Pentagon doesnt care its shut down or not.. Still spend $5billion on Weapons

It has been over a day since the infamous “government shutdown” went into effect, and as expected the world continued to turn.  In fact as Reason.com pointed out about 4.1 million people who work for the federal government, about 80% will still be expected to show up for work.[1]

Another thing that people forget, and that the mainstream media fails to mention is that this same government shutdown scenario has happened 18 times since 1976.[2]

Unfortunately, all of the things that we hate most about the government are still taking place despite the shutdown.  Cops are still roaming the streets harassing people, the IRS is still sending out bills, and the military continues to kill people.  To prepare for the government shutdown, the pentagon spent $5 billion on weapons, just on the day before the shutdown went into effect.

According to Foreign Policy the Pentagon awarded 94 contracts yesterday evening on its annual end-of-the-fiscal-year spending spree, spending more than five billion dollars on everything from robot submarines to Finnish hand grenades and a radar base mounted on an offshore oil platform. To put things in perspective, the Pentagon gave out only 14 contracts on September 3, the first workday of the month.[3]

Sources:

[1] Approximately 80% of Federal Employees Are Still At Work -Reason

[2] Government Has Shut Down 18 Times Since 1976 – Washingtons Blog

[3] Pentagon Spent $5 Billion on Weapons on the Eve of the Shutdown - Foreign Policy

Technology In 2013: Korean tech giants Samsung expects record Q3 profit.

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it expected to post a record operating profit of 10.1 trillion won ($9.4 billion) in the third quarter of this year.

The estimate represents a 25 percent increase from a revised operating profit of 8.06 trillion won a year earlier, said the world’s top maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-panel TVs.

Samsung, the world’s largest technology firm by revenue, was giving earnings guidance before official results later this month.

The estimate marks a 6.0 percent rise from the previous quarter, when the tech behemoth posted an operating profit of 9.53 trillion won on the back of robust sales of its flagship Galaxy 3 smartphone and higher chip prices.

Sales in the July-September period were expected to reach 59 trillion won, up 13 percent from the same period last year.

The company did not provide a net profit estimate in the earnings guidance or a breakdown of figures for each of its business units.

New Research..Scientists Discover Super-Earth with Plasma Water

In recent years, astronomers have discovered a host of strange worlds—they discovered a planet that has a year that is only 4 Earth-hours long, and another that seems to be made almost entirely of diamond. Now, we have another strange planet to add to this list: Gliese 1214 b. This alien planet is nearly six times the size of the Earth, which means that the planet finds itself somewhere between the Earth and our solar system’s ice giants (Uranus and Neptune) in size. What’s more, it is covered with a water-rich atmosphere. That sounds promising, doesn’t it? At first glance, maybe. It is a huge planet with an abundance of water; however, this planet seems to include a strange “plasma form” of water.

Ultimately, it is the high temperature and density of the planet that gives it an atmosphere that is so dramatically different from the atmosphere found on Earth. For starters, Gliese 1214 b orbits its star once every 38 hours, making it 70 times closer than Earth is to the Sun. Since it is so close, the temperatures on the planet reach up to 540 degrees Fahrenheit (280 degrees Celsius), which is a little warm for most all Earth-based life.

The size of the planet is the next thing that contributes to the exotic form of water. Principle investigator Norio Narita  notes that, “as the temperature and pressure are so high, water is not in a usual form (vapor, liquid, or solid), but in an ionic or plasma form at the bottom the atmosphere — namely the interior — of Gliese 1214 b…..At high pressure and high temperature, the behavior of water is quite different from that on the Earth. At the bottom of the water-rich atmosphere of Gliese 1214 b, water should be a super-critical fluid.”

A supercritical fluid is defined as any substance that exists at a temperature and pressure above its critical point (where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist). Ultimately, this is just another reminder of how strange and amazing our universe is.

Finally Govt is having a serious concerns over this Issue.. Good news..

3G, 4G, LTE up for grabs: Committee decides to offer neutral bands

ISLAMABAD: 

The government has finalised the policy guidelines for auction of the “next generation technology spectrum”, signifying its departure from 3G range while offering a technology neutral band to investors.

Headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, an Advisory Committee on Auction of telecom spectrum discussed at length the recommendations submitted by the Ministry of Information Technology regarding policy directives to introduce next generation mobile services in Pakistan.

After due consideration, the committee finalised the ecommendations for approval of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rahman Ahmad, after the advisory committee meeting.

It was the first meeting of the advisory committee for the auction of next generation telecom spectrums, marking the beginning of a process that had remained controversial in the past. The previous Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government too had approved a policy directive, and even issued an information memorandum and auction calendar, but the process became controversial.

The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) government had included Rs120 billion as non-tax revenue income on the account of auction of 3G licences in the Federal Budget 2013-14 and wants to complete the process before the close of the current financial year on June 30, 2014.

In a significant policy shift, the new government decided to keep the spectrum technology neutral and has named it “next generation technology spectrum”, which offers a range of opportunities to the investors who could provide 3G, 4G or Linear Technology.

The telecom companies had complained about auctioning only 3G spectrum in the past, while arguing that the world has now moved to 4G. However, the counter argument was that the country could fetch more revenues by gradually moving from 3G to 4G spectrum. This was also one of the reasons that made the previous auction bid unsuccessful.

The policy guidelines encourage infrastructure sharing among the players. It was not immediately clear how many licences will be offered for auction. The previous government had offered three licences, where a single player was allowed to buy a maximum of two licences.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is expected to lead the auction process. The government has recently appointed Ismail Shah as the chairman of PTA.

Minister of State for Information Technology Rahman said that the government had made efforts to open the (spectrum) auction for both the existing companies and new entrants in the telecom industry. Out of five, four telecom operators were interested in the auction.

In 2007, the Musharraf government had added a clause in the sale agreement of Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) that barred the country from issuing any spectrum for the next six years. The embargo had expired in March this year.

Rahman said that the issue of determining the base price, preparing the auction plan and the information memorandum were left to international consultants who will be hired to keep the process transparent.

She said the consultants will have the liberty to review the advisory committee-approved policy directives.

In anti-theft drive, LESCO plans to install smart meters

LAHORE: Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) is planning to embark on a drive to replace decades-old electricity meters with smart meters in an attempt to control tempering and theft – the main reasons behind the piling circular debt and increase in tariffs.

In the first phase, Lesco will install smart meters in two circles – fifth circle covering Gulberg, Defence Housing Authority and adjacent posh localities, and seventh circle covering Samanabad, Gulshan Ravi and adjacent areas.

“We believe that cases of meter tempering and power theft are higher in posh areas than middle and low-income localities as the former consume more electricity,” said Abdul Rehman, Director Operations of Lesco, while talking to The Express Tribune.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing funding for the project as installation of smart meters is quite expensive. At present, both USAID and Lesco are conducting a feasibility study, which will determine the project cost.

After assessing results in the first two circles, Lesco will extend its drive to other circles as well, though it may find it tough to replace old meters with efficient ones in all the five districts that it covers.

Recently, the power distributing company installed smart meters as a pilot project in an area of the Walled City named Dehli Gate. It was a small-scale project, but results were encouraging.

“After putting in place smart meters, our losses in Dehli Gate has come down to 7% from the previous 17%,” Rehman said.

The concept of smart meters is not new in Pakistan as power distributing companies including Lesco have installed such meters on few of their feeders to determine how much electricity is generated and consumed.

A smart meter is an electrical meter that records consumption of energy and communicates that information every day to the utility for monitoring and billing.

Such an advanced metering infrastructure differs from traditional automatic meter reading in that it enables two-way communication between the meter and the central system. Unlike home energy monitors, smart meters can gather data for remote reporting.

Rehman believes that updating the meter system will help the company reduce line losses and theft to a satisfactory level.

At present, a special drive against electricity theft is going on and is giving satisfactory results.According to Lesco statistics, data of 6,000 consumers have been examined since July to find cases of meter tempering and theft, of which first information reports have been lodged against only 1,250 consumers and 700 have been arrested.

“The numbers are quite disappointing keeping in view the total 3.5 million consumers of Lesco, meaning data of less than 1% of consumers have been checked so far,” he said.

Manuel Pellegrini eager to establish European pedigree

LONDON: Manuel Pellegrini faces the first major test of his Champions League credentials as Manchester City manager tonight when his side tackles defending champions Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium.

City have been eliminated from the Champions League at the group phase in the past two seasons and one of the reasons why Pellegrini was selected to succeed Roberto Mancini was his track record at the continental level.

Real Madrid went out in the last 16 under Pellegrini’s stewardship in 2010, but he steered modest Villarreal to the semi-finals in 2006 and led Malaga to the quarter-finals last season.

In all-conquering German and European champions Bayern, Pellegrini could not have asked for a more demanding first European home fixture with City.

However, having worked in Spain for the duration of Bayern coach Pep Guardiola’s spectacular four-year tenure at Barcelona, the 60-year-old Chilean believes he knows how to get the better of him.

“It is very difficult at this moment to improve with Bayern because they won the last three competitions, but he (Guardiola) will find a way because he is a very good manager,” said Pellegrini.

“He knows the way we play, so he will try different things. But we know things about Guardiola, too. I lived in Spain nine years so I know exactly the way Guardiola plays.”

Both teams opened their Group D campaigns with 3-0 victories, Bayern overwhelming CSKA Moscow at the Allianz Arena and City scoring three second-half goals away to Czech champions Viktoria Pilsen.

Pellegrini will hope to recall David Silva and Sergio Aguero after both players missed the trip to Villa Park through injury.

Giggs on brink of Champions League record

Manchester United’s poor start to the season has left the club reeling and new boss David Moyes under scrutiny but Ryan Giggs will offer a reassuring presence when he reports for Champions League duty in Ukraine this week.

Should Moyes turn to the evergreen midfielder tonight against Shakhtar Donetsk, Giggs will register a record 145th appearance in Europe’s premier competition (including qualifiers), moving him ahead of former Real Madrid striker Raul in the appearance list.

Giggs, who won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues under former manager Alex Ferguson, is now part of Moyes’s coaching staff but has plenty to offer on the pitch.

“Really? Wow. I didn’t know that,” was Giggs’s reaction in an interview on the club’s website when told of the milestone.

“It’s a great competition and I’ve been lucky enough to win it twice and play a lot of memorable matches.

“There have been so many great players to have graced the tournament and Raul is up there as one of the very best — he has a great goal-scoring record and he’s won it three times.

“If I do pass him it will be a great source of pride for me.”

World population to shoot up to 9.7 billion in 2050: Study

PARIS: The world’s population will rise to 9.7 billion in 2050 from the current level of 7.1 billion and India will overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, a French study said Wednesday.

A bi-annual report by the French Institute of Demographic Studies (Ined) projected there would be 10 to 11 billion people on the planet by the end of the century.

The projections ran parallel to forecasts by the United Nations, the World Bank and other prominent national institutes.

A UN study in June said the global population would swell to 9.6 billion in 2050 and the number of people aged 60 and above would catapult from 841 million now to two billion in 2050 and nearly three billion in 2100.

Ined said Africa would be home to a quarter of the world’s population in 2050 with 2.5 billion people, more than double the current level of 1.1 billion.

Gilles Pison, the author of the report, said the prevailing fertility rate in Africa was around 4.8 children per woman – far higher than the global average of 2.5.

The Americas will breach the one-billion mark in 2050 with 1.2 billion inhabitants against 958 million at present.

And Asia’s population will increase from 4.3 billion to 5.2 billion in 2050, Ined forecast.

The world’s most populous nations are currently China with 1.3 billion people; followed by India (1.2 billion); the United States (316.2 million); Indonesia (248.5 million) and Brazil (195.5 million).

But in 2050, India will take pole position with 1.6 billion people with China in second place at 1.3 billion.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, will outstrip the United States with a population of 444 million against a projected 400 million Americans in the middle of the century.