February 20th, 2008 by Manila Ryce
The border fence isn’t just an insanely stupid idea to solve a perceived “problem” to our national security and economy. It also comes with the added bonus of destroying the environment and violating the land rights of indigenous tribes and other peoples too. Xenophobia comes with a heavy price tag.
However, what’s just as interesting as the people who are getting screwed over by this waste of time and money are the ones which aren’t.
February 13th, 2008 by Manila Ryce
As my fellow baby-eating pinko readers know, I often post favorably about the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. On Monday, we expanded our vision of South America by delving into an analysis of Bolivia’s revolution with Pepe Escobar. Now ladies and gentlemen, I present you with a documentary from almighty investigative journalist Greg Palast regarding Ecuador’s struggle against The Man.
Palast interviews an indigenous tribe which is suing Chevron for $12 billion for destroying large areas of the Amazon rainforest. Apparently, they got that figure from Doctor Evil, but I sure as hell hope they get every penny. You can’t put a high enough price tag on the Amazon. In fact, there’s a certain paradox I just made up which states that the exact amount of money required to purchase the Amazon would require the Amazon itself to be cut down to provide enough lumber for the paper money. Okay, enough of this jibba jabba. Watch the videos.
In part 2, Palast interviews Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa regarding the lawsuit against Chevron, foreign debt, and his relationship with the US and Venezuela. After marinating in the plastic rhetoric of Obama and Clinton for so long, hearing Correa speak is almost like coming into contact with an alien (the outer space kind you racist bastards). If you want to observe a real liberal in office, you’ll have to look south. We ran out of those in this country decades ago.
February 11th, 2008 by Calypso
Work has begun on Masdar City; the first eco-friendly, car-free, waste-free, and carbon-free city. The Abu Dhabi metropolis will cost about £11.3bn ($22bn) to build and is expected to house 50,000 inhabitants and 1,500 businesses after its completion in 2016.
Masdar will only need a quarter of the energy used by other cities its size, and even that will be solar energy. Current green architecture plans, including rotating towers, will be implemented and the city will rely on emission–free public transport in the form of pods on magnetic tracks. Natural air conditioning will be provided from wind towers, water will be provided through a solar-powered desalination plant, and Abu Dhabi will become home to the world’s largest hydrogen power plant.
The project will be funded by the Masdar Initiative and other sources. It is hoped that the project will encourage joint ventures and promote greener cities. While Masdar City is supported by the WWF and many look forward to its outcomes, some remain skeptical about the motives behind the project.
February 10th, 2008 by Manila Ryce
Democracy Now! looks at the slight differences between Clinton and Obama on domestic issues such as the economy, the housing crisis, social security, health care, and nuclear power. Discussing their stances are Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect, Max Fraser of The Nation, and Paul Gunter of Beyond Nuclear.
Notice the disgusting grin on Clinton’s face when she acknowledges that single-payer health care is a system “a lot of people favor, but for many reasons, is difficult to achieve.” Um, the only ones making it difficult is fuckers like you. Out of all the Democratic candidates, it’s simply disgusting that Dennis Kucinich was the only one who endorsed a universal single-payer not-for-profit system.
Parts 2 and 3 and available below the fold
Read the rest of this entry »
February 7th, 2008 by Manila Ryce
Update: The original video was taken down by the BBC for some reason, but here’s one with even more footage of the incident
The Australian government has captured footage of a Japanese whaling fleet killing a mother minke whale and her calf. Hopefully these images can pressure the Japanese government into following international law.
Sign this Greenpeace petition for whales to be shot with Canons, not harpoons.
On a completely unrelated note: Romney dropped out of the race today, but let’s not pretend like that makes any difference by wasting an entire post on it.
February 5th, 2008 by Manila Ryce
The Navy must follow environmental laws placing strict limits on sonar training that may harm whales, despite President Bush’s decision to exempt it, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The Navy is not “exempted from compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act” and a court injunction creating a 12 nautical-mile no-sonar zone off Southern California, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper wrote in a 36-page decision.
“We disagree with the judge’s decision,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. “We believe the orders are legal and appropriate.”
The president signed a waiver Jan. 15 exempting the Navy and its anti-submarine warfare exercises from a preliminary injunction creating the no-sonar zone. The Navy’s attorneys argued in court last week that he was within his legal rights.
Environmentalists have fought the use of sonar in court, saying it harms whales and other marine mammals.
“It’s an excellent decision,” said Joel Reynolds, attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is spearheading the legal fight. “It reinstates the proper balance between national security and environmental protection.”
February 2nd, 2008 by Manila Ryce
By selectively deleting six specific genes in a strain of E. coli, Texas A&M University Professor Thomas Wood has enhanced the bacterium’s naturally occurring glucose-conversion process to produce around 140 times more hydrogen than normal. Professor Wood imagines that the “tweaked” bacteria could actually be used as a potential source of clean energy. Most hydrogen is currently extracted through a process known as “cracking water,” which is inefficient and expensive.
“These bacteria have 5,000 genes that enable them to survive environmental changes,” Wood said. “When we knock things out, the bacteria become less competitive. We haven’t given them an ability to do something. They don’t gain anything here; they lose. The bacteria that we’re making are less competitive and less harmful because of what’s been removed.”
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