Author Archives: TPNS

Japan’s ‘nuclear deterrence without building a bomb’

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Robert Windrem, “Japan Has Nuclear ‘Bomb in the Basement,’ and China Isn’t Happy,” 12 March 2014, NBC News

… But government officials and proliferation experts say Japan is happy to let neighbors like China and North Korea believe it is part of the nuclear club, because it has a “bomb in the basement” -– the material and the means to produce nuclear weapons within six months, according to some estimates. And with tensions rising in the region, China’s belief in the “bomb in the basement” is strong enough that it has demanded Japan get rid of its massive stockpile of plutonium and drop plans to open a new breeder reactor this fall. …
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China’s richest 10% of families own 64% of all family wealth

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27 February 2014, 京华时报

宜信财富与联办财经研究院共同推出《2014中国财富报告：展望与策略》，报告撰写人之一西南财经大学经济与管理研究院院长甘犁在会上对报告中关于中国家庭财富的成长与风险部分时称，中国家庭资产的分布非常不均，最高资产10个百分点的中国家庭拥有63.9%的资产。
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The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes

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“The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes,” February 2014, Citizens for Tax Justice

Profitable corporations are supposed to pay a 35 percent federal income tax rate on their U.S. profits. But many corporations pay far less, or nothing at all, because of the many tax loopholes and special breaks they enjoy. This report documents just how successful many Fortune 500 corporations have been at using these loopholes and special breaks over the past five years. …
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Japan tilts right

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Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, “Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick: Japan tilts right,” 02 February 2014, USA Today

… Today, Kishi’s grandson, Shinzo Abe, is prime minister and is doing to Japan what Attorney General John Mitchell predicted Richard Nixon would do to the U.S. — drive the country “so far to the right you’re not even going to recognize it.” …
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War between China and Japan is still unlikely

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Zack Beauchamp, “Why Everyone Needs To Stop Freaking Out About War With China,” 07 February 2014, ThinkProgress

… It’s wrong to talk about incentives to go war in purely military terms. A key component of the Senkaku/Diaoyou is economic: the islands contain a ton of natural resources, particularly oil and gas. But far more valuable are the trade ties between the two countries. China is Japan’s largest export market, so war would hurt Japan more than China, but it’d be pretty painful for both.
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Military spending is integral to capitalism

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Richard Seymour, “Global military spending is now an integral part of capitalism,” 7 March 2014, Guardian

There are few surprises about the distribution of military spending: for all the current focus on China’s growing military outlays – and it is significant that they have embarked on a sequence of double-digit increases as a percentage of GDP – the United States still accounts for 40% of such expenditures. However, the distribution is not the only thing that matters; it’s the sheer scale of such investment – $1.756tn in 2012. The “peace dividend” from the end of the cold war has long since bitten the dust. Global military spending has returned to pre-1989 levels, undoubtedly a legacy of the war on terror and the returning salience of military competition in its context. In fact, by 2011 global military spending was higher than at any year since the end of the second world war. …
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Corruption is by far not the main factor behind persisting poverty in the Global South

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Jason Hickel, “Flipping the corruption myth,” Al Jazeera, 1 February 2014

Many international development organisations hold that persistent poverty in the Global South is caused largely by corruption among local public officials. In 2003 these concerns led to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which asserts that, while corruption exists in all countries, this “evil phenomenon” is “most destructive” in the global South, where it is a “key element in economic underperformance and a major obstacle to poverty alleviation and development”.

There’s only one problem with this theory: It’s just not true.
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Britain to order another 14 F-35 jets

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Brenda Goh and Andrea Shalal-Esa, “Britain may order 14 F-35 jets as early as next week: sources,” Reuters, 23 January 2014

The so called ‘Main Gate 4’ order, for the F-35 B vertical take-off variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, would mark the Britain’s first firm F-35 purchase since it committed to buying 48 planes in 2012.
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Some interesting charts about the world

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Dylan Matthews, “40 charts that explain the world,” The Washington Post, 15 January 2014

… So we searched for charts that would tell not just the story of how the world is — but where it’s going. Some of these charts are optimistic, like the ones showing huge gains in life expectancy in poorer nations. Some are more worryisome — wait till you see the one on endangered species. But together they tell a story of a world that’s changing faster than at arguably any other time in human history.
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Putting Development to Rights

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David Mepham, “Putting Development to Rights,” Human Rights Watch

… For the most part, development policy and programs have ignored the critical interdependence of economic and social rights with civil and political rights, and so have failed to challenge systemic patterns of discrimination and disadvantage that keep people in poverty. As a result, many poor people have been excluded, or have failed to benefit, from development programs. More disturbingly still, people have been harmed by abusive policies carried out in the name of development: forced from their land to make way for large commercial investors, compelled to toil long days for low pay in dangerous and exploitative conditions, or exposed to life-threatening pollution from poorly regulated industries.
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240 Wars in 237 Years

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Yuri Skidanov, “240 Wars in 237 Years: USA Wages War More Often than Just Annually,” RINF Alternative News, 21 January 2014

The United States, an example of public and social order for the countries of the “golden billion,” has a unique history. In the 237 years of its existence, it has been either at war, or preparing for a new attack, looking for victims. During the period from 1798 to 2012 Washington used military force abroad 240 times, more frequently than annually.
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$400 billion F-35 jets generated one job per $3 million spent but are not even ready for combat training

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Pat Garofalo, “The F-35: Mo’ Money, Fewer Jobs,” U.S. News & World Report , 23 January 2014

If there were a Congressional Boondoggle Hall of Fame, the F-35 fighter jet program would surely merit entry. Officially the most expensive weapons system in history, the cost of manufacturing the jets has increased a whopping 75 percent from its original estimate, and is now closing in on $400 billion. Over its lifetime, the F-35 program is expected to cost U.S. taxpayers $1.5 trillion, between construction and maintenance of the jets, if they ever all materialize.

Oh, and did I mention that the plane doesn’t really work?
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F-35’s software “failed to meet even basic requirements.”

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“Bombs away: Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can’t escape software problems,” RT, 24 January 2014

The Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, Michael Gilmore, provided an in-depth look at the F-35’s technical features, emphasizing what he calls the “unacceptable” characteristics of the aircraft’s software, according to a draft obtained by Reuters.  …
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Toxic chemicals found in children’s clothing

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“Toxic chemicals are the little monsters in children’s clothing,” Greenpeace, 14 January 2014

… latest investigation has revealed the presence of hazardous chemicals in clothing made by 12 very well known brands; from the iconic kid’s label Disney, to sportswear brands like Adidas, and even top-end luxury labels like Burberry.

The shocking truth is that no matter what type of kid’s clothes we shop for, there’s no safe haven – all of the tested brands had at least one product containing hazardous toxic monsters.
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