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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 29-Jan-2013
29-Jan-13 World View -- Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi's 'state of emergency' curfew

Web Log - January, 2013

29-Jan-13 World View -- Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi's 'state of emergency' curfew

Iran announces a new finger-amputating machine for thieves

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Iran announces a new finger-amputating machine for thieves
Greek statistics official charged with colluding with EU and IMF
Smog smothers Greece as homeowners burn wood to stay warm
Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi's 'state of emergency' curfew
U.S. military plans to set up drone base in Niger on Mali border

Iran announces a new finger-amputating machine for thieves

Iran's new finger-amputating machine (Fars/ISNA)

Iran's new finger-amputating machine (Fars/ISNA)

Iran's official government news service Fars/Isna has unveiled something that could be out of Edgar Allan Poe's horror stories: A medieval-looking contraption that amputates fingers. Official photos show two masked men, dressed entirely in black, hold a blindfolded man's hand in a vice while another turns a wheel that operators a rotary blade that performs the amputation. Historically, amputating a finger is the standard punishment for thieves. Independent (London) and Fars ISNA

Greek statistics official charged with colluding with EU and IMF

It's almost impossible, these days, for any crooked government official in any country, perpetrating even the most massive of crimes defrauding the public, to be investigated and charged, but Andreas Georgiou, head of Greece's Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), has managed to find a way. This is really mind-boggling. According to the charges, Greece's budget deficit should have been computed as 4% of GDP in 2009. But, the charges continue, Georgiou colluded with the EU and the IMF to fudge the figures so that the budget deficit came out at 15.6% of GDP -- higher than Ireland's at 14.3% -- in order to justify the May 2010 bailout and its drastic austerity measures. Some Greek commentators and politicians have seized upon these allegations as evidence of a wider plot against Greece or proof that the country was a victim of sinister forces from within and abroad. Kathimerini

Smog smothers Greece as homeowners burn wood to stay warm

A steep increase in the cost of heating oil is causing many people in Greece to switch to wood-burning, at half the cost, to keep warm during the cold winter months. The vast appetite for wood has encouraged extensive illegal logging - by local residents for private use but also by organized gangs. Forestry workers have even been attacked by illegal loggers wielding axes or guns, creating a "Far West-style situation." However, the wood-burning is creating a severe health hazard, because of heavy smog that contains not only wood particles, but also particles of noxious varnishes and synthetic coatings from burnt furniture. Kathimerini

Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi's 'state of emergency' curfew

Protesters torched police vehicles in downtown Cairo on Monday, and on Monday evening, the three Suez Canal cities -- Suez, Ismailia and Port Said -- witnessed mass demonstrations in defiance of the state of emergency curfew announced by president Mohamed Morsi on Sunday. Many shops and street cafes remained open after the curfew, and in Ismailia, residents organized football (soccer) games in front of government headquarters in a show of defiance. Violent clashes are continuing, but the army is not interfering or trying to impose the curfew. Al-Ahram (Cairo)

U.S. military plans to set up drone base in Niger on Mali border

The United States and Niger signed an agreement on Monday that paves the way for a U.S. military drone base in the country, near the border with Mali, allowing for up to 300 military service members and contractors in the base to operate the drone aircraft. The new base will permit monitoring of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and will gather intelligence for French warplanes targeting strikes against jihadists in Mali. AFP

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 29-Jan-13 World View -- Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi's 'state of emergency' curfew thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (29-Jan-2013) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 29-Jan-2013 29-Jan-13 World View -- Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi's 'state of emergency' curfew

Iran announces a new finger-amputating machine for thieves

Greek statistics official charged with colluding with EU and IMF

Smog smothers Greece as homeowners burn wood to stay warm

Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi's 'state of emergency' curfew

U.S. military plans to set up drone base in Niger on Mali border

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 29-Jan-2013
29-Jan-13 World View -- Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi's 'state of emergency' curfew