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Eager not to be forgotten as a claimant in the South China Sea, as it was in July when China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed to confidence-building guidelines, Taiwan plans to set up an ocean research center and share its findings with others. …
Full article: Taiwan makes environmental push in disputed South China Sea

“It would be some consolation for the feebleness of our selves and our works if all things should perish as slowly as they come into being; but as it is, increases are of sluggish growth, but the way to ruin is rapid.” Lucius Anneaus Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, n. 91 Original article Don’t you stumble, sometimes, into something that seems to make a lot of sense but you can’t say exactly why? For a long time, I had in mind the idea that when things start going bad, they tend to go bad fast. We might call this tendency the “Seneca effect” or the “Seneca cliff,” from Lucius Anneaus Seneca who wrote that “increases are of sluggish growth, but the way to ruin is rapid.” Could it be that the Seneca cliff is what we are facing, right now? If that is the case, then we are in trouble. With oil production peaking or set to peak soon, it is hard to think that we are going to see a gentle downward slope of the economy. Rather, we may see a decline so fast that we can only call it “collapse.” The symptoms are all…
Full article: The Seneca Effect: Why Decline Is Faster Than Growth

Today we

Nothing in politics is certain. But history offers some guides to what we can expect from the Egyptian revolution. First, revolutions are highly contagious, although the speed at which they spread varies. The American revolution of 1776 inspired the French to revolt 13 years later. In the single year of 1848, some 50 peoples across Europe rose in rebellion. Over the course of roughly a decade from the late 1970s to late 1980s, one country after another in Latin America sloughed off dictatorship for democracy. In 1989, Communism was overthrown in every outpost of the Soviet empire and then in the Soviet Union itself. The odds are that the upheaval that started in Tunis (or perhaps in Iran in 2009) and has spread to Egypt will spread farther. These infections usually travel within regions. Whether it is all at once or over the course of the next few years, no Arab regime can count on being immune, nor can the Iranian mullahs. Second, the odds do not favor happy endings. Many revolutions end in defeat, as did …
Full article: Egypt and the Way of Revolutions

Danica Patrick said Friday she is concerned about traveling to Japan for the Sept. 18 IndyCar race at Twin Ring Motegi….
Full article: Danica concerned about IndyCar race in Japan

Sorry, Dale, Denny, Tony and Ryan. Y’all are pretenders in this Chase. The contenders? The rest of the playoff field, led by five-time defending champ Jimmie Johnson….
Full article: Blount: Chase contenders and pretenders

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Full article: Center of attention - Poll: ‘Switchers’ see a liberal party

photo: Oxfam East Africa/CC BY Some background on one factor contributing to the severity of the famine in the Horn of Africa, from the Center for International Forestry Research: Deforestation CIFOR’s Frances Seymour say, “Forests and trees frequently form the basis of livelihood diversification, risk-minimization and…Read the full story on TreeHugger …
Full article: Deforestation Making Somalia Famine Worse, Forestry Experts Say

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said Monday in Cairo that he is prepared for the worst case scenario with Israel, while Israel scrambles to cover its flanks in a multifront diplomatic crisis. …
Full article: Turkey says it is prepared for possibility of war with Israel