It’s not often a bull comes out of a Spanish bull ring a winner, but Lionel Messi would be proud of this “hoof work” . .. .. . .
A Bull gets sick of chasing a red rag.
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Daily Archives: 10/04/2012
An Economist speaks out for the Environment.
*** UPDATE ,
An incredible article from physicist Tom Murphy http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/ reports a conversation with an economist over dinner as they discuss “future energy” and it’s role in the “future economy”. Here is a link to the same article in Energy Bulletin http://energybulletin.net/stories/2012-04-11/exponential-economist-meets-finite-physicist
Ross Gittins, economics editor for Melbourne’s “The Age” newspaper has had something of a “Paulian” transformation over the last couple of years. In danger of being classified as “green” Gittins now runs the risk of a smackdown from Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person. Rinehart, who sponsors worthwhile and informative lectures such as Viscount Christopher Monckton’s visit to Australia, has just bought a big chunk of “The Age” and will no doubt be keen have a chat to Ross.
It is so rare to hear an economist including the savage environmental outcomes in store in their considerations of current growth policy – just had to post it.
You’re Never Alone with a Drone Pt 3.
**** UPDATE “Virtual” Drone public information demonstrations begin in the U.S.
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“KNOWDRONES” WEBSITE ; http://www.knowdrones.com/
Cocos Oslands, the idyllic Indian Ocean paradise or a drone base.
The sparks began to fly in November when Julia Gillard and Barak Obama announced a “new defense pact” that would see a U.S. military presence in Australia centred on Darwin. Ultimately 2,500 marines would be stationed and the new strategic base would not be affected by defense cuts – this would be the first U.S. Pacific deployment since the Viet Nam war.
A Chinese “People’s Daily” (state owned) editorial commented ; “Australia surely cannot play China for a fool. It is impossible for China to remain detached, no matter what Australia does to undermine its security,” it said. The editorial admonished Australia for relying on China for its economic interests while turning to the United States for political and security purposes.
It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the People’s Daily editorial room when the recent announcement hit the headlines that this same alliance was considering the Cocos Islands as an air base for drone flights around the region. As the earlier post “You’re never alone with a drone pt 2” showed, facilitating such flights could mean a partnership in illegal assasinations.
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In the space of three years, the Obama administration has built an extensive apparatus for using drones to carry out targeted killings of suspected terrorists and stealth surveillance of other adversaries, from clandestine bases in at least six countries on two continents. Targets have been reported in Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ethiopia, Seychelles, and Obama is even sanctioning drone surveillance flights over the U.S.A. as “anti terrorism and intelligence operations”. When Obama was sworn into office in 2009, the nation’s clandestine drone war was confined to a single country, Pakistan, where 44 strikes over five years had left about 400 people dead, according to the New America Foundation. The number of strikes has since soared to nearly 240, and the number of those killed, according to conservative estimates, has more than quadrupled. (Washington Post Dec 27 2011)
New Zealand showed how to stand up to America when it banned U.S. nuclear vessels entering its waters. Slurping around the briefs of a failed President trying to re assert himself for the coming election does not become Ms Gillard, this could well become a pact with the devil.
More on Charles Moore, Plastic Oceans, 5 Gyres and Tsunami Debris.
It may have taken a while, but CBS has recently acknowledged the work of Capt Charles Moore and the book released last July ” Plastic Ocean” an interview can be seen at http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/id=7400862n&tag=contentBody;cbsCarousel
His lecture at Irving K. Barber Learning Centre discusses “The Greatest Infection of the Sea” detailed in his acclaimed book Plastic Ocean. Learn the shocking truth about the unintended consequences of the “Age of Plastics”, how we got here, & what we must do to stop adding to the millions of tons of plastic choking the world’s oceans. In 1997, Captain Charles Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch– a whirlpool of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean. Since his discovery, Moore has been analyzing the giant litter patch and its disastrous effects on ocean life. Through the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, he hopes to raise awareness about the problem and find ways to restrict its growth. He’s now leading several expeditions to sample plastic fragments across thousands of miles of the Pacific.
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Culture Change website has a report of another lecture in March just before the CBS interview (http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/blogcategory/18/62/) and Moore’s research website is at http://www.algalita.org/index.php
Captain Moore’s latest “expedition” in May 2012 is to track debris from the Tsunami (which covers an area the size of California) as it is carried by the north Pacific Ocean currents.
No place like home. 