NET  BS.AS. ARGENTINA

“Todo el centro del país, desde el Chaco hasta La Pampa, incluyendo Santiago del Estero, una parte de Córdoba y de Santa Fe, Buenos Aires y San Luis, tienen arsénico en el agua. Hay lugares que poseen niveles de 70, 100, 300 y hasta 1.500 pbb (partes por billón)”, advirtió a Hoy el director del Cindeca, Horacio Thomas.
El investigador de la UNLP añadió que el arsénico produce enfermedades, como el cáncer de piel. También mencionó que hay varios lugares de la Argentina donde compran el agua de otras ciudades para poder consumir.
El químico indicó que las posibilidades del método “son muy grandes” ya que se pueden construir equipos purificadores de agua con arsénico en tamaños chicos. “Hasta se puede hacer con una licuadora”, señaló.
Los científicos de la Universidad platense determinaron que la arcilla absorbe hasta una determinada cantidad arsénico. “Si se coloca mucho arsénico en el equipo se va a poder utilizar por día dos o tres veces. Si se coloca menos podría llegar a usarse unas cinco. Depende de cuánto tenga el agua”, expresó Thomas.
El proyecto de investigación de los especialistas de la UNLP se inició en 2004. Las tareas merecieron el apoyo de la Cámara de Senadores bonaerense que, por unanimidad, las declaró de interés provincial en 2006.
Thomas aclaró que el Cindeca y el Cequinor dependen de la UNLP y del Conicet. Mientras que el Inremi y la PlaPiMu, dependen de la casa de altos estudios y de la Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas (CIC). Por eso, el patentamiento del método será compartido.

29 JUL 2008
FUENTE:  DIARIOHOY.NET BS.AS. ARGENTINA

“Aparte de aprender sobre nuestra historia de 50 años, es fundamental que reflexionemos sobre el momento en el que estamos y a donde queremos llegar”, aseguró el Ing. Agr. Carlos Gerónimo Gianella, quien con estas palabras abrió la celebración, haciendo referencia a los desafíos a futuro y dando cuenta de logros concretos. “Estoy orgulloso de anunciar que durante esta gestión se han aumentado en un 50 por ciento las remuneraciones de todos los becarios de la CIC”, afirmó el actual presidente de la CIC.

Mario Oporto, por su lado, reconoció que “durante todos estos meses de relación directa con la CIC ha fortalecido enormemente al sistema educativo, que necesita hoy más que nunca construir con la ciencia y la tecnología” y señaló que “la ciencia y la tecnología tienen que estar dentro de la escuela, hay que profundizar la enseñanza específica en los adolescentes para generar egresados con muy buena formación”.

El acto estuvo mediado por tres ponencias a cargo de prestigiosos científicos de la CIC. El Dr. Eduardo Usunoff (investigador de la Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires) habló sobre “El agua: un recurso no renovable y estudiable”, el Ing. Luis Traversa (director del Laboratorio de Entrenamiento Multidisciplinario para la Investigación Tecnológica – LEMIT-) disertó sobre los materiales para la infraestructura social y productiva, y el Dr. Eduardo Tonni presentó su conferencia sobre “Evolución climática de la región pampeana en los últimos 18.000 años. La respuesta de los mamíferos”.

Durante el cierre, se entregaron medallas a Heraldo Biloni y Vicente Rascio, dos investigadores eméritos de la CIC, y también a los investigadores superiores Carlos Guido Bollini, Oscar Grau, Horacio Muravchik, Silvia Resnik y Arturo Schaposnik. Los investigadores superiores fallecidos tuvieron su reconocimiento con la entrega de placas a los familiares de Julio Morosi, Virpi Sinikka Nivela y Fermín Iturriza.

Tras finalizar el acto, los asistentes pudieron disfrutar de un cocktail de cortesía, como broche final de los festejos con que se celebraron los 50 años de la Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas, de su trabajo estratégico en el desarrollo del aparato productivo y educativo de la Provincia de Buenos Aires

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看那个云～～～

上个星期五，本来是上课到傍晚六点半的，所以我就买了晚上八点的票回家。结果下午上课的时候，讲师突然说那个课取消了，所以四点半就放学了～天啊～～～早点通知不是好咯，那我就可以早点回家了咯。。。

左边那个是我要坐的KKKL哦～

最后还是搭了晚上八点的巴士回家，自己一个人搭巴士去总站耶～还好没迷路^^大概晚上十一点就到了，然后全家都来迎接我咯，哈哈，开心一下。其实坐晚上的巴士还蛮不错的，冷冷的，暗暗的，很好睡觉^^

出发咯～看到没有？“云顶”耶～呵呵。。。

回到家睡个觉，隔天早上五点就起身了，因为要和大家一起去吉隆坡玫瑰堂参加EV的网聚。我第一次参加耶～去到那里都是长辈咯，有点怕怕酱，呵呵。我们六点半集合，七点上车，人到齐了就出发咯～出发的人有十二个哦，把整辆休旅车都塞满了。车上有四个活泼好动的小孩子哦～是热闹哦^^

整天下来，听了很多东西，感动的，有道理的，让我"哦～"一声的，还看到一阵风大哥，CIC的三个大帅哥，等等的啦～过后大家交流交流，聊聊天过后呢，就差不多快傍晚了，然后就去喝个茶就回JB啦～在回到JB之前我们在永平的一间酒楼吃晚餐，是丰富的咯～吃到饱饱的，感谢，感谢大家^^

跟你们说哦～吉隆坡的玫瑰堂是美的咯～里面、外面的装潢都超美的～我们要离开的时候刚好他们在进行弥撒，是很安静、很peace的咯～让我在心里小小声的“哇～”了一下。。。

回到家已经是晚上十二点了哦～都快累倒了～弄好东西后就快点去睡觉了，隔天早上要去CIC的弥撒哦～因为有宝宝领洗哦^^早上本来是打算睡到九点整才起床的，哪里知道峰的妈妈叫我们去吃早餐，所以八点多就被叫起身了。。。去峰家吃早餐，峰妈妈是厉害的咯，什么都会做，而且很好吃涅～还好我不住在他们家，不然就不止现在的身材了，呵呵。吃了丰富的早餐后，我们就去教堂啦～今天领洗的宝宝有两个，一个是盛家的安安，一个是我家的修恒，两个宝宝都是超可爱的咯～看到他们领洗我超开心的咯，呵呵。弥撒前遇到盛的妈妈，就过去打个招呼，怎么知道安娣已经忘记我是谁了，伤心一下咯 T.T

弥撒后，拿了printer，就去吃午餐，是全请客哦～感谢他，真的很有风度，帅！吃完了我人生第一碗的面粉粿后就跟盛和辉去CS走走。终于买到眼罩了，哈哈哈～感谢盛哦^^老实说我拿到很不好意思咯～下次请你吃饭！过后就搭巴士回家，收拾下东西，学勇刚好也把我的电脑拿回来了，感谢学勇啦～推掉别人的，先帮我弄^^学长真的不是白叫的咯，哈哈～原来学勇对天主教很有兴趣，下次一定要带他来看看^^我们在聊天的时候啊，学勇就问到我在马六甲的事情，他很多问题一直问不停的咯，然后我就忙着回答，呵呵。最后我把我MMU的介绍书送给他，我一直跟他说不用还了，他还跟我撒娇说：“要啦，下次你回来，我来找你顺便还咯～”我直接发呆三秒，来找我？我不是说我不想常常看到你吗？每次看到你都是因为我的电脑有问题耶～不要不要！！！

过后冲个凉就去教堂啦～去SCC耶！！！超开心的^^我很久没有去了～呵呵～看到那些熟悉的脸孔，当然也多了很多新面孔，下次有机会要去认识一下^^站的我喜欢的歌咏团的位置，是开心的咯^^不管多累，能在SCC望弥撒真的是开心的咯～尤其是刚好gogo回来了，老大回来了，感觉上好像是大家都到齐了一样，真的真的很开心^^我们的R&B是最后一次合作了吗？是吧～我很珍惜那天的弥撒，因为已经是最后一次了，以后的歌咏团会变得不一样，大家要继续加油哦！

卡布奇诺～只有和家人一起才能喝咯～因为我不是很有钱，所以在这里都没花这些钱～

弥撒后，跟大家道别了，就和家人去吃晚餐，然后就等老大来载，就这样，我又离开了～感谢老大平安的把我和惠雯送回宿舍^^我下次回SCC应该不是很久以后的事情，因为八月有一个星期的假期，希望我会在！明天考试啦～加油！李芸君！要改变自己！不要再和以前一样了！要努力！

刚刚去打包晚餐的时候有个senior跟我讲话耶～我们站在那里有一下下了，他就突然走过来。。。
他：你是第一年的啊？
我：（笑笑回答）嗯。。。
他：哦～欢迎你来MMU～
我：哦～你第几年？
他：我last year咯～吃这挡的食物吃很多年了咯，很闲了～
我：哦～
他：你读什么科？
我：电子工程
他：哦！要加油哦～女生读很辛苦的～
我：呵呵，哦～
他：你叫Anna是不是？
我：（吓到一下）做莫你懂？
他：之前听过，刚刚又看到你的锁匙圈～
我：哦～
他：你电话什么号码？
我：（我给个很烂的理由咯～）我没有带电话下来耶～
他：哦～没关系，反正都住EP，以后还有机会见面的～
这时他的饭炒好了～～～
他：我先回去了哦～要等你吗？
我：啊不用啦～你先回去就好，呵呵～
他：哦～那我先走了哦～自己小心啊～拜拜
我：拜拜。。。
以为结束了，怎么知道他突然转过来说。。。
他：我不是第一次看到你耶～
听了过后我就在想，什么意思？
住酱靠近，见过不奇怪吧？！

Obama Won’t Commit to Event at Military Base

NY Times
By KATE ZERNIKE
Published: July 12, 2008

A coalition of military groups is planning a nationally televised town-hall-style meeting with the presidential candidates near Fort Hood, Tex., the largest active-duty military installation in the country. But so far, only Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, has agreed to attend.

CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Aug. 11. The candidates would face questions directly from an audience of 6,000 people, made up of veterans, service members and military families from the base.

(...)

“I’m having extreme difficulty getting the Obama campaign to commit to this event, and we do not understand why,” said Ms. Picard, whose husband is deployed in Iraq. “We made it very clear to them that if they would commit to the event, we would work with them on dates.”

Continue reading...

Basava Premanand’s Failed CIC Case:
On October 30th 2006, Basava Premanand filed a case (which was not a court case) with the Central Information Commission In India against Sathya Sai Baba. In decision No. 330/IC(A)/2006 - F.No.CIC/MA/A/2006/00614, the CIC denied Premanand’s request due to the fact that they had already addressed his requests in decision No. 09/IC(A)/2006 on March 10th 2006. Neither Basava Premanand or his questionably ‘competent’ legal advisors were aware of this fact.

Although B. Premanand filed the case, he was not present at the hearing. This is just another example of the type of ridiculous requests that Premanand engages in to harass Sathya Sai Baba and the Sai Organization.

In all these years, neither Basava Premanand or his questionably ‘competent’ legal advisors have been able to make any leeway against Sri Sathya Sai Baba in any court of law in India despite the seriousness of the crimes they allege against him.

Reference

Also see:

- Failed Legal Maneuvers: Part One
- Failed Legal Maneuvers: Part Two
- Failed Legal Maneuvers: Part Three
- Failed Legal Maneuvers: Part Four
- Failed Legal Maneuvers: Part Five
- Failed Legal Maneuvers: Part Six (You Are Here)
- Failed Legal Maneuvers: Part Seven