Fed clears China's first US bank takeover. Toxic Spiral: Greek Office Vacancies Soar As Tourism Industry Implodes. Big Brother malls trigger privacy row after installing equipment to spy on shoppers via their mobiles. Technology installed at ten of UK's biggest mallsWill track movement but not personal information, developers insistTiny yellow sign only warning of 'FootPath' scanners By Sean Poulter Updated: 12:03 GMT, 5 January 2012 Shopping centres have triggered a Big Brother row after installing equipment that allows them to track customers using their mobile phone signals. The technology has raised privacy concerns after it emerged that major shopping centre owner Land Securities has installed it at ten of Britain’s biggest malls. These include the giant Cabot Circus, Bristol; Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth; Princesshay, Exeter; Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow; Bon Accord & St Nicholas, Aberdeen; and The Centre, Livingston.
A tiny yellow sign in Exeter's Princesshay shopping centre is the only warning customers receive that their mobile phone signal is being 'tracked' by Footpath's scanners. There is no way to opt out except not to enter or to turn off your mobile How it works: The FootPath system explained. Israel To Demolish Palestinian Solar Energy Program. A sustainable energy program in 'Area C' of rural West Bank is being threatened by Israeli authorities. The program, which recently installed solar panels and wind turbines in 16 communities, is providing 1,500 Palestinians with electricity -- who were formerly without reliable energy.
(Photo: AFP/Menahem Kahana) The foreign aid program, thus far successful, has become a new target for Israel as it threatens to demolish the structures that supposedly lie within Israeli 'administration'. Der Spiegel reports: The best part is when the lights in the tents go on, one by one, says Elad Orian. "What can you do if there are impediments to development, such as an undefined de-development policy? " Ma'an News reports: In recent months, the army issued demolition warnings against six solar and wind power systems in the South Hebron Hills, which were funded by European governments and development groups. " Several West Bank villages had been without electricity for years. Most Britons Ground Down to True Subsistence Level. A survey conducted by major retail bank Halifax – owned by the British taxpayer, as it happens – has indicated that half of Britons become strapped for cash every month, and are concerned about their ability to meet basic living costs.
In a shocking admission of just how bad the nation’s personal finances have become, twenty per-cent of the public conceded to being stretched within two weeks of receiving their monthly salary, and one-in-ten within a mere seven days. The survey coincided with a release of a report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) that suggested that so-called ‘payday loans’ could could “overtake credit cards and become a mainstream method of borrowing”.
For PWC to be releasing a report legitimising these companies would be fairly low, but to cheerfully announce that “consumers are pleasantly surprised at the convenient and innovative service they receive from these smaller, more agile providers” is pretty despicable. Fine. Last month, however, tomorrow arrived. Welfare reforms could force 600,000 off incapacity benefit | Politics. The government's tough new welfare reforms will force over half a million people off incapacity benefit and cause widespread poverty in some of Britain's most disadvantaged communities, according to a study releasedon Tuesday. In the first independent attempt to quantify the impact of more stringent medical tests and the greater use of means testing, researchers from Sheffield Hallam University said Scotland, Wales and the north of England would suffer most from the changes to be introduced by 2014.
The study found that 600,000 people would disappear from the benefits system altogether and would often have to rely on family members for financial support. Ministers have pledged to reform incapacity benefit after an almost fivefold increase to 2.4 million in the number of claimants since the late 1970s, and Chris Grayling, the employment minister, said: "It's clear that millions of people have been written off for years, left on incapacity benefit with no real support to get into work. This is not wartime Nazi Germany and Cameron's attacks on the vulnerable and needy must be stopped. By Sonia PoultonUPDATED: 09:50 GMT, 20 February 2012 Dastardly: Sonia Poulton says David Cameron and the Coalition Government has surpassed itself in its campaign of terror against some of the most needy in our society I'm unwell at the moment.
I have a streaming nose, high temperature, cold shakes and low blood pressure. I get light headed when I stand and I have fallen over a couple of times this week. What I am experiencing has made me a bit miserable and snappy (sorry loved ones), not to mention bruised and sore from head to foot, but it's not life-threatening, not terminal. I reveal my current state of health not because I wish to elicit sympathy (or even garner a gift or two, but either is always nice) but because I wish to highlight that even though I am physically poorly, I still felt compelled to rise from my sickbed and write.
Why? Take their next much-vaunted initiative - the Workfare programme. I agreed with her. Fair? Let me be clear. That's wrong. Does that sound right? Britain on path of bankruptcy' A prominent professor says UK’s economic and financial model is a failure amid Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that the country has run out of money. Press TV has conducted an interview with Rodney Shakespeare, professor of binary economics, to further discuss the issue. The following is a transcription of the interview. Press TV: Osborne specifically said: “The British government has run out of money because all the money was spent in the good years. " Is this case of blaming the previous government legitimate?
Shakespeare: The chancellor’s statement is a stark admission that the present economic and financial model is finished, and that he has no way to correct it. It is not that the government’s debt is roughly 75 percent of GDP is overly high; it is that all the debt in the UK at 500 percent of GDP is out of control. At the same time, he should then open up an interest free supply administered by the banks for the spreading of the real economy to every person in society. BBC Speechless As Trader Alessio Rastani Tells Truth, Collapse Coming, Goldman Rules World. Obama Signs NDAA Martial Law. Obama Justifies FEMA imprisonment of civilians! Bigger Brother: Total surveillance comes to UK. UK to close borders, evacuate expats if euro collapses. Bedworth 'suicide pact' couple found lying side-by-side. We're back at 7am That’s the end of our live blog for today but we’ll be back to guide you through rush hour tomorrow from 7am, goodbye!
More » M42 accident One lane’s blocked and traffic’s slow due to an accident on the M42 Southbound. More » M1 lane closed One lane’s closed and traffic’s queueing because of a broken down lorry on the M1 Northbound. More » M6 problems One lane’s blocked and traffic’s slow due to a broken down vehicle on the M6 Northbound between J4A M42 and J5 A452 (Castle Bromwich). More » Road blocked In Leamington, Dormer Place is blocked in both directions after an accident at the B4087 Parade. More » Welcome back to our live blog, where we’ll be posting traffic updates throughout rush hour. More » M6 delays continue northbound and southbound following accidents Major delays continue on the M6 northbound this morning from Junction 2 up to Junction 3a for Coleshill following an accident earlier this morning involving a number of vehicles.
More » Delays near Moreton Morrell More » Eric Holt Gimenez: We Already Grow Enough Food For 10 Billion People -- and Still Can't End Hunger. A new a study from McGill University and the University of Minnesota published in the journal Nature compared organic and conventional yields from 66 studies and over 300 trials. Researchers found that on average, conventional systems out-yielded organic farms by 25 percent — mostly for grains, and depending on conditions. Embracing the current conventional wisdom, the authors argue for a combination of conventional and organic farming to meet “the twin challenge of feeding a growing population, with rising demand for meat and high-calorie diets, while simultaneously minimizing its global environmental impacts.” Unfortunately, neither the study nor the conventional wisdom addresses the real cause of hunger. Hunger is caused by poverty and inequality, not scarcity. For the past two decades, the rate of global food production has increased faster than the rate of global population growth.
The world already produces more than 1 ½ times enough food to feed everyone on the planet. Moody's: Greece has defaulted. 22 Signs That The Collapsing Spanish Economy Is Heading Into A Great Depression. What happens when debt-fueled false prosperity disappears? Just look at Spain. The 4th largest economy in the eurozone was riding high during the boom years, but now the Spanish economy is collapsing with no end in sight. When a debt bubble gets interrupted, the consequences can be rather chaotic. Just like we saw in Greece, austerity is causing the economy to slow down in Spain. But when the economy slows down, tax revenues fall and that makes it even more difficult to meet budget targets.
So just how bad are things in Spain at this point? The following are 22 signs that the collapsing Spanish economy is heading into a great depression.... #1 The unemployment rate in Spain has reached 24.4 percent - a new all-time record high. . #2 The unemployment rate in Spain is now higher than the U.S. unemployment rate was during any point during the Great Depression of the 1930s. #3 According to CNBC, some analysts are projecting that the unemployment rate in Spain is going to go above 30 percent.
Using Fake Intelligence to Justify War on Iran. Washington is in the process of concocting a new string of lies pertaining to Iran’s nuclear program with a view to justifying the implementation of punitive bombings. Threats directed against Iran have been ongoing for the last eight years. Fake intelligence has been used to justify these threats. There are indications, however, that this time the Western military alliance is not “crying wolf”.
In the wake of the war on Libya, the implementation of an air campaign against Iran is currently on the drawingboard of the Pentagon. The operation, were it to be carried out, would involve the active participation of Britain and Israel. The criminal process of fabricating lies to justify a military agenda must be understood. Without the lie, the US-NATO Israel military alliance has no leg to stand on. The antiwar movement must forcefully address the role of these lies and fabrications. Without the Lie, the military agenda has no legitimacy in the eyes of public opinion. How stupid!