China's New Plan to Tackle Air Pollution

Beijing, in an attempt to reduce the amount of pollution in the air, has come up with a new plan to reduce the number of conventional cars on the road and to add more hybrid and electric vehicles.  The local government has said that they will reduce the number of license plates it issues over the next four years by 40 percent, to 150,000 a year by 2017. They will also slowly increase the number of plates reserved for electric and hybrid vehicles to 40 percent of the total by the end of four years.

Chinese officials have tried other tactics to improve the air in Beijing in the past. During the 2008 Olympics, all factories around the city were shut down and in October, local authorities said they would ban half the city's cars when serious pollution was expected.

While this attempt is noble and should help limit future pollution, because Beijing's air has been bad for so long, this will not be enough to fix the pollution problem entirely. "The city is surrounded by smoke-belching factories, its streets are choked by a growing number of cars and it sits on a plain that is surrounded by hills that trap pollution." To reduce the smog that blankets the city, China will need to restrict emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and other airborne pollutants from surrounding areas, and it will have to cut down on outdoor fires used for cooking. Most importantly, China will have to rethink how it powers itself because zero-emisson vehicles need electricity and most of China's power is generated by burning coal.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/opinion/beijings-car-problem.html?ref=airpollution

Slowdown in Carbon Emissions Worldwide, but Coal Burning Continues to Grow

The top U.N. climate diplomat on Monday told the coal industry it should leave most of the world's remaining coal reserves in the ground and start investing in renewable energy sources.

Speaking at a coal summit on the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference in Warsaw, Christiana Figueres said the coal industry needs to change radically to help reduce the carbon emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.

"The world is rising to meet the climate challenge as risks of inaction mount, and it is in your best interest to make coal part of the solution," Figueres said.

“Let me be clear from the outset that my joining you today is neither a tacit approval of coal use, nor is it a call for the immediate disappearance of coal,” Ms. Figueres said. “But I am here to say that coal must change rapidly and dramatically for everyone’s sake.”

She cited a “business continuation risk” for the coal industry if it does not play a larger role in finding ways to limit emissions.

One option would be to capture emissions of carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants and inject them into deep underground formations, but development of that technology, known as carbon capture and storage, has received little support from the industry or from governments. 

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/science/slowdown-in-carbon-emissions-worldwide-but-coal-burning-continues-to-grow.html?_r=0

More Projections

All borrowed from http://www.radicalcartography.net/

Luck of the Irish?

The Irish Economy lately has been going through a lot of crap lately, but it seems like Ireland is finally ready to get back on its two feet again. After being bailed out by the rest of the Eurozone for quite some time, Ireland has decided to exit the Bailout scheme without any precautionary measures taken. They will not be taking out a line of credit via other Eurozone members. Taking out a line of credit can put many other conditions and obligations on its economy. However, not exiting with a line of credit leaves the economy solely balanced on industry, and the bond market. After talks with Germany's Chancellor Angel Merkel, Ireland feels very confident in stepping out back on its own.

Plus, if Ireland was to take out a line of credit via the Eurozone, then the other 3 countries, such as Portugal who are also under bailout plans would find it that much easier to ALSO take out a line of credit.

Read about it here!

Projections

I'm still working on the question regarding the etymology of "3rd World."  In the meantime, consider these two "projections."

The first is the Mercator projection - the most commonly used global map.

The second is the Peters projection.  It attempts to account for the stretching of the poles, and thereforce, represent the world more accurately.

So what are the differences?  For starters, Africa is bigger and the United States is smaller. Also, Russia is much, much smaller.  If you want to know more about the politics of those differences, I would suggest you look HERE

Feeding the Families of our Nation

In 2009 a bill was passed to give American families who rely on food stamps 13.6 percent more in food stamps money.  This was part of the federal economic stimulus package that proved to be very helpful and influential in the years to come as thousands of more families joined.  By 2010, 40.3 million people were enrolled and over 45 percent of those getting food stamps are children.  However, the beginning of this November marked the end of the increase in that funding and now the government plans on saving 5 million dollars after this first year.  This reduction in support and funding has so far affected 47 million and as the article in the New York Times states, “It is the largest wholesale cut in the program since Congress passed the first Food Stamps Act in 1964 and touches about one in every seven Americans.”

It is true that the food stamp program cost $78.4 billion in just the year of 2012 alone and although the amount of money given per family each month has been slowly decreasing, the amount of families joining the program is increasing.  So in the end it is just continuing to cost the nation more and more money.  It has been said that this program is spiraling out of control, thus the reason for the expiration of extra funding.  At this point, it looks as if funding will continue to be cut in the upcoming years.

The argument now is that this cut has affected so many families who depend on every penny of food stamp money they get.  It is not unrealistic to say they will be starving at the end of the month.  This means turning to soup kitchens and food pantry’s to keep themselves fed throughout the month.  As funding continues to decrease, the amount of families able to be supported by this program will decrease as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/us/cut-in-food-stamps-forces-hard-choices-on-poor.html?_r=0

Event in the UDistrict

Join Santiago Garcia, Luis Leon, and Dulce Guerrero, members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance and DreamActivist.org, as they speak about their cutting edge social justice work and the use of direct action by undocumented immigrants.

For more information, call 206-543-7946, or e-mail hbcls@uw.edu. Sponsored by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies; the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity; the UW Diversity Research Institute; UW Latin American and Caribbean Studies; UW Law, Societies and Justice; and UW American Ethnic Studies.

Wednesday, November 20
6:30pm-8:30pm
UW Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, Unity Room
3931 Brooklyn Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105

Drone what? Strike who?

http://www.alternet.org/world/what-we-still-dont-know-about-obamas-drone-war

I have not learned much about drone strikes despite how often the name appears in political conversation.  Apparently over six months ago Obama claimed that he wished for a more strict policy and clear disclosure about the “continuing and imminent threat to the American people”, who would probably like to know what sort of operations they are directly or indirectly supporting.  Information such as civilian death counts and who is actually being targeted, or whether or not civilian deaths are even being compensated for is unclear.  According to U.S. officials, there is a big difference between their figures and independent sources - what a surprise.  The U.S. administration will not release its figures however and has remained generally quiet about the drone strikes.  Along with the lack of clarity,  the battle for more disclosure is rather stagnant. The legal justification behind the strikes is a huge point of contention in the battle for disclosure and the CIA has already been found to have lied about the existence of drones. The Pakistan government's cooperation with the U.S. drone strikes has been documented and it seems to support the use of drones while the citizens of Pakistan generally do not.  The U.S. has drone bases in various parts of the world including Djibouti and Niger in order to fight terrorism outside of Afghanistan without the use of troops.  So now I am supposed to say what I think about this whole thing... as my rationale hopefully surpasses my Amygdala, my higher forms of though attempt to formulate an opinion...  *dial-up internet connection sound*... twiddles thumbs... thanks "word count".

Is Anyone Else Confused?

Since our last class discussion about the pros and cons of PRISM, I have been thinking a lot about the issue and how it directly relates to the war on terror. Being a lover of my privacy and being a struggling and working student that pays way too much to have the luxury of looking up whatever the hell I want, I sort of think that I shouldn't have to worry about getting arrested for googeling something. Having said that, if a program like this exists I would hope that we are better protected as US citizens and can prevent horrific things like the Boston bombing from happening. Now when researching this topic more I spent a significant amount of time trying to find an article that directly related PRISM and the war on terror that weren't heavily invoving opinion and instead focused on facts, but this article speaks directly about the relation between the two (kind of) and how if the said document that highlights the pros of PRISM and how it can take on a major role in protecting against terrorism is made public then citizens would grasp better and accurate knowledge about the program. CNN and the Associated Press have both been given this document and have reported on it and the AP has confidently said that the document will "show Americans the value of the program." Okay, where is it? How can I find it, why hasn't it popped up in any search I have conducted. The article stated that a secret court reviews collected data every 90 days and is to only be inspected for suspected connections to terrorism. Soooooo bottom line, I'm still confused and I can't form an educated opinion on how I feel about this, and I for some reason can't help but picture this group of men sitting in a circle listening to my conversations and watching me through my camera while I type this. Paranoid?  Maybe. Is it possible... HELL YES. Is that scary and creepy.. HELL YES.

Will someone please find this said document that is supposed to be reassuring so I can go to sleep without the fear of being watched!

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/06/prism-helped-stop-terrorism-in-us-and-20-plus-countries-nsa-document-argues/



Here is Obama telling me to stop worrying about the group of bald short men with porn staches sitting in a room watching me type this...

Phew.. Thanks Obama, now I can rest easy.. Because we all know that presidents are never crooks and would never lie to us! Right?

U.S. Drone Strike Will Not Deter Peace Talks Between Pakistani Gov't and Taliban

Last Friday, a U.S. drone strike targeted and killed Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud. Mehsud had had a five million dollar U.S. bounty on his head for his “alleged involvement in the 2009 attack on a U.S. base in Aghanistan.” Concurrently, the Pakistani government has been pursuing peace talks with the Taliban, something the Pakistan’s prime minister says will not be effected by the attack. Ministers have continued to denounce drone attacks, calling them “unacceptable” and moving that they were a usurpation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. They released a statement that announced the following: “Diplomatic efforts will be continued to stop these attacks. Given Pakistani peoples’ resolve and sacrifices in this war against terrorism, it is imcumbent upon the international community to support this endeavor of the government for the accomplishment of peace. The government of Pakistan will not allow any internal or external force to sabotage the dialogue process.”

        The story, reported by CNN senior staff writers, goes on to say that on “Monday, Pakistani jihadists distributed a photograph purporting to show Mehsud before his burial and describing him as a martyr, the SITE Intelligence Group said.” According to officials with the Pakistan Taliban, the group has voted to elect Asmatullah Shaheen as its interim leader. According to Azam Tariq (a member of the Pakistan Taliban’s Shura Council), the group will not announce Mehsud’s permanent successor for several days.

        What are my thoughts on this? Well, there are so many things wrong with it its hard to know where to begin. Why a sovereign, industrialized, nuclear-capable nation like Pakistan would even consider negotiating with a violently misogynistic, hysterical cult like the Taliban is well beyond the boundaries of reason. Any compromise or settlement they could possibly make with such a group could only damage their credibility as a legitimate state and weaken their viability as a player in the world community of nations. The Taliban have been conducting an insurgency against the Pakistani government, claimed responsibility for a December 2009 suicide bombing at the US Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan, and for the failed May 2010 attempt to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, to say absolutely nothing of the fact that their elected interim leader, Shaheen, is on Pakistan’s most wanted list. It may not be in Pakistan’s best interest to unilaterally put down the Taliban. It may not even be feasible. It may be that many of Pakistan’s citizen’s support or think they support the Taliban as a viable political movement. It is certainly the case the United States irrevocably changed the nature of what was ostensibly a Pakistani internal affair. Still, to make any sort of concession to the Taliban would be undeniably wrong from a moral and human rights perspective and would set the country definitively and historically against the grain.  
Pakistani prime minister: Drone strike won't derail Taliban peace talks

Prism

Fraud In The Banks

So, remember that huge mortgage crisis? The one that caused the biggest economic fallout since the great depression. The one that turned this country upside down and cost millions of people their jobs. Well as it turns out, those big business that actually benefited (The banks) also caused the issue. On Wednesday a federal jury found Bank of America liable for fraud due to an intentional flood of defective mortgages. These mortgages are traced directly to the cause of the financial crisis.

Thankfully this has begun a healing resolution in cleaning up the stains in our economy. This has been a tremendous victory for the Government in the fight to show the criminal acts of Wall Street. The point of the attack was found in a plot scheme of Countrywide Mortgages. The scheme had been code named "The HUSTLE" which was a program that actually gave bonuses to how quickly bankers could originate loans. As a result the credit quality of each borrower was short shifted, leading to the eventual failure of the loan. This was luckily uncovered by the feds, and now Bank of America is receiving a real civil suit that is claiming upwards of $848 million dollars in damages.

What is most rewarding about this case, is that the federal government now has a focused plan of attack to fight the sins of giant corporations. We are now on a great track to recovery and we can hone in on the even greater plots that caused this economic break down.

Link http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/bank-of-america-is-found-liable-for-countrywide-fraud/2013/10/23/60ce89fe-3c27-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html

GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! (on trees!)

They say that money doesn't grow on trees.... but apparently gold does!

Gold particles were found growing in leaves of Eucalyptus trees in Australia by surprised researchers. Because Eucalyptus trees roots can delve up to 130 feet underground in search of hydration, the roots of these particular trees came upon deep ore deposits with lots of gold! The article seems that it is very important to state how much gold is worth theses days, as the researchers were fierce with excitement on their possibility of such a valuable mineral. The researchers were smartly wary at first, doing many in depth tests to make sure that the gold was actually growing on the leaves. The researchers want to find the ores where the gold came from, but want to be careful about harming the trees areas.

I find this story to be extremely exciting because though I do not know a thing or two about plants, the amazing happenings of nature really fascinate me. It is poetic in a way that something of such materialistic value and a beauty of nature could really solidify the fantasy of money "growing" on trees. It really shows the magic of nature and how sometimes really anything can happen when it comes to nature. I find it to be almost a sign of how we should stop putting so much value to materials and nurture nature!
Article + pic link:

The Dead and The Environment

If I was married for 48 years to one person and they had one request upon dying, I would, no doubt, agree to anything they ask. But if this request was to be buried in our front lawn, it might take some mulling over.

All James Davis’ wife, Patsy Davis, wanted was to be buried in their lawn. So, Mr. Davis was determined to do just that. After going through all the necessary paper work and being denied by the city and even The Alabama Supreme Court, Mr. Davis did what he was told anyway. A month later he was sued by the city. For the next four years Mr. Davis became thousands of dollars deep in legal fees.  He stuck to his guns. He even ran for Mayor and lost. His neighbors weren't bothered by her, so why should the government be and how is this related to environmental news? The city’s attorney Parker Edmiston said” If you allow it for Mr. Davis, you allow it for Ms. Adams, Mr. Jones and everyone else,” and that would mean bad news for the rest of us.

The process of laying a human to rest nowadays requires many chemicals including formaldehyde, which is toxic to all animals and has been the cause of death to some adult humans. So you can only imagine how this chemical seriously contaminates the ground and the plant life it comes in contact with. If everyone began burying their loved ones in areas where there is life and community, toxins would build up and eventually start to affect the living.

There are more environmentally friendly ways of resting. Including cremation, (which has its only pollutants to worry about, but it’s still not as bad as cutting down millions of rain forest  making steel vaults, and concocting embalming fluid) and natural burials which is done without chemicals. The deceased is put in a biodegradable coffin or casket and the area where the person is buried is kept as close to the original state as possible. Just like our ancestors did. Awesome. 

Read about it.