tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22148786620322881702024-02-20T00:17:27.105-08:00News to YouToni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-32359292724012169072010-09-18T19:52:00.000-07:002010-09-18T19:52:32.099-07:00Illegal Contraband, Raw Milk! Farmers Arrested.<object height="405" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hl-QpRyb1GQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hl-QpRyb1GQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.healthiertalk.com/users/alice-wessendorf" style="text-decoration: none;" title="View user profile."><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Alice Wessendorf</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #898989; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9.16667px; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #494949; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;"></span></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.6em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Raw milk is illegal to sell in most states in the USA.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.6em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Advocates of raw cow’s milk drink it because they believe it is superior to pasteurized milk and that it provides numerous health benefits.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.6em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">But people are actually being arrested for selling it. Is this really to protect the consumer or is it a conspiracy to protect the profits of the dairy industry?</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.6em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Source</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://www.healthiertalk.com/illegal-contraband-raw-milk-farmers-arrested"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.healthiertalk.com/illegal-contraband-raw-milk-farmers-arrested</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> ; </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">September 5, 2010.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.6em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #898989;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 25px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.</span></span></span></span></div>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-12359083690753976772010-09-18T19:17:00.000-07:002010-09-18T19:17:10.435-07:00How to Remake Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoW1xlsEiBjwnePuibnZg1cyRMy_YicT7mYgIH4mGLBeFvzFVNwnLP5hyphenhyphenxIj-Ph-zKzhFd2k1mvveFaBfZ36t8fN3BFTysQ1ky_EAr9l-YolvzR-vJCegj-2whEmP82rAYYdoM7S_awKe/s1600/0910-Demo-Gx220jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoW1xlsEiBjwnePuibnZg1cyRMy_YicT7mYgIH4mGLBeFvzFVNwnLP5hyphenhyphenxIj-Ph-zKzhFd2k1mvveFaBfZ36t8fN3BFTysQ1ky_EAr9l-YolvzR-vJCegj-2whEmP82rAYYdoM7S_awKe/s320/0910-Demo-Gx220jpg.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.16667px; line-height: 15px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Katherine Bourzac </span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 7.63889px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10.8333px;"></span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With a precise motion, Li Ma, a technician at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD, pipettes a cherry-red solution of bacterial cells into a vial that contains a clear solution of fragile DNA loops. These loops, the largest pieces of DNA ever assembled in the lab, are each capable of controlling all the ordinary functions of a cell. But the DNA didn't originate in any bacteria: instead, scientists pieced it together from bottled chemicals. The process they recently developed for doing this is the first to yield synthetic cells that are capable of surviving. Some of the bacterial cells that Ma is working with will fuse together in the solution, engulfing the synthetic genome and then replicating and living under its control.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Conventional genetic engineering is a lengthy process in which genes are altered one by one, often over successive generations of organisms. That makes radically changing a genome a daunting proposition. But the newly developed techniques allow researchers to edit genomes on a computer, subtracting or adding genes by literally cutting and pasting them in a file. It's more like word processing than the traditional lab work involved in culturing and screening generations of organisms. The researchers can then perform the genetic equivalent of printing out the file, at which point they're able to transplant the result--a new genome--into existing cells. These steps dramatically speed up the engineering process; it might take just weeks to complete experiments that previously would have taken months or years.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Source: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25964/?a=f"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25964/?a=f</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> ; September/October 2010.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-49875495047304042722010-09-18T18:38:00.000-07:002010-09-18T18:38:46.482-07:00Should we rely on natural gas in earthquake zones?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhva8P_ZLrm9CCw2_ceNxdSx0eYn-dE6dbsjtdKVnhLaiwb2bigrTj_gPPDOW3dGvNfdeswQ1RNwfapKzK2NZKx9egequS02onYA8Edyt7MlBdRlFTh6bABkBk06pRzFS_9CqInORlrNSnc/s1600/0913-sanbrunofire_full_380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhva8P_ZLrm9CCw2_ceNxdSx0eYn-dE6dbsjtdKVnhLaiwb2bigrTj_gPPDOW3dGvNfdeswQ1RNwfapKzK2NZKx9egequS02onYA8Edyt7MlBdRlFTh6bABkBk06pRzFS_9CqInORlrNSnc/s320/0913-sanbrunofire_full_380.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Mathew E. Kahn </span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Environmentalists have mixed feelings about natural gas. It is a fossil fuel but its greenhouse gas emissions are 50% lower than coal and this is why California's electric utilities are relatively "green". But, this horrible </span></span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/us/12bcneighborhood.html?hpw" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">explosion </span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in PGE's territory in the outskirts of San Francisco has everyone here wondering whether this is a fluke or a sign of something bigger?</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"></span></span></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">My concern relates to earthquake caused depreciation of the natural gas lines. My family uses natural gas to heat our home and to cook. Do small earthquakes (that occur a lot) weaken the natural gas infrastructure network?</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">As discussed </span></span></span><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-me-san-bruno-gas-20100911,0,4943981.story" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">here</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, to avoid terrorism risk -- the utilities are not eager to share information with the public concerning whether our homes are close to major natural gas lines. This asymmetric information is not useful. In a well functioning housing market, people are alerted if they live in an earthquake zone or near toxic waste sites and the price of real estate adjusts to reflect compensation for this "bad news".</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Now, here is my question. As small earthquakes rock California --- does this accelerate the depreciation of the natural gas infrastructure? For each piece of the natural gas pipe network, I would like to know;</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">1. When was it built?</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">2. When was it last inspected?</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">3. How do the gas providers choose what pieces to inspect?</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">4. When earthquakes take place, do the utilities invest more effort to determine whether the network is still secure?</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">5. From an engineering perspective, what "fail-safe" investments can the utility make to minimize the probability of a disaster? Do they have the right incentives to do so? Can they pass such costs on to customers? Does fear of ex-post liability in lawsuits provide sufficient incentive or is there a moral hazard effect because firms such as PGE have insurance?</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">If I'm right with my hunch that earthquake zones make reliance on natural gas more risky, then maybe this will nudge solar further and stimulate new interest in a second generation of "electric homes"?</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Source: </b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Green-Economics/2010/0914/Should-we-rely-on-natural-gas-in-earthquake-zones"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Green-Economics/2010/0914/Should-we-rely-on-natural-gas-in-earthquake-zones</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">; September 14, 2010.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; line-height: 21px;">The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.</span></span></span></div><br />
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</span></span>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-17557384254627966972010-09-11T21:00:00.000-07:002010-09-11T21:00:17.270-07:00China Explores a Frontier 2 Miles Deep<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionrBghFFFmlgtdeFvUhe842PdYv9wtVouQ5hmUujVFUVjGCmMmp-fFxz0Ytr748_0OxCntzj7Eiqwxll5XhrtkPL4bPYlfI2QoVyj2fnYcuuTWdB32agYjnwxYUq-hTqDQy2uBZTrCaP6/s1600/12deepsea-popup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionrBghFFFmlgtdeFvUhe842PdYv9wtVouQ5hmUujVFUVjGCmMmp-fFxz0Ytr748_0OxCntzj7Eiqwxll5XhrtkPL4bPYlfI2QoVyj2fnYcuuTWdB32agYjnwxYUq-hTqDQy2uBZTrCaP6/s320/12deepsea-popup.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By William J. Broad </span></div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When three Chinese scientists plunged to the bottom of the South China Sea in a tiny submarine early this summer, they did more than simply plant their nation’s flag on the dark seabed.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The men, who descended more than two miles in a craft the size of a small truck, also signaled Beijing’s intention to take the lead in exploring remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean floor, which are rich in oil, minerals and other resources that the Chinese would like to mine. And many of those resources happen to lie in areas where </span></span><a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/china/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="More news and information about China."><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> has clashed repeatedly with its neighbors over territorial claims.</span></span></span></div></div><div class="columnGroup first" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 7px; width: auto !important;"><div class="articleBody" style="margin-bottom: 1.7em; margin-top: 1.5em;"><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After the flag planting, which was done in secret but recorded </span></span><a href="http://english.cntv.cn/program/china24/20100827/101280.shtml" style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in a video</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, Beijing quickly turned the feat of technology into a show of bravado.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“It is a great achievement,” Liu Feng, director of the dives, was quoted as saying by </span></span><a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-08/27/content_11211475.htm" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="China Daily article on submersible"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China Daily</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, an English-language newspaper, which telegraphs government positions to the outside world.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The global seabed is littered with what experts say is trillions of dollars’ worth of mineral nodules as well as many objects of intelligence value: undersea cables carrying diplomatic communications, lost nuclear arms, sunken submarines and hundreds of warheads left over from missile tests.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While a single small craft cannot reel in all these treasures, it does put China in an excellent position to go after them.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“They’re in it for a penny and a pound,” said Don Walsh, a pioneer of deep-ocean diving who recently visited the submersible and its makers in China. “It’s a very deliberate program.”</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The small craft that made the trip — named Jiaolong, after a mythical sea dragon — was unveiled publicly late last month after eight years of secretive development. It is designed to go deeper than any other in the world, giving China access to 99.8 percent of the ocean floor.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Technically, it is a submersible. These craft differ from submarines in their small size, their need for a mother ship on the surface, and their ability to dive extraordinarily far despite the darkness and the crushing pressures. The world has only a few.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jiaolong is meant to go as deep as 7,000 meters, or 4.35 miles, edging out the current global leader. Japan’s Shinkai 6500 can go as deep as 6,500 meters, outperforming craft</span></span><a href="http://www.jamstec.go.jp/e/about/equipment/ships/shinkai6500.html" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="About the Shinkai 6500, from Jamstec"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“all over the world,”</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> according to its makers. Russia, France and the United States lag further behind in the game of going deep.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">American experts familiar with the Chinese undersea program say it is unusual in that Beijing has little experience in the daunting field. As a result, China is moving cautiously. Jiaolong’s sea trials began quietly last year and are to continue until 2012, its dives going deeper in increments.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“They’re being very cautious,” Dr. Walsh said. “They respect what they don’t know and are working hard to learn.”</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In an interview, Dr. Walsh said that the Chinese were especially interested in avoiding the embarrassment of a disaster that ends with the aquanauts’ entrapment or death. “If I’m the new kid on the block,” he said, “I’m going to make sure that I’ve got bragging rights.”</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Still, China is already waving flags. The move resembles how Russian scientists, in the summer of 2007, plunged through the ice pack at the North Pole and planted their flag on the bottom of the ocean. Upon surfacing, the explorers declared that the feat had strengthened Moscow’s claims to nearly half the Arctic seabed.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Wang Weizhong, a Chinese vice minister of science and technology, said that the Jiaolong’s sea trials “marked a milestone” for China and global exploration. The recent successes of the craft, he said in late August at a news conference in Beijing, “laid a solid foundation for its practical application in resource surveys and scientific research.”</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But at least one senior Chinese expert questioned what he called “the current propaganda.” The expert, Weicheng Cui, a professor at the </span></span><a href="http://www.cssrc.com.cn/english/" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Center’s Web site"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China Ship Scientific Research Center</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, which is building the submersible, said Thursday in an e-mail that the craft’s sea trials had steered clear of contested islands “to avoid any diplomatic issues.”</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The flurry of publicity over the flag planting, he said, “is not so helpful for us to complete the project.”</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China’s splash in the arcane world of submersibles comes after years of singling out major industries and technologies for rapid development. China is rushing to make supercomputers and jumbo jets. With expanding political ambitions and territorial claims in neighboring seas, it has paid special attention to oceanography and building a blue-water navy, one that operates in the deep waters of open oceans.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The United States once held the submersible lead. In 1960, it sent Dr. Walsh, then a Navy officer, to the ocean’s deepest spot, seven miles down. But over the decades, it lost its edge to France, Russia and, most recently, Japan.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China began its push in 2002. A few Westerners became aware of the guarded effort when China ordered from Russia the forging of a spherical hull about seven feet wide.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At the heart of any submersible lies the hollow sphere where the aquanauts work. It houses a pilot and two observers, who can peer out of tiny portholes. Typically, a dive into the abyss is an all-day affair, requiring hours to and from the bottom.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">American experts said China went on a global shopping spree to gather sophisticated gear for its submersible. From the United States, it bought advanced lights, cameras and manipulator arms. Dr. Cui estimated that 40 percent of the craft’s equipment came from abroad.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China also turned to the United States for tutoring. In 2005, five Chinese trainee pilots and one scientist participated in eight dives on </span></span><a href="http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8422" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Alvin slideshow, videos and other features"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Alvin</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, the oldest and most famous of the world’s deep-diving craft, which is run by the </span></span><a href="http://www.whoi.edu/" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Woods Hole Web site"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on Cape Cod. China “</span></span><a href="http://www.unols.org/meetings/2005/200506des/200506desmi.html" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Report from the Deep Submergence Science Committee"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">bought time</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on Alvin to gain experience,” according to the Deep Submergence Science Committee, a group that advises the federal government and universities on ocean exploration.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Though Alvin can go down only 4,500 meters, or 2.8 miles, it has made thousands of dives and discoveries, and is widely seen among experts as highly productive and well run.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of the Chinese trainees was Ye Cong, now a pilot on Jiaolong during its sea trials.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Last year’s tests went as deep as 1,000 meters (about a half mile), and this summer’s as deep as 3,759 meters. Next year Jiaolong is to dive to 5,000 meters and in 2012 reach its maximum depth.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dr. Walsh said the flag issue prompted more awkwardness than swagger among those who are building and testing the new submersible.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“We had a laugh about it,” he recalled of his China visit. “I said, ‘Oh, you’re copying the Russians,’ and they kind of giggled. These guys are pretty apolitical and pretty well insulated” from Beijing. “They’re just contractors doing their job.”</span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Source</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/science/12deepsea.html?_r=1&hp">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/science/12deepsea.html?_r=1&hp</a> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: S</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">eptember 11, 2010 : </span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.</span></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-70634647645990401752010-09-11T12:28:00.000-07:002010-09-11T21:04:01.462-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxKNpopu_iu3NSOFRlz4i8JYi5mAUbySj5J7IANfBQ9_ZhGXt0myKbqs9EmJLnWsuOh7CjpkeEqPijqeW23VhjMMSmSCQ22wfUoZBDiOx4XmJ6eGppHRSqrsevAorlOi6U8f00XY6V9Xd/s1600/haiti-beach1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxKNpopu_iu3NSOFRlz4i8JYi5mAUbySj5J7IANfBQ9_ZhGXt0myKbqs9EmJLnWsuOh7CjpkeEqPijqeW23VhjMMSmSCQ22wfUoZBDiOx4XmJ6eGppHRSqrsevAorlOi6U8f00XY6V9Xd/s320/haiti-beach1.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 10.8333px; line-height: 16px;"><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 10.8333px; line-height: 16px;"></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal; position: static;"><span class="kLink" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By Tamara Lush</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">From the dusty rock mounds lining the streets to a National Palace that looks like it's vomiting concrete from its core, rubble is one of the most visible reminders of Haiti's devastating earthquake.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rubble is everywhere in this capital city: cracked slabs, busted-up cinder blocks, half-destroyed buildings that still spill bricks and pulverized concrete onto the sidewalks. Some places look as though they have been flipped upside down, or are sinking to the ground, or listing precariously to one side.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By some estimates, the quake left about 33 million cubic yards of debris in Port-au-Prince — more than seven times the amount of concrete used to build the Hoover Dam. So far, only about 2 percent has been cleared, which means the city looks pretty much as it did a month after the Jan. 12 quake.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Government officials and outside aid groups say rubble removal is the priority before Haiti can rebuild. But the reasons why so little has been cleared are complex. And frustrating.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH15jug0AGbX927pcM9YYn1iBEpeCMVODAGpICRrn9F9DN-11A6wL-ErzRMJFYmXAql9_g000XwU1rEqQK7gW_XXkKnBSTJweIkDc80HN-jn9fPB8JI3QVq_I6bsSYe1YjlSXxjhsb5-8f/s1600/haiti-184-4-6502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH15jug0AGbX927pcM9YYn1iBEpeCMVODAGpICRrn9F9DN-11A6wL-ErzRMJFYmXAql9_g000XwU1rEqQK7gW_XXkKnBSTJweIkDc80HN-jn9fPB8JI3QVq_I6bsSYe1YjlSXxjhsb5-8f/s320/haiti-184-4-6502.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Heavy equipment has to be shipped in by sea. Dump trucks have difficulty navigating narrow and mountainous dirt roads. An abysmal records system makes it hard for the government to determine who owns a dilapidated property. And there are few sites on which to dump the rubble, which often contains human remains.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Also, no single person in the Haitian government has been declared in charge of the rubble, prompting foreign nongovernmental organizations to take on the task themselves. The groups are often forced to fight for a small pool of available money and contracts — which in turn means the work is done piecemeal, with little coordination.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Projects funded by USAID and the U.S. Department of Defense have spent more than $98.5 million to remove 1.2 million cubic yards of rubble.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"There's not a master plan," Eric Overvest, country director for the U.N. Development Program, said with a sigh. "After the earthquake, the first priority was clearing the roads. That was the easiest part."</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRPMjHE2sE7gKoU3JNd5a0A3nLBWnL93oeodCwOU8YKiwln8DNTxU9k2p0Q3cNK5cVJ3Euoe9DqLQKH4grXgKdYX3ELU7YqoGkLHcZOvN8SCHWqvfNCMTPyhNSYrvD1Aqykqt__ZUFSKx/s1600/Haiti_Apartments_Ca_'_n_Picafort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRPMjHE2sE7gKoU3JNd5a0A3nLBWnL93oeodCwOU8YKiwln8DNTxU9k2p0Q3cNK5cVJ3Euoe9DqLQKH4grXgKdYX3ELU7YqoGkLHcZOvN8SCHWqvfNCMTPyhNSYrvD1Aqykqt__ZUFSKx/s320/Haiti_Apartments_Ca_'_n_Picafort.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Overvest said the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission — created after the earthquake to coordinate billions of dollars in aid — has approved a $17 million plan to clear rubble from six neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. The neighborhoods have not yet been selected, however, and it's unclear when debris will be removed from other areas.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a class="kLink" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake_rubble;_ylt=AsU5VEnD011K2wuiaTuob.Ss0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNxbmhndHBoBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTExL2NiX2hhaXRpX2VhcnRocXVha2VfcnViYmxlBGNjb2RlA3JhbmRvbQRjcG9zAzEwBHBvcwM3BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDanVzdDJwZXJjZW50#" id="KonaLink2" style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136) !important; border-bottom-style: dotted !important; border-bottom-width: 2px !important; border-left-color: transparent !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: transparent !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: transparent !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; bottom: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; font-variant: normal; left: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; right: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none !important; top: 0px;" target="undefined"><span style="font-weight: normal; position: static;"><span class="kLink" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Leslie </span></span></span></span><span class="kLink" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Voltaire</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, a Haitian architect, urban planner and presidential candidate, says his country needs a "rubble czar."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Everybody is passing the blame on why things haven't happened yet," he said. "There should be one person in charge. Resettlement has not even begun yet, and it can't until the city has been cleared."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Voltaire maintains that there are enough crushers, dump trucks and other heavy equipment for the job; others say that more machinery is needed. But everyone agrees that recovery will take decades — and the slower the rubble removal, the longer the recovery.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Most Haitians are simply living with the rubble, working and walking around it. After a while, the gray heaps and cockeyed buildings just blend into the tattered background of the city.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNe79i5hnV-wWp9jSQWetuuEHorx1Rwm21BBNBIaFUePXoH39Wg1IJxIZ8ZqYt7LsRsL2mviZt4CFznUXrI2qJ22_bl2-qekyDd-022YVyiQVQp1jtx50mu2RehREVhBm36CaQsAiA2Ook/s1600/haiti+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNe79i5hnV-wWp9jSQWetuuEHorx1Rwm21BBNBIaFUePXoH39Wg1IJxIZ8ZqYt7LsRsL2mviZt4CFznUXrI2qJ22_bl2-qekyDd-022YVyiQVQp1jtx50mu2RehREVhBm36CaQsAiA2Ook/s320/haiti+(2).jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"It will take many, many years to fix," Overvest acknowledged. "We can't just go with wheelbarrows to remove it."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But that's exactly what some Haitians are doing: using shovels and wheelbarrows to clear properties — a Sisyphean task if there ever was one.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Personally, I don't think Port-au-Prince will ever be cleared," said 47-year-old Yvon Clerisier, an artist working a temporary job clearing rubble with a rusty shovel for a private homeowner. He wore torn jeans, a sweaty T-shirt and sandals, and was covered in a fine dust.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Clerisier was one of a dozen men working in temperatures higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). The property owner, Gregory Antoine, said he paid the crew $1,200 for three weeks of work.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"People want to work," Antoine said. "If you get a good organization to put people to work and give them direction, things will get done. But right now, nothing is getting done."</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZ5-vOJlYF9p8zhGt_1KET6795Ah7luUqBeDDS-E6NyGnpZjgsljN6ZgoElDeeTlKq5JoH_d9s4E7X2j3n1fth1Vpm8cjGhfITkz0VReFcg2sBOUwvRqUVOfCooOq5NqEPKuo5X9TsLqo/s1600/haiti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZ5-vOJlYF9p8zhGt_1KET6795Ah7luUqBeDDS-E6NyGnpZjgsljN6ZgoElDeeTlKq5JoH_d9s4E7X2j3n1fth1Vpm8cjGhfITkz0VReFcg2sBOUwvRqUVOfCooOq5NqEPKuo5X9TsLqo/s320/haiti.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It's not for lack of trying. The nonprofit organization CHF International spent about $5 million of USAID money on heavy machinery and paying Haitians to remove rubble from specific sites.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dan Strode was the rubble-removal operations manager for CHF for three months; some dubbed him "the rubble guy" because of his enthusiasm for the job.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Rubble isn't sexy," the Californian said. "And clearing it is not as simple as people think."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Strode's big worry: that debris won't be cleared fast enough and that the piles of rocks and garbage and dirt will be overtaken by tropical growth.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"If we don't clear it, what we will leave behind is something that is worse than before," he said. "If you come back in a year, and the rubble hasn't been cleared, it will be grown over, subject to landslides and unstable."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Strode, who coordinated the removal of nearly 290,000 cubic yards of material in three months, said a major obstacle to demolishing buildings has been the lack of property records, which either were destroyed in the quake or never existed at all.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRoJCiL-4-tVmn8lPA7DQEtISEwJPeiDRnI-GZGa3C_kOkajN_YzgclLvKFLlIb0V9k4tQ0Z2tl856MnTTLNNkex6MWjNHqnUeknGlTUfJNAzoElb6f0C2GGxj-Sab-ncW9uE_2O_o4bog/s1600/haiti+(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRoJCiL-4-tVmn8lPA7DQEtISEwJPeiDRnI-GZGa3C_kOkajN_YzgclLvKFLlIb0V9k4tQ0Z2tl856MnTTLNNkex6MWjNHqnUeknGlTUfJNAzoElb6f0C2GGxj-Sab-ncW9uE_2O_o4bog/s320/haiti+(3).jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Without an owner's consent, it is difficult to remove debris, he said. Another problem: Strode often received approval to demolish a building such as a hospital or a school — even when nearby homes were at risk.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"You cannot wantonly go in and demolish," he said. "There's a liability issue."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Strode is no longer doing rubble removal. The grant money ran out, and has not yet been renewed.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Another hurdle: dumping the debris.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While many private landowners and others are dumping the rubble in the streets, canals or countryside, there's only one place in all of Haiti where NGOs using U.S. money can take contaminated rubble: an approved and environmentally surveyed site.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Not all rubble is the same," said Michael Zamba, the spokesman for the </span></span><a class="kLink" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake_rubble;_ylt=AsU5VEnD011K2wuiaTuob.Ss0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNxbmhndHBoBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTExL2NiX2hhaXRpX2VhcnRocXVha2VfcnViYmxlBGNjb2RlA3JhbmRvbQRjcG9zAzEwBHBvcwM3BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDanVzdDJwZXJjZW50#" id="KonaLink3" style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136) !important; border-bottom-style: dotted !important; border-bottom-width: 2px !important; border-left-color: transparent !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: transparent !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: transparent !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; bottom: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; font-variant: normal; left: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; right: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none !important; top: 0px;" target="undefined"><span style="font-weight: normal; position: static;"><span class="kLink" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Pan </span></span></span></span><span class="kLink" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">American </span></span></span></span><span class="kLink" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Development</span></span></span></span><span class="kLink" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Foundation</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. "There's a lot of contaminated rubble with human remains in it. It can't go in a standard landfill."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Zamba points out that before the earthquake, Haiti was the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere — so it's not that surprising recovery is slow.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTaQHoAEGgO9j_OJSpacqVJ2D_pvtnms1ytM_cW3Al4kjGTrbP6rj0bJCeRVIiCpLMmXgNpPebsB6Fpcy_wpNT9eEzRWNMxOLP5L3CCkSzVPTYnC5XpCgglKxTHuQ_s-tXLqoZ8n1YGJI/s1600/haiti+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTaQHoAEGgO9j_OJSpacqVJ2D_pvtnms1ytM_cW3Al4kjGTrbP6rj0bJCeRVIiCpLMmXgNpPebsB6Fpcy_wpNT9eEzRWNMxOLP5L3CCkSzVPTYnC5XpCgglKxTHuQ_s-tXLqoZ8n1YGJI/s320/haiti+(1).jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Haiti is a really expensive place to work: You have to ship in gas, vehicles, people," he said. "But you clean up the rubble in a neighborhood, and it transforms it. Life comes back."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Source</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 30px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake_rubble;_ylt=AsU5VEnD011K2wuiaTuob.Ss0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNxbmhndHBoBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTExL2NiX2hhaXRpX2VhcnRocXVha2VfcnViYmxlBGNjb2RlA3JhbmRvbQRjcG9zAzEwBHBvcwM3BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDanVzdDJwZXJjZW50"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake_rubble;_ylt=AsU5VEnD011K2wuiaTuob.Ss0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNxbmhndHBoBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTExL2NiX2hhaXRpX2VhcnRocXVha2VfcnViYmxlBGNjb2RlA3JhbmRvbQRjcG9zAzEwBHBvcwM3BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDanVzdDJwZXJjZW50</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> : September 11, 2010</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 25px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.</span></span></span></div></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-17958695648186417692010-09-04T22:10:00.000-07:002010-09-11T20:40:17.935-07:00The cashless society<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzrhcxmgLm9rBH4sDwhmD5QJaAXkz3Dx3lJPLvWR64mIcxjqSpjIpyve9N2dVlcxgt42yMg1XiBg_11LeZv1WHKHcQyX9J_1Os8Al7o1jooLeEbX6DSBYsWpMNzChKUdhkaooVzIUiIXXx/s1600/grreenback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzrhcxmgLm9rBH4sDwhmD5QJaAXkz3Dx3lJPLvWR64mIcxjqSpjIpyve9N2dVlcxgt42yMg1XiBg_11LeZv1WHKHcQyX9J_1Os8Al7o1jooLeEbX6DSBYsWpMNzChKUdhkaooVzIUiIXXx/s320/grreenback.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">By Jeff Taylor</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">According to the Telegraph there is the distinct possibility that the ‘cashless society’ may be just around the corner. In the report, Steve Perry of Visa Europe argues that card payments are cheaper than cash. What our Steve hasn’t hoisted in is that cards ARE cash. Or maybe he has but does not want us to realise the concept. The main reason for a noteless and coinless society he says is that electronic is cheaper. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the same way that coloured beads, split sticks and ‘ Wampum’ were used as immediate vehicles for transferring value, printed notes and coins do the same but so do credit and debit cards.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But here’s the crux of the matter. Beads, sticks, Wampum, notes and coins were physically held by the owner. The contents of a debit or credit card account are held and controlled by a third party on the ‘owners’ behalf. And that third party will have to account for the movement of that value to a government for tax (and other) purposes.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Getting rid of notes and coins is not getting rid of ‘cash’. It is getting rid of one type of cash, the type of cash that ensures anonymity. Because all transactions by debit and credit card will be monitored and analysed by computers linked to whoever.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Great you say. No more unaccountable payments to dodgy plumbers. No more prostitution that relies so much on notes and coins. No more drug pushers on street corners. No more tax evasion. ‘If you’ve nothing to hide you’ve nothing to fear’ from the computer snoopers.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Ah! But Mrs Smith, we notice you’ve purchased more that the health recommendations allow for chocolate éclairs. You’ve also smoked over 20 cigarettes a day and had three MacDonalds fatty burgers this week. I also see that your husband has a penchant for the local newsagent ‘top-shelf’ products and that your son has bought a book that is on our ‘suspect list’. Also, looking at your overall spend, we see a discrepancy with your tax return.So you can understand why we are doubling your personal taxes, freezing your assets and raiding your house. After all if you’ve nothing to hide …….. .”</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sound a bit over the top? Alarmist? Of course that wouldn’t happen here? Well, governemnt and local authorities have a history of misusing laws and information to their own ends. All that data exists for card payments already. Supermarkets and card issuers (banks) use it for marketing purposes. With all payments electronically based do you really think we can keep the government’s grubby paws off of the data? There is also already talk of imposing a ‘Tobin tax’ on financial services transactions. A society where only electronic transactions took place would be a temptation no government could resist. And the new tax would only take the cost of transactions back to about the level of when we used notes and coins so what’s the problem?</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Every aspect of our lives bar-coded and reduced to digits that any busy-body can scrutinise. A nation (if not a world) of digitised consumers and taxpayers.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1984 is breathing fire down our necks, cash in the form of notes and coins may actually be the last refuge of our real individual freedom. But only for the poor of course.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There will be many people who will want to evade this system. Those who are wealthy and don’t want their children’s inheritance taxed out of existence for example. The rich will accumulate other means of transfer such as rare metals. They after all won’t be allowed to get caught in the tax trap. A whole parallel system, a new form of ‘cash’ could evolve for them. For the rest of us I see a lot more bartering and direct swapping of goods and services returning to society as we try to eke out our living.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Source</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">:</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://www.economicvoice.com/the-cashless-society/5005449#axzz0cWSDOStT"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.economicvoice.com/the-cashless-society/5005449#axzz0cWSDOStT</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> : </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">January 12th, 2010</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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</span> </span> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.</span></span></span>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-38827546220908677242010-09-04T21:56:00.000-07:002010-09-07T18:08:25.084-07:00Roarrrr your head off for tigers<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: normal;"></span></span><br />
<div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Earlier this week we were asked to toot our horns for rhinos. Today we are encouraged to roar for tigers. Tomorrow, will we be tweeting for birds?</span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"To save the world's remaining wild tigers, </span><a href="http://wwf.panda.org/" style="color: #044e8e; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">WWF</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is </span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">not</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> asking people to stand-up and be heard--but asking them for a roar of support," the conservation organization said in a news release today.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8w8YTmFRcWPGXIHURxsN2Of2bVMrXuuOqbQl2AVRS41WLVqwVTjaUY4q47OLwRQcdkgeMER-HRKznF9iccQLvUbfZPMW-tMMtGxW-CZtebJhu6UwaIYjM3h1Zc4F8OYx2THXJDNhrqm-/s1600/snarling+tiger+(Panthera+tigris)-thumb-425x285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8w8YTmFRcWPGXIHURxsN2Of2bVMrXuuOqbQl2AVRS41WLVqwVTjaUY4q47OLwRQcdkgeMER-HRKznF9iccQLvUbfZPMW-tMMtGxW-CZtebJhu6UwaIYjM3h1Zc4F8OYx2THXJDNhrqm-/s320/snarling+tiger+(Panthera+tigris)-thumb-425x285.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8w8YTmFRcWPGXIHURxsN2Of2bVMrXuuOqbQl2AVRS41WLVqwVTjaUY4q47OLwRQcdkgeMER-HRKznF9iccQLvUbfZPMW-tMMtGxW-CZtebJhu6UwaIYjM3h1Zc4F8OYx2THXJDNhrqm-/s1600/snarling+tiger+(Panthera+tigris)-thumb-425x285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> NGS stock photo by Michael Nichols</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"></span></span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"With tigers in the wild numbering fewer than 3,200, WWF has launched a first-time campaign where web users can literally roar their support for tigers," said the charity, which is based in Switzerland but is deeply engaged with conservation in tiger range countries.</span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A few days ago </span><a href="http://www.wwf.org.za/" style="color: #044e8e; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">WWF South Africa</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> said September would be a month of support for rhinos, which are currently being poached in the country for their horns at the rate of about 20 per month. September 22 is to be Make a Noise for Rhino Day, when supporters of the pachyderm everywhere are asked to blow their </span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">vuvuzelas</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> or other musical instruments--or toot their car horns--to express opposition to rhino poaching. It's a kind of blowing a global raspberry against the poachers. (</span><a href="http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/09/blow-your-horn-for-rhinos.html" style="color: #044e8e; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Blow your horn for rhinos.</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">)</span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The </span><a href="http://wwf.panda.org/how_you_can_help/campaign/roar_home/" style="color: #044e8e; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tiger Roar Campaign</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, www.panda.org/roar, is an online application where the public can add their own roars in many different ways, whether solo or in a group of friends, family, or with their colleagues, WWF said.</span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">NGS stock photo by Michael Nichols. If you want tigers to remain in the wild, WWF wants you to roar your support for ther big cvats.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPnTg1qd6amt4mTocZ2D6N-RzgV4cK_s424o-kaqTTTvAeBHWS47qO3sxXJguMJaXh2q8xpdd_9VLDPjM3vkyG8fvtqQSonnsNhFDxRp7dnuKnvXdpdM9348l2KwIxO2k51WjrGdIh0R2/s1600/wild+tiger+in+a+zoo-thumb-425x285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPnTg1qd6amt4mTocZ2D6N-RzgV4cK_s424o-kaqTTTvAeBHWS47qO3sxXJguMJaXh2q8xpdd_9VLDPjM3vkyG8fvtqQSonnsNhFDxRp7dnuKnvXdpdM9348l2KwIxO2k51WjrGdIh0R2/s320/wild+tiger+in+a+zoo-thumb-425x285.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Users can upload pictures of themselves getting all "roary," shoot video of their roars, and upload them to YouTube or Vimeo, and then link them in. For a simpler approach, users can even text message their roars.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Once uploaded, participants can then search through other entries and vote for their favorite roars, including casting their votes for the funniest or most frightening roars from around the world.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Everyone who submits a roar will be counted in a special WWF petition to be presented to heads of government, including prime ministers, from the 13 tiger range countries that are attending the Tiger Summit, scheduled for November in St. Petersburg, Russia," WWF said.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"This is a crucial meeting that will determine the fate of wild tigers, and we need everyone's help to get world leaders to the meeting," said Michael Baltzer, head of WWF's tiger programme.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"To encourage these powerful people to make the right decisions, and keep to their stated goal of transforming tiger conservation and doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022, we need you to stand up and roar--any which way you can."</span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Tiger Roar Campaign is part of WWF's Year of the Tiger campaign, which runs through February 2011.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">WWF launched the TX2 campaign early this year, which seeks to double the number of wild tigers by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A first-time tiger conservation declaration from the 13 countries that still have wild tiger populations was prepared in Bali, Indonesia in July this year, and is due to be signed before the close of Year of the Tiger at the Tiger Summit, WWF added.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"The Declaration seeks to create a tiger recovery program that is global in scope while also promoting transboundary cooperation amongst the 13 tiger range countries."</span></span></div><div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"WWF also will display some of the best roars at the Summit to create awareness of the plight of wild tigers among world leaders and their delegations.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Source</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: "Posted by David Braun from media materials submitted by WWF." : </span></span></span><a href="http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/09/roarrrr-your-head-off-for-tige.html?source=link_tw09032010c"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/09/roarrrr-your-head-off-for-tige.html?source=link_tw09032010c</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> : September 2, 2010</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.</span><br />
<div style="color: black; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-47255583560954253382010-09-02T18:42:00.000-07:002010-09-07T20:37:39.813-07:00Oil rig platform catches fire in Gulf of Mexico<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxkUxl572xkCMuMfm4W8gkq-jeibemCyO5GBOpqxeIAZmEhHuiwk7_aHNLTaHTGctkf4ttuiRwAgKJzFAjHc9uWZ791iJe2pabtd0Loi8UCJ1Y-we6WPwV_jQ5bdDaAxSqhDwt1YfApVX/s1600/380029_G.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxkUxl572xkCMuMfm4W8gkq-jeibemCyO5GBOpqxeIAZmEhHuiwk7_aHNLTaHTGctkf4ttuiRwAgKJzFAjHc9uWZ791iJe2pabtd0Loi8UCJ1Y-we6WPwV_jQ5bdDaAxSqhDwt1YfApVX/s320/380029_G.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">VERMILION BAY, LA (WAFB/AP) - An oil platform exploded and burned off the Louisiana coast Thursday, the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said Mariner Energy, Inc., the Houston company that owns the rig, had deployed three firefighting vessels to the site and one already was in place fighting the blaze. The Coast Guard had reported that a 100-foot-wide oil sheen had been spotted near the platform, but now says there is no sign of an oil leak.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">According to the Coast Guard, 13 people were on the platform when it caught fire Thursday morning. All 13 are accounted for and one injury was reported.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The workers will be taken to Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma by helicopter to be fully checked out.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The rig is located about 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Coast Guard said it received a call at 9:19 a.m. from a neighboring rig that Vermilion 380 was on fire. A helicopter pilot then reported at about 10 a.m. he saw 13 people floating in the water in special suits near a burning oil rig platform.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rescue helicopters and Coast Guard cutters were immediately sent to the scene. The rig is in water about 340 feet deep. Mariner said this is a platform rig, not a drilling rig.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The company reported there were seven active wells on the platform and one caught fire, but all are now shut in. Mariner also reported the platform produced an average of 1,400 barrels of oil per day, as well as 1,800 barrels of natural gas each day.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mariner says stored barrels were the ones that caught fire and that dispersants are on standby if needed.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">United Steelworkers (USW) International Vice President Gary Beevers issued a statement concerning the fire.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"We are thankful that no one was killed in the explosion today of an offshore petroleum platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, one person was injured and that is one person too many," he said.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"This latest explosion shows that we need to make sure all these rigs in the Gulf are safe to operate before we put personnel back to work on them. I would hate to see a worker killed in our haste to reopen the Gulf to drilling. We need to give the government adequate time to do its inspections and ensure adequate health and safety provisions are in place," he explained.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Meanwhile, adequate assistance needs to be given to offshore workers and the businesses impacted by the moratorium that resulted from the BP explosion and oil spill," he added.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This recent explosion is about 200 miles west of the one that happened on April 20 which caused a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.</span></span></div><div orgfontsize="12px" style="margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"><span class="wnDate" orgfontsize="9px" style="clear: both; color: #333333; display: block; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Source</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><a href="http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=13089364"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=13089364</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sep 02, 2010 </span></span></span><span class="wnDate" orgfontsize="9px" style="clear: both; color: #333333; display: block; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="wnDate" orgfontsize="9px" style="clear: both; color: #333333; display: inline !important; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></span><span class="wnDate" orgfontsize="9px" style="clear: both; color: #333333; display: block; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="wnDate" orgfontsize="9px" style="clear: both; color: #333333; display: inline !important; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214878662032288170.post-22328446929939794272010-08-31T19:13:00.001-07:002010-09-07T18:09:04.058-07:00If the world is going to hell, why are humans doing so well?<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheIsg-UxmzDE_XYDvEHYcro7WYKH66I4kTUU6bap9lT_Wu_GpntsUAP_IaaJkF2upRCyjmqKLCheX2tTtDtIFWeLsFUA30ZLFX6qy_KPKPFviKjEhgIJOn-QAOVIEzaEoOWWK2RPg4uSxY/s1600/abstract-pictures-ecosystem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheIsg-UxmzDE_XYDvEHYcro7WYKH66I4kTUU6bap9lT_Wu_GpntsUAP_IaaJkF2upRCyjmqKLCheX2tTtDtIFWeLsFUA30ZLFX6qy_KPKPFviKjEhgIJOn-QAOVIEzaEoOWWK2RPg4uSxY/s400/abstract-pictures-ecosystem.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #33302d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By David Biello</span></span><br />
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For decades, apocalyptic environmentalists (and others) have warned of humanity's imminent doom, largely as a result of our unsustainable use of and impact upon the natural systems of the planet. After all, the most recent comprehensive assessment of so-called ecosystem services—benefits provided for free by the natural world, such as clean water and air—found that 60 percent of them are declining.<br />
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Yet, at the exact same time, humanity has never been better. Our numbers continue to swell, life expectancy is on the rise, child mortality is declining, and the rising tide of economic growth is lifting most boats.<br />
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So which is it? Are these the best of times or the worst of times? Or both? And how imminent is our doom really? In the September issue of BioScience, a group of scientists attempts to reconcile the conflict and answer the question: "How is it that human well-being continues to improve as ecosystem services decline?"The authors, led by geographer Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne of McGill University, offer four hypotheses for this "environmentalist's paradox": humans are actually worse off than we think; the ability to grow food trumps all other ecosystem services as far as humans are concerned; technology has allowed us to transcend the environment; and the ill effects of environmental degradation lag its benefits, i.e. the worst is yet to come.<br />
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First off, as far as anyone who has studied the issue can tell, despite vast differences, on the whole, humanity has never been better. Yes, more people are now displaced by warfare than at any time since World War II, and yes, natural disasters affect more people than ever, but we're far more prepared to deal with such things and therefore actual deaths as a result of them are going down. Plus, the "human development index"—an aggregate measure of life expectancy, literacy, educational attainment and per capita gross domestic product beloved by economists and wonks—has never been higher. "Human well-being is, on average, growing," the authors write. So that hypothesis is right out.<br />
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As for farming, it's pretty clear that it's one of (if not the) most important ecosystem services humanity requires. That's certainly one lesson of the "Green Revolution" that averted the famines many apocalyptic environmentalists forecast in the 1970s. At the same time, farming drives much of the ecological damage humans do: from habitat loss (and decreasing biodiversity) to messing around with the cycle of nitrogen through the environment. So while there are costs associated with the loss of other ecosystem services—an example on my mind this anniversary week is the loss of wetlands that helped doom New Orleans to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina—our continued success at farming trumps them.<br />
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And we are getting better at it, growing more crops on less land—a key technological innovation. The technological innovation of burning fossil fuels—liberating the energy stored by eons of life on Earth—is also at the root of present human well-being. At the same time, however, these new technologies hardly free humanity from, for example, the need for the fresh water provided by natural systems.<br />
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So are we simply storing up trouble for the future, like the rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere that have locked in some amount of global warming for the foreseeable future? Yes and no—climate change is a certainty, whether all of human society is headed for collapse is not. As the researchers put it: "While there are many important time lags in Earth's systems…the consequences of those lags for human well-being are unclear."<br />
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That's not exactly comforting, nor is the fact that we cannot assume that the past is prologue to the future. The potential for unexpected and sudden crises always looms, like the global economic collapse or food crisis in 2008. At the same time, there is the potential for technology to begin helping ecosystem services—engineering man-made systems that mimic natural ones and produce as many benefits—rather than hurting them. A prime example iscities—both a maw of human consumption and a way to minimize the human footprint on the planet. Beginning to design urban ecosystems holistically rather than piecemeal might alleviate some of the pressure on natural ecosystems.<br />
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That said, one thing is clear: We live in the Anthropocene—an era when everything from the atmosphere to the layers of rock laid down for the future are dominated by human activities. Management is no longer a luxury. We had better get good at it.<br />
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<b>Source</b>: <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=if-the-world-is-going-to-hell-why-a-2010-09-01"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=if-the-world-is-going-to-hell-why-a-2010-09-01</span></a> : Sept. 1, 2010<br />
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The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"></div>Toni Slatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12745276687203743567noreply@blogger.com4