105663178
submission
reporter writes:
According to a report by The Economist, "An analysis of 17.2m papers in 2013-18, by Nikkei, a Japanese publisher, and Elsevier, a scientific publisher, found that more came from China than from any other country in 23 of the 30 busiest fields, such as sodium-ion batteries and neuron-activation analysis. The quality of American research has remained higher, but China has been catching up, accounting for 11% of the most influential papers in 2014-16.
Such is the pressure on Chinese scientists to make breakthroughs that some put ends before means. Last year He Jiankui, an academic from Shenzhen, edited the genomes of embryos without proper regard for their post-partum welfare — or that of any children they might go on to have. Chinese artificial-intelligence (AI) researchers are thought to train their algorithms on data harvested from Chinese citizens with little oversight. In 2007 China tested a space-weapon on one of its weather satellites, littering orbits with lethal space debris. Intellectual-property theft is rampant."
105565750
submission
reporter writes:
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Company are metaphors for Japan and the United States, respectively. Japanese disasters are due to unethical behavior. American disasters are due to incompetence or unethical behavior.
The engineers at TEPCO sacrificed safety in order to reduce costs in building the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It melted down after an earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
According to a report by "The Economist", "PG&E's record includes alleged errors that are large: last month California's utility regulator charged it with falsifying safety data for its pipelines for five years, from 2012 to 2017. But the company's deadliest problems seem to have stemmed from its basic electricity equipment. Last year the state's fire investigators reported that PG&E's poles and power lines were responsible for sparking deadly blazes in northern California in 2017 — in most instances, trees fell on power lines. They are still investigating whether PG&E caused the two most fatal fires in California’s history: one which devastated Sonoma and Napa counties in 2017 and the other which killed 86 people in November.
PG&E ... faces billions of dollars of liabilities over its possible role in starting the wildfires that have ravaged California with increasing frequency. Damages, legal fees and other costs from fires over the past two years may reach up to $29bn, estimates Goldman Sachs, a bank. That sum, which far exceeds the company’s $17bn in operating revenue in 2017, would be hard enough for PG&E to bear if it were an aberration. In fact, wildfire costs look set to become the norm."
105547578
submission
reporter writes:
According to a report by CNN, "Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced in November that he had created the first gene-edited babies, twin girls whose DNA had been edited using the CRISPR-Cas9 tool to protect them from HIV. ... [Robin Lovell-Badge of the UK research facility the Francis Crick Institute described He Jiankui] as a rich physicist who knew little biology, with a huge ego, someone who wants to be the first to do something he believes will change the world, irrespective of any guidelines. ... He did not know enough about the mutation he was trying to introduce into the babies — known as Delta 32 — which was intended to protect the girls from HIV but could also increase the risk of West Nile virus and influenza, previous research had shown.
Lovell-Badge believes that He will be punished and locked up or fined as Chinese authorities conclude their investigation and that many people involved will lose their jobs. He also fears for the future of the babies, who may have their fate, and future reproduction, controlled."
The type of gene therapy that He Jiankui used on the twin girls is germline. The genetic changes will be passed on to the descendants of these girls. (The other type of gene therapy is somatic. The genetic changes are not passed on to the next generation.)
If He damaged the DNA of these girls, their descendants will inherit the damage. Hence, Beijing may sterilize the twins.
He Jiankui studied genetic engineering and medical ethics at Rice University. He and his alma mater should pay restitution to these twin girls.
105515210
submission
reporter writes:
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reviews foreign investments in American companies. Foreign investors must notify the CFIUS of any investment in critical technologies like artificial intelligence, logistics technology, robotics, and data analytics.
The CFIUS also reviews attempts by foreigners to purchase minority stakes in U.S. startups in Silicon Valley.
According to a report published by Reuters, "CFIUS is emerging as another powerful cudgel. Led by the U.S. Treasury, it includes members from eight other government entities, including the departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security. The secretive committee does not disclose much about the deals it reviews. But its most recent annual report said Chinese investors made 74 CFIUS filings from 2013 to 2015, the most of any nation."
Although Chinese investors have received the most scrutiny from the CFIUS, the CFIUS should also scrutinize Indian investors. Both China and India threaten the West.
105476588
submission
reporter writes:
According to NPR, Pacific Gas & Electric is exploring ways to cover the liability costs of the wildfires that its defective equipment created.
"Internally, Pacific Gas & Electric has dubbed this strategy 'Project Falcon.' Under the plan, the company would sell its natural gas division this spring. After years of deadly errors and safety violations, the utility giant is looking for ways to cover liability costs and avoid bankruptcy, a senior company official and a former employee with knowledge of the plan tell NPR."
Notably missing from the deliberations is how senior management will avoid incarceration.
105410370
submission
reporter writes:
An analysis published by Quartz explains how American automobile manufacturing declined over the past 50 years.
"Coupled with the slumping small-car sales, that's why GM's announcement in November 2018 that it would end production of the Cruze and most of its other sedans was not particularly surprising. Indeed, GM's not alone: Ford announced the end of new sedan production for the US market last spring, and Fiat Chrysler threw in the towel on US passenger car production in 2016."
The new "Big Three" of passenger-car manufacturing is Honda, Nissan, and Toyota. Honda produces the Accord and the Civic. Nissan produces the Altima and the Sentra. Toyota produces the Camry and the Corolla. The Accord, the Civic, the Altima, the Camry, and the Corolla are "Made in the United States".
105389756
submission
reporter writes:
The Japanese still believe that the group is more important than the individual. Individualism in the form of, say, personal greed is not tolerated.
In 2017, Carlos Ghosn (the chairman of Nissan) received a salary of $16.9 million: $8.4 million from Renault, $6.5 million from Nissan, and $2 million from Mitsubishi. Ghosn's salary was almost 11 times the salary of the chairman of Toyota.
The personal greed of Ghosn eventually caused the employees of Nissan to turn against him. Nissan went to Japanese prosecutors with allegations that Ghosn had under-reported his income from 2009 to 2017. On November 19, the police arrested Ghosn.Link to Original Source
105329488
submission
reporter writes:
According to a report by NPR, "the former chairman and two vice presidents of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. should spend five years in prison over the 2011 flooding and meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Japanese prosecutors say, accusing the executives of failing to prevent a foreseeable catastrophe."
18289972
submission
reporter writes:
According to a report just published by "The Washington Post", "The White House and foreign ministries across Europe had decried Monday's [court] verdict [against Mikhail Khodorkovsky] as raising questions about the Kremlin's commitment to boosting the rule of law and judicial independence and said it was an example of selective justice." Upon direct orders from dictator Vladimir Putin, the Russian "legal" system is brutalizing Khodorkovsky. In 2003, Khodorkovsky dared to use his wealth and his influence to support the democratic political forces in Russia. The ruling elite, including Putin, reacted violently; they arrested Khodorkovsky and threw him into prison for 8 hears. He was due to be released in 2011, but the latest verdict by a Russian court may have extended the period of his incarceration to 2017.
The report just published by the "Christian Science Monitor" offers another view of this travesty of justice.
18262706
submission
reporter writes:
According to a report just published by the "Wall Street Journal", "A Moscow court Monday found tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky guilty of embezzling and laundering billions of dollars worth of oil from OAO Yukos, the company he once controlled, confirming widely held expectations of a conviction in a case that has come to define the rule of Vladimir Putin.". This "legal" judgment is the latest attempt by the Kremlin to silence Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
His legal troubles began when he used his wealth and influence to support the liberal political forces in Russia. Putin warned him to back off from politics, but Khodorkovsky ignored the warning. So, in 2003, the Kremlin arrested his partner, Platon Lebedev. Still, Khodorkovsky continued to dabble in politics. The Kremlin responded by arresting Khodorkovsky himself, and a Russian court then sentenced him to 8 years in prison. Before today's court ruling against him, he would have been released from prison in 2011. Today's ruling means that he will likely stay in prison until 2017.
The report just published by the BBC offers another view of this matter.
17447432
submission
reporter writes:
With the recent attempted murder of Oleg Kashin, we should examine the recent history of fatal journalism in and around Russia. A summary of the recent bloody history of Russian journalism appears at the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and was written by Fatima Tlisova.
Freedom of the press and the safety of journalists should have special meaning for Slashdot and its many readers, for freedom of the press is the very reason that Slashdot can exist in the West.
What can Slashdotters do to help journalists in and around Russia?
17391894
submission
reporter writes:
Russia is one of the most dangerous countries in which a journalist can work. Consider the case of Oleg Kashin. According to a report just published by "Foreign Policy", " the paramedics reached 30-year-old journalist Oleg Kashin Saturday morning at 12:40 a.m. He was lying outside the door to his apartment building in central Moscow, his face bloodied, his legs mangled, the ground covered in blood. 'He showed his hand to the doctor so he could see it was all broken,' a neighbor told TV reporters. The toll, tallied by various news sources, was chilling: two broken jaws, one broken leg, a fractured skull at the temple and a heavy concussion, blood in the lungs, fingers partially torn off at the joints, one of them later amputated. By the time Moscow woke up to the news on Saturday, Kashin was already in an artificially induced coma.
At Kommersant, the newspaper where Kashin works, no one doubted that the attack was related to his journalism. 'The thing that bothers me is that at the moment of the beating, they broke his fingers,' the editor in chief said in a radio interview. 'It is completely obvious that the people who did this did not like what he was saying and what he was writing.' Kashin's iPhone, wallet, and other personal belongings remained on his person, untouched. "
The "New York Times" has also published a report of this horrific crime.
Dmitri A. Medvedev has ordered Russia’s general prosecutor and interior minister to supervise the investigation of this crime.
How can Slashdot help to bring the criminals to justice? Buddha be with Oleg Kashin as he barely hangs onto life.
12783794
submission
reporter writes:
According to a report
by the "Wall Street Journal", a report
by "guardian.co.uk", and a report
by "Times Online", Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (HHPIC) is the dominant player
in the market for contract manufacturing. HHPIC's customers include
numerous tech giants: Apple, Dell, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard (HP), Dell, etc.
Part of the reason for this success is the tremendous pressure that
management places on its employees. They typically work more than 10
hours per day for six days per week and for low wages.
This brutal environment eventually drove 11 workers to attempt suicide by
jumping off the upper floors of an office building. Of the 11 attempts,
9 succeeded.
The only silver lining in these grim facts is that Western companies like
Apple, Dell, and HP have begun to investigate the ill treatment of
employees at HHPIC. These Western companies are driven by
Western values and have signed pledges to discontinue using
any supplier who violates Western ethical standards.
By contrast, the companies which are headquartered in Asia and which
use HHPIC as a contractor have not made any attempt to ensure that
HHPIC treats its employees with compassion. Asian companies do
not give a damn about either workers' rights or, in general, human rights.
10932022
submission
reporter writes:
About four hours ago, two women wearing belts loaded with explosives walked into two subway stations — the Lubyanka station and the Park Kultury station — in Moscow and detonated the belts. Twenty-two people died at the former station, and 12 died at the latter. Both stations are near the heardquarters of the Federal Security Service, the successor to the K.G.B. "Moscow's red Sokolnicheskaya line, where the first explosion occurred, is used by members of Russia's security service to get to work."
The news wires are lighting up with this story. See the reports at "Times Online", "The New York Times", "Telegraph.co.uk", and "guardian.co.uk"
10863932
submission
reporter writes:
According to a news article just published by the "New York Times" (NYT), Washington and the Kremlin have finalized an agreement on limiting nuclear weapons and related hardware. Notably, the agreement does not restrict American development of an anti-missile shield.
The NYT reports, "The new treaty will reduce the binding limit on deployed strategic nuclear warheads by more than one-quarter, and on launchers by half. It will reestablish an inspection and verification regime, replacing one that expired in December. But while the pact recognizes the dispute between the two countries over American plans for missile defense based in Europe, it will not restrict the United States from building such a shield. ... The specific arms reductions embedded in the new treaty amount to a continuing evolution rather than a radical shift in the nuclear postures of both countries. According to people in Washington and Moscow who were briefed on the new treaty, it will lower the legal limit on deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 each, from the 2,200 allowed as of 2012 under the previous treaty. It would lower the limit on launchers to 800 from the 1,600 now permitted. Nuclear-armed missiles and heavy bombers would be capped at 700 each."
