#"Some 60 billion paper cups are thrown away every year in the United States." "More than 30 percent of our vegetables and 50 percent of our fruit is now shipped from other nations. Shipping imported produce by air has the biggest carbon footprint because it can require almost 24 times more energy than rail transport and emit 42 times more carbon dioxide than a ship hauling the same cargo." [1]
#"The fossil fuel industry is looking to plastics as a lifeline. Today, 14 percent of oil and 8 percent of gas is used for the manufacture of petrochemicals, an essential feedstock of plastic production. The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2050, 50 percent of the growth in oil demand will be related to petrochemicals, overtaking the oil demand growth related to automobile transportation." [2]
#"Wells Fargo employees, who were under pressure from senior management to meet overly aggressive sales goals, had opened more than two million bank and credit-card accounts for customers who had never asked for them." At a Senate hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren accused John Stumpf, the C.E.O. of Wells Fargo, of "building a business-model for a huge financial institution that was built on knowingly cheating people." [3]
#A document entitled "Nuclear Operations," published on June 11, states: "Using nuclear weapons could create conditions for decisive results and the restoration of strategic stability." "Specifically, the use of a nuclear weapon will fundamentally change the scope of a battle and create conditions that affect how commanders will prevail in conflict." This document has a dangerous message, as it foresees positive results from the use of nuclear weapons.
#"A report showed that while Asian Americans made up 5.4% of the U.S. population, they represented just 1.4% of lead characters in studio films in 2014. The issue has extended behind the cameras: in 2018, another study found only 12% of showrunner positions to be held by people of color." Yet another study showed that 64% of television writers of color were experiencing bias, discrimination or harassment. [4]
#"Many Californians still live in wooded areas with few ways out. More than half of the state's some 25 million acres is classified as under very or [an] extreme fire threat." "By this time last year, firefighters in California had already dealt with 2,615 fires." "We placed fire-prone houses in fire-prone areas," says Christopher Dicus, a fire ecologist at California Polytechnic State University." [5]
#""Iran's exports have plummeted -- from 3.2 million barrels a day to some half a million." "(Instead of building on the deal with allies), the Administration is scrambling alone militarily in the waters through which thirty per cent of the world's seaborne energy flows. The irony is that the United States no longer needs much oil from the Gulf. The hypocrisy is that Trump vowed to bring American forces from the Middle East, after 18 years of multiple wars. The tragedy is that another war may be on the horizon." [6]
Footnotes:
[1] Bob Schildgen, "Hey Mr. Green! Is there Earth-friendly disposable dishware?" Sierra, July/August 2019.
[2] Antonia Juhasz, "Boom goes the plastics industry," Sierra, July/August 2019.
[3] Sheelah Kolhatkar, "In the Ring," The New Yorker, June 24, 2019.
[4] Andrew R. Chow, "Asians Americans in Hollywood," TIME, July 22, 2019.
[5] Katy Steinmetz, "California is bracing for fire season..." TIME, July 22, 2019.
[6] Robin Wright, "Belligerence," The New Yorker, July 1, 2019.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Friday, July 26, 2019
De Jure Jim Crow, Evangelical Fear, and Weather Wars
I. De Jure Jim Crow
"De jure Jim Crow ended with President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting rights Act of 1964 the following year, but given a slight probe of the United States -- its neighborhoods, school systems, criminal-justice policies, re-emergent brazen hate crimes --turns up evidence aplenty that the civil heirloom of Jim Crow endures." "It's with us when scheming men are trying to figure out how to gerrymander their state to deprive brown people of their vote, to figure out which polling places to close so that people have a difficult time getting time off and traveling to register or vote." [1]
II. At War Online
"The DHS has found a 'rise in malicious cyber activity.' " "Those were the latest moves in a rapidly escalating cyber conflict that is proving to be a test run in the future of war." "As the U.S. runs out of economic pressure to apply and Trump balks at the costs of a new military conflict in the Middle East, cyberspace seems like the inevitable next arena of conflict." [2]
III. Evangelical Republic of Fear
"Clinton's scandals helped spin the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998 to issue its seminal 'Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials.' The document's key statement was unanimous and unequivocal: 'Tolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestricted immorality and lawlessness in the society, and surely results in God's judgment." [3]
"Talk to evangelicals and fear is all too often a dominant theme of their political life. The church is under siege from a hostile culture. Religious institutions are under legal attack from progressives. "The American evangelical church is acting as if it needs Trump's version of secular salvation. Yet the church is acting as if it needs Trump to protect it, That's not courageous -- It's repulsive. And so long as this fear continues, expect the church's witness to degrade further. In seeking protection from its perceived enemies the church has lost its way."
"America's conservative people of faith should seek a primary challenger to Trump and send a message to the GOP that it will do so from a position of confidence -- and faith."
IV. Weather Wars
"Economic damage from severe whether reached $306 billion in 2017. And a NOAA report last year estimated that whether-elated variables has reduced the nation's GDP by 3.4%." [4]
The Trump administration's interest is in prioritizing the role of the private sector in weather forecast. It would apply its industry-first approach to the entire international meteorological community.
ADDENDUMS:
*In a nutshell, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House on how to deal with Iran: 1.) Repeal the overly broad 2001 war authorization; 2;) Push for a return to U.S.compliance with the Iran nuclear agreement; and 3.) Use other diplomatic efforts to reduce terrorism.
*Presidential candidate Julian Castro has said that it's "worrisome" to set up a meeting without the staff work being done. He pointed out that North Korea has not disclosed its nuclear stockpile.
*"If physicians and physician assistants faced significant disciplinary consequences for engaging in a practice that medical professionals widely view as a ghostly form of torture, prison authorities might soon find themselves without the personnel to carry it out. (He is speaking of force-feeding.) [5]
Footnotes:
[1] Mitchell S. Jackson, "Another Colson Whitehead..." TIME, July 8, 2019.
[2] W.J. Hennigan, "The U.S. and Iran are already at war online," TIME, July 8, 2019.
[3] David French, "The Evangelical Republic of Fear," TIME, July 8, 2019.
[4] Andrew Blum, "Weather wars," TIME, July 8, 2019.
[5] Letter writer Jacob M. Appel, The Nation, July 15/22, 2019.
"De jure Jim Crow ended with President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting rights Act of 1964 the following year, but given a slight probe of the United States -- its neighborhoods, school systems, criminal-justice policies, re-emergent brazen hate crimes --turns up evidence aplenty that the civil heirloom of Jim Crow endures." "It's with us when scheming men are trying to figure out how to gerrymander their state to deprive brown people of their vote, to figure out which polling places to close so that people have a difficult time getting time off and traveling to register or vote." [1]
II. At War Online
"The DHS has found a 'rise in malicious cyber activity.' " "Those were the latest moves in a rapidly escalating cyber conflict that is proving to be a test run in the future of war." "As the U.S. runs out of economic pressure to apply and Trump balks at the costs of a new military conflict in the Middle East, cyberspace seems like the inevitable next arena of conflict." [2]
III. Evangelical Republic of Fear
"Clinton's scandals helped spin the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998 to issue its seminal 'Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials.' The document's key statement was unanimous and unequivocal: 'Tolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestricted immorality and lawlessness in the society, and surely results in God's judgment." [3]
"Talk to evangelicals and fear is all too often a dominant theme of their political life. The church is under siege from a hostile culture. Religious institutions are under legal attack from progressives. "The American evangelical church is acting as if it needs Trump's version of secular salvation. Yet the church is acting as if it needs Trump to protect it, That's not courageous -- It's repulsive. And so long as this fear continues, expect the church's witness to degrade further. In seeking protection from its perceived enemies the church has lost its way."
"America's conservative people of faith should seek a primary challenger to Trump and send a message to the GOP that it will do so from a position of confidence -- and faith."
IV. Weather Wars
"Economic damage from severe whether reached $306 billion in 2017. And a NOAA report last year estimated that whether-elated variables has reduced the nation's GDP by 3.4%." [4]
The Trump administration's interest is in prioritizing the role of the private sector in weather forecast. It would apply its industry-first approach to the entire international meteorological community.
ADDENDUMS:
*In a nutshell, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House on how to deal with Iran: 1.) Repeal the overly broad 2001 war authorization; 2;) Push for a return to U.S.compliance with the Iran nuclear agreement; and 3.) Use other diplomatic efforts to reduce terrorism.
*Presidential candidate Julian Castro has said that it's "worrisome" to set up a meeting without the staff work being done. He pointed out that North Korea has not disclosed its nuclear stockpile.
*"If physicians and physician assistants faced significant disciplinary consequences for engaging in a practice that medical professionals widely view as a ghostly form of torture, prison authorities might soon find themselves without the personnel to carry it out. (He is speaking of force-feeding.) [5]
Footnotes:
[1] Mitchell S. Jackson, "Another Colson Whitehead..." TIME, July 8, 2019.
[2] W.J. Hennigan, "The U.S. and Iran are already at war online," TIME, July 8, 2019.
[3] David French, "The Evangelical Republic of Fear," TIME, July 8, 2019.
[4] Andrew Blum, "Weather wars," TIME, July 8, 2019.
[5] Letter writer Jacob M. Appel, The Nation, July 15/22, 2019.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Recycling and Killing the Electric Car
I. Recycling Garbage
"Half the plastic and much of the paper you put into it did not go to your local recycling center. Instead, it was stuffed into giant container ships and sold to China." "In addition, Americans are notorious for putting pretty much anything into recycling bins from dirty diapers to lawn furniture, partly out of ignorance and partly because China gave a decades-long pass on making distinctions." A 2015 study co-authored by Jenna Jambeck, a University of Georgia scientist, found that 1.3 to 3.5 million metric tons of plastic flowed into the ocean from China. As early as 2013, China began warning people who recycle that it intended to address its own environmental problems and would limit contamination of recycling imports to 0.5 percent. "(The mixed bales of paper and plastic the United States was shipping to China typically had 30 to 50 times that level.)" "Bales of mixed paper that previously sold for $155 a ton could barely fetch $10." [1]
Berkeley, California's curbside bins have two compartments: one for paper, one for everything else. "This minimizes the contamination from food residue and liquids from bottles and cans that makes recycling paper difficult, if not impossible." "Washington is considering a product-stewardship bill that would require manufacturers to oversee end-of-life management for all sorts of plastics, recyclable or not, and California is pondering a similar measure."
II. When Recycling Isn't Worth It
Sometimes recycling isn't worth it, for example, with disposable packaging, recyclable choices more often than not result in more harm to the environment. David Allaway, a senior policy analyst for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and his colleagues show that some non-recyclable materials that end up safely requested in landfills have a lower impact on the environment than their recyclable alternative. "The recyclable packaging sometimes causes greater overall harm when it comes to climate, water conservation, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, smog acidification, or other forms of pollution and depletion." [2]
III. Killing the Electric Car
" ' The Koch network is opposing pro-EV policies at all levels of government in public utility commissions, state legislatures,and the US Congress,' says David Arkush, managing director of Public Citizen's climate program." "In 2018, the American Energy Alliance introduced an ALEC resolution to enact punitive annual fees for driving plug-in vehicles -- and many states took the bait." " 'The electric vehicle market is growing extremely fast,' Arkush says. 'They're popular, peppy, and clean -- and increasingly they're cheaper than conventional cars when you factor in lower costs of maintenance and savings on fuel.' " [3]
IV. Defining Fatherhood
"In classrooms, especially in Europe, blood-typing of mother and child became a method of ruling out putative fathers." "In the political rhetoric of personal responsibility, fatherhood often became synonymous with financial support." [4]
Nora Milinich, professor of history, and author of "Paternity: The Elusive Quest for the Father," which covers developments in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, wrote that: " 'Modern paternity's promise that biological kinship can and should be known has almost a century after its emergence, came to full fruition.' 'Science has definitely vanquished social and legal (mis)understandings of paternity, kinship, and identity.' "
Footnotes:
[1] Edward Humes, "You Can't Recycle Garbage," Sierra, July/August 2019.
[2] E.H., "When Recycling Isn't Worth It," Sierra, July/August 2019.
[3] Ben Jerveiz, "Who Wants to Kill the Electric Car This Time?" Sierra, July/August 2019.
[4] Margaret Talbot, "A Family Affair," The New Yorker, July 1, 2019.
"Half the plastic and much of the paper you put into it did not go to your local recycling center. Instead, it was stuffed into giant container ships and sold to China." "In addition, Americans are notorious for putting pretty much anything into recycling bins from dirty diapers to lawn furniture, partly out of ignorance and partly because China gave a decades-long pass on making distinctions." A 2015 study co-authored by Jenna Jambeck, a University of Georgia scientist, found that 1.3 to 3.5 million metric tons of plastic flowed into the ocean from China. As early as 2013, China began warning people who recycle that it intended to address its own environmental problems and would limit contamination of recycling imports to 0.5 percent. "(The mixed bales of paper and plastic the United States was shipping to China typically had 30 to 50 times that level.)" "Bales of mixed paper that previously sold for $155 a ton could barely fetch $10." [1]
Berkeley, California's curbside bins have two compartments: one for paper, one for everything else. "This minimizes the contamination from food residue and liquids from bottles and cans that makes recycling paper difficult, if not impossible." "Washington is considering a product-stewardship bill that would require manufacturers to oversee end-of-life management for all sorts of plastics, recyclable or not, and California is pondering a similar measure."
II. When Recycling Isn't Worth It
Sometimes recycling isn't worth it, for example, with disposable packaging, recyclable choices more often than not result in more harm to the environment. David Allaway, a senior policy analyst for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and his colleagues show that some non-recyclable materials that end up safely requested in landfills have a lower impact on the environment than their recyclable alternative. "The recyclable packaging sometimes causes greater overall harm when it comes to climate, water conservation, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, smog acidification, or other forms of pollution and depletion." [2]
III. Killing the Electric Car
" ' The Koch network is opposing pro-EV policies at all levels of government in public utility commissions, state legislatures,and the US Congress,' says David Arkush, managing director of Public Citizen's climate program." "In 2018, the American Energy Alliance introduced an ALEC resolution to enact punitive annual fees for driving plug-in vehicles -- and many states took the bait." " 'The electric vehicle market is growing extremely fast,' Arkush says. 'They're popular, peppy, and clean -- and increasingly they're cheaper than conventional cars when you factor in lower costs of maintenance and savings on fuel.' " [3]
IV. Defining Fatherhood
"In classrooms, especially in Europe, blood-typing of mother and child became a method of ruling out putative fathers." "In the political rhetoric of personal responsibility, fatherhood often became synonymous with financial support." [4]
Nora Milinich, professor of history, and author of "Paternity: The Elusive Quest for the Father," which covers developments in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, wrote that: " 'Modern paternity's promise that biological kinship can and should be known has almost a century after its emergence, came to full fruition.' 'Science has definitely vanquished social and legal (mis)understandings of paternity, kinship, and identity.' "
Footnotes:
[1] Edward Humes, "You Can't Recycle Garbage," Sierra, July/August 2019.
[2] E.H., "When Recycling Isn't Worth It," Sierra, July/August 2019.
[3] Ben Jerveiz, "Who Wants to Kill the Electric Car This Time?" Sierra, July/August 2019.
[4] Margaret Talbot, "A Family Affair," The New Yorker, July 1, 2019.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)