Posts by fulltimestudent

17

Russia and China to Build a Huge New Port south of Vladivostock

by fulltimestudent in

from: business insider, australia.

beijing (afp) china and russia will build one of the largest ports in northeast asia on russias sea of japan coast, reports said, in a further sign of the powerhouses growing alliance.. the seaport is expected to be able to handle some 60 million tonnes of cargo a year, chinas state-run peoples daily online reported late wednesday comparable to britains busiest port immingham or le havre in france, according to european commission statistics.. the new facility will be located in far eastern russia, just 18 kilometres (11 miles) away from the chinese border.

the region is also close to north korea.. chinese and russian leaders inked a deal on the port at mays conference on interaction and confidence building measures in asia (cica) in shanghai, the report said.. the move represents the latest step by beijing and moscow to boost their energy and infrastructure ties.. resource-hungry china is seeking to diversify its sources of energy amid booming domestic consumption, while russia at odds with the west over its annexation of ukraines crimea peninsula is seeking to refocus its gas and oil exports towards asia.. the same report spoke of the commencement of construction of the gas pipeline from yakutsk to china.

fulltimestudent

In the Chinese newspapers today, an announcement that as part of a Ten billion dollar linked to the huge energy deal of last May, China will build a 400 km/hour rail link between Moscow and Kazan, a city on the Volga (approx, 770 km distance) reducing travel time from 13 hours to less than 4.

It is planned that this will be the first stage of an eventual high speed link between Moscow and Beijing, and perhaps further into south Korea.

Premier Li Keqiang talks to the media at a joint news conference with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry

Medvedev in Moscow on Monday. [Rao Aimin / Xinhua]

High-speed rail part of deals worth $10b
(China Daily) 07:11, October 14, 2014

China will take a decisive stake in the next stage of Russia's transportation development,with Chinese companies building the country's first high-speed rail line. The agreementformed part of joint deals worth $10 billion being signed on Monday.

Chinese firms and their Russian partners will hold talks on design, financing, supplyingfacilities and construction of a 770-km high-speed line connecting Moscow and Kazan, animportant metropolis on the Volga River.

This was one of 39 agreements being signed after Premier Li Keqiang and Russian PrimeMinister Dmitry Medvedev met for the 19th Regular Prime Ministers' Meetings.

Under the Russian plan, the line will form the initial section of a railway stretching toBeijing, with completion scheduled for 2018 in time for the World Cup soccer finals inRussia. Kazan is one of the host cities.

Trains on the line will reach speeds of up to 400 km/h, shortening the traveling timebetween the two cities from 13 hours to three and a half, according

to the Moscow Timesnewspaper.

Under other agreements being signed on Monday, the State Grid Corp of China will help to upgrade Russia's electricity network.

Details of the support measures, technical terms and legal protection were also settledregarding a $400 billion cooperation project to transport natural

gas from Russia to China.

A currency swap agreement was signed, allowing businesspeople to make direct settlementin the renminbi and rouble to prevent losses from an easing of the US dollar.

Margarete Klein, a researcher on Eastern Europe and Eurasia at the German Institute forInternational and Security Affairs, a think tank in Berlin, said Moscow is willing to workhard to achieve breakthroughs in large cooperation projects with Beijing.

This is because it wants to demonstrate that Russia is not isolated and, against thebackdrop of EU sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine.

Yang Hao, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University who researches rail transportationmanagement, said China has advanced technology and valuable experience in railwayconstruction and operations. Beijing is willing to export these, while Moscow wants to improve rail services and upgrade infrastructure.

Yang said the two countries have a track record of rail cooperation dating to the 1950s,when China introduced technology, engineers and manuals from the former Soviet Union to build its own rail network. However, cooperation was sidelined in the 1960s as relations chilled. "Now is the time to reinvigorate this cooperation, as both governments wish,"Yang said.

But such cooperation must first overcome a disparity in track gauges between the two countries, Yang said.

"It will not be easy for Chinese companies to design or build Russian rail lines, becausethey will have to adapt to wide tracks and must make many changes to trains andequipment," Yang said.

Gauri Khandekar, a researcher at Agora Asia-Europe, a knowledge hub on EU-Asiarelations in the Brussels office of FRIDE, a European think tank, said more high-techproducts will be exported by China, which has made significant technological advances.

Khandekar cited high-speed trains as an "impressive example".

5

Catholic Church Changing its Mind on Gay People

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

miracles still happen, eh?.

centuries of misrepresentation and persecution of gay people may be about to end, as far as the catholic church is concerned.. more than 200 bishops have been taking part in the synod since 5 october.

it was convened by pope francis to debate abortion, contraception, homosexuality and divorce.. monday's report, issued half-way through the two-week meeting, said:.

fulltimestudent

Miracles still happen, eh?

Centuries of misrepresentation and persecution of gay people may be about to end, as far as the Catholic church is concerned.

More than 200 bishops have been taking part in the synod since 5 October. It was convened by Pope Francis to debate abortion, contraception, homosexuality and divorce.

Monday's report, issued half-way through the two-week meeting, said:

"Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community.

And asked,

"Are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities?"

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29603496

Well done gay guys and girls!! You've fought them to a standstill within 50 years

7

China-Cult Members Sentenced to Death for a Murder

by fulltimestudent in

as reported in the uk independent:.

(and, its the demons who are to blame, as usual).

cult members face execution after guilty verdict for beating woman to death at mcdonald's in china .

fulltimestudent

One more for the road .... (and more flashbacks) - watch it through is you can, its resemblance to our former loving brothers is striking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85oBjPX_YDk

7

China-Cult Members Sentenced to Death for a Murder

by fulltimestudent in

as reported in the uk independent:.

(and, its the demons who are to blame, as usual).

cult members face execution after guilty verdict for beating woman to death at mcdonald's in china .

fulltimestudent

Does this bring back some memories:

Video still from a movie produced by the Church of the Almighty God

and, if arrested because of faith in the Yahweh/Jesus combo god, now returned to earth in the person of the wife of Zhang Weisha, who is the only person (apparently) who can speak for her/him, then be prepared ...

Video still from a movie produced by the Church of the Almighty God

to be arrested and hand-cuffed.

7

China-Cult Members Sentenced to Death for a Murder

by fulltimestudent in

as reported in the uk independent:.

(and, its the demons who are to blame, as usual).

cult members face execution after guilty verdict for beating woman to death at mcdonald's in china .

fulltimestudent

The BBC News report states that when interviewed by the police, one of the accused cult members claimed:

'... one of the murderers, Zhang Lidong, showed no remorse and no fear. He said:

"I beat her with all my might and stamped on her too. She was a demon. We had to destroy her."'

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-28641008

---------------------

Pictured in that BBC feature is Wang Jiannan:

Picture of Wang Jiannan at his father's tomb

Jiannan's mother and sister joined the cult 20 years ago, and last year beat his father to death.

On 1 October last year, his sister beat their father to death in a grim forerunner of the McDonald's killing. Like those killers, she saw her victim as a demon who must be destroyed.

She then handed herself into police and is now in prison alongside the McDonald's murderers.

"My sister has committed the crime and must be punished. But I just want my mother to see clearly the damage the cult has done to her family," said Mr Wang.

"I want her to leave and become a normal person. This is my biggest hope."

7

China-Cult Members Sentenced to Death for a Murder

by fulltimestudent in

as reported in the uk independent:.

(and, its the demons who are to blame, as usual).

cult members face execution after guilty verdict for beating woman to death at mcdonald's in china .

fulltimestudent

Thnx to the BBC, I found that there is an English web-site for the Church of Almighty God.

http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/

On opening that web-site my eye was soon caught by this heading:

New Kingdom song- “God Treasure One Who Can Listen to His Word and Obey Him”

A click on that heading led to this youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klknX6I5-io&list=PLpM-3lQN10LJmzGV5bgtHg1N1mt8ymHQP#t=18

Umm! do you think our dearly loved brothers in Brooklyn (or, wherever the hell they are now) ar doing a bit of moonlighting for the CIA, or whatever American black ops group, is controlling this bit of insanity? Hmmm! on second thoughts, they are probably not bright enough to work it all out.

3

The Best of Times to be Alive - Progress in the Development of Cheaper Solar Cells

by fulltimestudent in

if you have installed solar panels on your roof to generate electricity, you will already know that solar power holds a promise of cheaper electric power, without the pollution caused by burning carbon fuels.

one difficulty to date has been, that solar cells only work in day time, which means you have to be able to store the power.

now a new solar cell stores its own power.. a team at ohio state university led by professor yiying wu, and assisted by mingzhe yu, xiaodi ren, lu ma, yiying wu, has invented a solar battery:.

fulltimestudent

If you have installed solar panels on your roof to generate electricity, you will already know that solar power holds a promise of cheaper electric power, without the pollution caused by burning carbon fuels. One difficulty to date has been, that solar cells only work in day time, which means you have to be able to store the power. Now a new solar cell stores its own power.

A team at Ohio State University led by Professor Yiying Wu, and assisted by Mingzhe Yu, Xiaodi Ren, Lu Ma, Yiying Wu, has invented a solar battery:

Researchers at The Ohio State University have invented a solar battery -- a combination solar cell and battery -- which recharges itself using air and light. The design required a solar panel which captured light, but admitted air to the battery. Here, scanning electron microscope images show the solution: nanometer-sized rods of titanium dioxide (larger image) which cover the surface of a piece of titanium gauze (inset). The holes in the gauze are approximately 200 micrometers across, allowing air to enter the battery while the rods gather light.

Credit: Yiying Wu, The Ohio State University An extract from the Science Daily report ( http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141003064336.htm ) describes the new process:

The mesh solar panel forms the first electrode. Beneath, the researchers placed a thin sheet of porous carbon (the second electrode) and a lithium plate (the third electrode). Between the electrodes, they sandwiched layers of electrolyte to carry electrons back and forth.

Here's how the solar battery works: during charging, light hits the mesh solar panel and creates electrons. Inside the battery, electrons are involved in the chemical decomposition of lithium peroxide into lithium ions and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the air, and the lithium ions are stored in the battery as lithium metal after capturing the electrons.

When the battery discharges, it chemically consumes oxygen from the air to re-form the lithium peroxide.

An iodide additive in the electrolyte acts as a "shuttle" that carries electrons, and transports them between the battery electrode and the mesh solar panel. The use of the additive represents a distinct approach on improving the battery performance and efficiency, the team said.

The mesh belongs to a class of devices called dye-sensitized solar cells, because the researchers used a red dye to tune the wavelength of light it captures.

In tests, they charged and discharged the battery repeatedly, while doctoral student Lu Ma used X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to analyze how well the electrode materials survived -- an indication of battery life.

First they used a ruthenium compound as the red dye, but since the dye was consumed in the light capture, the battery ran out of dye after eight hours of charging and discharging -- too short a lifetime. So they turned to a dark red semiconductor that wouldn't be consumed: hematite, or iron oxide -- more commonly called rust.

Coating the mesh with rust enabled the battery to charge from sunlight while retaining its red color. Based on early tests, Wu and his team think that the solar battery's lifetime will be comparable to rechargeable batteries already on the market.

The U.S. Department of Energy funds this project, which will continue as the researchers explore ways to enhance the solar battery's performance with new materials.

A Academic account (for those interested) can be found at:

Mingzhe Yu, Xiaodi Ren, Lu Ma, Yiying Wu. Integrating a redox-coupled dye-sensitized photoelectrode into a lithium–oxygen battery for photoassisted charging. Nature Communications, 2014; 5: 5111 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6111

4

Where and How HIV infections (Aids) spread to Humans

by fulltimestudent in

from the time that hiv infections came to the notice of the medical community, scientists have been attempting to trace its origins.. .

an electron microscope scan of a huv-1 virion budding from a cultured lymphocyte.

if the above process was occurring in your body, you would be in for a lot of problems.. the latest research conclusions are that the first cases occurred around the year 1920, in the african city of kinshasa, now captital of the democratic republic of congo.. scientists have been able to track at least 13 transmissions from apes to humans, but only one transmision involved the hiv-1 virus group that has resulted in some 75 million human infections to this time.. the team of scientists involved in this study see the following factors being involved in the development of the pandemic.

fulltimestudent

From the time that HIV infections came to the notice of the medical community, scientists have been attempting to trace its origins.

An electron microscope scan of a HUV-1 virion budding from a cultured lymphocyte

If the above process was occurring in your body, you would be in for a lot of problems.

The latest research conclusions are that the first cases occurred around the year 1920, in the African city of Kinshasa, now captital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Scientists have been able to track at least 13 transmissions from apes to humans, but only one transmision involved the HIV-1 virus group that has resulted in some 75 million human infections to this time.

The team of scientists involved in this study see the following factors being involved in the development of the pandemic. Between the 1920s and 1930s, there were more human mobility due to new railway networks (during the Belgian colonial rule), people moved to cities away from traditional life, and most importantly for this virus, a mobile population, living in new cities, led to a more dynamic sex trade (think, more prostitution) and eventually to someone near you dying from Aids.

The full story of the research conducted at the University of Oxford,

can be read at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141002141759.htm

7

Who is running North Korea?

by fulltimestudent in

kim jong un has not been seen in public for over a month.

and that has lead to all sorts of speculation.. has he had a stroke?

maybe, he is clearly obese.. last time he was seen he was limping.

fulltimestudent

Band on the Run: Well, fts, you are in Asia, what do you think is happening?

When it comes to NK, I should know better than to attempt to comment (grin).

However, for you, I make an exception.

The fact that KJU sems to have missed an important (spiritual) ceremony that clearly defines the succession looks like being an indication that, whatever is the cause of his absence from public life, it is more serious than any desire to have a break.

So what could be serious? Well, yes, a political problem could be serious. In the west the Kim's are viewed as dictators. Yes, OK, but they are still the servants of the party. How it works in practise is difficult to know at times, but the power of KJU is not absolute. So he could be in trouble politically for some reason.

But more likely, IMHO, is sickness. A heart problem, or a stroke could be the problem. When his father died, there was a brief hiatus in which no-one in authority said anything about the death. I think that if KJU has a serious health problem, then that could explain the silence surrounding his absence from public life.

But, it may turn out (as I commented before) to be his need to have a break from almost daily appearances in public, giving advice on all kinds of matters, that in reality he knows nothing about. It must be absolutely boring.

Just wait and see. But keep it in balance, whatever NK is or is not, the non-appearance of KJU is not nearly as serious as the disappearance of a certain Barack Obama would be - (another grin)

7

China-Cult Members Sentenced to Death for a Murder

by fulltimestudent in

as reported in the uk independent:.

(and, its the demons who are to blame, as usual).

cult members face execution after guilty verdict for beating woman to death at mcdonald's in china .

fulltimestudent

As reported in the UK Independent:

(and, its the demons who are to blame, as usual)

Cult members face execution after guilty verdict for beating woman to death at McDonald's in China

Victim attacked with mops and chairs while customers told not to intervene FREDDY MAYHEW

Saturday 11 October 2014

Two members of a radical religious cult who beat a woman to death in a McDonald’s restaurant after she refused to join them will be executed under a court order.

Zhang Fan, 29, and her father Zhang Lidon, 55, were given the death sentence on Saturday, following trial at the Yantai Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong, eastern China, state media have reported.

Both are members of the banned “All-powerful Spirit” cult in China, also known as the Church of Almighty God, which believes Jesus has been resurrected as a Chinese woman who is also the founder’s wife.

Together with three fellow cult members they were found guilty of murdering 37-year-old Wu Shuoyan who they claimed was an “evil spirit” after she allegedly refused to give them her telephone number.

They attacked her with mops and chairs before stamping on her during the attack at a fast food outlet in Zhaoyuan, Shandong province, on May 28.

Lu Yingchun, 39, another member of the murderous gang, was handed a life sentence while two others, Zhang Hang and Zhang Qiaolian, received 10 and seven years respectively. All three also faced cult related charges.

It is understood a 12-year-old was also tried in relation to the murder in a separate court, although more details have yet to emerge.

The attack was dubbed “extremely cruel” by court officials after they heard the five-strong gang had forbidden anyone in the fast food restaurant from intervening to stop the violent attack.

During the trial, which began in August, Fan, Lidon and Yingchun told the court they had acted in self-defence after they were attacked by the “demon’s supernatural powers”.

All death sentences handed out by trial courts must be reviewed by China’s supreme court.

The cult was banned by in China after it called for a battle to defeat the “Red Dragon” – referring to the ruling communist party. It is one of 14 cults that have been listed as illegal in the country.

Also known as the Quannengshen group, its founder Zhao Weisha is understood to have fled to the United States of America in September 2000.

Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters

Reference: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cult-members-face-execution-after-guilty-verdict-for-beating-woman-to-death-at-mcdonalds-in-china-9788808.html