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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Strong typhoon pounds southern Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - The strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year was pounding southern provinces Tuesday, cutting power, suspending travel and flooding areas already vulnerable to landslides.

More than 41,000 residents have moved out of their homes in high-risk coastal villages and along rivers, including in southern provinces that were devastated by a deadly storm a year ago.

Civil defence chief Benito Ramos said officials were checking for casualties or damage from a landslide on a mountainside village in Compostela Valley province. They were also working to verify unconfirmed casualty reports from Southern Leyte and Davao Oriental provinces. Power has been cut off in several municipalities in southern Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Davao Oriental provinces while parts of Agusan del Sur province are flooded, he added.

On Monday, President Benigno Aquino III made a national TV appeal for people in Typhoon Bopha's path to move to safety and take storm warnings seriously.

"This typhoon is not a joke," Aquino said after meeting top officials in charge of disaster-response.

"But we can minimize the damage and loss of lives if we help each other," he added.

Government forecaster Jori Loiz said Bopha, the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year has weakened since it made landfall in Davao Oriental province early Tuesday. It now packs 160 kilometres (99 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 195 kph (121 mph).

The typhoon's movement has slowed to 20 kph (12 mph) and veered northwest, Loiz said. Its eye was last estimated at 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of Bukidnon's Malaybalay city.

From the south, it is forecast to cross to Negros island in central Philippines and the northern portion of western Palawan island before blowing out into the South China Sea.

Bopha, which has a 600-kilometre- (373-mile-) wide rain band, was expected to be out of Philippine territory by Friday.

At least 80 domestic flights have been cancelled.

Aquino said army troops deployed search and rescue boats in advance. Authorities ordered small boats and ferries not to venture out along the country's eastern seaboard, warning of rough seas and torrential rain and wind that could whip up four-meter (13-foot) waves.

In the mountainous Compostela Valley, authorities halted mining operations and ordered villagers to evacuate to prevent a repeat of deadly losses from landslides and the collapse of mine tunnels seen in recent storms.

Residents in a riverside village that was wiped out by the storm last December in southern Cagayan de Oro city moved to a government hall, carrying TV sets, bundles of clothes and a pig.

Nearly 8,000 villagers were moved to four government shelters in Hinatuan, the coastal town that was directly in Bopha's path until the typhoon began to veer slightly, officials said.

Bopha, a Cambodian word for flower or a girl, is the 16th weather disturbance to hit the Philippines this year, less than the 20 typhoons and storms that normally lash the archipelago annually. Forecasters say at least one more storm may hit the country before Christmas.

___

Associated Press writer Teresa Cerojano contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/strong-typhoon-pounds-southern-philippines-where-41k-residents-054627398.html

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COP18: Room for optimism on climate finance | RTCC - Responding ...

By John Parnell

There is growing optimism that the current stalemate on climate finance could be this week when the ministerial level talks commence in Doha.

Developing nations have said that there can be no deal in Qatar that does not involve details on climate funding beyond the end of the current Fast Start Finance (FSF) period, which ends this year.

In addition to clarity on funding for 2013-2015 and suggesting a figure of $60bn, the Chinese have also led calls for a ?roadmap? on how rich nations will hit the $100bn a year target for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) by 2020.

The GCF is the long term base for international climate finance but has only just begun its work and is not likely to begin distributing money until 2015.

The US has been silent on its proposals, but there is a growing sense that there could be a firmer announcement in week two of the talks.

Clarity from the US on domestic climate finance budgets would ease some of the tension in finance negotiations.

?The US already has the Global Climate Initiative, which is in the US budget already and it is international climate finance so why not put those numbers out there,? said Brandon Wu, senior policy analyst, ActionAid US.

?Other countries also have budgeted climate finance, so putting those numbers out, even if they?re not nearly high enough, at least they are specific numbers.?

Wu also said that the emergence of pledged finance would also iron out many of the problems the UN talks have seen in a difficult first week.

?Developing countries are saying finance is a make or break issue at this COP. We need to see this money, so a pledge like that would immediately change the tone of the negotiations,? he said, adding that he does not expect China?s request for a roadmap to $100bn to be granted.

?We won?t see a roadmap and that is what would reassure developing countries the most. If numbers come out next week that were the same as FSF that would be ok if there was a steeper ramping up from 2015 on. The developing countries have clearly said that finance is a key issue for them,? said Wu.

Empty account

But given the multitude of financial crises around the world, how realistic is it to expect anything from developed countries?

?It?s not that much money compared to what is in national budgets,? said Wu. ?Compared to what it takes to bail out a bank, what it takes to help a city recover from a hurricane, the money is there and there are plenty of ideas for generating new money such as taxes on aviation, shipping and financial transactions.?

EU finance negotiator Paul Watkinson reiterated that the bloc would like to see more groundwork laid before committing its next tranche of finance in writing. However, he did accept that verbal promises of future funding may not be enough.

?I recognise there is an issue about how we reassure people that our finance will continue. We have given that reassurances and we hope that has been heard. If it can be captured in some way, then that is something we need to look at, but I do not see agreement being possible on quantified targets,? Watkinson told RTCC.

?Capturing? these reassurances could be interpreted in many ways but if it means going beyond verbal assurances, that go some way to easing the trust issues cited by the African Group last week.

Watkinson also sees some of the tensions around finance in other parts of the negotiations dissipating.

?On the Long term Cooperative Action (LCA) side, I don?t think the decisions are that difficult. Most of the key decisions have been taken in Canc?n and Durban and it is now a matter of continuing to implement them and so strengthen action on climate change under the Convention,? he said.

Any movement is not one sided however with developing countries also playing their part to bridge the division between donor and recipient by boosting transparency and increasing confidence in how the money will be spent and how effective the results on the ground can be per dollar invested.

?There?s a need to distinguish between having money and using money effectively and that?s a trade-off between spending it fast and spending its well,? said Charlene Watson, research officer at the Overseas Development Institute. ?The fact that this research is being done and there is a lot of work being put into it should offer donors some reassurances.?

Watson says that a number of developing countries are establishing domestic climate finance funds, investing human resources and Ministerial attention to the issues, which she says is necessary to ensure climate finance is done right.

The challenge now is finding the right balance between spending the money in a time frame in keeping with the urgency and not wasting it.

Pouring it into poorly prepared projects where it will leach into the system without delivering any emissions reductions at all, is a situation both donor and recipient will look to avoid.

Source: http://www.rtcc.org/cop18-room-for-optimism-on-climate-finance/

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Monday, December 3, 2012

'Cliff' talks: White House waiting on GOP move

This Nov. 30, 2012, photo provided by CBS News shows Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner answering questions about averting the "fiscal cliff" on the December 2nd edition of ?Face the Nation.? Geithner said Republicans have to stop using fuzzy ?political math? and say how much they are willing to raise tax rates on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans and then specify the spending cuts they want, Treasury Secretary. (AP Photo/CBS News, Chris Usher)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, after private talks with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the fiscal cliff negotiations. Boehner said no substantive progress has been made between the White House and the House" in the past two weeks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republicans have to stop using "political math" and say how much they are willing to raise tax rates on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans and then specify the spending cuts they want, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in an interview that aired Sunday.

Just four weeks from the proverbial "fiscal cliff," House Speaker John Boehner countered that Republicans have a plan for providing as much as $800 billion in new government revenue over the next decade and would consider the elimination of tax deductions on high-income earners. But when pressed on "Fox News Sunday" for precise details, the Ohio Republican declined to say.

There are "a lot of options in terms of how to get there," Boehner said.

Both Boehner's and Geithner's latest remarks indicate it could be some time before serious negotiations begin between the White House and Republicans on how to avert economic calamity expected in less than a month when President George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire and automatic, across-the-board spending cuts kick in.

Last week, the White House delivered to Capitol Hill its opening plan: $1.6 trillion in higher taxes over a decade, hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending, a possible extension of the temporary Social Security payroll tax cut and enhancing the president's power to raise the national debt limit.

In exchange, the president would back $600 billion in spending cuts, including $350 billion from Medicare and other health programs. But he also wants $200 billion in new spending for jobless benefits, public works projects and aid for struggling homeowners. His proposal for raising the ceiling on government borrowing would make it virtually impossible for Congress to block him.

Republicans said they responded in closed-door meetings with laughter and disbelief.

"I was just flabbergasted," Boehner said. "I looked at him (Geithner) and I said, 'You can't be serious.'" Boehner described negotiations as going "nowhere, period," and said "there's clearly a chance" the nation will go over the cliff.

Geithner, the administration's point man for negotiations, was slightly more optimistic while saying the ball was in Boehner's court. But the treasury secretary also said he didn't expect a counteroffer right away, as Republicans work to sort out tensions within the party in the wake of bruising national elections that left Democrats in charge of the White House and the Senate.

Boehner acknowledged in his interview, aired Sunday, that he wasn't happy with public remarks by Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who said he was ready to go along with Obama's plan to renew expiring income tax cuts for the majority of Americans and negotiate the rates on top earners later.

"They're trying to figure out where they go next," Geithner said of Republicans, "and we might need to give them a little time to figure out where they go next."

He called the back-and-forth "normal political theater," saying all that's blocking a timely deal is the GOP's reluctance to accept higher tax rates on the wealthy.

"It's welcome that they're recognizing that revenues are going to have to go up. But they haven't told us anything about how far rates should go up ... (and) who should pay higher taxes," Geithner said.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that she will try to force a vote on the Senate-passed bill favored by Democrats to avert a fiscal cliff. But she was unlikely to line up enough Republicans to succeed.

Obama's political team ramped up its efforts, blasting out an email Sunday night urging supporters to pressure Congress to extend tax cuts that would add up to about $2,000 for a middle-class family of four.

Stephanie Cutter, who was Obama's deputy campaign manager, said in the email that the president was trying to get Congress to "do the right thing and act before the New Year, but he needs our help. We've got a good track record here: When we make our voices heard and urge Congress to take action ? whether it's about health care, student loans, Wall Street reform, or 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' ? they listen."

Republican leaders have said they accept higher tax revenue overall, but only through what they call tax reform __ closing loopholes and limiting deductions __ and only coupled with tough measures to curb the explosive growth of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

"If we gave the president $1.6 trillion of new money, what do you think he'd do with it?" asked Boehner. "He's going to spend it. It's what Washington does."

Cole didn't back down Sunday on his earlier comments that Republicans should agree to Obama's plan for continuing Bush's tax rates for middle-class America and focus the negotiations on the other issues. Doing so, he said, would make the GOP position even stronger.

"The reality is, nobody can look at this budget and think if you don't reform entitlements you can balance it. You can give the president every tax increase he's asked for, you'd still be in the hole," he said.

Geithner appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," NBC's "Meet the Press," CNN's "State of the Union," ABC's "This Week" and "Fox News Sunday." Cole appeared on ABC "This Week."

___

Associated Press writers Mark S. Smith and Ken Thomas in Washington and Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-02-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-0fd21c96e0954dc6a3637d12b330fbfd

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What Would Music Sound Like Without Chris Brown And Rihanna?

Brown posed that question on his Instagram, and Bigger Than the Sound has the answer.
By James Montgomery

Chris Brown and Rihanna
Photo: Chris Brown via Instagram

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698260/chris-brown-rihanna-what-would-music-sound-like.jhtml

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Glance: Implementation of health law by state

So you know the people who dashed your hopes of winning that stupidly large Powerball jackpot, instantly crushing your dreams of living like a king and dipping your butt in gold? Everyone who knows them says the first winners are pretty awesome people, and we now know that least one of their mothers is almost absurdly adorable. Granted, we'd be saying pretty glowing stuff, too, if we were neighbors of Cindy and Mark Hill ??who possess one of the two winning $558 million Powerball tickets?? because, hey, it doesn't hurt to be nice to multimillionaires. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glance-implementation-health-law-state-125406915.html

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Asia stocks rise on improved China manufacturing

BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets rose Monday after surveys showed a recovery in China's manufacturing.

HSBC's Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.5 in November on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 indicate activity is expanding. It was the first expansion in 13 months. The reading in October was 49.5.

That comes on top of the release Saturday of a state-sanctioned survey, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing's monthly Purchasing Managers' Index, which showed an improvement to 50.6 from 50.2 in October.

The PMI index measures overall manufacturing activity by surveying numerous indicators including orders, employment and actual production.

The Chinese numbers are rare good news for the world economy, which has slowed as Europe's chronic debt crisis worsened and the American economy stagnated.

"This confirms that Chinese economy continues to recover gradually," said Hongbin Qu, chief economist for China research at HSBC.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7 percent to 9,508.26, its first time above 9,500 in seven months. Stocks in Tokyo got an added boost from the yen's recent weakness against the dollar and the euro.

South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3 percent to 1,938.93. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia rose. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.1 percent at 22,043.52.

Investors continued to abandon mainland Chinese stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3 percent to 1,974.62. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.6 percent to 748.40.

"A lot of investors are sitting on the sidelines until a big stimulus project from the government or big, encouraging economic numbers come out. Before that happens, they are just waiting," said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

Among individual stocks, Australia's Woodside Petroleum rose 1.1 percent after announcing an Australian dollars 670.04 million ($696 million) deal on a major gas prospect off the coast of Israel.

The company has agreed to commercial terms for the acquisition of two exploration licenses in the Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.

The company will be the operator of any liquefied natural gas development of the Leviathan gas field. The deal with the U.S.-based firm Noble Energy gives Woodside a 30 percent interest in Leviathan.

On Friday, U.S. stocks ended nearly flat amid ongoing budget negotiations in Washington. The Dow Jones industrial average rose less than 0.1 percent to close at 13,025.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose marginally to close at 1,416.18. The Nasdaq composite fell nearly 0.1 percent to 3,010.24.

Wall Street stocks have fluctuated between gains and losses in recent days as investors followed the latest headlines from budget negotiations. Lawmakers need to reach a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff ? a package of tax increases and government spending cuts that will automatically take effect in 2013 unless lawmakers take action. Economists have warned that the package's high cost could throw the U.S. back into recession.

Benchmark oil for January delivery was up 24 cents to $89.15 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 84 cents to close at $88.91 in New York on Friday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3035 from $1.3002 Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 82.40 yen from 82.50 yen.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-rise-improved-china-manufacturing-030910775--finance.html

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Improving Home Security - Top Prepping Tips | The Home For Survival

Dec 1, 2012 by Survivor Mike

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This week we have a guest post on Ways To Improve Your Home Security. This post comes to us from Liam Ohm. ?Always looking for a bit more on improving home security and defending your home.

Getting the security right for your home is crucial, and?needn?t?be overly complicated. Some of the best measures you can take for improving your security can include fitting new alarms, through to making sure that you?re careful with spare keys and your rubbish, as well as ensuring that your garden?doesn?t?become an easy way for burglars to break into your home. At the same time, it?s worth reviewing some general safety tips that can help to make your property more secure from would-be robbers.

1 ? New Alarm Systems

While most homes have an alarm system fitted, it?s worth considering some of the more advanced options available, and particularly if you?re worried about break ins in your area, or if?you?ve?had one before. Motion sensor alarms can help detect a threat before a door can be broken door, while infrared cameras can be set up overnight to go off if someone tries to break through into the house. Modern alarm systems can be combined with window breaking wires that set off silent alarms, and can be used with wireless monitors that won?t go off if your power is cut.

2 ? Avoid Leaving Out Spare Keys

Although it is useful to have a set of spare keys under your door mat or hidden under a plant pot, chances are that a burglar with enough time and confidence will be able to find them. It?s better to make copies and give them to trusted?neighbors? who can let you in if you do get locked out. This?ll make a big difference if you lose your keys, and means that you have someone who can check on your house for you if you?re away, even if that only represents testing windows and back door locks.

3 ? Watch Your Rubbish

In general, try to avoid leaving out any boxes on your street that can alert burglars to what you have in your home. If?you?ve?just bought a flatscreen television or an expensive computer, leaving the box in plain view with your bins could lead to a break in. You should also be careful about not throwing away old documents that might contain confidential information or bank details. Try to shred these, rather than putting out old files ? the same goes for any old CDs or computer parts that might contain important information.

4 ? Maintain Your Garden

It?s important to ensure that your garden?doesn?t?become a way for a burglar to enter your property. Keep fences and any back gates in good order, and don?t allow your garden to become too overgrown, as it?ll be easier for a burglar to get to your property without being seen. If worried about intruders, it?s worth installing motion lights in your back garden, or barbed wire at the top of fences. Moreover, be careful when trimming back hedge areas in front of your property, as another overgrown area could make it easy for someone to block their view from the street while breaking into a house.

5 ? General Safety

There are many small ways in which you can make the interior of your home more secure. One way might be to convert a ground floor bathroom into a wet room, which involves waterproofing the room and removing large fixtures. Windows can be covered over and replaced by an extractor fan, limiting the danger of someone climbing in through an open window. Other ways of improving your home security might include installing a small safe for?jewelry?and any other valuables ? it?s less likely that a burglar will try to open a heavy safe if an alarm is going off.

Author Bio: Liam Ohm writes about home improvement. From installing wetrooms to fireproofing your home ? he writes about it. In his spare time he enjoys networking, DIY and reading.

Source: http://www.thehomeforsurvival.com/improving-home-security/

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