Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/162274770?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Thailand flooding damages its ancient capital (AP)
AYUTTHAYA, Thailand ? Water fowl, monitor lizards and stray dogs have replaced the throngs of tourists at one of Thailand's greatest historical sites. Record flooding has turned Ayutthaya's ancient temples into islands, and a giant statue of the reclining Buddha appears to float miraculously on the lapping water.
Experts fear that at least half of the more than 200 waterlogged monasteries, fortresses and other monuments in the one-time royal capital have been damaged.
"Imagine a thousand tons of brick and stone resting on soft foundations, with no modern-style pilings. We are very worried," said Chaiyanand Busayarat, director of the Ayutthaya Historic Park.
And as flood waters recede, some experts are proposing a radical change to prevent similar disasters in the future: Turn back the clock about four centuries to emulate the city's urban planners and engineers of that time.
"We can't prevent flooding so we have to learn to live with water again, like those who created Ayutthaya. Let's take out the old city maps," said Anek Sihamat, deputy director-general of the Thai government's Fine Arts Department.
He recommended digging up old canals that have been paved over for roads and curbing the urban sprawl and industrial parks that block the natural runoff of water.
Capital of a powerful state for 417 years, seat of 33 kings, Ayutthaya has been described as one of the greatest cities on water ever, with a canal network that measured more than 85 miles (140 kilometers). Built on the flood plain of central Thailand at the confluence of three rivers, it was inundated annually, but its citizens lived in stilt-raised houses and used boats for transport.
Water also defended Ayutthaya, which once held as many as 1 million residents, until a brutal sacking by the Burmese in 1767 forced relocation of the capital to Bangkok, 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the south ? where the same floodwaters that inundated Ayutthaya are now nearing the inner city.
The surge of water from the northern highlands, which began in late July and has killed more than 520 people, is the worst since the 1940s, although Ayutthaya experiences flooding almost every monsoon season.
In coming weeks, experts will assess damage and determine what will be needed to revive and protect the city, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1991.
Advisers from Venice and the Netherlands, two places that have grappled with the challenges of watery environments, are prepared to come, while several countries, including Germany and Japan, have provided or promised funds. Anek, the Fine Arts official, estimated that some $20 million will be needed.
"Clearly what we hope for from this experience will be a more solid, more thorough flood mitigation plan," said Tim Curtis, head of the culture unit at UNESCO's regional office in Bangkok.
He said that Amsterdam's 19th-century water-based defense line ? another World Heritage site ? and Venice may be used as models.
Witthaya Pewpong, the Ayutthaya provincial governor, said a dam has been proposed to shield the historic area while flooding would be eased by setting aside a large, construction-free area of the nearby countryside to absorb excess water.
Nevertheless, authorities "know that they will have to learn to live with water because it will always be there," said UNESCO cultural expert Montira Horayangura Unakul. As such, urban planning should be consistent with Ayutthaya's design as a city of water, she said.
To date, Ayutthaya has not scored well on the urban management front. The city of 82,000 people is mushrooming helter-skelter and has bid to host World Expo 2020. Four years ago, amid concern in Thailand that UNESCO might take the city off its list, one Bangkok newspaper wrote that the city was destroyed twice, "first by invading Burmese, and now by greedy and insensitive Thais."
Adding to its watery woes, said Curtis, are problems common to heritage sites: the looting of artifacts, inadequate waste disposal, corrosive vehicle fumes, ugly and inappropriate new construction and mass tourism.
There's also a running battle between heritage and municipal authorities, often allied with business interests.
The Fine Arts Department controls development in the core historic area of some 1.2 square miles (3 square kilometers), where no structures more than 26 feet (8 meters) are permitted. However, it exercises little power in outlying zones, which include numerous important monuments and where modern buildings have sprouted next to graceful relics of the past.
Most immediately, however, heritage authorities are focused on the floods.
With water up to 10 feet (3 meters) high flooding the area for weeks, there is concern that the foundations of larger structures may have been undermined, and bricks, plasterwork and murals damaged. Visitor facilities and once grassy areas emerging as a sea of mud will need to be restored at what is one of the country's top tourist destinations.
Also worrisome is salt residue that seeps up with the groundwater, causing damage to monuments.
Park director Chaiyanand said the stupas, or Buddhist reliquary, in Ayutthaya were built with an outer core of brick. The hollow portions inside were filled with sand. When the floods came, the water was absorbed upward into this inner chamber of sand, which became heavier. He fears the weight could cause cracks of the outer brick shell.
Water that is hard to detect and remove may also remain within walls after the floodwaters recede. Chaiyanand said he was particularly concerned about the bricks that were the key building blocks of old Ayutthaya.
"They're like crackers," he said, noting the mossy, water-stained bricks at the base of a stupa at the 15th-century Phra Srisanphet monastery. "When soaked they become easy to break."
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Monday, November 14, 2011
Push for Pacific free trade block gains traction
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, right, and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk confer before the start of an APEC ministerial meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit Friday, Nov. 11, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, right, and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk confer before the start of an APEC ministerial meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit Friday, Nov. 11, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)
Foreign and finance ministers and other officials pose with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, center left, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, center right, for an official photo during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit Friday, Nov. 11, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)
HONOLULU (AP) ? Leaders working to forge a Pacific free trade bloc plan to announce an outline for achieving that goal at an annual Asia-Pacific summit this weekend, one of many initiatives aimed at keeping growth on track and fending off recession.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk ended a meeting of regional trade ministers with praise for Japan's decision Friday to join negotiations on the free trade arrangement that is viewed by many in the region as a basic building block for an eventual free trade zone encompassing all of Asia and the Pacific Rim.
The so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership is intended to complement other efforts to promote freer trade, and that other countries can join if they are willing to meet the very high standards required, Kirk said.
At their summit, the leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will endorse a range of "meaningful steps which will strengthen regional economic integration and expand trade," he said.
Those include better food security, increased trade and investment in environmental products and services, better access to financing for small and medium-size companies, faster customs clearance and greater harmony in regulatory standards.
Such moves are intended to eliminate barriers and bottlenecks that could slow business at a time when the world economy most needs dynamism in the Asian-Pacific region to offset the malaise spreading from crisis-stricken Europe.
Japan has announced no timetable for joining the trans-Pacific free trade group, only its intention to join, a senior Japanese government official said Friday.
But the inclusion of the world's third-largest economy would vastly expand the reach of the trade pact, which now includes the smaller economies of Chile, New Zealand, Brunei and Singapore. The U.S., Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Peru are negotiating to join.
To participate, Japan will have to eliminate tariffs on imports from all member economies ? a reciprocal move that its major manufacturers say will improve access to foreign markets and help keep the country from falling behind regional trading rivals.
Japan's trade minister, Yukio Edano, who backed the decision to join, said his government was well aware of the challenges it will face. But he has argued that by delaying further, Tokyo would lose the opportunity to help shape the trading bloc from the start.
China, the world's second-biggest economy, has appeared tepid toward the plan, with an official saying in Beijing earlier this week that it might be "overly ambitious."
Asked its stance, Chen Deming, the trade minister, said China expected Japan to live up to earlier pledges to promote regional integration through various forms. Moves toward closer regional economic ties should be "open and transparent," he said.
"Up to now, we have not yet received any invitation. If one day we receive such an invitation we will seriously study it," Chen said.
Kirk emphasized that the trans-Pacific bloc is meant to be open, though it requires members to meet high standards for openness and free trade.
"You should not wait for an invitation," he said. "If they are willing meet the highest standard then any country is welcome to make the same decision the others have done."
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Google Employee Nigel Tufnel Sends Invites For Mysterious Android Event November 16
As you've likely heard by now, today is Nigel Tufnel day. Tufnel, who revolutionized the music world in the early-80s with the introduction of volume knobs that go to 11 (rather than a mere 10), is being honored worldwide because of today's date: 11/11/11 (get it?). It's a nice gesture, but Tufnel's current employer, Google, apparently isn't giving him the day off: he just sent me an email invite to a special event that's being held next week in Los Angeles. Thankfully Google's at least let him inject some personality into the invite: the top of the invite fittingly says "These Go To Eleven" at the top, though it gives little indication as to what to expect. The event will be held November 16,and will be livestreamed at YouTube.com/Android ??which, presumably, means that it's going to be Android related. My hunch? I think we're going to see some of the fruits of Google's @Home project, which was announced at Google I/O this year.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Ch8FiOi0PPw/
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Sunday, November 13, 2011
Is 'All My Children' Still Moving Online?
Have you been following the fates of All My Children and One Life to Live? Then you know the latest game plan: AMC wrapped its run on Sep 23rd, and OLTL will end in January, but both ABC soaps are headed for a re-launch online.
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Saturday, November 12, 2011
Call to occupy Iowa's caucuses draws little interest as protesters shun traditional politics (Star Tribune)
Ecommerce and Facebook Ads Converge Through Zibaba
As brands increasingly turn to Facebook to host their online presence and their ads, they'll seek platforms that handle management of both owned and paid marketing. Today, Facebook ecommerce storefront platform Zibaba is providing such a solution with the launch of an Ads API feature. It allows merchants to automatically generate and buy ads based on their most popular products so they can efficiently promote their storefronts. The important point here is that developers are beginning to take advantage of Facebook recently opening up its Ads API. Namely, they're integrating ads buying systems into services for a variety of verticals.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/pc_a9ogFJQ4/
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