Saturday, August 25, 2012

VIETNAM opposes Taiwan drills in Spratly Islands was a news headline a few days ago. There is Taiwans plan to conduct military live-in drills in Babinh island, which is part of Vietnams Truong Sa archipelago, the countrys name of the Spratly Islands the Philippines calls Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) or Kapuluan ng Kalayaan.

Of the dispute on the ownership of the shoal with the Philippines and China, the recent tension started with a report of the sight of Chinese ships seen in the lagoon without permission.

Express your condolences to DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo's family

And the standoff started, and the Philippines sent its own ships there.

Turf disputes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) have as island claimers the Philippines, the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). But there are other countries claiming an island or two, which includes Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Brunei.

It can be confusing to find out which islands which country claims and standoffs would be like a fuse that could blow up right where you are, among islands.

Islands have owners, the disputes seem to say.

One thing interesting about the earth are the islands, as though at one time in the far past, a whole worldfor deep reasons of change through the yearsbroke into big and small continents, into islands, islets, shoals.

Thats the attraction of the Philippine archipelago7,107 islands, much of the space untouched as only a total of 2000 islands and islets are peopled.

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Sun.Star Essay: Of islands

Calling CSU Channel Islands a "testament to a dream," President Richard Rush celebrated the university's 10th anniversary at a convocation Friday.

Friday, in fact, was the 10-year anniversary of the first day of classes at the Camarillo state university. Anniversary events, however, are planned throughout the year.

"Higher education is the pathway to a better life," Rush told a crowd of faculty, staff, students and parents, past and present. "But the state has reduced (CSU) funding by $750 million and is threatening another $250 million if tax proposals don't pass this year. It's a dismissal of our children's and grandchildren's future."

But Rush and other speakers, including Greg Sawyer, vice president of student affairs, talked about triumphs as well.

"It's the Channel Islands way," Sawyer said after the convocation about the university's founding. "We gathered together people who are resilient and motivated, and it was the right combination of people. It wasn't one of us, it was all of us working seven days a week 10 to 12 hours a day."

"When you strip it all away," Rush said after the ceremony, "we answered the challenge of building a university for students. We built it for student success. It's on mission statements all over the campus, and everybody here believes in that mission."

Rush said he was proud of the public and private partnerships built at the university. "I'm not intimidated by public-private partnerships," he said. "I was told when we started that we faced an uphill battle in funding, and I knew what that meant."

Retired Capt. James McHugh, former commander of Naval Base Ventura County, said, "I've seen this university grow and it's been great the way they've reached out to veterans and have been successful in partnering with the U.S. military.

"If I or any base commander recommends a veteran to the school, they work with that person or those people and it's a great partnership," he said.

David Ashley, a senior majoring in biology and the current student body president, agreed "there's an enormous sense of community at Channel Islands. We have civility in our discourse and we respect each other and it's given me so much."

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CSU Channel Islands holds anniversary convocation

NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --On the heels of an unprecedented class action lawsuit by disabled citizens in the US Virgin Islands against their government (VI Alliance v. the Government of the US Virgin Islands), financier, Jeffrey Epstein and the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, have provided critical funding for the Disability Rights Center of the Virgin Islands (DRCVI), the only legal advocacy organization for the disabled in the US Virgin Islands.

Established by Congress in 1977, to provide legal aid to the disabled in the US Virgin Islands, the DRCVI was originally called the Committee on Advocacy for the Developmentally Disabled, Inc. Today, the DRCVI is a member of the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), the largest provider of legally based advocacy services for people with disabilities in the United States. With the success of the lawsuit, the DRCVI is closely monitoring and supporting the US Virgin Island's obligation to implement a host of reforms for the disabled under a five year plan.

Founded in 2000, the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation supports science education and youth based programs around the country and is based in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.

Areas that the DRCVI will be monitoring include: improving disability access in schools, government buildings, restaurants, shops, theaters and bathrooms, improving public transport access, accessible voting and election processes, reducing abuse and neglect in facilities and community settings, reducing physical and chemical restraints, seclusion, and other methods of containment for the disabled, informing the disabled of their rights, increasing the number of disabled who vote, improving quality healthcare, employment opportunities, assistive technology devices and services and emergency preparedness planning.

"The best way to help any segment of the population is to empower them," Jeffrey Epstein remarked. The DRCVI does just that, by focusing on accessibility, voting power and education." Indeed, the DRCVI's mission statement is to: "advance the legal rights of people with disabilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands."

"We have already seen vast improvements under this five year plan," Amelia Headley LaMont noted who is the Executive Director of the DRCVI. "From voter participation to entry ramps in all buildings of a certain size."

http://www.jeffreyepstein.org

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Jeffrey Epstein, Financier, Fights For The Only Disabilities Advocacy Group In The US Virgin Islands

TOKYO--Tensions between Japan and South Korea showed no signs of easing on Friday as Japan's parliament passed a resolution denouncing Seoul's recent actions over a territorial dispute.

The move comes a day after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Seoul had "lost its cool" by attempting to send back a letter of protest he had written to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, following Mr. Lee's visit earlier this month to disputed islands claimed by both countries.

"It is extremely regrettable, and we will respond resolutely," Mr. Noda told parliament after the passage of the resolution, referring to Mr. Lee's visit to the islets, which are controlled by South Korea.

The resolution also demanded that Mr. Lee retract comments he made a few days after his visit that were seen as being offensive to Japan's emperor.

The lower house also voted on a separate resolution protesting the landing on another set of disputed islands by Hong Kong activists.

The resolutions wrap up a week that saw Tokyo putting pressure on Seoul over the dispute which flared up after Mr. Lee visited the Liancourt Rocks that lie between the two countries, and which are known as Takeshima by Japan and Dokdo by South Korea.

Mr. Noda is also set to hold a news conference later on Friday over the string of recent land spats with its Asian neighbors.

In the case of the landing of Hong Kong activists on a Japanese-controlled island, the prime minister has come under sharp criticism for his handling of the row with China, since Japanese authorities chose to deport, rather than prosecute the activists.

Analysts said that, with the likelihood of a general election in the coming months, Mr. Noda and his ruling Democratic Party of Japan cannot afford to be seen as taking a soft stance on territorial issues.

"They need to take a hard line. It's not the usual diplomatic stance of the DPJ," said Takehiko Yamamoto, a political science professor at Tokyo'sWaseda University. "It's because of the elections."

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Islands Spat Drags on as Japan Passes Resolution

Future Islands re-enter the Hype Machine's most blogged artists charts on Friday, August 24, thanks to their new single while Canadian artist A.C. Newman enters the charts in tenth position. 

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Most blogged artists: Future Islands, A.C. Newman

Greece is looking for islands of opportunity amid a sea of debt, as the troubled countrys leader mulls the profitability of its uninhabited land parcels.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told Frances Le Monde that some Greek islands may have commercial use as long as this doesnt pose problems for national security, openly pondering investment opportunities.

Samaras argued that investment is crucial to reviving the Greek economy, adding that railways and a portion of the Attica coast may also be attractive to private patrons.

Local travel sites list Chrissi as one of the many uninhabited isles surrounding Crete, Greece. (GreekDestinations.com)He qualified that the assets, especially the islands, would not simply be liquidated.

"This is not, in any way, about selling them off for cheap, but about transforming unused terrain into capital that could generate revenue, at a fair price," Samaras said in the Thursday interview.

The president did not elaborate or say the government would sell the islands altogether.

The idea comes on the heels of Greeces admission that it needs more time to implement the tough financial reforms and spending cuts the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund have demanded in return for bailout help.

"Let me be very clear: we are not asking for extra money," Samaras told the German daily Bild. "All we want is a little air to breathe to get the economy going and increase state income," he said.

"More time does not automatically mean more money."

Greece's Finance Ministry said the country's total central government debt stood at 303.5 billion ($370 billion Cdn) at the end of July 2012, up from 280.2 billion at the end of the first three months of this year.

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Greece eyeing its islands for much-needed cash

By Maria Petrakis - 2012-08-23T13:13:30Z

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who will take his plea for more time for the Greek economy to Paris and Berlin this week, suggested his government could sell or lease some of the countrys islands to help revive a state-asset sales plan central to receiving international funds.

He told Le Monde newspaper in an interview published today that uninhabited Greek islands could be used to generate revenue, responding to a question on whether Greece would sell some of its islands.

On condition that it doesnt pose a national security problem, some of the isles could be used commercially, Samaras said as quoted by the newspaper. It would not be a case of getting rid of the isles, but of transforming unused terrain into capital that can generate revenue, for a fair price.

Samaras vowed to speed up asset sales and structural revamping such as changes to labor markets after meeting yesterday with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the group of euro-area finance ministers. Greece is behind on money-raising targets tied to 240 billion euros ($301 billion) of rescue packages in the past two years. Samaras will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel tomorrow in Berlin and French President Francois Hollande a day later in Paris.

Samaras yesterday told Germanys Bild newspaper that his nation needs more time -- a little more air to breathe -- to carry out policy changes to address its debt woes.

The state asset sales process must be re-launched, Juncker told reporters. I do not ignore that this privatization process is swimming in difficult waters given the fact that the rumors of the exit of Greece from the euro area are spread around day after day.

Selling public land is a politically sensitive issue in Greece. A proposal by members of the troika, who represent the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to increase revenue from asset sales including property drew opposition from then-premier George Papandreou, who said in 2011 hed legislate to prohibit such sales. In 1996, Greece and Turkey almost went to war over who owned the uninhabited islet of Imia in the Aegean.

The Greek state is seeking 50 billion euros from state- asset sales by 2020 to meet the conditions of its bailout, half from company-stakes sales and half from real estate. So far it has only brought in about 1.8 billion euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Petrakis in Athens at mpetrakis@bloomberg.net

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Greece May Sell Islands as Juncker Urges Asset Sales Drive

First the Chinese activists from Hong Kong boarded boats and illegally landed on one of the five uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, and then Japanese swept down to the southern Okinawa islands for a landing of their own, and then the diplomatic version of all hell broke loose.

Fourteen activists battled heavy seas to land on Uotsuri, the largest of the islands, on Sunday, where they were promptly arrested. Five were taken into custody by Okinawa Prefectural Police and the other nine by Japans Coast Guard. All are in Naha now, being prepared for deportation tomorrow.

Rightwing Japanese nationalists violated the rules that prohibit anyone from setting foot on the islands under Japans control but administered by Ishigaki City. About a dozen members of Ganbare Nippon, meaning Hang in there Japan, swam ashore from a 20-boat flotilla, raising the ire of Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese officials. The small island chain is governed by Japan, but also claimed by China and Taiwan, who call the islands Diaoyu.

Tokyo politician Eiji Kosuka was a leader of the Japanese nationalist group, raising the Japanese flag to prove the islands are part of Japan. Kosaka, from Tokyos Arakawa Ward, was excited, declaring this is undoubtedly Japanese territory, as on the mountain we found Japanese style houses that had places for drying fish. He noted the humiliation Japanese felt about the Chinese landings on August 15th, the 67th anniversary of Japans World War II surrender.

Two Japanese Coast Guard ships broadcast demands they leave the island, but they had no authority to make arrests on land. These islands are ours, said Kanagawan politician Kenichi Kojima. Japans future is at stake. After five hours, the group vacated the island, with Kosaka declaring this trip was a great success.

China was furious. Beijings Foreign Ministry declared China has made solemn representations to Japan, demanding that it immediately cease actions harming Chinas territorial sovereignty. The 14 Chinese who set foot on the islands last week were the first non-Japanese since 2004 to land on any of the Senkaku islands.

Waves of anti-Japan rallies swept across China, with more than 5,000 turning out in Shenzhen. Others in Hangzhou also turned violent as protesters vandalized Japanese stores, restaurants and vehicles, as well as burned Japanese flags. The protests were the first anti-Japan events since 2010. Others held occasional demonstrations in front of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.

Taiwans annoyance over the Senkaku landings led Foreign Minister Timothy Yang to summon Japans ambassador to lodge a protest over the Japanese landing on a Senkaku island. Yang told Ambassador Sumio Tarui the 10 Japanese landing on the island was a provocative act and said the move significantly heightened tensions in the East China Sea. He asked Japan to refrain from any further actions that infringe upon Taiwans territorial sovereignty, repeating that the islands belong to the Republic China, Taiwans official name.

Chinese say theyll file claims for damages from Japan. The activists deported say they were forced by Japanese Police to sign papers admitting to various charges, and that their video and cameras were confiscated by Japanese. They were all charged of violating Japanese immigration control laws, but they call the arrests illegal since they maintain the islands are Chinese.

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Uninhabited Senkaku Islands gaining worldwide attention

Channel Islands High running back Richard Gray usually has a smile on his face, which is fitting considering how many smiles he put on the faces of the school's football fans last season.

The talented tailback was the primary offensive weapon for a Raiders squad that went 7-3 and qualified for the playoffs the first time in seven years.

Gray rushed for 1,453 yards and 10 touchdowns in the regular season, and also caught 12 passes for 111 yards and two scores.

Impressive numbers, but Gray has his goals sets even higher for 2012.

"I want to gain 2,000 yards," Gray said matter-of-factly. "I know it's a big number, but my goal is to break the CI rushing record, which Coach said is 1,700 yards. We have a great offensive line and a lot of other talented players on offense, so I feel it's a goal that can be reached."

Head coach Gary Porter said he has no problem with his star running back setting such a lofty goal. Porter said Gray and the offensive linemen openly talk about it.

"In fact, we have a few other talented backs, so our line is talking about wanting to gain 3,000 yards on the ground this season," Porter said.

An explosive running game and a hard-hitting defense were two of the reasons Channel Islands reached the postseason.

Gray said he's proud of being part of the group that helped restore the luster to the Channel Islands program. When he arrived on campus as a freshman, Gray said the football program resembled the "Bad News Bears." Gray, his best friend Hosea Faagogo and fellow teammate Angel Sapien settled on a mindset to turn the program around.

"Last year was big, but I expect us to do a lot better than we did last year," Gray said. "Making the playoffs gave us a boost for this season because we want to go farther this season."

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Channel Islands standout Gray sets lofty goals

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Dispute Over Islands Reflects Japanese Fear of China’s Rise

The Diaoyu Islands, 222 kilometers northeast of China's Taiwan province, have been China's territory since ancient times. All records, whether contained in books and academic research or on old maps, have proved China's undeniable sovereignty over these islands.

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Records show islands belong to China

WALNUT CREEK -- The city has a new weapon against goose poop in Heather Farm Park's cement pond -- floating islands.

To cut down on chemically treating water and to give fish a chance to thrive, Walnut Creek became the first Bay Area city Tuesday to try out man-made floating islands as an environmentally sustainable way to get cleaner water and improve fish habitat.

Volunteers planted and launched two 100-square-foot "BioHaven Floating Islands" in the park's cement pond Tuesday. Using recycled plastic drinking bottles on the bottom, which look like 12-inch-thick steel wool pads, the islands' tops were loaded with mulch and about 50 plants each. The islands act as wetlands designed to suck up pollutants from the lake floor and at the same time create shade for fish, fostering a new habitat.

"If this works -- and there is no reason why it shouldn't -- the water quality will be substantially cleaner without" chemicals, said Mayor Bob Simmons, who helped plant and launch the islands Tuesday. "It will make the pond look nice, and I think a lot of people will appreciate that."

The islands will be chained to the bottom of the eight-foot-deep lake, so they won't move around too much. They also shouldn't be accessible to people.

Within a year, the islands will be established, and their root systems -- which can grow four feet long -- will suck out pollutants, said Mike Vickers, Walnut Creek's public services manager.

Kids from

Watching the kids learn about the islands, the plants and the fish is exactly why the Diablo Valley Fly Fisherman club wanted to get something done at the lake they use.

But fisherman's club members felt creating a better habitat is the right thing to do. And they hope a thriving lake with bigger fish will attract more kids and families to the lake, and eventually result in more fishing, said Dave McCants, a fly tier with the club.

"Kids are not around nature that much, this gets them out here to see there is much more in life than just video games," he said.

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Walnut Creek launches floating islands to deal with pollutants, help habitat

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Dispute Over Islands Reflect Japanese Fear of China’s Rise

21st August 2012

Falkland Islands Holdings plc

AGM Statement

Falkland Islands Holdings plc ("FIH" or the "Group"), the international services Group which owns essential services businesses focused on transport and logistics and which has a 4% shareholding in Falkland Oil and Gas Limited ("FOGL"), is holding its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") at 11.00am today, 21 August 2012, at the offices of FTI Consulting (NYSE: FCN - news) , 26 Southampton Buildings, London WC2A 1PB.

At the AGM, Chairman, David Hudd, will make the following statement:

"The Group's trading for the first four months of the financial year has been at a similar level to last year and is in line with the Board's expectations. The successful equity fundraising in June 2012 has given us the resources necessary to take full advantage of emerging opportunities in the Falkland Islands linked to oil development.

"In the Falkland Islands a weaker illex squid catch and limited onshore oil activity has meant that trading has been flat. Retail profits have increased slightly thanks to the expansion of the general store at the MPA military base, improved margins and tighter cost control but this has largely been offset by reduced profits from support services and at the fishing agency.

"At the Portsmouth Harbour Ferry Company, passenger volumes in the first 19 weeks declined by 8.6%. This reflects very poor weather and a deterioration in the employment market in the area. However, the volume decline has been partially offset by fare increaseson 1 June 2012 which averaged 3% but profits have fallen back from the record levels achieved last year.

"Momart, the Group's fine art logistics and storage business, has seen continued strong demand particularly in the commercial market and although revenues in the first four months have not quite matched the exceptional levels seen in early 2011-12, the company's order book remains at record levels.

"Following the recent fund raising the Group's share capital has expanded to 12.4 million shares in issue. The liquidity position is very strong with cash on deposit in excess of 10 million and residual bank borrowings of 2.7 million being repaid at the rate of 1 million per year.

Continued here:

Falkland Islands Hlg - AGM Statement

MIAMI (AP) Forecasters say Tropical Storm Isaac has formed in the Atlantic with a track that could possibly take it toward Florida where the Republican National Convention will be held next week.

Storm warnings have been issued Tuesday across a swath of islands in the Caribbean including Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Martin.

It is too soon to say what exact path the storm will take. But some computer models show it headed toward Cuba and then Florida. Others have it making a sharp northern turn in the next couple days near Puerto Rico and then into the open Atlantic.

The National Hurricane Center says Isaac has maximum sustained winds near 40 (64 kph) but is expected to strengthen.

The storm is about 500 miles (804 kilometers) east of Guadeloupe and is moving west near 17 mph (28 kph).

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Caribbean islands under storm warnings

The movement of Earth's viscous mantle against South America has pushed the Caribbean islands east over the last 50 million years, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The University of Southern California, in announcing the study, said the findings upend previous hypotheses of the seismic activity beneath the Caribbean Sea and provide an important new look at the unique tectonic interactions that are causing the Caribbean plate to tear away from South America.

The Caribbean plate is being pushed eastward due to a thick section of the South American plate called a "cratonic keel." This section of crust is three times thicker than its surroundings.

Meanwhile, part of the South American plate is being pushed beneath the Caribbean plate, a process called subduction. Intense heat and pressure gradually force water-containing magma to rise into the Earth's mantle and fuel the many active volcanoes in the region.

All of this pushing and pulling formed the distinctive arc shape of the Caribbean islands and has created a very complex system of faults between the two plates, in northern South America, according to the USC statement. The study mapped several of these strike-slip faults, which are similar to California's San Andreas Fault.

Science news from NBCNews.com

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: For the past nine years, the Robot Hall of Fame has relied solely on expert judges to dole out its honors but this time, the people will get their say.

Recent earthquakes in the area helped the two researchers develop an image of the Earth's deep interior. The earthquake waves move slower or quicker depending on the temperature and composition of the rock.

"Studying the deep Earth interior provides insights into how the Earth has evolved into its present form," researcher Meghan S. Miller said in the statement.

For their study, the researchers used earthquake data to develop 176 computer models, USC said.

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How Caribbean islands arc was formed

Authorities say Hurricane Gordon has passed Portugal's mid-Atlantic Azores Islands without causing major damage and is losing strength.

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Azores Islands escape Hurricane Gordon damage

BEIJING Angry youths on Sunday overturned cars and smashed shop windows in anti-Japanese protests across China stemming from a long-standing dispute over uninhabited islands claimed by both countries.

Not to be outdone in nationalist fervor, 150 Japanese activists tried to land on the islands in the East China Sea by boat Sunday to commemorate World War II deaths. When that failed, 10 of them swam to one of the rocky islands and tried to plant a Japanese flag.

The demonstrations in China were the largest since 2010, when a Chinese fishing captain whose boat collided with a Japanese coast guard vessel was arrested, leading to a protracted standoff.

The largest street protest was in Shenzhen, where thousands of people, mostly students, overturned Japanese-made police cars and smashed the windows of Japanese restaurants. Demonstrations also took place over the weekend in Chengdu, Xian and Jinan, among other Chinese cities, as well as in Hong Kong. Japanese chain stores including Uniqlo, which are wildly popular among young Chinese, were forced to close for the day.

"Japanese, get off our Diaoyu islands," read most of the banners, while others exhorted Chinese to "kill all the Japanese." The islands are known as Senkaku in Japan.

Photographs that circulated on Chinese microblogs during the day showed a young man with a metal pipe destroying a Honda police car. Another showed a demonstrator in an anti-Japanese T-shirt taking photographs with a Canon single-lens reflex camera. Canon is a Japanese company.

The Chinese government had periodically allowed anti-Japanese demonstrations, which appear to give the youth an opportunity to let off steam while displaying their patriot fervor. But the protests were usually kept under enough control to prevent serious casualties or property damage.

This time, the tit-for-tat displays of nationalism began when a group of Hong Kong activists landed on the same islands Wednesday, asserting China's territorial claim. Trying to avoid a repeat of the 2010 fishing boat incident, Japan released the Hong Kong activists within 48 hours.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry complained Sunday about the landing of the Japanese activists, but issued an otherwise mild reproof.

The day of protests and counter-protests comes amid a flare-up of disputes in Asian waters. China also has territorial disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea, and squabbling has also resumed between Japan and South Korea.

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China, Japan activists hold protests over disputed islands

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan urged China on Monday to protect its citizens after anti-Japanese protests rocked Chinese cities on the weekend, and stressed that a feud over disputed islands in the East China Sea should not damage ties between Asia's two biggest economies. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Chinese cities on Sunday, with groups overturning Japanese cars and shouting slogans ...

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Japan says disputed islands should not hurt key China ties

Japan rejected Chinese protests Monday over the raising of a Japanese flag on disputed islands but sounded a placatory note, saying ties with Beijing are among the "most important" it has.

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Japan stands firm on China islands dispute