US ‘pivot’ to Asia gaining strength—admiral

 News
Oct 242013
 
US ‘pivot’ to Asia gaining strength—admiral

USS George Washington. AP FILE PHOTO ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON—The United States has significantly increased its warships and aircraft deployed in Asia despite Washington’s budget woes, adding punch to its “pivot” to the region, a senior naval commander said. Rear Admiral Mark C. Montgomery, commander of an aircraft carrier strike group homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, said the expanded military presence would have a calming effect on simmering tensions and territorial disputes in the region. “The strategic rebalancing has resulted in an extremely higher number of surface combatants, cruisers and destroyers that support the strike group,” Montgomery told Agence France-Presse in an interview on Wednesday aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). “What we’ve seen is an increase in surface combatant presence here in the Western Pacific… so these ships are spread throughout those areas,” he said, in the interview at the flag bridge of the nuclear-powered supercarrier as fighter jets took off and landed on the deck as part of drills. “Having more ships gives us more presence. It allows us to have a greater force.” Montgomery said US defense budget cuts and the recent 16-day partial US government shutdown have not affected his command. The shutdown forced President Barack Obama to skip two Asian summits this month, triggering concerns about the extent of US commitment to the region as China becomes more assertive. “Operations and maintenance decisions have not affected us. The strategic rebalance is continuing in earnest,” the admiral Read More …

Mural paying homage to Filipino leader of 1965 US grape strike unveiled in Milpitas

 News
Oct 172013
 
Mural paying homage to Filipino leader of 1965 US grape strike unveiled in Milpitas

Part of the mural detail depicting Larry Itliong (with glasses, sixth from left), Cesar Chavez (seventh from left) and Dolores Huerta (seventh from left) MILPITAS, California—Johnny Itliong, 48, choked up twice while addressing the crowd at the unveiling ceremony of the mural honoring his father and other farm workers at this city’s library auditorium last Saturday, Oct. 12. The mural, the brainchild of San Jose State University alumni, depicts his late father, Larry Itliong, together with Cesar Chavez, Philip Vera Cruz, Pete Velasco, Dolores Huerta and other labor union members prominent in the Delano farm workers’ grape strike in 1965. What began as a long, hard and often violent struggle for a wage increase from 75 cents to $1.25 an hour and better working conditions, captured the world’s attention. It also inspired the organized labor union movement in the US. But until now, most of the world knows only part of the story. “My family has been hurting for so many years,” said Johnny Itliong, who works as a cook in Hollywood.  “We were put aside by history, the government and people. Every working person in the US has been affected by my father’s work. Every person here is indebted to my father and it needs to be paid.” Johnny read from his list of labor unions Larry started since 1929. It was part of the “thousands of documentation” Johnny was using as reference for the book he was writing on his father. Already organized San Jose State University Associate Read More …

GET to launch e-shuttle route along EDSA

 Economy
Oct 122013
 
GET to launch e-shuttle route along EDSA

MANILA, Philippines – Global Electric Transportation Ltd. (GET) is aiming to deploy 50 units of its fully electric city shuttle, dubbed the City Optimized Managed Electric Transport (Comet), by 2014, its top official said. The initial routes will ply from SM North EDSA to SM Megamall, said GET chief executive officer Kenneth Montler. “GET was formed by a group within the US and the Philippines. The Philippines is a great place to showcase what we want to do because we have a city that suffers from congestion, noise and air pollution,” he said. The Comet can comfortably seat 16 passengers with a height clearance of over six feet. It also charges on a 220-volt outlet, with its charging system built into the vehicle requiring only a four-hour charge time and has a range of 80 to 100 kilometers on a full charge, GET said. The vehicle uses lithium-iron phosphate batteries that are enclosed in a watertight casing and consists of less than 300 parts instead of the usual 4,000 parts of a typical diesel-run engine, which translates to cost-efficient manufacturing and minimal maintenance, Montler also said. The Comet will apply a cashless fare system to ensure secure fare collection, so drivers can focus their eyes on the road, similar to systems implemented by transportation companies in other countries, he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Fleet management, meanwhile, will be handled by GET’s Command Center through GPS and Vehicle Telemetry Tracking, the company said. For its Read More …

Kerry assures CEOs on US role in Asia-Pacific

 News
Oct 072013
 
Kerry assures CEOs on US role in Asia-Pacific

5:41 pm | Monday, October 7th, 2013 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry AP PHOTO BALI, Indonesia — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is seeking to assure Asia-Pacific business leaders that nothing will shake America’s commitment to the region and that the current government shutdown in Washington will soon be over and forgotten. Kerry told executives at an Asian economic summit in Indonesia on Monday that the shutdown is simply a “moment in politics.” He guarantees that America will move beyond it and will come back more resilient than ever. Kerry is filling in for President Barack Obama, who was forced to cancel his participation to deal with shutdown. Kerry joked that he had tried to replace a president when he ran for the White House in 2004 but that standing in for Obama was not what he had in mind. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: ASEAN , Global Nation , John Kerry , US Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate: c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Or fax nos. +63 2 8974793 to 94

US shutdown fears perturb APEC summit

 News
Oct 062013
 
US shutdown fears perturb APEC summit

President Barack Obama AP File Photo NUSA DUA, Bali – The US government warned Sunday that business in America was suffering from the federal shutdown as concern about Washington’s policy paralysis was voiced at an Asia-Pacific summit where President Barack Obama was a notable absentee. The first government closure in 17 years has directly affected hundreds of thousands of federal employees, but Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said companies were also starting to hurt, not least from her department’s inability to collate vital economic data. “The shutdown is not good for business. It’s not good for the economy,” Pritzker told reporters at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum on the Indonesian island of Bali, which Obama has been forced to skip to deal with the political crisis gripping Washington. “And we need to move on with the business of doing business in the United States. So, I am hopeful this gets resolved soon. It’s obviously having an impact,” Pritzker said. Her remarks on the economic impact came after Secretary of State John Kerry warned at the APEC meetings on Saturday that the standoff was “reckless,” and would weaken America’s diplomatic standing abroad if it did not end soon. Apart from APEC, Obama is also missing a separate East Asian summit this week and scheduled trips to Malaysia and the Philippines. His failure to come coincides with a diplomatic push by China in Southeast Asia featuring high-profile visits by President Xi Jinping, who is at APEC. Speaking at a Bali meeting of Read More …

Navy begins developing Oyster Bay into mini Subic; mum on US pivot

 News
Oct 052013
 
Navy begins developing Oyster Bay into mini Subic; mum on US pivot

Screengrab from http://mapsengine.google.com/ OYSTER BAY, Palawan, Philippines—At Naval Forces West headquarters here, the wooden planks that are the main platform of the Philippine Navy’s sole naval shipyard facing the West Philippine Sea are breaking apart and starting to surrender to the elements. The planks have cracks and gaps wide enough to send a full-sized man straight into the clear blue waters below. The crew of a naval supply ship, which was chanced upon by the Inquirer while visiting the facility on Friday, was loading up for a routine run to the Kalayaan Islands in the disputed Spratlys island chain and knew enough to be careful. Recently, the Philippine government dusted off old plans to develop Oyster Bay, a picturesque cove nestled in old growth mangrove forests and limestone cliffs in the western flank of Palawan’s central region. Defense officials are hopeful the decades-old plans to upgrade the naval facility into a major shipyard and naval facility will finally move. The  Oyster Bay development plans come as tensions are increasing over China’s aggressive assertion of ownership over the entire South China Sea, including parts of what the country calls the West Philippine Sea. There has been an initial P500 million released to complete some major infrastructure components, including a 12-kilometer access road from the mainland. “We call this a capability upgrade,” said Commodore Joseph Rostum Peña, commander of Naval Forces West (Navforwest). Once completed, the facility would have an extended wharf to accommodate “at least four large naval vessels,” he said. Read More …

US reliability questioned overseas

 News
Oct 052013
 
US reliability questioned overseas

Dark clouds pass over the Capitol in Washington in this October 1 file photo. Political chaos from legislative gridlock, the government shutdown and an increasing fear of a default on its debts have deepened global unease that Washington is distracted from world affairs and scrambling to solve its domestic crises. AP An unmistakable sense of unease has been growing in capitals around the world as the US government from afar looks increasingly befuddled — shirking from a military confrontation in Syria, stymied at home by a gridlocked Congress and in danger of defaulting on sovereign debt, which could plunge the world’s financial system into chaos. While each of the factors may be unrelated to the direct exercise of US foreign policy, taken together they give some allies the sense that Washington is not as firm as it used to be in its resolve and its financial capacity, providing an opening for China or Russia to fill the void, an Asian foreign minister told a group of journalists in New York this week. Concerns will only deepen now that President Barack Obama canceled travel this weekend to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Bali and the East Asia Summit in Brunei. He pulled out of the gatherings to stay home to deal with the government shutdown and looming fears that Congress will block an increase in US borrowing power, a move that could lead to a US default. The US is still a pillar of defense for places in Asia Read More …

New homes in Palo Alto, California to support electric vehicle charging

 Entertainment
Oct 042013
 
New homes in Palo Alto, California to support electric vehicle charging

Generic: man, holding Electric Car Charging nozzle, energy, grenn, electricity©-Markus- /Shutterstock.com (Relaxnews) – In a move that underlines the city’s importance in driving new technology and consumer behavior into the mainstream, Palo Alto’s city council has voted unanimously to make electric car chargers a standard element of new homes. The proposed change to building codes would mean that the wiring and other components required to fit a 240 volt charging station are preinstalled in all new homes. The amendment would cost house builders an estimated $200 per home but, as some consumers have already been shocked to discover, retrofitting a car charger can cost thousands of dollars. Even with the wiring in place, a vehicle-specific charging box will still need to be installed by the home’s owner but the simple change will make installing an electric charger as easy as plumbing in an existing dishwasher or oven in the kitchen. According to Palo Alto Online, this change, which would only affect new homes, is just the first step. The council also wants to make it easier for companies in the area to install charging stations, a move which will no doubt delight Tesla, the electric car company that more than any other has made battery-powered vehicles an object of desire and which is based in Palo Alto. In a memo, which prompted the debate and the consequent vote, city mayor Greg Scharff, vice mayor Nancy Shepherd and councilwoman Gail Price said: “Because of the high concentration of electric vehicles in Read More …

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