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"SOS Amazon": every second we lose 1.5 acres of rainforests once covering 14% of earth land surface, now a mere 6%
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The Disappearing Rainforests
We are losing Earth's greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.
* One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries.
* Rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners.
* Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation. read more »
Obama takes office with call to remake nation with ideals of the Founding Fathers and "choose our better history"
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WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama was inaugurated yesterday as the 44th president of the United States, seizing the historic moment to invoke the "price and the promise of citizenship" and demand the participation of all Americans in restoring the country to greatness. He took the oath of office on Abraham Lincoln's Bible before a sea of more than 1 million people that stretched from the Capitol building to the Lincoln Memorial. He struck a solemn tone in warning of the challenges and sacrifices that lie ahead. Comparing the economic crisis and fight against terrorism to the trials faced by the Founding Fathers, Obama implored his fellow citizens to join him "in the work of remaking America."
"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord," Obama said, his voice reverberating throughout the National Mall. "Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end - that we did not turn back, nor did we falter." read more »
China becomes world's third-largest economy with 13% '07 GDP growth, surpassing Germany & closing rapidly on Japan
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China has become the world's third-largest economy, surpassing Germany and closing rapidly on Japan, according to government and World Bank figures. The Chinese government revised its growth figures for 2007 from 11.9 percent to 13 percent this week, bringing its estimated gross domestic product to $3.4 trillion -- about 3 percent larger than Germany's $3.3 trillion for the same year, based on World Bank estimates. Beijing is expected to release its 2008 GDP figures next week.
Although the world's top economies, the United States and Japan, are in recession, the most pessimistic estimates for China's growth in upcoming years runs about 5 percent. That could allow China's GDP to overtake Japan's, currently $4.3 trillion, within a few years. The U.S. economy, the world's largest, was about $13.8 trillion in 2007.
Art, space, but no benefactors? U.S. museums look inward for their own bailouts
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As the art world waited breathlessly for word on whether the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles would survive or go bust, a white knight, the billionaire art collector Eli Broad, rode to the rescue with a $30 million bailout plan. Some people cheered; others sneered. Few thought to point out that more venerable and vulnerable institutions across the U.S. are also struggling, but with no bailouts in sight.
Major art museums in Detroit, Newark and Brooklyn are prime examples. Forged a century ago or more from idealism and dollars, they are American classics, monuments to Yankee can-do. As latecomers to the culture game, American museums had to buy art fast and big, and they did. But times and fortunes - we all know the story - changed. Depression, recession and politics brought powerful cities to their knees. Populations shifted.
Bikes incl. wooden bikes help break poverty trap - many Africans spend 4 hrs/day walking, 1/4 income on transport
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Many Africans spend 4-hours per day walking, or 1/4 of their income paying for transport. A bike can save this every day, helping to break the poverty trap.
Wooden bikes are fairly common in Rwanda and they’re used pretty much daily for transportation of goods and people. Tom Ritchey got the bright idea that the bikes should be raced as well and now the annual Wooden Bike Classic draws curious tourists from around the world for a chance to watch (and even participate).
The goals of Project Rwanda are pretty simple and they all come back to cycling: building awareness for the country (through events like the Wooden Bike Classic), specialized bike design (real steel bikes for transporting coffee crops), bike distribution, and national pride (through support of the Rwandan National Cycling Team).
Economic woes push Vancouver 2010 Olympic organizers to consider canceling the evening award ceremonies
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WHISTLER, B.C. - Vancouver 2010 Olympic organizers are considering canceling the evening award ceremonies and giving the medals out at sport venues to save money.
Gary Lunn, the minister of state for sport, said that in tough economic times the Vancouver Organizing Committee has to look at its bottom line.
"They are looking at all of their options and that is the right thing to do in today's economic climate . . . They have to prepare for the unknown," he said.
But Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said residents do not support the cancellation.
"We know there are challenges but this would be a huge blow to Whistler," he said.
Whistler is planning to throw a $18.5-million party, slated to run 24 hours a day for the duration of the Olympics, which will include concerts, shows and celebrations.
The party will be held at Whistler Village and at the Celebration Plaza Olympic venue, the construction of which is due to be completed in September. read more »
Plan in Brazil bears vision of forest protector shot to death 20 years ago trying to save the Amazon rain forest
“Development” or destruction of the planet? The value of a standing forest could be more than the value of a forest burned and logged in the name of development. How many more trees would be cut, forests burned down in the name of development in days not far behind us, and time ahead?
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RIO DE JANEIRO — Twenty years ago, a Brazilian environmental activist and rubber tapper was shot to death at his home in Acre State by ranchers opposed to his efforts to save the Amazon rain forest. After his death at age 44, Francisco Alves Mendes, better known as Chico, became a martyr for a concept that is only now gaining mainstream support here: that the value of a standing forest could be more than the value of a forest burned and logged in the name of development.
This month, Brazil took what environmentalists hope will be a big step forward in realizing Mr. Mendes’s vision. The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva introduced ambitious targets for reducing deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions in a nation that is one of the world’s top emitters of this heat-trapping gas.
Cartoons: Noah’s Ark - recession edition, Christmassy profit chart, Obama’s senate seat for bail-bonds, & more...
Images courtesy of John Klossner, Mike Peters / Dayton Daily News / King Features Syndicate, P.C. Vey, humor-in-photos-and-pictures.blogspot.com, Nick Anderson / Houston Chronicle, Hajo / CWS, and Riber / Cagle Cartoons
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