First, Obama. I chose the White House video because of the oddities I found in the press versions. The EuroPress versions often contained voice-over interjections obscuring the president’s remarks. The American Press versions, particularly the Fox version contained numerous and distracting ticker tape streams on screen inconducive for a full attention span. Perhaps not so curiously, Fox displayed a flashing red “Alert, Alert” read-out in the bottom right corner of the screen for the entire duration of the speech. I found this led to an inability to focus properly on the speech itself. In addition, there appeared to be editorial breaks in the video which caused some skippage in the audio so the remarks weren’t complete. The White House version appears clean, unedited and free of visual noise. I have yet to find the full transcript online.
President Obama Holds a Press Conference | The White House
The following video of Putin is considerably shorter, and the translation process a little choppy. Unsurprisingly, Putin’s remarks revolve around the Olympics and BRICS.
A funny little article from UPI given Putin’s remarks and the dialogue unfolding in the United States, this is my favorite bit:
“The United States has adopted practically all the decisions on attacking Syria. On Wednesday, the international [foreign relations] committee of the U.S. Congress will pass its resolution and on Monday, they will say OK to the liquidation of Syria,” Zhirinovsky said.
Apparently, there’s much liquidation to be had from the perspective of Vlad the Liquidator.
Lithuania probably has the right idea here. It doesn’t make any sense to comment on comments that make no sense.
Nothiing like a little lighthearted brew ha ha during an international crisis, Vlad.
But seriously, folks ~ An interesting development from the G20: Plan at G-20 Is to Tighten Global Rules on Taxes.
The New York Times might be a bit dismissive in its subtle cut on the “so-called” BRICS nations, that can’t be good for instilling an attitude. Still, NYT had this to report, which may be a positive development:
In a reflection of the depth of concern about currency outflows caused by rising interest rates in the United States — meaning investors can obtain similar returns in emerging markets at far lower risk — the BRICS nations announced an intention to create a collective fund of $100 billion to defend their weakening local currencies. It was unclear when it would be operating and able to intervene in currency trading.
The effort at tax reform, if enacted widely, would squeeze more money from multinational corporations and shift a portion of the global tax burden from individuals and small businesses to large corporations. The proposal is for countries to better coordinate tax treaties to close loopholes that multinational corporations exploit by registering in tax havens like Delaware or the Cayman Islands. Another tactic of concern is shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions and costs to high-tax ones.
Confronting Climate Change
- Addressing Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
- G-20 Leaders committed to using the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs.
- This commitment marks an important step forward toward addressing HFCs – highly potent greenhouse gases that are rapidly increasing in use – through the proven mechanism of the Montreal Protocol. Phasing down HFCs would yield enormous climate benefits, reducing as much as 90 gigatons of CO2 equivalent between now and 2050, or roughly two years of global greenhouse gas emissions at current levels.
- Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Building on the commitment made at the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit in 2009 to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsides, G-20 Leaders agreed on the methodology for a new peer-review process of fossil fuel subsidies, an important step in combatting climate change: the International Energy Agency estimates that eliminating subsidies – which amount to more than $500 billion annually – would lead to a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below business-as-usual by 2050.
Um, yes, I’d like to see a little more movement on the part of the international community, however, one must surely recognize that its easier to get the whole world moving on climate change than it is to move intransigent climate denying dinosaurs in the good ‘ole USA.
I’ll conclude with images from a couple of Russian artists. Enjoy.
Looks like the G20 is ready to let the population live a little longer by limiting HFCs. No more worries, now that it’s evident that irritating folks can be fogged away without real repercussions.
Regarding the interesting art, PJ. When the Russians finally get it, they certainly put the old testosterone in it. Thanks.