Cyberjunk

Back Babel.

Ok the game is to guess what the original was from the Babelized answer:

 

Acute pain international Ke the calculation

 

 

Answer: Cyberpunk

Key concepts: climate change, global food crisis, reduced

grain stores, US Department of Agriculture, Earth Policy

Institute

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Nothing new about

environmental activists hand-wringing over prospects of

mass starvation.  Kinda new to wonder if this might go

from the unthinkable to a real-life truism in such

short order, though.

 

Mind-boggling real-life NASA animation of planet frying

during the 20th century's last quarter-century.  Man, no

wonder they're dying in France.

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/data/update/gistemp/animations/

 

Malignant  hucksters at "Greening Earth Society" blame

French mass deaths on foolish lack of (coal-powered?) air

conditioners. Maybe they can air-condition the wheat

crops, too!

http://www.co2andclimate.org/co2report/int_0902.html

 

Meanwhile, hundreds of the (10,000+) French dead remain

unclaimed and unburied.

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/08/25/heatwave030825

 

George Monbiot not too thrilled at latest WTO in Mexico,

predicts French Revolution as planet's starving wretches

hang US-Euro aristocrats from the global lanterne.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/comment/0,9236,1033897,00.html

 

Think it's surprising that thousands died from the heat

while no one expected it?  Guess what?  For the same

reason, millions will starve!

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update27.htm

 

There's the chart.  Get the T-shirt.

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update27_data.htm

 

USDA's "Crop Explorer" website.   Doesn't seem to work

at all well.  Perhaps this should be renamed "Starvation

Explorer."

http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/

 

Something like this handy page from the UN, for instance.

http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/faoinfo/economic/giews/english/giewse.htm

 

"Foodcrops and Shortages" webzine, with country-reports.

Afghanistan having best harvest in ages! Great news!

Meanwhile, planet as a whole  has failed to feed itself

successfully during the entire Bush Administration.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/J0269e/j0269e04.htm

 

 

Source:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=438726

 

"Hot summer sparks global food crisis

 

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor

 

"31 August 2003

 

"This summer's heatwave has drastically cut harvests

across Europe, plunging the world into an unprecedented

food crisis, startling new official figures show.

(((Yep, that sure looks pretty "startling."  I didn't

believe it.  Then I started looking into the subject.  I

still don't believe it,  but I'm not a happy guy.)))

 

"Separate calculations by two leading institutions

monitoring the global harvest show that the scorching

weather has severely reduced European grain production,

ensuring that the world will not produce enough to feed

itself for the fourth year in succession, and plunging

stocks to the lowest level on record. And experts predict

that the damage to crops will be found to be even greater

when the full cost of the heat is known.

 

(((What about next year?  I mean, look at this NASA

satellite thing again.  Really.)))

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/data/update/gistemp/animations/

 

"They say that, as a result, food prices will rise

worldwide, and hunger will increase in the world's poorest

countries. And they warn that this is just a foretaste of

what will happen as global warming takes hold.

(((I hope you can *afford* a "foretaste." Will we ever

get an "aftertaste" of this in our lifetimes?)))

 

"Sunshine and warmth are, of course, good for plants and

there were hopes that this year's good summer would

produce a bumper harvest. But excessive heat and low

rainfall damage crops, and the heatwave == which brought

temperatures of more than 100F to Britain for the first

time, and gave France 11 consecutive days above 95F,

killing more than 1,000 people == has done enormous

damage.

(((Odd that people in power seem so completely unaware of

this.  Why are they stumbling through such a blatant

threat to world well-being in such a blindsided way?

It's as if they were governing some different planet

where people don't sweat or eat.)))

 

"The US Department of Agriculture has cut its forecast for

this year's grain harvest by 32 million tons, mainly

because of the European crop reductions. On Thursday, the

International Grains Council == an intergovernmental body

== reduced its own prediction even further, by 36 million

tons, as a result of 'heat and drought, particularly in

Europe.'

 

(((Yes, they exist, no, they are not cranks.)))

Link:

http://www.igc.org.uk/

(((On the plus side, the IGC don't seem to be screaming

bloody murder yet. Perhaps they're quite used to seeing

people starve.)))

 

"The damage has been most severe in Eastern Europe, which

is now bringing in its worst wheat crop in three decades:

in Ukraine, the harvest has been cut from 21 million tons

last year to five million, while Romania has its worst

crop on record. Germany is the worst-hit EU country: some

farmers in the south-east have lost half their grain

harvest. Official British figures will not be published

until October. (((If you can trust British government

figures, that is.  Maybe they'll hide 'em under those

old BSE reports.)))

 

"The final tally of the summer's damage is likely to be

worse still. Lester Brown, the president of Washington's

authoritative Earth Policy Institute, predicts that it

will cut another 20 million tons off the world harvest,

making this a catastrophic year.

(((You know, back in Stalin's day, you could starve 7

million people or so, and the world press would just

ignore that completely! Because they were too busy with

war scares, imaginary weapons, depressions, political

campaigning and such.)))

http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1998/319815.shtml

 

"It has come at a time when world food supplies were

already at their most precarious ever. The world has eaten

more grain than it has produced every year so far this

century, driving stocks well below the safety margin to

their lowest levels in the 40 years that records have been

kept. The amount of grain produced for each person on

earth is now less than at any time in more than three

decades.

((("Let them eat brioche.")))

 

"Until about a month ago, this year had been expected to

produce a reasonable harvest, allowing some recovery. But

the heatwave has now ensured that it will make things even

worse, and experts say that the crisis will deepen as

global warming increases.  (((They always say that ==

but they rarely said it would be *this fast.*  Alps are

melting, people are dying in hecatombs and crops are

failing.  The Viridian Movement is supposed to have an

expiration date of 2012.  Will we make it that far?)))

 

"Grain prices have already increased, and Mr Brown warns

that in coming years they may move to a permanently higher

level. This would encourage greater production, he says,

but at the expense of the world's hungry, who could then

afford even less food, and of the environment, as farming

intensified."

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

TRY TO RESTRAIN THE URGE TO RUSH OUT TO BUY

AND HOARD BIG SACKS OF GRAIN. NO, THAT IS NOT,

IN POINT OF FACT, VERY PRACTICAL

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

Very. Did this ages ago and came out as R2D2!  More importantly I put my religion down in the last census as Jedi - along with 350,000 other people in the UK!

 

Got to get back to my moving beer mat with will power alone excercise now. I hasn't worked yet but I blame the adeshive qualities of the beer on the base...

Key concepts:  Mont Blanc, alpine eco-tourism,

landscape changes, economic damage

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Likely

to cause sensations of dread.

 

Links:

Dawn Danby's fabulous sustainable design portal.

She won a Viridian contest once, wow...

http://barkingcrickets.org/ecoportal/index.html

 

Awe-inspiring Dutch photos of sometime Viridian

contest judge Dr. Natalie Jeremijenko.

http://flow.doorsofperception.com/images...._1.html

http://flow.doorsofperception.com/images...._3.html

http://flow.doorsofperception.com/images...._1.html

http://flow.doorsofperception.com/images....11.html

http://flow.doorsofperception.com/images...._5.html

 

Dr. Natalie's Viridian Neologue Contest, which

was  one of our best ever, even if I did win it myself.

http://www.viridianrepository.com/neologue/neologue.htm

 

Oh my gosh yikes that's scary.

http://flow.doorsofperception.com

/images/conf_img/incoming_images/from_Ien/source/pict0326.html

 

French Beaujolais harvest in a month early, if you can call that a harvest.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/interna....00.html

 

The Kyoto Protocol Thermometer.  It's only been eleven

years since this thing was signed.  The catastrophe

consequent on failing to enforce Kyoto is coming on so

quickly that we may actually see some of the obstructive

malefactors tried and punished within our own lifetimes.

Obviously today's international legal structure isn't

up for this activity, but once the Alps melt, lawyers

might get creative.

http://unfccc.int/resource/kpthermo.html

 

Source:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/interna....00.html

 

"Record heatwave closes Mont Blanc to tourists

 

"Dramatic proof of global warming as peaks begin to

crumble in high temperatures and snowline retreats

 

David Rose

Sunday August 17, 2003

The Observer

 

"It figured as a stop on adventurous young men's

nineteenth-century Grand Tour, and in summer 300 people

might climb it in a single day. This year, for the first

time since its conquest in 1786, the heatwave has made

western Europe's highest peak too dangerous to climb.

 

   "Mont Blanc is closed.

 

   "The conditions have been so extreme, say

glaciologists and climate experts, and the retreat of the

Alps' eternal snows and glaciers so pronounced, that the

range == and its multi-billion-pound tourist industry ==

may never fully recover. The freak weather, with no

substantial snowfall since February, means pylons holding

up ski-lifts and cable cars may be too dangerous to use

next winter, while the transformation of shining mountains

into heaps of grey scree and rubble is unlikely to

persuade tourists there this summer to return.  (((I

really wish commentators would learn to stop saying

"freak weather."  Climate change is a universal condition.

It's as common as the very air we breathe.)))

 

  "From the streets of Chamonix, the bustling resort at

its base, Mont Blanc and its outlying peaks, the Aiguille

du Midi, Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit, rise in a

giant curtain usually filling half the sky with dazzling

whiteness. This year they are grey with old, dirty ice

from which the overlying snow has long melted, while their

slopes are being raked by regular fusillades of rocks,

some the size of cars, dislodged as the ice surrounding

them melts in the heat.

 

(((Time for that Viridian standby, "Eco-Disaster

Tourism.)))

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/51-75/Note%2000067.txt

 

   "In some areas it is too dangerous to follow paths

that would normally be used by thousands of ramblers.

 

   "From Chamonix, three routes suited to guided climbers

of modest ability lead to the summit of Mont Blanc, almost

16,000ft above sea level. Two of these routes, the so-

called Grands Mulets and the 'three summits' path via Mont

Blanc du Tacul, have been turned into death traps of open

crevasses, unstable, overhanging ice cliffs and vertical

icy walls, where normally there would be a pleasant,

albeit strenuous, track through the snow.

 

   "The third route, the Gouter Ridge, is one of the

worst spots for rockfalls. After two climbers died merely

trying to reach the restaurant near the start of the route

last week, Chamonix guides announced that using this path

was 'strongly ill-advised'. A guides' spokeswoman said:

'We are not taking bookings for Mont Blanc by any route.

For this year, it is finished.' (((Maybe the Swiss can

find a more strenuous breed of tourist who enjoys

"overhanging ice cliffs" and "death traps of open

crevasses.")))

 

  "'No one has ever seen a year like this,' said a

spokesman for Chamonix's Office de Haute Montagne.  

(((Yeah, but it's the years *after* this that are gonna be

the interesting years.))) 'There has been occasional rain

in the valley, which would normally fall as snow in the

high mountains. But after a very warm and dry spring, the

freezing level has mostly been above 13,000ft since the

beginning of June.'

 

   "Those who know the mountains have been astonished to

see no snow on the summit of Mont Blanc's subsidiary

summit, the Dome de Gouter == almost 15,000ft high.

(((Nobody now "knows the mountain."  They only know the

way the mountain used to be.)))

 

   "Famous peaks are disintegrating before Chamoniards'

eyes. Patricia Rafaelli, a ski instructor, was in her

office at the Chamonix golf club watching the Dru, a

granite spire, which bears some of the world's hardest

rock climbs, falling apart as the ice holding it together

melted. 'I'm sitting here and every hour or so there is

another rockfall, with boulders thundering down through

the forests below the mountain and filling the sky with

dust,' she said.

 

   "Glaciologists estimate it will take 30-40 metres of

snow, which would normally take several harsh winters to

fall, to make good the deficit of snow and ice that has

melted this summer.

 

   "Dr Jonathan Bamber, reader in glaciology at Bristol

University, said it is likely that, unless global warming

unexpectedly goes into reverse, the damage to the Alpine

environment and to the tourism that depends upon it can

never be repaired.

 

   "He said: 'People don't seem prepared to take real

notice of [global warming] and start to press for

something to be done until it affects their own backyard

and livelihood. What's happened to the Alps this year,

coming after a long run of very warm years, is almost an

allegory for the kind of events that may take place

elsewhere.' (((Great coinage there, Dr. Bamber.  Sure hope

that the British powers-that-be don't cut your funding for

"sexing-up" the loss of a giant global landmark.)))

 

  "Bamber, an experienced mountaineer, described the

effective closure of Mont Blanc as historic: 'Climbing

Mont Blanc from Chamonix with a guide is something people

have done for over 200 years.

 

   "'This is a major wake-up call,  (((lotta "wake-up

calls" going on these days == too bad the planet is

snoozily mesmerized by those who conquer oil pipelines and

those who blow them up))) and no way is a normal winter

going to put this back. You're looking at something that

is going to have a serious long-term impact.'

 

   "Bamber said that the melting of the layer of

permafrost that holds the peaks together, said to have

occurred this year to a depth of seven feet, will make ski

facilities, such as lifts and cable-car pylons unstable,

costing millions to repair. 'I wouldn't be buying shares

in the ski industry right now,' he said.  (((Hear that?  

Better drive our SUVs over while there's still something

to ski on!)))

 

   "While the lower resorts do not rely on the permafrost

for their lifts, they are already at risk from the steady

rise in the winter snowline. A Unesco report last year

quoted Swiss glaciologist Bruno Messerli from the

University of Bern, who said that within 20 years low-

level ski stations would be forced to close.

 

    "'Big banks will no longer give loans for new ski

industry constructions,' he said, adding that from 1850 to

1980 Alpine glaciers lost half their volume, and in the 20

years from 1980 to 2000, another quarter of what was left

was also lost. (((No new bank loans?  Hey, try insuring

the old constructions during those incessant

landslides.)))

 

   "Bamber said the effect on summer tourism would be

disastrous. 'Who wants to come and see a pile of stones?

This isn't why people visit the Alps,' he said. (((Well,

that'll be why they do it from now on.)))

 

  "He warned that the disappearance of snow could

intensify global warming and damage to the mountains,

because once snow is replaced by darker, matt surfaces,

such as grey ice and rubble, heat and light once reflected

into space are absorbed. 'You get a very strong positive

feedback at both the poles and in mountain ranges when

this happens,' he said. (((Paint the mountains white.)))

 

   "Bamber is leading a team working on the consequences

for the whole Northern Hemisphere and its climate of the

fact that by 2050 it is likely there will be no sea ice at

all in summer in the Arctic: 'This will have very profound

consequences, with the likelihood of much more

precipitation and violent storms,' he said.

 

   "Doug Scott, one of Britain's greatest mountaineers,

said he was glad he had done his Alpine mountaineering in

the 1960s and 70s. (((Yeah, the sex and drugs were better

then, too.)))

 

    "'It's a tragedy,' he said. 'Here is the most

dramatic and visible proof that the climate is changing,

and still the Americans won't sign the Kyoto Agreement

restricting greenhouse gas emissions.'

 

Link: The sinister, ever-growing catalog of organized

Lysenkoism within the Bush Administration

http://www.house.gov/reform/min/politicsandscience/

 

   "Fire and floods worldwide  (((It just keeps getting

better)))

 

   "Average temperatures across Europe have been 5C

warmer for the past two months. Drought is costing

billions of euros in crop damage.

 

   "In India, temperatures have reached 49C, resulting in

more than 1,500 deaths.

 

    "Heatwaves and flooding have killed 569 people so far

in China.

 

   "A state of emergency has been declared in British

Columbia after the worst fires in 50 years.

 

   "Pakistan's heatwave followed by rains has left

hundreds of thousands homeless and damaged 45 per cent of

crops in some states.

 

   "In Russia, hundreds of fires have devastated swaths

of Siberia. Croatia has lost 12,300 acres of forests and

olive groves.

 

   "A national disaster has been declared in Portugal

after fires killed 11 and destroyed 100,000 acres of

forest.

 

  "In Germany, record temperatures continue with the

Rhine drying up in parts and farmers unable to feed their

cattle."

 

(((This reassuring news just in: liberals made all this

up. Don't blame the coal and oil companies who employ us

== blame the jet stream!)))

http://www.greeningearthsociety.org/wca/2003/wca_5a.html

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

ON THE PLUS SIDE,  CO2 POLLUTION CEASES

QUICKLY WHEN CIVILIZATION COMES

RIGHT APART AT THE SEAMS

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

Key concepts:  New York, Paris, Greenhouse Effect,

political activism,  massive casualties, electrical

failure

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Conflates

a number of different Greenhouse phenomena

into a  3,250-word screed.  Grim, glum, scary,

savagely partisan.

 

(((This is some kind of summer, eh?  Carloads of dead

killed by heat  in France, plus the largest electrical

blackout in American history.)))

 

Links:

 

Join other Viridians and report your situation on our

"How's Your Weather" guest map.

http://www.viridiandesign.org/

 

"French Officials Report Up to 3,000 Heat-Related Deaths."  

"Morgues and funeral homes, meanwhile, were overrun with

bodies. Some hospitals requisitioned kitchen refrigerators

to hold the dead, while others put up tents to keep

corpses before burial, Pelloux said. A morgue in

Longjumeau, a suburb south of Paris, rented an air-

conditioned tent to house corpses."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60815-2003Aug14.html

 

Too bad the French authorities failed to put up some of

these prescient Viridian health-warning posters.

http://www.viridianrepository.com/heatwave/heatwave.htm

 

A new denial gang has sprung up inside Britain, featuring

many of the usual American malefactors.  There has got

to be Esso money (read: Exxon-Mobil) behind this

somewhere.

http://www.scientific-alliance.com/about_us_advisory_forum.htm

 

Nice set of articles here involving actual British

science, as opposed to the increasingly lethal poison

spewed on a frying population by the "Scientific

Alliance."

http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/climate/

 

The history of American blackouts.

http://blackout.gmu.edu/transition.html

 

Phonecam-blogging the most recent blackout.

http://blackout.textamerica.com/

 

(((The American Solar Energy Society, in a sudden attack

of political acumen, thinks it is jumping right on top of

some big momentum here.)))

 

Source: American Solar Energy Society

From: "Carolyn Beach" <cbeach*ases.org>

Date: Fri Aug 15, 2003  04:00:11 PM US/Central

To: "ASES Solar Action Network" <cbeach@ases.org>

Subject: ASES SAN Alert - Northeast Power Blackout

Response

 

"American Solar Energy Society

Solar Action Alert

August 15, 2003

 

  "Many ASES members in the Northeast have been affected

by the power blackout that occurred yesterday and is still

continuing in many areas. ASES' Chapter local to that

area, the Northeast Solar Energy Association (NESEA),

promptly sent out an alert to members of their network and

graciously permitted ASES to forward it on to the rest of

our membership. The alert is reproduced below with one or

two ASES additions.

 

"SUMMARY

 

  "On Thursday, August 14, the northeastern and mid-

western U.S. experienced the largest blackout in this

country's history. Mass transit systems ground to a halt,

oil refineries were forced to shut down, the FAA stopped

flights into airports, nuclear reactors were taken

offline, and millions were left without power. The

blackouts affected approximately 50 million people over a

9,300-square-mile area. New York City Mayor Michael R.

Bloomberg told reporters, 'All of a sudden, a few things

weren't working and then you realized how dependent we are

on electricity.'

 

  "Yesterday's events cascaded out of control because the

grid was stressed by high air-conditioning demand from the

heat. Almost the entire United States was at temperatures

near or above 90 degrees. Because of this enormous energy

load it did not take much of a trigger to send the energy

delivery system down. As one would expect during hot

weather, the solar resource was excellent and nearly ideal

in most of the stressed regions of the country. A

dispersed base of solar energy could have reduced the

overall delivery system stress and lowered the risk of

catastrophic failure.

 

(((Uh... sort of.  If solar is tied into the grid, then

it will go down when the grid goes.  If it's independent

of the grid, then it's not much use.)))

 

   "Thursday's blackouts were a wake-up call,  (((I hope

you can get a "wake-up call" during a blackout)))

reminding us that North America's electrical grid is a

dysfunctional system that requires dramatic changes.

Rising electricity consumption is a significant factor in

the instability of the grid. Yet energy-saving products

and technologies are widely available. More efficient

appliances, compact fluorescent lights, better-constructed

buildings, and forms of renewable energy such as solar and

wind power can dramatically reduce the amount of

electricity we draw from the grid and in most cases

ultimately save us money.

 

  "While electricity is on the public's mind and in the

press, please use this opportunity to write a letter to

the editor of your local paper about the benefits of

renewable energy and energy efficiency. This is also an

opportune moment to remind people that the instability of

the power grid is only one of many reasons why we need to

change our energy system. For example, if we use less

electricity and get more of the electricity we use from

solar, wind, and fuel cells distributed locally, it will

also slow global warming and reduce air pollution. Below

are a couple of sample messages to help get you started.

 

"SAMPLE KEY STATEMENTS

 

"* We can improve the electricity generation and

distribution system and help avoid blackouts by using less

electricity and producing power independently through

renewable energy, such as wind and solar.

 

"*  Now is the time for America to commit to using less

electricity and to speeding the installation of

distributed energy systems, such as rooftop solar panels,

fuel cells, and small wind turbines. Not only would this

decrease the likelihood of future blackouts, but it would

slow global warming and reduce air pollution.

 

"*  If everyone in our community were to replace one of

their old appliances with a new energy-efficient one, we

could significantly reduce our reliance on the electrical

grid and help avoid blackouts such as the one that

recently affected 50 million people.

 

"*  The solar panels on my home provide independent, clean

electricity that doesn't contribute to blackouts.

 

"HOW TO WRITE A SUCCESSFUL LETTER TO THE EDITOR

 

"There is a good chance that your local newspaper will run

a letter from you if it is tied into the recent blackouts.

The chances of getting your letter in print are much

greater at smaller, weekly newspapers (some of these run

virtually all the letters they receive), but, depending

upon the letter, it may be worth trying a larger daily

paper.

 

  "Send your letter to the editorial page editor, with a

cover note making it clear that you are requesting that

the letter be included in the letters-to-the-editor

section of the newspaper. Offer to provide more

information. Make sure to include your address and phone

number, so that the editor will know how to contact you

for verification or further information.

 

  "Your letter will have a much greater chance of

appearing if it is short (no more than 150 words),

personal, and clearly linked to the local community. Focus

on making one major point, rather than raising lots of

issues.

 

  "It is neither necessary nor desirable to mention your

connection to NESEA and the NESEA Network. It is more

useful to tie the letter into any personal or professional

experience you have with the subject of your letter.

 

  "Aim to get the letter to the newspaper at least one

week before you would like it to appear.

 

  "Please let us know if you take action! Just send an

email message to NESEANetwork*nesea.org with a copy of

your letter and the name and location of the newspaper to

which you submitted it."

 

RELATED MEDIA STORIES

 

Blackout hits 50 million in U.S., Canada, Philadelphia

Inquirer, 8/15/03

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/6535866.htm

 

Blackout hits Northeast; thousands here lose power,

Buffalo News, 8/15/03

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030815/1049648.asp

 

Great blackout of '03, Boston Globe, 8/15/2003

http://www.boston.com/news...._03_bos

ton_globe

 

Various coverage, New York Times, 8/15/03

http://www.nytimes.com

 

Various coverage, Newsday.com, 8/15/03

http://www.newsday.com

 

 

Carolyn Beach

Membership Coordinator

American Solar Energy Society

2400 Central Ave. Suite G-1

Boulder, CO  80301

303-443-3130 ex 107 (phone)

303-443-3212 (FAX)

http://www.ases.org

 

(((Okay, that's some nice glass-roots astroturf action

there == "Write the editor, but for heaven's sake don't

reveal that it was us."  In the meantime, let's turn from

this meek solar agitprop to a considerably more savage

realpolitik assessment of what just happened.)))

 

Source: Greg Palast

http://www.gregpalast.com/printerfriendly.cfm?artid=257

 

"POWER OUTAGE TRACED TO DIM BULB IN WHITE HOUSE

"The Tale of The Brits Who Swiped 800 Jobs From New York,

Carted Off $90 Million, Then Tonight, Turned Off Our

Lights"

 

ZNet

Friday, August 15, 2003

by Greg Palast

 

"I can tell you all about the ne'er-do-wells that put out

our lights tonight. I came up against these characters ==

the Niagara Mohawk Power Company == some years back. You

see, before I was a journalist, I worked for a living, as

an investigator of corporate racketeers. In the 1980s,

'NiMo' built a nuclear plant, Nine Mile Point, a brutally

costly piece of hot junk for which NiMo and its partner

companies charged billions to New York State's electricity

ratepayers.

 

  "To pull off this grand theft by kilowatt, the NiMo-led

consortium fabricated cost and schedule reports, then

performed a Harry Potter job on the account books. In

1988, I showed a jury a memo from an executive from one

partner, Long Island Lighting, giving a lesson to a NiMo

honcho on how to lie to government regulators. The jury

ordered LILCO to pay $4.3 billion and, ultimately, put

them out of business.

 

   "And that's why, if you're in the Northeast, you're

reading this by candlelight tonight. Here's what happened.

After LILCO was hammered by the law, after government

regulators slammed Niagara Mohawk and dozens of other

book-cooking, document-doctoring utility companies all

over America with fines and penalties totaling in the tens

of billions of dollars, the industry leaders got together

to swear never to break the regulations again. Their plan

was not to follow the rules, but to ELIMINATE the rules.

They called it 'deregulation.'

 

   "It was like a committee of bank robbers figuring out

how to make safecracking legal.

 

   "But they dare not launch the scheme in the USA.

Rather, in 1990, one devious little bunch of operators out

of Texas, Houston Natural Gas, operating under the alias

'Enron,' talked an over-the-edge free-market fanatic,

Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, into licensing

the first completely deregulated power plant in the

hemisphere.

 

   "And so began an economic disease called 'regulatory

reform' that spread faster than SARS. Notably, Enron

rewarded Thatcher's Energy Minister, one Lord Wakeham,

with a bushel of dollar bills for 'consulting' services

and a seat on Enron's board of directors. The English

experiment proved the viability of Enron's new industrial

formula: that the enthusiasm of politicians for

deregulation was in direct proportion to the payola

provided by power companies.

 

(((There we go, then.  The thesis: deregulated power

utilities become a giant political slush fund for

deregulators.  The politicians then take the money and buy

media for elections, creating a giant fossil-powered

political machine that slowly fries the populace.  One

wonders if writing personal letters to the editor of

small-town newspapers is likely to redress this

situation.)))

 

  "The power elite first moved on England because they

knew Americans wouldn't swallow the deregulation snake oil

easily. The USA had gotten used to cheap power available

at the flick of switch. This was the legacy of Franklin

Roosevelt who, in 1933, caged the man he thought to be the

last of the power pirates, Samuel Insull.

 

    "Wall Street wheeler-dealer Insull created the Power

Trust, and six decades before Ken Lay, faked account books

and ripped off consumers. To frustrate Insull and his ilk,

FDR gave us the Federal Power Commission and the Public

Utilities Holding Company Act which told electricity

companies where to stand and salute. Detailed regulations

limited charges to real expenditures plus a government-set

profit. The laws banned power 'trading' and required

companies to keep the lights on under threat of arrest ==

no blackout blackmail to hike rates.

 

  "Of particular significance as I write here in the

dark,  (((okay, maybe I'm not swallowing Mr. Palast's

entire pitch here, but I really have to admire this

introductory clause))) regulators told utilities exactly

how much they had to spend to insure the system stayed in

repair and the lights stayed on. Bureaucrats crawled along

the wire and, like me, crawled through the account books,

to make sure the power execs spent customers' money on

parts and labor. If they didn't, we'd whack'm over the

head with our thick rule books. Did we get in the way of

these businessmen's entrepreneurial spirit? Damn right we

did.

 

   "Most important, FDR banned political contributions

from utility companies == no 'soft' money, no 'hard'

money, no money PERIOD.

 

   "But then came George the First. In 1992, just prior

to his departure from the White House, President Bush

Senior gave the power industry one long deep-through-the-

teeth kiss good-bye: federal deregulation of electricity.

It was a legacy he wanted to leave for his son, the

gratitude of power companies which ponied up $16 million

for the Republican campaign of 2000, seven times the sum

they gave Democrats.

 

   "But Poppy Bush's gift of deregulating of wholesale

prices set by the feds only got the power pirates halfway

to the plunder of Joe Ratepayer. For the big payday they

needed deregulation at the state level. There were only

two states, California and Texas, big enough and

Republican enough to put the electricity market con into

operation.

 

   "California fell first. The power companies spent $39

million to defeat a 1998 referendum pushed by Ralph Nader

which would have blocked the de-reg scam. Another $37

million was spent on lobbying and lubricating the campaign

coffers of the state's politicians to write a lie into

law: in the deregulation act's preamble, the Legislature

promised that deregulation would reduce electricity bills

by 20%. In fact, when in the first California city to go

'lawless,' San Diego, the 20% savings became a 300% jump

in surcharges.

 

    "Enron circled California and licked its lips. As the

number one contributor to the George W. Bush campaigns, it

was confident about the future. With just a half dozen

other companies it controlled at times 100% of the

available power capacity needed to keep the Golden State

lit. Their motto, 'your money or your lights.'

 

   "Enron and its comrades played the system like a

broken ATM machine, yanking out the bills. For example, in

the shamelessly fixed 'auctions' for electricity held by

the state, Enron bid, in one instance, to supply 500

megawatts of electricity over a 15 megawatt line. That's

like pouring a gallon of gasoline into a thimble == the

lines would burn up if they attempted it. Faced with

blackout because of Enron's destructive bid, the state was

willing to pay anything to keep the lights on.

 

   "And the state did. According to Dr. Anjali Sheffrin,

economist with the California state Independent System

Operator which directs power deliveries, between May and

November 2000, three power giants physically or

'economically' withheld power from the state and concocted

enough false bids to cost the California customers over

$6.2 billion in excess charges.

 

   "It took until December 20, 2000, with the lights

going out on the Golden Gate, for President Bill Clinton,

once a deregulation booster, to find his lost Democratic

soul and impose price caps in California and ban Enron

from the market.

 

   "But the light-bulb buccaneers didn't have to wait

long to put their hooks back into the treasure chest.

Within seventy-two hours of moving into the White House,

while he was still sweeping out the inaugural champagne

bottles, George Bush the Second reversed Clinton's

executive order and put the power pirates back in business

in California. Enron, Reliant (aka Houston Industries),

TXU (aka Texas Utilities) and the others who had

economically snipped California's wires knew they could

count on Dubya, who as governor of the Lone Star state cut

them the richest deregulation deal in America.

 

    "Meanwhile, the deregulation bug made it to New York

where Republican Governor George Pataki and his industry-

picked utility commissioners ripped the lid off electric

bills and relieved my old friends at Niagara Mohawk of the

expensive obligation to properly fund the maintenance of

the grid system.

 

(((Just for a refreshing change of partisan pace, I'll

toss in a few links here showing Governor Pataki's

praiseworthy interests in clean, renewable power for New

York State.)))

http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/year01/april22_01.htm

http://www.caprep.com/0803001.htm

http://www.lioffshorewindenergy.org/press/2002/april22.html

 

   "And the Pataki-Bush Axis of Weasels permitted

something that must have former New York governor

Roosevelt spinning in his wheelchair in Heaven: They

allowed a foreign company, the notoriously incompetent

National Grid of England, to buy up NiMo, get rid of 800

workers and pocket most of their wages == producing a

bonus for NiMo stockholders approaching $90 million.

 

   "Is tonight's black-out a surprise? Heck, no, not to

us in the field who've watched Bush's buddies flick the

switches across the globe. In Brazil, Houston Industries

seized ownership of Rio de Janeiro's electric company. The

Texans (aided by their French partners) fired workers,

raised prices, cut maintenance expenditures and, CLICK!

the juice went out so often the locals now call it, 'Rio

Dark.'

 

  "So too the free-market British buckaroos controlling

Niagara Mohawk raised prices, slashed staff, cut

maintenance and CLICK! == New York joins Brazil in the

Dark Ages. (((Well, at least it's hot enough to samba.)))

 

    "Californians have found the solution to the

deregulation disaster: re-call the only governor in the

nation with the cojones to stand up to the electricity

price fixers. And unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gov. Gray

Davis stood alone against the bad guys without using a

body double. Davis called Reliant Corp of Houston a pack

of 'pirates' == and now he'll walk the plank for daring to

stand up to the Texas marauders.

 

(((I give up on trying to predict California politics,

but they are the lab rat of America, and to watch their

political enterprise come apart at the seams like a

paper pinata is a grim harbinger for America elsewhere.)))

 

    "So where's the President? Just before he landed on

the deck of the Abe Lincoln, the White House was so

concerned about our brave troops facing the foe that they

used the cover of war for a new push in Congress for yet

more electricity deregulation. This has a certain logic:

there's no sense defeating Iraq if a hostile regime

remains in California.

 

   "Sitting in the dark, as my laptop battery runs low, I

don't know if the truth about deregulation will ever see

the light == until we change the dim bulb in the White

House."

 

"See Greg Palast's award-winning reports for BBC

Television and the Guardian papers of Britain at

www.GregPalast.com. Contact Palast at his New York office:

media*gregpalast.com.

 

"Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times

bestseller, 'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy' (Penguin

USA) and the worstseller, 'Democracy and Regulation,' a

guide to electricity deregulation published by the United

Nations (written with T. MacGregor and J. Oppenheim)."

 

(((I do hope you can read this email... Not only is power

patchy in the American northeast, but in Britain,

the Internet's melting.)))

 

Link:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/22/32308.html

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O+c=O O=c=O O=c=O

LUCKILY FOR THE GNP OF FRANCE,

THE CASUALTIES ARE MOSTLY

POOR AND ELDERLY

Key concepts:  Porton Downs, weapons of mass destruction,

anthrax, sarin, involuntary parks, 35 billion ants

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Scarcely mentions

the temperature breaking 100 degrees  F in Britain,

or the "carloads of dead" from the unnatural heat in

Paris.

 

Links:

http://www.viridiandesign.org/

Europeans, how about surfing to this page, clicking on

the words "how's your weather," and telling us how you are

doing.  One prominent Viridian was recently hospitalized

for heat prostration in Spain.  Your fellow Viridians will

be intensely interested if you have become a casualty of

this summer's weather violence.

 

I asked for an aelopile.

www.viridiandesign.org/notes/351-400/ 00366_embrace_the_decay_contest.html

 

And I got one! Wow!

http://www.davearney.org/aelopile/

 

Core is throwing a nice party in New York on Aug 13 02003.

New Yorkers, you should go, because Core77 is the cat's

pyjamas.

http://www.core77.com

 

"In just three weeks' time, the Design Institute's Big

Urban Game transforms Minneapolis and Saint Paul into a

108 square mile urban game board."

http://design.umn.edu/go/project/TCDC03.2.BUG

 

The Viridian "Involuntary Park" concept.

 

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/1-25/Note%2000023.txt

 

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/51-75/Note%2000057.txt

 

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/151-175/

00166_chernobyl_wildlife_park.html

 

www.viridiandesign.org/notes/226-250/ 00234_korean_involuntary_park.html

 

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/226-250/

00242_german_involuntary_park.html

 

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/251-300/

00287_rocky_flats_wildlife_refuge.html

 

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/251-300/ 00269_savannah_ecology_lab.html

 

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/301-350/00318_dirty_bombs.html

 

 

Source:

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=432512

 

"The secret of Porton Down: behind its defences, it has

created Britain's finest wildlife reserve"

 

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor

 

"11 August 2003

 

"Many people probably think of it as the most sinister

site in Britain, a place of dark secrets to prompt

nightmares. Porton Down, Britain's chemical and germ

warfare defence establishment in Wiltshire, is notorious

for nerve gas and anthrax, sarin and smallpox, protective

suits and respirators, in short, horrible death (and how

to avoid it).

 

  "Yet it has another identity, known to only a few,

which makes those acquainted with it see Porton Down as a

jewel. It is a time capsule of a forgotten countryside

which has created probably the single best wildlife site

in Britain.

 

  "For example, it is beyond doubt Britain's the best

site for butterflies. The ultra-high-security 7,000-acre

Ministry of Defence estate north-east of Salisbury

consists largely of unspoiled flower-rich chalk

grasslands, dotted with woods, where 46 of our 55 native

butterfly species, or 83 per cent, have been recorded,

more than at any other location.

 

  "Never mind the common stuff, red admirals,

tortoiseshells, cabbage whites. Porton's species range

from the adonis blue to the brown argus, from the Duke of

Burgundy to the small pearl-bordered fritillary, from the

silver-spotted skipper to the marbled white. And not only

is their diversity remarkable, it is their abundance:

there are millions and millions of them. This is the

butterfly capital of Britain.

 

  "There is much more. Porton Down teeming with other

invertebrates == nearly 200 species of spider alone == and

with rare wild flowers, birds and mammals. It holds 10 per

cent of the population of one of Britain's rarest birds,

the stone curlew; it is the best site in Britain for the

juniper, a shrub that hosts its own insect world, and one

of the best sites for orchids; it has an area of anthills

so large it is referred to as 'the antscape', harbouring

three million anthills with an estimated 35 billion ants.

This is a unique corner of England: a wildlife time

capsule of the English countryside as it once was, before

intensive farming turned much of it into a biodiversity

desert.

 

  "Ironically, the nature of Porton's highly dangerous

and controversial trials work on chemical and biological

warfare (strictly defensive, the MoD is at pains to

stress, since 1956) which has made it such a wonderful

wildlife reservoir. The estate is an outlier of the chalk

grasslands of Salisbury Plain, which are botanically the

richest habitats in Britain, and time stopped after it was

bought by the Government in 1916, to become the secret

experimental centre for chemical warfare after the Germans

had begun using poison gas in the First World War

trenches.

 

   "It is the largest remaining continuous tract of chalk

downland in Britain, and nothing has been done to this

stretch of countryside since then: the farming revolution

of the 20th century, the development, the tourism, have

all passed it by. Nor has it been turned into a wasteland,

as some might suppose, by chemical warfare trials. Only

tiny parts of the 7,000 acres are directly affected by

testing operations, the MoD say, and most of the estate is

simply a huge buffer zone, to keep people well away.

Occasional trial releases of tiny amounts of nerve gas,

though some people may well find them politically

objectionable, are not disrupters of natural ecosystems."

 

(((I'm enjoying this article so much I can't even

say anything about it.)))

 

  "The disrupters are the large-scale inputs of

chemicals, the pesticides, herbicides and artificial

fertilisers that are the essence of intensive farming. At

Porton Down, these have never arrived.  ((("Intensive

farming: worse than nerve gas.")))

 

  "For many years, as those in charge were much occupied

with other matters, the site's astonishing wildlife

heritage more or less looked after itself (although

numerous enthusiasts on the scientific staff were aware of

how special it was). But gradually its importance has been

officially recognised by conservation designations, and by

two particular developments in the past two years: the

appointment of a full-time conservation officer, and the

provision of substantial EU funding for conservation

management.  (((Well, that'll ruin it.  That, and those

blistering, unnatural heat waves.)))

 

  "Stuart Corbett, a 47-year-old former agricultural

scientific adviser, is now the delighted curator of these

wildlife riches: his full-time post with the site's

operators, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

(DSTL), is a dream come true, he says. 'It's a wonderful,

unique place, with a lot of things still to be discovered;

it gives us a very clear idea of what we've lost in the

modern countryside.'

 

  "He finds no conflict between his role and the site's

main purpose. 'Porton Down works to protect the Armed

Forces, and now civilians as well, because of the

terrorist threat, from chemical and biological attack, and

I think the work is necessary,' he said.  (((Of course, if

one is a fritillary butterfly or stone curlew, one is

clearly going to be rooting for those genocidal

terrorists.  That, or a good bio-warfare slip-up inside

the Porton Downs defence lab.)))

 

   "One of his responsibilities is to help with the

Porton end of a L2.1m scheme under the EU LIFE programme

to restore the Salisbury plan grasslands where they are

being invaded by scrub. The whole programme was put

together and is managed by Stephen Davis, an English

Nature conservation officer, who is another huge

enthusiast for Porton. 'There is nowhere else like this in

the country,' he said. 'It is the wildlife secret of

Britain.'

 

  "Accompanied by both men, The Independent has visited

Porton Down, courtesy of the DSTL.  Once through the tight

security (you need a photo-pass just to get out of

reception) we found it was all it was said to be. We saw

foxes, badgers and roe deer in broad daylight; a suite of

birds that ranged from the hobby to the redstart;

wonderful wild flowers; and clouds of butterflies. In

three hours, we saw 18 species, a third of the British

total.

 

   "You can see this all too: Porton Down is open to the

public, but strictly by appointment. About 20 guided

parties are taken around each year, but you need to write

in, and there is a long waiting list, with bookings

currently being taken for the summer of 2005.

 

  "There is no doubt at all, though, that to see this

magically-preserved corner of Britain as it once was, is

worth the wait.

 

"NATURAL RICHES

 

  "Flowers: The chalk grassland flora is the richest in

Britain: there can be 40 species in a single square metre.

Typical plants include thyme, lady's bedstraw, rock rose

and viper's bugloss, but there are many rarities such as

meadow clary (a blue member of the mint family).  (((Okay,

who among us is gonna be the first to Google up an image

of some "viper's bugloss"?  With a name like that, we

Viridians may have to adopt it.)))

 

  "Butterflies: Britain's largest and most diverse

population of butterflies is found at Porton Down, with 46

out of the UK's 55 species having been recorded, ranging

from the marbled white to the purple hairstreak.

 

   "Other Insects: Porton Down's other insects and

invertebrates are just as remarkable in diversity and

numbers. About 120 species of moth are caught in moth

traps each year.  (((Why are they trapping them?)))

 

    "Birds: The site is rich in typical downland birds

with nearly 100 species recorded from redstart to

partridges. It is one of the prime sites in Britain for a

national rarity, the stone curlew.

 

  "Mammals: Mammals include foxes, badgers and rabbits

and three species of deer (roe, fallow and muntjac)."  

(((Muntjac?  In Britain?)))

 

O=c=O O=c=O

AELOPILE

O=c=O O=c=O

Sorry to hear about your Gran - mine died earlier this year and it was quite upsetting even though I had expected it for quite a long time.

 

It was a good funeral with a fair amount of drinks afterward and actually everyone was quite happy and jolly which is exactly what gran wanted.

Indeed - keep the shiney side up! Good to hear from you.

Key concepts:  Reader commentary, record-setting heat

waves, massive forest fires, droughts, climate change,

beetles, nuclear power plants, fish death

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Lengthy accounts

by various interested Viridian parties on the morale-

denting mayhem of weather violence.  Almost 2,500 words.

 

Links:

 

Viridian Gizmo Extravaganza!

 

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/03/1059849278131.html

The blood-glucose battery == sugar into voltage.  These

gizmos will likely catch on big-time once people realize

that that they cause weight-loss.

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2589074a1897,00.html

Simputers on the market.  If you find a place to buy one,

tell me.

 

http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_073103.asp

The handheld DNA detector.

 

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/9397.shtml

DoCoMo's fuel-cell cell-phone.

 

http://www.iht.com/articles/105476.html

Homeland Security now pitifully scared of these gadgets,

plus all others.

 

 

From: Peter Miller peter*perpetualocean.com

 

"Here in Australia, we are seeing the warmest winter

temperatures on record. Which offers us pathetic images of

daft tv weathermen gurgling about the 'wonderful warm 

sunny days'. I keep screaming at the television (to my

wife's dismay) 'It's WINTER you morons. It's supposed to

be cold!'

 

"And the country-wide drought continues.

 

"I can't wait for summer here. 37 degrees C? Cakewalk."

 

 

From: Dethe Elza <DaddyGravity*livingcode.ca>

Date: Tue Aug 05, 2003  10:57:31 AM US/Central

To: Bruce Sterling <bruces*well.com>

Subject: Re: Viridian Note 00376: Europe Burns

 

"Hi Bruce,

 

"You forgot Canada (almost part of Europe).  British

Columbia, which was a rainforest until a couple of years

ago, is combating some 337 forest fires at the moment.

 

   "This is coupled with the out-of-control pine weevil

infestation which is devastating the northern BC forests

(the weevil used to be killed off in winter, back when it

was cold in the Arctic).  Things aren't looking good for

Ma Nature up here in the thawing North, but the Vancouver

Sun still has good powers of investigative journalism:  

Apparently Canadian porn magazines are holding their own

against invaders such as Hustler Canada, even though

Hustler (*gasp*) doesn't use real Canadian girls, just

repackages 'Tara from Lousiana' to be 'Tara from Alberta.'

 

  "It's good to see someone out there is still pursuing

hard-hitting journalism.  I just wonder where the paper to

print it on is going to come from."

 

 

From: Alexander Schuth of the Viridian Curia

<Alexander_Schuth?gmx.net>

Date: Tue Aug 05, 2003  04:42:27 AM US/Central

To: Bruce Sterling <bruces@well.com>

 

 

"European Heat Wave

 

"Dear Bruce, dear beloved fellow members of the Viridian

Curia, dear Viridians ==

 

   "Yes, this is Europe, and it is hot here. Germany's

North Sea and Baltic beaches deliver an nice and tasty 25-

27 degrees Celsius, but anywhere else, it is hell melting

over. And that's not just news of this week == the whole

year was a bit different.

 

    "When we went kayaking in our folding boats

 

Link:

http://www.faltbootbasteln.de

 

    "on North-Hessian river Fulda during Easter Weekend,

we already encountered summer-like low water levels. Not

much surprise after over 4 weeks in Spring without any

rain. We even had to walk in the river bed alongside our

boats a couple times == and that in a river described as

navigable for kayaks 12 out of 12 months a year. The first

rain in over a month came on day two of our tour (of

course).

 

   "A month later, river Rhine seemed to be lower than

might be expected in May. The groins and wave breakers

hadn't risen right out of the water, no, they don't do

that == it's just the river was lower, so they were more

exposed.

 

   "In Spring, Germany already had about 20 forest fires

== nothing really big, nothing like British Columbia,

Australia or California, but still == forest fires in

Central Europe's usually green, dripping-wet Spring time!

 

   "During the last few weeks, farmers had to haul in

their wheat harvest prematurely. After a lot of drought,

the grains weren't ripe and well-matured, they were small.

However, leaving them on the field would only mean that

the grains would fall to the ground, resulting in even

greater losses. So the farmers took what they could get,

which wasn't a lot.

 

    "Ah, what do I care about a bad harvest? It's easy -

I eat bread. The math behind this is easy, too: Bad

harvest equals rising food prices, and that in a country

with a severe economic crisis and over 4 million

unemployed folks in a population of 80 million. On one

hand, everybody haggles to get taxes and health insurance

rates lowered and tries to free up budget for jumpstarting

the economy, on the other hand all those macro economic

effects are simply sucked up by a single bad harvest.

 

    "Meanwhile in Stuttgart Zoo's 'Wilhelmina', an

elderly elephant, gets cold water showers every couple

hours to drag her through this summer.

 

   "For this week == tomorrow or Thursday == the mercury

has been forecasted to climb to 40 degrees Celsius (for

all you Fahrenheiters out there: At 0 degrees C water

freezes, at 100 degrees C water boils and turns to vapor)

in my state of Hesse. Mind you == this is not the Baleares

or some Greek island, or Iraq, where a British soldier

tried to dodge the local 58 degrees Celsius (didn't

someone say 'We'll all be out and gone by Summer', or does

my memory play tricks on me and that was the last time?)

by taking a nap in a big food freezer and was pulled out

hours later hypothermic and asleep, no: this is Rhein-Main

area, this is the land around Frankfurt, this is right in

the middle of Central Europe, where the grass stays green

all year round without being watered and needs regular

mowing.

 

    "Good thing for all who commute by public transport:

Deutsche Bahn AG has some nice airconditioned trains

serving as RE (Regional Express). Bad news: Expect the

engines of the locomotives to go funky in this heat,

leaving trains stranded in the middle of nowhere. Or:

You're in a train with AC, and one generator fails. In

order to keep the arrival time so everybody catches their

next train, they switch off AC to reroute the power for

speed. And in those trains, you can't open any windows...

 

    "River Elbe, running from Czech Republic through

Germany to the North Sea (and scene of last years

disastrous and deadly August flood) == is nearly dried up.

Passenger ferries have stopped running.

 

    "The undergrowth and paths in the forest are dry, and

public fire warnings have been given. Open fires in

forests are forbidden. Already some forest fires have been

extinguished here in Germany in the last couple days.

 

    "But we Germans are not the only folks who have it

hot. River Danube, the beautiful blue Danube which flows

from Germany through Austria, Hungaria and on down to the

Black Sea, has reached yesterday the lowest level since

115 years, according to ARD's Tagesschau.

 

Link:

http://www.tagesschau.de

 

    "They showed pictures of Danube in Serbia ==

restaurant ships that were moored to the shore now sit on

dry land. But they wouldn't be able to serve their

traditional fish specialties anyway == barely anything

gets caught now. The Danube fishermen say this loss in

fish population will still be felt several years from now.

 

   (Q: What if another coincidental freak-heatwave hits

the fish-population before it recovers to pre-2003 levels?

And then another? And another?).

 

    "Water-powered electricity plants were shut down to

preserve water for providing a shipping lane.  So much for

reliability of water-power in a greenhouse == soon, all we

will be able to rely on will be hot, dusty storms. Only

partially-loaded freighters can still navigate Danube ==

and they only centimeters of water under their keels.

 

   "Forgotten history comes back to light.  The remains

of the German Black Sea Flotilla, sunk after the end of

World War I into the Danube, are normally all covered by

water. At the Danube's 'usual low levels' these shipwrecks

become a shipping hazard, but now the wrecks are so dry

that the cabins are visible, and in some parts even the

decks. A local explained that he had never seen them

before, only some tips of the ships during a severe

drought when he was a little boy, but never as exposed as

now, and then he went climbing onto the deck of one of

those former warships.

 

  "Bruce, you mentioned French nuclear powerplants

overheating. I heard a feature on radio HR1

 

Link:

http://www.hr-online.de/hf/hr1

 

"yesterday about the nuclear reactors on river Loire. Most

nuclear reactors in France seem to line this single

waterway ("like a pearl necklace" == some kind of pearls

they got there!), and this summer their need of cooling is

immensely greater than ever before. So they draw more

water from Loire and return it with higher temperature

levels than usual == which led to a 5 degree Celsius

increase in the Loire's water temperature compared to the

summer average of the last 25 years!

 

  "Nice hot bathing water, one might say. Well, perhaps

== but anybody who is experienced with fish knows that

they unfortunately do need oxygen to live. The warmer the

water, the lower the oxygen levels in the water (also

diverse algae start to grow, some of which lead to

poisoning the water, etc. ...). Lower oxygen levels mean

lots of dead fish drifting down the river == just a change

of a few degrees Celsius in the average water temperature

is enough to give the residents in any given water the

final eviction note. Sure, you could introduce better

suited fish there later == and I guess French fishermen

are already looking forward to catch some nice and funky

tropical fish soon, but until then, the base of their

income will be destroyed.

 

  The whole thing was commented by a chap from

Darmstadt's Oeko-Institut, so if anybody feels like

following up on this story, give them a call.

 

Link:

http://www.oeko.de

 

   "And in the evening news, we were all presented with

real and true footage of French nuclear powerplant

Fessenheim on river Rhine being cooled with EXTERNAL

SPRINKLERS == which supposedly lowered the plant's

temperature by 5 degrees Celsius, back into 'a safe

range'. Good for Fessenheim, good for everybody living

downstream. This was something very spectacular, something

that everybody can understand == and right in Alsace, on

our own border. (Second thought: many people didn't

understand Chernobyl == it was 'over there, where they

have all this commie mismanagement', and now this reactor

was 'in France, where they 'ave laissez-faire', so a

reactor disaster obviously couldn't happen here, or there,

or there, or in your country, or...)  Where can I get a

poster of that?

 

   "Anybody really worried or surprised about the forest

fires in Southern Europe? Not me! For decades, folks there

did good business with arson == the guy who lights the

fire gets nice money, the guy who loses a forest gets nice

insurance cash and then sells this efficiently de-forested

land to a developer for more nice money. This is

supposedly how a lot of the hotel districts all around the

Meditarranean got set up.  One week, a protected forest;

next week ashes; another week, construction site.

 

   "In France, suspected arsonists already have been

arrested this season.  Tourists are sleeping in school

gyms, with their holiday homes and trailers turned to

cinders. Lots of French, British and German tourists

cancel their trips, creating serious economic damage ==

maybe this arson-based business model needs a new

approach, like including fire-insurance payoffs for the

tourists, so they may also be winners.

 

   "But that's all small fish (or no fish at all, for

that matter).   What really worries me is one thing:

Remember the deadly Chicago heat wave of 1995 in the US?

There was a sentence in one Viridian Note, basically

saying: Well, why are Chicagoans dying in conditions that

give Texans only a yawn? Because they aren't used to it ==

homes, clothing, habits and infrastructure are not adapted

to the climate.

 

Link:

http://www.viridiandesign.org/idsa.html

 

   "This sounds like stark Darwinism to me, unfriendly

and cruel. As cruel as the byline in the news yesterday:

Besides suffering from headline-grabbing forest fires in

the Iberian Peninsula (for the geographically challenged -

that's Portugal and Spain, between Atlantic and the

Mediterranean Sea, that's right where German and British

sunworshipers go for generations to get their skin cancers

updated), now people there are dying from heat-related

causes. YESDATZRITE! These places were ALWAYS flaming hot

since El Cid's days, since Hannibal's days, and since

before that. Those folks lived there forever. The Spanish

and Portuguese know how to 'cope' with summer and serious

heat, they have cool, massive stone houses that don't need

air conditioning, they have siesta and they live the good

live and have good food and wine and merry songs and a

jolly party every night (and no, they don't wear

sombreros) == and now they die in their own country from

'heat-related' causes! Just like any Chicagoan! Or German!

Or Brit!

 

  "That, dear Bruce, beloved Viridians, that is what

really scares me: Now those people who == together with

the Greek and the Sicilians == represent Europe's best and

time proven hot weather survival strategies are starting

to die from heat like any other guy.

 

  "Dear friends, this is my report from Central Europe,

soon a scorching, efficiently de-populated steppe.

 

"With best wishes from Germany,

 

Alexander Schuth

Rhein-Main

 

"P.S.: Last year's Czech and German floods, by the way,

were an extremely local phenomenon. As we were baking in

Cologne during Popkomm around 15th-20th of August, not a

single drop of rain fell. Meanwhile, other regions on the

South-East of Germany and in Czech Republic got torrents

of water. This may still come again == and then it may be

considered handy that the levels of all rivers have been

lowered in advance."

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

WELL, AT LEAST

WE'RE PAYING

ATTENTION!

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

I design and develop web sites and Group wide web standards for a major world finance company. Its actually a lot more interesting than it sounds! I get to fly mainly to New York once in a while and deal with people all over the world on a daily basis. No there aren't any jobs going.

 

I would tell you all where my personal site is but that would destroy the myth.  

 

 

Why haven't I done more with cyberpunk.co.uk? Because I am a creative and that unfortunately means I am fickle! I did actually look at the designs I did in December last night - looks good. Hmm....

Thats a very kind offer - however, rereading my post i didn't make it clear  - I'm not actually making a documentary. A production company is thinking about making a documentary about me going to the flash mob. That's the second lot of people wanting to film me this week!

 

If it sounds like I am bragging, then I am sorry - I more bemused by the situation that anything else.    

 

If anyone turns up I will buy them a beer afterwards.

In my spare time I like to breathe. I don't have much spare time these days so I tend to leave it for the essentials - including logging on here and making sure everything is OK.

 

But this week I have made some spare time - to the detriment of a couple of things - to produce a new website about Flashmobbing following suggestions from friends in New York that I should start it up in London - well someone else has but I produced a definitive  website. Flashmob.co.uk .

 

It got a mention on the CNN website last night and the hits went through the roof - approaching 13,000 page impressions for the past 24 hours... Now a TV company is trying to persuade me to do a documentary with them for the first London Mob this week. Not sure if I want my self all over a Channel 4 special! Then again...

 

Has anyone here been to a flashmob yet? Is anyone intending to go and will I see you on Thursday night in London?

 

Key concepts:  Record-setting heat waves,

massive forest fires, droughts, climate change

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Is the human

race too stupid to live?  This mayhem should be

front-page news every day. 2,349 words of

a whole continent in heavy weather.

 

Links:

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/5-8-19103-23-39-10.html

French nuclear power plant melting from greenhouse heat.

 

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/21700/story.htm

Same story, second verse.

 

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/comment/0,9236,1007302,00.html

Not just worse than a weapon of mass destruction == *lots*

worse. After all, a big bomb will blow up and then *stop

exploding,* but with a trendline like this, imagine *next*

year's weather in Europe.

 

Source:

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=430750

 

 

"Britain bakes, Europe burns. Is this proof of global

warming?

 

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor

 

"05 August 2003

 

"If it isn't proof of global warming at last, it certainly

looks like it. As much of Europe burns like a furnace and

rivers run dry across the continent, Britain is bracing

itself for its own record temperature.

 

  "Sometime tomorrow, in southern England or the

Midlands, the mercury in the thermometer may pass 37.1C,

which became the national record when registered in

Cheltenham on 3 August 1990. That centigrade peak

translates as 98.8 Fahrenheit, so the remarkable figure

for Britain of 99 or even 100F == is on the cards.

 

   "'We reckon there's a 20 per cent chance it will

happen, but in any case it's going to get very very

close,' said Andy Yeatman of the Met Office.

 

  "A record would be hugely significant == a three-figure

Fahrenheit temperature for the UK would be breaking

psychological as well as new meteorological ground as it

would give many people for the first time the perception

that global warning is a real, not a theoretical

phenomenon == and that it is happening to them.  (((I hate

to think that people are so dumb that it requires this

kind of rank numerology to interest them in their own

fates.)))

 

  "If we do see a record, and possibly 100F,

meteorological scientists will not directly attribute it

to climate change == natural climate variability is too

great for a single heat episode to be put down to global

warming. (((What would that take to call it "climate

change," exactly?  How about if Tony Blair explodes like a

Roman candle when he steps outside Parliament onto

London't steaming streets?))) But they will certainly say

it is in line with what global warming is predicted to

produce by complex mathematical models of the Earth's

climate run on supercomputers.  ((Boy, that's a vital

distinction, huh?  I bet if a melting Swiss Alp fell on

you, you'd find a lot of consolation in the integrity

of those weathermen.)))

 

  "And even if the record is not quite breached,

Britain's weather services are agreed that tomorrow

temperatures will be in the upper 30s Centigrade (or the

high 90s Fahrenheit), certainly hitting 35-36C (95-97F).

These are temperatures that, in the past, have been

reached only a few times per century, and in anticipation,

temporary speed restrictions were imposed yesterday on

some of Britain's busiest rail routes for fear of rails

buckling in the heat. (((Nice Wexelblat item there.)))

 

 

"(...)  Individuals should be equally careful. Don't plan

anything strenuous, put suncream on the children and keep

your bottled water handy. Britain will bake.

 

   "It has been coming for weeks. Across Europe, an

unending episode of unprecedented heat has this summer

reduced major rivers to a trickle in Italy, turned

southern France into an inferno of forest fires and sent

people in Germany to their deaths from heatstroke. Only

the Atlantic westerly winds have kept the burning air from

Britain == and now the winds are blowing from the south-

east, and blowing the heat our way.

 

   "But what a contrast, in central and Eastern Europe,

with just a year ago. Then the problems were not heat and

drought == they were torrential downpours and flooding.

(((I know that none of this is news to Viridian people,

but, well, gee whiz.)))

 

   "As two depressions came together  (((three, counting

the economy))) last August and dumped a deluge of biblical

proportions over southern Germany, the Czech Republic,

Austria and Hungary, the region's great rivers burst their

banks and drowned more than 100 people amid millions of

pounds worth of damage. The two jewel cities of

Mitteleuropa, Dresden and Prague, were inundated as the

Elbe and the Vltava overflowed, and only its high flood

defence walls saved Budapest as the Danube rose nearly 10

metres. (This year it is, in places, only a metre deep).

 

  "However, Europe's record soaking summer of 2002 and

its record baking summer of 2003 do not cancel each other

out in terms of indicating global warming == just the

opposite.

 

   "Both are in line with one of the key features

predicted for climate change, if levels of greenhouses

gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO2),

keep going up == more extreme weather occurs.  (((Welcome

to "global weirding.")))

 

   "'They are both consistent with what the computer

models of the climate are saying will become more

frequent, if CO2 levels continue to rise,' said Simon

Brown, who is in charge of researching extreme events at

the Met Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and

Research.  (((I wonder if this guy will have to wander off

into a forest and slit his wrists some day.)))

 

   "Higher temperatures mean the air could hold more

moisture, Dr Brown said, so even in a dry summer, when

rain falls, it could be much heavier.

 

   "Five weeks ago, in an unprecedented announcement, the

World Meteorological Organisation signalled weather

extremes were being recorded all across the world, from

Switzerland's hottest-ever June to a record month for

tornadoes in the US == and linked them to global warming

directly.

 

  "No one can prove it. But as you swelter in the heat

today, you should realise the evidence is stacking up.

 

(((If there is a good sign here, it's that nobody

on Earth is getting away with this.  The Greenhouse is

well-nigh universally awful.)))

 

"Portugal

 

"Portugal declared a state of national disaster yesterday

after the worst spate of forest fires in more than two

decades killed nine people, torched thousands of hectares

of tinder-dry forest and destroyed scores of homes, writes

Tim Gaynor.

 

  "The emergency declaration allowed more than E100m

(L70m) in aid to be released. The funds will go to people

who have lost their jobs and homes, farmers who have lost

crops and livestock, and to local councils so that they

can begin rebuilding infrastructure.  (((As Munich Re

points out, in the 2060s weather damage will outpace

the planet's entire GNP.)))

 

  "Emergency services in Lisbon said the fires, which

came after weeks without rain, had hit 15 of the country's

18 regions. Almost 3,000 firefighters, 380 troops, 781

fire engines, 23 helicopters and 12 water-carrying planes

were deployed to fight the blazes, which were fanned by

strong winds.  (((Portuguese "khaki green.")))

 

  "The wildfires were raging mostly in the central region

near Castelo Branco, about 120 miles north-east of Lisbon,

where the hills are covered with pine forests.

 

   "Rescue workers said nine people had died in the past

week, including a fireman who was killed when a fire

engine crashed. So far this year there have been about

1,700 wild fires in the country, destroying more than

26,000 hectares of scrub and trees.

 

    "As the temperature rose to more than 40C, rail

services were halted and roads were cut off in some

regions. (((Too disastrous to flee the disaster.)))

 

"SPAIN

 

"Emergency services evacuated hundreds of residents from

villages and farmhouses in central and south-west Spain

yesterday, writes Tim Gaynor, as high winds and record

temperatures fanned summer fires into roaring blazes that

scorched thousands of hectares of woodland.

 

"Hundreds of firefighters and volunteers battled blazes in

the province of Avila, north-west of Madrid, after a

separate fire in the region of Extremadura bordering

Portugal, which destroyed 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of

woodland and led to the evacuation of 750 people, was

brought under control.  (((I was in Extremadura last

month.  A beautiful place.  Lo siento, sorry, friends.)))

 

  "Emergency services in Avila said the blaze was raging

along a front 80 kilometres wide across 5,000 hectares of

woodland.

 

   "Further fires, whipped up by strong winds and record

temperatures above 40C (104F) in much of the country, also

burned over the weekend in the western Andalusian province

of Huelva and in Ciudad Real in the central La Mancha

plains. The temperatures in many towns and cities are the

highest since records began.

 

"FRANCE

 

  "As temperatures and ozone levels hit new peaks in

France yesterday, the happiest beasts were 27 polar bears

slurping mackerel-flavoured iced lollies at a zoo near

Paris, writes Alex Duval Smith. The worst off, after

police enforced reduced speed limits to cut pollution,

were holidaymakers stuck in their cars.  (((Interesting

thematic development here.)))

 

   "Meteo France said the coolest thing for humans to do,

at least until Thursday, would be to carry out important

business at daybreak when temperatures could fall as low

as 20C. Yesterday, Clermont-Ferrand in the south recorded

43C at midday.  (((The custom of siestas moves north to

France.  "There are no more Pyrenees.")))

 

   "The weather forecasting centre said the combination

of high temperatures and heavy traffic last weekend had

compounded the pollution. Ozone counts reached peak

levels, including in traditionally temperate cities such

as Le Havre and Reims. In Provence, sulphur dioxide levels

reached their highest rates this year.

 

   "While the bears at Thoiry Zoo near Versailles were

cooling themselves with mackerel frozen into ice, efforts

at France's nuclear power stations to keep temperatures

down met with controversy.

 

   "The Green Party said Fessenheim nuclear power station

in Alsace == where a temperature of 48C was recorded

outside the reactor last week == should be immediately

shut. The party denounced what it called the

'irresponsible attitude' of Electricite' de France in

using a giant water cannon to cool the outer shell of the

plant. The Greens also warned that the falling level of

the Loire had increased the radioactivity of cooling water

pumped into the river from the Villerest reactor.  (((No

lakes and rivers, no nuclear power.  Well, wait till next

year == maybe they'll flood and wash the reactors away.)))

 

  "After a weekend of record holiday traffic, police in

Paris and Bouches-du-Rhone reduced the motorway speed

limit to 100kph (60mph).

 

"ITALY

 

"In Italy the priests have asked their congregations to

pray for rain, writes Hugh MacLeod.

 

   "With the river Po in the north nearly eight metres

(24ft) below its normal levels and still dropping, and the

national grid issuing a warning of possible blackouts,

officials are on the point of declaring a state of

emergency in the north.  (((Great to see both government

and religion pitching in to solve the problem.)))

 

   "Plans are being drawn up to pump water from Alpine

lakes and dams into the river Po, which is at its lowest

level for 100 years.

 

   "Temperatures in Rome have been hitting 35C for weeks,

forcing tourists to cool off in the Trevi fountain == and

pay a fine for doing so.

 

   "Agricultural groups say farmers have lost about E5bn

worth of crops, and the price of some fruit and vegetables

has gone up as a result of the drought.

 

   "In southern Italy, where lack of water has become a

serious problem, large areas of scrubland were destroyed

by fires raging in Calabria and Salento in the region of

Apulia.

 

   "Fire broke out on Mount Vesuvius but it was reported

to have been extinguished at the weekend.

 

   "Italy's national grid, GRTN, said there may be power

blackouts today due to high demand and problems with the

supply of electricity. Italy has suffered power cuts in

recent weeks as temperatures have soared.

 

    "A GRTN official said the grid estimated 2,000

megawatts of demand more than had been expected, and

reduced capacity at some power plants may make it

necessary to cut power.

 

"GERMANY

 

"This time last year the weather in Germany was the

opposite of what it is now. August 2002 brought the worst

floods to hit the country in more than 100 years, writes

Ruth Elkins.

 

   "A year on, Germany's media is remembering the

tragedy, which cost 11 lives and caused E9.1bn in damage.

Now Germany swelters in up to 40C and 95 per cent

humidity. They are the highest temperatures in Germany

since 1976, the German weather service says.

 

   "Dresden's train station, famously pictured under

water at the height of the floods last year, is now a

tangle of train lines on parched grass. Temperatures in

Berlin soared to over 35C at the weekend and the city's

lakeside beaches were packed with people trying to cool

off.

 

   "But Germany's heat wave has also brought its own

disasters. 'Berlin cooks', screamed the city's tabloid

BZ's front page on yesterday. The newspaper reported the

deaths of four Berliners due to the extreme heat,

including two pensioners who died driving.  (((Yet another

transport angle here.  Old people dropping dead in moving

cars.)))

 

  "The paper also told of Berlin caretaker Bernd K who

died after chasing two teenagers he suspected of trying to

break into a flat. 'The heat wave, the excitement, it was

too much for the 49-year-old,' the paper wrote.

 

  "Many Germans may hope for a Hitzefrei, or 'heatwave

off', a rule that allows workers and schoolchildren to go

home if temperatures rise too high and it becomes too

uncomfortably, or dangerously, hot to stay at their desks.

((("Hitzefrei," nice coinage there.  Welcome to the German

Siesta.)))

 

"REST OF EUROPE

 

"Even Sweden hasn't escaped the blazes which have been

sweeping Europe for the past week, reporting a series of

bush fires along its north-eastern coast, writes Hugh

Macleod.

 

  "Across the continent, gusting winds are fanning the

flames through tinder-dry forests and crops.

 

   "In Greece, dozens of holidaymakers and residents were

evacuated early last week from properties near the Corinth

canal as flames threatened the area, while the worst fires

in 15 years burned outside the Croatian city of Dubrovnik.

 

   "In neighbouring Slovenia, about 500 firefighters were

fighting the biggest fire in a decade near the Italian

border.

 

   "Many parts of Switzerland have banned open fires

completely while the levels of the Danube fell to their

lowest in more than a century in Serbia and Montenegro,

making the river unnavigable for barges."

 

4 August 2003 20:32

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

IT'S JUST GETTING

STARTED, YOU KNOW

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

Our thoughts are with you LG. Hope things turn out well.  Welcome back when you do read all these!  

Key concepts:  Worst-case scenarios,

crop collapse, mass starvation, abrupt and

extreme climate change

 

Attention Conservation Notice: Probably

the least satisfying "I told you so" experience

that a Viridian might have.

 

NASA crashes robot solar airplane.  Hey,

at least they've got a robot solar airplane

to crash.

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/21316/story.htm

 

Cloned trees grow lots better inside cities.  Huh?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/09/tech/main562379.shtml

 

Ground thaws from climate change; skulls show up in kids'

playground. Paging Dr. Wexelblat!

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=576764

 

Tornados set American records, France fries,

Switzerland swelters, Indians die of heat;

only to be expected, say UN meteorologists.

http://www.wmo.ch/web/Press/Press695.doc

 

 

Source: Gwynne Dyer, Global Business Network

 

GBN Global Perspectives

by Gwynne Dyer

 

"Climate Change: Not Clear on the Concept

 

  "The World Meteorological Organisation normally

produces statistics-heavy reports at the end of the year,

not news bulletins about today's weather.  Its

announcement on 2 July that the record extremes in weather

being experienced globally this year are evidence that

climate change is actually underway is therefore much more

than just another salvo in the long argument about global

warming.

 

   "In Geneva, where the WMO is based, daytime

temperatures have not fallen below 25C (77F) since late

May == the hottest June in at least 250 years.  In the

United States, May brought a record of 562 tornadoes (the

previous record for one month was 399).  In India, the

pre-monsoon heat-wave brought peak temperatures of 45C

(113F) and directly caused at least 1,400 deaths.

 

(((Imagine trying to tell that litany to a climate skeptic

in 1980.  "And what did you do about these encroaching

calamities, Mr. 2003?"  Uh... we had an oil war, man!)))

 

   "As the WMO statement cautiously observed: 'New record

extreme events occur everywhere somewhere in the globe,

but in recent years the number of such extremes has been

increasing.' But there is still no sense of urgency, and

hardly anybody addresses the real context of this change.

 

   "Two weeks ago, for example, the Bush White House

censored a government report issued by the Environmental

Protection Agency that analysed global warming and its

sources.  It eliminated any suggestion that human

activities, notably industrial and vehicle emissions, were

at least partly responsible for climate change.  It

removed references to a widely accepted 1999 study showing

how sharply temperatures had risen in the previous decade

compared with the 1,000-year pattern, and substituted a

controversial later study, partly financed by the oil

industry, that disputes the evidence.  The green lobby

complained, and the media covered the story in a desultory

way, but everyone continued to behave as though there was

lots of time.  (((Actually, everybody continued to behave

as if fossil fuels, the world's largest industry, owned

the US Administration, ignored and flummoxed the UN,

science and the media, and set the planet's military

agenda behind closed doors, because, well, such was the

case.)))

 

  "The problem is that 'global warming' was the first

aspect of climate change to catch the public's attention,

and for the vast majority of people it remains the only

threat == if indeed it is a threat.  After all, warmer

isn't necessarily worse, and anyway it's a gradual process

and we'll all probably be safely dead before it gets too

serious.   Climate researchers have known that this is

untrue for about twenty years, since the evidence of the

Greenland ice-cores became available, but it has still not

affected the public debate.

 

   "Those cores go down two miles (three km.) into the

Greenland ice-cap and bring up year-by-year evidence of

weather that goes back a quarter-million years.  What the

shocked researchers realised when they examined the cores

is that climate change == REAL climate change == is not

gradual at all.  It's a threshold phenomenon, a sudden

flip into a radically different state that may then

persist for a very long time.  

 

   "The real danger we face is that gradual warming of

the sort we are experiencing now will trigger a sudden

cooling that could drop average global temperatures by 5C

(9F) in ten years.

 

   "The sudden cooling and the accompanying droughts

would destroy most of the agriculture that now sustains

six billion of us, and at least 90 percent of the human

race would be killed by famine and war in a matter of a

decade or so.  These abrupt climate changes can herald the

beginning of the next Ice Age, but climatic flips like

this can also occur for lengthy periods even in the midst

of warm-and-wet interglacial periods like the present.

 

  "We do still live in the Ice Ages, of course. (((I love

remarks like that.))) For the past three million years,

ever since continental drift closed the channel between

North America to South America and changed the ocean

currents, glaciers have covered over a third of the

planet's surface almost 90 percent of the time.  The

recent pattern has been around 100,000 years of freeze

followed by a much shorter warm period.  The previous

interglacial, which ended 117,000 years ago, was only

13,000 years long, so at 15,000 years we're already into

overtime on this one == but we don't even need a major Ice

Age to do the damage.

 

       The process by which the climate flips is now

fairly well understood.  The trigger is a phase of gradual

warming that, either through glacial melting or just more

rainfall, increases the amount of fresh water on the ocean

surface between Labrador, Greenland and Norway.  This

critical part of the North Atlantic is where the Gulf

Stream's water, having become salty and dense through

evaporation, sinks to the bottom and flows back south ==

but if it is diluted by too much fresh water on the

surface, it doesn't sink and the circuit is broken.

 

   "The whole global climate suddenly flips into a cool,

dry phase that can last for many centuries before warmer

conditions return:  there have been two such episodes, at

12,500 years ago and 8,500 years ago, even since the end

of the last Ice Age.  Or the cool, dry phase could last

for a hundred thousand years if other conditions, like the

shape of the earth's orbit and the tilt of its axis, have

already put us on the brink of a new Ice Age.

 

  "The flips of the past were caused by natural warming

of one kind or another, but by adding man-made warming to

the problem we are making it far more dangerous.  We have

built all of human civilisation, and increased our

population a thousandfold, since the last cool, dry

episode.  All of that is at risk if the climate flips, and

yet the public debate is still all about gradual change."

 

============

 

"Gwynne Dyer, Ph.D., is a London-based independent

journalist and GBN Network member whose articles

are published in 45 countries.For more on Gwynne Dyer,

please read his GBN interview

http://www.gbn.com/ArticleDisplayServlet.srv?aid=475

 

"The Global Perspectives series is intended to challenge

and provoke the thinking of GBN members. The opinions

expressed are not necessarily those of GBN or its members.

We welcome suggestions of other writers and columnists

whose ideas we might share."

 

(((Let's cut to the chase here and assume that a giant

switch goes off in the Atlantic and ninety percent of

everybody dies in ten years.  That would leave 600 million

people, about the population of the early 1700s.  What are

they going to do with themselves henceforth, one wonders.  

There are still lots of them, and the early 1700s was a

pretty lively time.  We might assume that they'd be

reduced to Mad Max savagery by a holocaust of this

magnitude, but why? All of them?  No way.   Those 600

million survivors would have plenty of elbow room, plus

enough  leftover infrastructure for 6 billion.  The TVs

would still be on, the cellphones would work.... Assuming

that the climate is stable in its new Ice Age

configuration, this 600 million could re-create industrial

society in a jiffy and go right on burning coal.  Because

hey, it's COLD outside!)))

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

IF YOU ARE IN SPAIN,

SEND EMAIL.  BECAUSE

SO AM I

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

Quote (wilphe @ June 20 2003,08:56)

My name is Wilphe, I hail from the fair city of Oxford and I am a Pom. Australians are one the four largest groups here, along with Poms, Yanks and, umm, Finns. Can we have a mildy derogative yet affectionate term for Finnish people please (any Swedes, Russians or Balts willing to contribute one?)

Aparently accoring to my chums what do diving, them things on the ends of your feet are not called flippers but fins. So conversly perhaps Finns are in fact flippers - which sounds about right because its dark for 6 months and they all drink vodka by the barrell. I love them all.  

 

 

And a warm welcome to Velcor Kitten and all the other newbies who find themselves here eventually.  Join in and enjoy!

I deceided to sponsor a site in the Blogathon 2003 this year and chose ronincyberpunk.com as my grandfather died of leukemia when I was young.

 

Give the site a look and chuck some pennies his way!

As for beard shapes I am now thinking of going for a Brazilian, because apparently its popular with the girls...

 

Ladies? Wax or foundation what works for you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

(have I lowered the tone at all?)

I always celebrate the 4th of July  - the day when my ancestors faked loosing some battles so that they could get shot of that large foreign colony that was nothing but trouble and a huge drain on resources...      

Key concepts:  New Belgium Brewing Company,

wind-powered beer, alcohol, product-testing

 

Attention Conservation Notice: Announces

winner of our latest contest.  Wind-powered or no,

excessive beer consumption can cause one to wreck large

fossil-fueled vehicles.

 

******************************************************

The Viridian "Embrace the Decay" Contest has a winner!

Note these spectacular entries by

David Nelson Epstein, Duncan Stewart, Monty

Zukowski, and Aubrey LaPuerta.

http://www.levitated.net/sterling/contest/index.html

 

 

Viridian Contest Judge Lola Brine mellifluously remarks:

 

"'Spore Ink'

Monty Zukowski

 

gets my vote.

 

"His generative

generations

flow

and grow

so smoothly, like a fluid spill,  

like time lapse in summer,

a winner with his conscious  

technical  merit alone.

 

"But more.

 

"This decay, growth instead,

reminding me of something inside my head

== of critical

rhetorical

analysis of text:

 

"the way it sumptuously,

greedily

takes a mere

scan of a text

and sprouts tangential assertions

from every

unexpecting

line and angle.

 

"And from every noun, from every cultural observation...

in a self-asserting stroke of genius masturbation,

it grows stems

and branches

and thickens them into trunks

of intellectual ballet and philosophical gunk,

 

"a dance,

a sport,

which departs so utterly

from the text at hand

strangling the life from the author's gest,

making it

a trellis

for the critic's best,

 

"the text becoming

a brick wall in effect,

a blackened host,

for a parasitic, narcissistic

growth of a boast.

 

"A flagrant display of literature's helpless decay,

in the mind of the reader who reads words into words

into words

into dogma

into historical relevance

and theoretical smegma,

"'Death to the Author'

the fractals declare.

 

"Yes this is my choice:

embrace Monty, the winner!"

 

((Yeah, right, uhm, Ms. Judge, okay!  Monty Zukowski

will receive the Media Destroyer contest prize!)))

******************************************************

 

Links:

http://www.newbelgium.com/frames.html

"New Belgium is the first wind powered brewery in America

== eliminating 1,800 tonnes (metric tons) of CO2 emissions

per year."

 

Hillary Mezia, the "Sustainability Goddess"

for New Belgium, is impressively cognizant of the beer

consumption cycle.

http://www.state.co.us/oemc....ium.htm

 

(((As you know, we Viridians are determined to solicit

honest, design-centered assessments of today's cutting-

edge Green products.)))

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/101-125/00104.html

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/101-125/00109.html

 

(((Let's be perfectly frank about this: excellent

environmental policies don't make your product taste any

better. Since New Belgium boldly runs their enterprises on

100% renewable power, we painstakingly purchased an

extensive representative set of New Belgium's product. We

then assembled a testimonial panel of willing guinea pigs

at a boozy party after a writers' workshop!  Critical

highlights follow.)))

 

Loft Beer

 

THE OFFICIAL PITCH: "Loft Beer is a refreshing ale brewed

with both barley and wheat malt, a blend of Liberty and

Sterling hops, and then spiced with the exotic kaffir lime

leaf. Loft delivers an uplifting zest, a taut, hoppy line

and a mouthful as big as the sky."

 

THE CRITICS SPEAK:

Bottle features a nifty pic of hop vines and a kite, plus  

wind-power propaganda right on the label!  Nice graphic

design!

Flowery aftertaste == interesting!

Hoppy lawnmower beer.

Fizzy/fruity.

Dry with a perfumy finish.

Doesn't get there.

Tastes like too many European standards.

I'm guessing this is one of the few American beers

best served warm.

 

 

Fat Tire Amber Ale.

 

THE OFFICIAL PITCH: "Like the ageless delight of pedaling

a bicycle, Fat Tire Amber Ale's appeal is in its feat of

balance: toasty malt flavors (sorta like biscuits just

pulled from the oven) coasting in equilibrium with crisp

hoppiness. Delicious stability == in the sometimes

precarious world of beer flavors == is perhaps what

prompted a consumer who wrote us to say 'this beer just

makes you smile.'"

 

THE CRITICS SPEAK:

I drink this regularly.  It's a nice, full-bodied,

mellow amber, very nice on the palate.

Good stuff.  Nice finish.  Fruity flavor.

Easy drinking and light.

All kick is up front, with little backup taste.

Good.  A no-brainer.

Adequate but somewhat dull.

A little too fizzy == sweet finish.

Blah.  No there there.

Pleasant, but unfortunate notes reminiscent

of photographer's hypo.

Not what you expect, but pleasing in any case.

 

 

Sunshine Wheat Beer

 

THE OFFICIAL PITCH: "Sunshine Wheat is a great beer for

erasing thirst. Yet, it has attributes that induce more

attention than just a hot summer day's consumption.

Sunshine Wheat swirls in the mouth with ripples of

coriander and orange peel tartness which settle nicely to

a tranquil sea of apple and honey tones."

 

THE CRITICS SPEAK:

Nice, light, lots of flavor == not too fizzy.

Smooth, fruity, no bite at all.

Tart, citrusy, lots of top notes, lacks malt.

Lemony. Summer beer.  Ehhh...

Surprisingly fruity.  Interesting for a wheat beer.

Light, citrusy, floral, but watery.

Fruity, with a lackluster finish.

Blah.

 

 

Blue Paddle Pilsener Lager.

 

THE OFFICIAL PITCH: "Blue Paddle Pilsener, crafted with

malt-only brewing and noble hops, explores the boundaries

where American lagers seldom journey. Reflective of

Europe's finest Pilseners, Blue Paddle delivers a

refreshing bitterness, vibrant finish and a subtle but

intricate depth of flavor. Unlike the old world examples,

this landlocked Pilsener is only shipped within our small

Western territory."

 

THE CRITICS SPEAK:

Light, foamy == no finish.

Too much tang.

Paddle back to the dock.

A very mellow light beer with a bit too much hops.

Undistinguished, neither pilsener nor lager == like

Schlitz.

Needs a bar code.

Another over-hopped brew.

Light and easy.

Dry, almost a sour taste.

Too sour!  Like fruit juice that's gone off.

 

 

1554 Brussels Style Black Ale

 

THE OFFICIAL PITCH: "Other than being dark in color, 1554

has little in common with porter or stouts. The beer is

fermented at relatively high temperatures using a European

lager yeast that imparts a refreshing, zesty acidity. With

1554 our staff hoped to create an ale that would be easy

to imagine as a beer served 446 years ago, but also a beer

that doesn't ignore 446 years of brewing advancements."

 

THE CRITICS SPEAK:

Nice bold flavor, very close to a porter.

Roasty.  A little bitter on the finish.

Smoky == but like a good cigar.

Tough finish: industrial strength.

Dark and mysterious, best of the bunch.

I like anything with the word "Brussels" in it.

Hearty... yet light, smooth.

Meaty, yet amusing.

Rich.  Very nice.  Not so malty as to be cloying.  Yum.

Rich, tingly.  A good blend.

Thick and intriguing.

Smooth... but with an abrupt finish.

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

HEY LOOK! I'M  DRUNK, AND

THE SKY IS CLEARING UP!

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

Key concepts:  Micro-engines, power generation,

Birmingham University

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Includes a party

invite to the Viridian Vatican.

 

Links:

The National Solar Energy Conference is

running in Austin this week.  Hey, I'm going.

http://www.ases.org/2003_conference/program.html

 

Looks like Dr. Natalie got around to unleashing those

feral robot dogs.

http://xdesign.eng.yale.edu/feralrobots

http://entity.eng.yale.edu/nat

http://jove.eng.yale.edu/twiki/bin/view/Experimentalproduct/SummerDogs

 

I'm having a Turkey City writer's workshop at

the Viridian Vatican this Saturday, June 28, 02003.

http://www.io.com/~lawrence/TC.html  

 

We'll have an open party after the workshop, starting

around 7:30 PM or so.  Want to come drink beer with

science fiction writers?  Send me email!

 

 

You might well like to meet our distinguished

out-of-town  guest of honor, Eileen Gunn.

http://www.sff.net/people/gunn/

 

Eileen Gunn edits "Infinite Matrix," where I have

a weblog.  Give her money; we'll buy beer with it.

http://www.infinitematrix.net/columns/sterling/index.html

 

Surprise guest, legendary short-story writer

Howard Waldrop, will also be here for Turkey City.  

Howard hasn't lived in Texas for years, but now, well, he

does.

http://www.sff.net/people/Waldrop/

 

 

Source:

http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk/release....atest=6

 

"Engineers Develop Microengines: The Batteries of the

Future"

 

17/06/2003

 

"University of Birmingham engineers have developed tiny

engines only a few millimetres wide that will soon replace

a standard battery."  ((("Soon?")))

 

  "These micro-engines have over 300 times more energy

than an ordinary battery and are much lighter and smaller.

These new power-supplying machines will soon be used to

charge mobile phones and lap top computers in a matter of

seconds thereby eliminating the need to recharge them

frequently.

 

  "Dr Kyle Jiang,  (((what a great 21st century scientist

name))) lead investigator from the department of

Mechanical Engineering, says, 'These micro-engines will be

much more energy efficient than standard batteries. It

takes 2000 times more energy to manufacture a battery than

the battery dispenses while it is being used. Soon

everyone will be able to charge their mobile phones

instantly using a shot of cigarette lighter fuel instead

of having to find a socket for a charger and wait while

the phone charges up'.  (((We Viridians have been

demanding this for years now.  Except we'd like

the fuel to be humanly drinkable, please.)))

 

   "Micro-engines will also be used during military

operations for driving micro air vehicles and micro-robots

for reconnaissance purposes;  (((I'm getting weary of the

ceaseless military-app drumbeat out of the R&D community;

come on guys, you're British))) communications relays;

micro-cameras and other sensor carriers. Other

applications will include micro-factories – tiny 'labs-on-

a-chip' that will be able to make drugs, chemicals or

small mechanical components.

(((Now we're talking.  Microchips that make drugs.

The LINUX Open Source Hashish Pentium, presumably.)))

 

"Investigators at the School of Engineering are the first

to manufacture these engines in a durable, heat resistant

material such as ceramic or silicon carbide.

 

"Notes to editors:

 

  "Moving footage/interviews of micro-engines is

available free of charge as a package to broadcast media

via Research TV, due for streaming on Tuesday 17 June. For

more details/to request footage contact www.research-

tv.com

 

(((Never mind, here you go, Windows Media video:)))

http://www.research-tv.com/nano_story_template.html#

 

"Further information:

 

Kate Bassett, Press Office, University of Birmingham, 0121

414 2772 or 07789 921164. Email: k.h.bassett*bham.ac.uk

 

(((Is there any there there with these gizmos?  Maybe!)))

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/31312.html

 

O=c=O O=c=O

DROP ON BY.

IT'S SUMMER.

WHAT ELSE

IS THERE?

O=c=O O=c=O

Cest moi. I have owned several beardy shapes over the years and I do go commando (nude) quite often. Currently I am sporting a classic interweb net goatee, very jazz, but am thinking of styling it slightly more cavalier - which seems to be a growing trend - like the Feng Shui Master in the Fosters advert. I keep mine closley cropped running the beardy mower over it twice a week or so.

 

For a full breakdown of the Nigerian scam and what happens when a reporter replies to the e-mail... Nigerian e-mail scam on Silicon.com

 

Very funny!

Key concepts:  TED conference, high-tech entrepreneurs,

global goodness, ApproTec, Idealab, World Economic Forum,

Ideo, Sapling Foundation, Science for the Global Good

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Lots of links

 

********************************************************

The "Embrace the Decay" Contest

http://www.levitated.net/sterling/contest

http://stewarts.org/viridian/shorttimemachine.html

http://stewarts.org/viridian/mytimemachine.html

 

This contest is now closed.  A winner will be announced

in due time, whatever that means.

**********************************************************

 

Links:

 

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/21216/story.htm

Here comes this year's attack of West Nile virus.

 

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/21217/story.htm

And the now-customary giant wildfires in the American

West.

 

http://www.shelleconomistprize.com/index2.html

Shell Oil and the Economist are inviting entries for s

"Future Thinking Writing Competition 2003." First prize is

publication and $20,000. 2nd and 3rd prizes (silver) are

$10,000 each and there will be 5 Bronze awards of $5,000

each.  (((Hey, gosh, that's real money.  Better get

typing.)))

 

http://www.solaraustin.org

(((I'm speaking at this event.)))

The Solar Energy Conference == SOLAR 2003: America’s

Secure Energy == will open its exhibit hall to the public

for FREE Monday, June 23 = Wednesday, June 25 from 10 AM =

5 PM. Don’t miss your chance to explore the solar future!

 

Also:

Solar Austin Town Hall Meeting, part of the National Solar

Energy Conference

The Solar Austin Campaign invites you to a Town Hall

Meeting to tackle tough questions about Austin’s solar

energy future.

WHEN: Monday, June 23, 4 - 6 PM

WHERE: Austin Convention Center, Room 16

 

http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/howitt/humcool/index.html

"Anyone interested in appropriate technology for the Third

World, alternative energy sources, and off-the-grid living

might want to check out my new online tutorial on the

HumCooler. It's a refrigerator with no moving parts, using

acoustics and thermodynamics.  Right now I'm very

interesting in finding someone who's willing and able to

build a prototype."

Wil Howitt <howitt*apocalypse.org>

 

 

Source: The New York Times, Katie Hafner

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/16/fashion/16TED.html

 

"Dot-Com Saviors, Tilting at the World's Ills

March 16, 2003 By KATIE HAFNER

 

"MONTEREY, Calif. WITH their sights set across the globe,

they are heading out from Silicon Valley with unflinching

optimism, buoyant self-confidence and, now that much of

their industry has evaporated, a great deal of time on

their hands.

 

  "In increasing numbers, high-tech entrepreneurs who

grew wealthy during the dot-com boom of the late 1990's ==

as well as many who didn't == are turning the intense

business acumen they once devoted to making money to

working for what they see as the global good.

 

  "With the best of intentions, and maybe a hint of

hubris, these New Age saviors are trying to build water

purifiers, manual irrigation pumps, low-cost solar

collectors, hearing aids, even highly durable mosquito

nets.  (...) (((Well!  Don't that beat all!)))

 

  "This new mood was especially evident at last month's

TED conference (for Technology Entertainment and Design),

an annual gathering in Monterey that attracts many of the

computer industry's elite. But instead of celebrating

technology's intrinsic beauty and financial potential,

participants showed off gizmos meant to improve living

conditions in the third world.

 

   "Instead of jargon like personal bandwidth, killer

app, and clicks and mortar, the notions floating around

this year were sustainability, the ecology of terror and

H.I.V. One of the most popular presentations came from

Dean Kamen, the inventor best known for the Segway Human

Transporter, the high-tech scooter that has yet to prove

itself in the marketplace. At TED, Mr. Kamen, 51, showed a

water purifier that also generates electricity. The

device, which resembles a Good Humor ice cream cart, takes

filthy water (all that is available to much of Africa, he

said) and distills it to crystalline purity.

 

   "'Here you take the box and put it directly where

someone needs it,' Mr. Kamen said. (((Where's mine?))) His

device is still not ready for mass production, yet his

plans are grandiose. He said he would leave in the next

few weeks for Africa to explore distribution for his

invention.

 

   "TED was not the only place where world betterment

eclipsed return on investment as a discussion point. Three

weeks earlier, at the World Economic Forum in Davos,

Switzerland, the annual meeting of world economic and

political leaders, a dinner for high-tech executives

focused almost exclusively on problems of poverty and

disease around the world. Bill Gates, the Microsoft

chairman, sat on a panel whose theme was 'Science for the

Global Good,' and discussed his foundation's work in

bringing immunization programs to developing countries.

 

   "While plenty of people in Silicon Valley are still

focused on keeping their businesses going, this change in

direction among some of the technology elite comes in the

aftermath of the dot-com collapse and the Sept. 11

attacks. Fear of terrorism and war, and general

nervousness about the health of the planet, seem to have

inspired a shift in priorities. Many of the speakers at

the conference were self-appointed Cassandras, describing

the dangers of American self-absorption with a fervor once

reserved for initial public offerings.  (((Thank you so,

Katie Hafner, you noble soul, you... really, this stuff is

almost too good.)))

 

    "'Five years ago, people were too busy getting rich

and being dazzled by technology to think more broadly,'

said Chris Anderson, whose Sapling Foundation, which

finances medical, technological and educational projects

in the developing world, bought the rights to stage the

TED conference from its originator, Richard Saul Wurman, a

gregarious designer and architect.  (((Even the conference

itself has been bought-out by profit-free do-gooders.)))

 

  "This year marked the 13th TED. Attendees pay $4,000

for three and a half days of intellectual soul searching,

mixed with some pure entertainment, like a juggling act,

and a generous dose of technological bravado.

 

   "The $1 million in profits made at this year's

conference will be given to causes devoted to clean water,

ocean conservation and public health in the developing

world, Mr. Anderson said. (...)

 

   "Some of the dot-com activists consider what they are

doing enlightened self-interest, perhaps even enlightened

opportunism. During the boom years, Bill Gross's Idealab,

an incubator for Internet-based startups, was churning out

online enterprises that offered toys, Web searches and

wedding planning. Then the bubble burst, and many of

Idealab's companies disappeared. Mr. Gross's personal

wealth, $1 billion or more before the collapse, is now

roughly $200 million.

 

    "'Maybe since Sept. 11 and maybe because I'm almost

45 and maybe because I have four wonderful happy kids, I

want to do things that are important for the world,' Mr.

Gross said.

 

   "He used his time onstage at TED to introduce one new

Idealab venture, called Energy Innovations, which is

making inexpensive solar collectors to sell in places

needing cost-effective power. But he hasn't lost his

capitalist zeal, either. Eventually, Mr. Gross said, he

hopes to turn Energy Innovations into a money-making

business.  (((It sure beats colonizing Iraq, plus you

don't have to explain things to bankers!)))

 

   "Like others at the conference, Mr. Gross criticized

the United States for consuming the bulk of the planet's

natural resources without regard for the hostility such a

lifestyle can engender. 'The root causes of any hatred

against the U.S. have to be dealt with, as opposed to just

closing our eyes to it,' he said.  (((Yeah, who could

possibly hate solar collectors?  Hey wait a minute, I bet

Exxon-Mobil hates 'em.)))

 

    "Not surprisingly, perhaps, few of the newly socially

aware entrepreneurs speak of teaming up with public

agencies like the World Bank and Unicef, or even

nongovernmental aid organizations like Oxfam. Instead,

they focus on groups like the Acumen Fund, a social

venture fund that encourages an entrepreneurial approach

to fixing world problems. The Acumen Fund is receiving

$427,000 of the TED profits.

 

    "Jacqueline Novogratz, 41, a graduate of Stanford

Business School who started the Acumen Fund in 2001, said

she emphasizes models that take an investment-oriented

approach to global betterment, treating social ventures

like any other entrepreneurial enterprise. So far the fund

has raised $15 million.

 

   "As an example, Ms. Novogratz cited the Affordable

Hearing Aid Project, which has received $400,000 from the

Acumen Fund and others to manufacture and sell a $42

hearing aid in India. A comparable device would sell for

$1,500, Ms. Novogratz said. (((Hey, I got a breakthrough

idea!  Why not get rid of those Big Pharma patents, and

treat public health in India as if it WASN'T an

entrepreneurial enterprise?)))

 

   "Though given as a grant, she said, the money is

structured like an investment in a startup, with

milestones and benchmarks to track progress. Acumen Fund

investors do not expect a financial return. 'But millions

of people are getting access to a technology they wouldn't

otherwise have,' Ms. Novogratz said, 'and for many, that

social return is as compelling as a financial return.'

 

   "The view from traditional philanthropists is

surprisingly positive. Dr. Richard Rockefeller, a

physician and longtime philanthropist (he is the son of

David Rockefeller), said he admired the pluck of people

like Mr. Gross, even envied their experience.

 

    "'I've often thought, 'Wouldn't it be nice just to go

be an entrepreneur,' or to do that first and get a grip,'

he said. Dr. Rockefeller, the chairman of the United

States advisory board of the international aid group

Doctors Without Borders, said he had encouraged his own

two children 'to go get a skill and do it before they go

out and change the world.'  ((("Skills'? Aw c'mon! What's

wrong with just standing here yelling, handwring, crying

and blowing smoke?)))

 

   (...)  "The latest version of the MoneyMaker, a

decidedly low-tech leg-powered irrigation pump, was

created by a company called ApproTEC, a nonprofit

organization that develops and markets new technologies in

Africa. It was designed in part by volunteers at Ideo, an

industrial design firm in Palo Alto known for the sleek

Palm V organizer and the Crest Neat Squeeze toothpaste

tube.

 

   "Since the first MoneyMaker pump was introduced in

Kenya in 1996, it has increased the average annual income

among farmers there who use it from $120 a year to $1,400,

according to Martin Fisher, a co-founder of ApproTEC.

 

   "Ideo helped design the newest pump, a deep-well

version that went on the market in Kenya last month, at no

charge to ApproTEC. Some 40 Ideo employees volunteered in

the evenings and on weekends for nearly a year.

 

    "'The pump is real, and helping real people,' said

Ben Tarbell, the 28-year-old Ideo project manager who

oversaw the pump's design.  (((Boy, that's great news ==

as long as the Kenyan water table holds out, that is.)))

 

   "Not everyone is embracing high-tech solutions like

Mr. Kamen's water purifier, or even more rudimentary

technology like the ApproTEC pump. John Wood, 39, quit his

high-paying management job at Microsoft around the time

the Nasdaq market peaked in March 2000, and started Room

to Read, a nonprofit group that brings books, libraries

and schools to poor Asian countries.

 

    "Since its start, the group has built 33 schools and

400 school libraries, delivered more than 200,000 books

and financed 122 scholarships.

 

    "'For the price an American pays for an S.U.V. or a

new Lexus, we could build six schools in Nepal,' Mr. Wood

said, sounding a bit like a commercial for Save the

Children. 'For the amount that a wealthy banker spends on

a pair of shoes, we could take a girl out of the

orphanage, put her in a school uniform, give her a book

bag and some pens, and send her off to school.'  (((Where

she can become a lawyer and buy a Lexus!  Yay!)))

 

    "But will the commitment last? What will happen if

disillusionment sets in at the slow pace of social change?

Or if the next technology boom arrives?

 

    "One speaker at the TED conference elicited an

appreciative laugh from the audience when he told of a

bumper sticker he had spotted recently in Silicon

Valley. It read, 'Please God - Just One More Bubble.'

 

   "Mr. Wood, for one, said he had no plans to abandon

his project no matter what happens in the high-tech

business world. 'I plan to sit out the next bubble,' he

said. 'I don't care if the Nasdaq goes to 20,000. I'll be

in Nepal delivering books to villages on the back of a

yak.'

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

YAK YAK YAK

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

When I have the time!!! It's actually running on a different system now and there is an major upgrade I have yet to install which may include automated stats for members - I have asked for it! But I expect I will have to do it by hand at the end of the month. I will see what I can do.