One World "Visit South America Pass"

There is a great deal from One World Airlines (which includes American and lots of big airlines) called the Visit South America Pass. Basically you buy one primary flight to South America and then for a small extra pass fee it lets you tack on 2 or more other flights, so you can visit three or more countries for just a little more than the price of visiting one. I plan to do it myself, maybe next summer.

One World Airlines - Visit South America Pass
http://www.oneworld.com/flights/single-continent-fares/visit-south-america

Peru claims Greenpeace damaged Nazca lines

The Nazca culture that came before the Incas in South America also gave its name to the Nazca Plate in plate tectonics. The Nazca lines in Peru are giant animal shapes that have also been found in the textiles of Nazca people.

From the front page of CNN today:

Peru claims Greenpeace damaged Nazca lines -CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/12/travel/greenpeace-nazca-lines-damage/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

Video
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2014/dec/10/peru-greenpeace-nazca-lines-stunt-government-video

Gari and fufu - African foods from cassava

How to make gari and fufu - African foods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4MUVxxro6E

Gari and fufu are African products made from cassava/yuca. They are very popular in Nigeria.

Terrific "streetwise" advice on the GIS field from Brian Timoney

Terrific "streetwise" advice on the GIS field from Brian Timoney.
http://mapbrief.com/2012/11/09/if-spreadsheeting-isnt-a-university-major-then-why-is-gis-a-major/

He disspells the hype of GIS degree program marketing and makes it clear that he thinks of GIS as a tool not at all an end in itself. He suggests the best undergrad approach is to minor in GIS and major in a content area that holds problems you want to solve using GIS, like Environmental Science, epidemiology, political science, history, emergency management, or one of the other thousands of applications of GIS.

Urban Geography videos

Some good Urban Geography videos

What makes a good city?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2aKGWRQBf0

James Kunstler on TED Talks “How Bad Architecture Wrecked Cities”
http://www.ted.com/talks/james_howard_kunstler_dissects_suburbia.html
-Kunstler is one of the most famous critics of modern American suburbs and author of the Geography of Nowhere.

The fate of Old Beijing Ch. 1: A disappearing world
http://vimeo.com/19122141

Video 3: 60 Minutes – China’s Real Estate Bubble
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinas-real-estate-bubble-11-08-2013/

There goes the neighborhood: Gentrification in Anacostia DC – Al Jazeera – 20 min
-Many facets of a changing neighborhood in DC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgOiXSAG96w

Trends in Megacities: Dhaka, Bangladesh – PBS Newshour – 8 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFboV2m1yuw

Groningen, the Netherlands – The World’s Cycling City – Streetfilms
http://www.streetfilms.org/groningen-the-worlds-cycling-city/

Good videos on plate tectonics

Some good video introductions to aspects of plate tectonics, earthquakes, etc.

How volcanic hotspots work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhSaE0omw9o

Mercalli Scale demo – make sure you have the sound turned up!
http://elearning.niu.edu/simulations/Mercalli.html

Flyover of Great Rift Valley region of Africa
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/rift-valleys-africa-and-plate-tectonics

Case study of convergent boundary in US
National Geographic
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/ring-of-fire/

Great Bear Rainforest criscrossed by oil & gas routes

Great Bear Rainforest is a temperate or "cool" rainforest in British Columbia. It lies on a proposed pipeline-to-tanker route called the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline from Alberta Tar Sands shown in the map below.






Map: National Geographic
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/canada-rainforest/rainforest-map
Spirit bear in the Great Bear Rainforest.
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/forests/greatbear/

I learned about the Great Bear Rainforest watching this very educational video by Garth Lenz

The true cost of oil - Garth Lenz
http://www.ted.com/talks/garth_lenz_images_of_beauty_and_devastation?language=en#t-731478

Old South/New South - Japanese cars and country music

The US South has been a magnet for relocation of big corporate headquarters. I saw on 2011 a trip to Nashville, TN the home of country music, that Nissan and Samsonite luggage moved their North American headquarters to Murfreesboro, TN about 30 min from Nashville. On one hand, what a strange place for a Japanese car company, but on the other the move resulted in the area having one of the very top US population growth rates of 40% since the 2000s and has a current job growth rate of 40%, quite a contrast from the overall US economy.

When I was in Murfreesboro there was an amazing Old South/New South contrast between one side of the highway with old beat up pick up trucks and crumbling houses whereas on the other were huge brand new shopping centers with boutiques, day spas, Whole Foods, and giant corporate headquarters complex of Nissan with McMansions and condos nearby. Even the roads themselves were much more well maintained on the newer side. Also, another nearby country town had been converted to what NY Times columnist David Brooks would call a "latte towns," small walkable areas of boutiques, Starbucks, etc. for the new wealthier population.

Great sites for in-depth information about endangered species

Great sites for in-depth information about endangered species

Arkive
www.arkive.org

IUCN Red List
http://www.iucnredlist.org/

Chinese in Russia

China to Russia - The cross border presence - France 24, 11 Aug 13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s8WSRrG53Y

Notice the contrast in what two Russian men say about farm work starting around 7 min and the other around 8:20: one says he always hires Russians and avoids hiring Chinese because they will start their own farms, the other that Chinese workers are hard workers and "it's good they're here" while young Russians since Gorbachev don't want to work they just want to "drink and smoke pot."

The future of the European Union

The pros and cons of the European Union - Deutsche Welle
http://www.dw.de/the-pros-and-cons-of-the-european-union/av-17672089


The future of Europe: integration or fragmentation?
Will the future hold one Europe or many? This issue is front and center today. Europe has much deeper, longstanding traditions and boundaries than the US does, and this creates all kinds of issues of local and national sovereignty vs. EU sovereignty. Think about it: will it be one Europe-wide bank or many banks? One EU army or many armies? One EU immigration policy or many individual policies tailored to each country?

Europe's Tea Parties
Today 51% of UK voters polled said they would vote to leave the EU, the highest rates of "Euroscepticism" in any EU country. Euroscepticism is led by many conservatives and independents who won big in last spring's elections across Europe. One of the most famous Eurosceptics is Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), similar to the Tea Party in the US. Notice what he says about what the real beauty of Europe is in the video below.

Europe's Federalists
On the other hand, many others view an increasingly-unified Europe as the only way for Europe to compete with the major powers on the world stage like the US and China, just like Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists believed the USA needed a strong central government to hold its own against England and France. They also Europe-wide solutions as the best way to solve many problems like human rights, international trade, and inequality.

In reality, both sides have merit. The EU has great benefits but also poses many conflicts with national and regional governments, it is a messy situation that has to be worked out issue by issue.

In the big picture, this current EU debate has parallels to the debate the US went through among the Founding Fathers, Federalists like Hamilton  vs. Anti-Federalists like Jefferson: should the system favor strengthening local and regional governments with as little Federal government as possible as Jefferson wanted, or should the focus be a single strong, unified government as Hamilton wanted?

But again, there is a major difference: Europe's local and national identities are hundreds and often thousands of years older than in the US, they do not share a common language and they have long histories of identities forged directly in contrast to one another.

Nigel Farage - Eurosceptics are the good Europeans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGmnvkZszcw

Geography an "un-disciplined discipline"?

Geography synthesizes from all sciences including social and physical sciences around the idea of places in space, just as history does so around the idea of events in time. So said Immanuel Kant... in this sense Geography is interdisciplinary which in a sense is "undisciplined," although I would add it is not just interdisciplinary because Geography is a discipline of its own with a multitude of analytical and diagnostic frameworks for perceiving phenomena in space. So like History, Geography is a discipline in itself of which an essential part is to synthesize from other disciplines.


http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting/call_for_papers/emerging_themes/radical_intradisciplinarity?utm_source=AAG+2015%3A+Intra-disciplinarity&utm_campaign=AAG+2015&utm_medium=email

Being an entrepreneur in Russia could land you in jail

How being an entrepreneur in Russia could land you in jail
http://theweek.com/article/index/248137/why-being-an-entrepreneur-in-russia-could-land-you-in-jail

Two million minutes documentaries

2 million minutes documentary series investigating education in China, India, Finland and US

http://www.2mminutes.com/

Good videos on Migration

1. Immigrant children crossing border into US to escape violence -Why are so many children coming to the US border without parents?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3H_sR-Jfjc

2. Reverse brain drain - India -Brain drain means skilled people emigrating for greater opportunities abroad; reverse brain drain is when they come back. Why did these people choose to return to India?

American Dream's new headquarters? RT - 4 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ac5f23Hu7I

 3. Tunisians from North Africa migrate to Italy during the Arab Spring 2011 - BBC 3:30 min
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13747558
-During the Arab Spring revolutions, thousands of Tunisians escaped on boats headed for Italy, which has many small islands in the Mediterranean Sea including tiny Lampedusa. What were the push and pull factors and perceptions the migrants had before they arrived? After?

4.  US Customs and Border Patrol (CPB): Patrols of the Rio Grande River - 5 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylqyCmn_DR0
-What are the challenges these guys face as they try to patrol the US-Mexico border along the Rio Grande?

5. African immigrants in China - 3 min
-Why are Africans moving to China?
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YkYVduQFuc
   

Seoul, South Korea

Some of the traits of Seoul, many I would never have thought of.

http://travel.cnn.com/seoul/life/50-reasons-why-seoul-worlds-greatest-city-534720

Relationship between Antarctica and New Zealand

Much of Antarctica was discovered through funds and supplies coming from New Zealand, and NZ still maintains many activities in Antarctica today.

Videos halfway down - NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
http://www.niwa.co.nz/coasts-and-oceans/antarctica

NIWA Activities in Antarctica
http://www.niwa.co.nz/gallery/antarctica


History of NZ and Antarctica
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/antarctica-and-nz

Great examples of good agriculture from Latin America

See videos halfway down


Small Scale Food Producers are the Solution to the Global Food Crisis
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/10/16/small-scale-food-producers-are-solution-global-food-crisis


The Organic Bubble, El Salvador
http://vimeo.com/61629208

http://organicelsalvador.blogspot.com/p/pictures.html

Cooperative Urban Farming in Kentucky, Inspired By Latin America
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/cooperative-urban-farming-kentucky-inspired-latin-america.html

Singapore and density

Singapore - a super-dense success story
In SE Asia tiny city-state Singapore lies like a dot at the end of the Malay Peninsula. This strategic location lies conveniently on the route from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, and by leveraging location the port of Singapore has become the 2nd busiest port in the world after Shanghai.

While Singapore may be tiny it makes great use of its space through building densely and wisely and also by enacting severe cleanliness laws that have made it the "world's cleanest city." Check out these short videos that spotlight ways that Singapore has made the most of its space.

Singapore - cleanest city in the world
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkSR9TVC6OY

Vertical Farms in Singapore herald an agricultural revolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFQOkzEjxQ

Singapore balancing the need for density with the need for public space
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RevuVQFYCXs

Notes from Food Day with Joel Salatin

Notes from Food Day with Joel SalatinAt NOVA the community college where I teach, the Loudoun Campus held Food Day yesterday and somehow managed to get Joel Salatin to come. Amazingly, the auditorium of 250 or so was only 2/3 full due to insufficient advertising, and half of those people were local DC area residents rather than NOVA students. But the morning speech and question and answer session by Salatin and the afternoon discussion panel were extremely informative, he was at his usual best.

A boggling amount of big ideas were thrown around, here are a few. Salatin said he was asked to focus on the economic aspects of food systems rather than the nature of farming itself, but as always he hit on a little bit of everything.

From Salatin:
-What do you pay for when you pay more for local food?
Intelligent farmers
Better land stewardship and preservation - many more eyes on the land

-Small local farms are very hard to get into big supermarkets because of all the bureaucracy and regulations involved. His farm and many others do not have vaccinated pigs and other measures required by supermarkets. There should not be "10 layers of bureaucracy" between a producer and transaction.

-Much discussion about how we do not include environmental and health costs in the cost of food and investments. Can you imagine going to a bank for a farm loan and the banker says that first he has to know what the effect on earthworms will be? Point was, we do not take into account the true effects of ways of farming including health, long term effects, effects on soil.

-Said an author says should spend a year walking a landscape and making notes before starting to farm there. Know the lanscape, eyes on the land.

-US has 2X more prisoners than farmers

-Private property should not deplete the commons.

-Much discussion on building vibrant, living soil and soil health is a key goal of farming. Contrasted with industrial farming which tends to create dead soil through chemical pesticides and overuse. Key word is "massage" soil and nature rather than pound it with chemicals. Want soil to be alive, tons of interesting living processes going on in the soil.

-GDP only counts cost of things we produce, not true value of them. Said Wendell Berry says GDP measures more about what's wrong than what's right. GDP not a measure of well-being.

-Mentioned Wendell Berry multiple times, midwestern poet.

-Know your farmer. If you visit a farmer at a farmer's market three times and he doesn't ask you to come visit, rule of thumb is there's a problem.

-Along same lines, local farmers can use GMOs and do not always produce grass-fed products. Have to ask if they are grain fed and use GMO.

-Costco does not accept a truck smaller than an 18-wheeler which excludes most small farmers.

-Pigs love acorns and do well on them, can live in forest easily. Plenty of biomass to feed animals all over the place, going wasted.

-Along same lines, use silviculture i.e. forestry to harvest biomass.

-"What's worth doing is worth doing poorly." In reference to starting new habits like cooking at home and buying from local farmers. Gave analogy of a toddler in a diaper trying to stand up. Even if they can't do it perfectly, it is worth doing, keeping at it. Should encourage it.

-Fundamentally a good food system has to be home-centered. Has to be based in cooking your own food.

-Great exchange when a lady raised her hand and complained that cooking at home is hard "who has 2 hours every night with kids? and that local/organic food was too expensive and about having been poor and had only pennies and was forced to eat Spaghetti-Os. Salatin did not give it second thought, he must have heard this 1000 times: "Have you every bought a 50 pound bag of oats? You can live a long time on a 50 pound bag of oats." In sum he said he doesn't believe in "I can't."

Considering that Spaghetti Os are just basically cans of flour, oats is easily a substitute, healthier because it has more fiber and much cheaper in bulk. Also mentioned a Crock Pot, how easy it is to throw stuff in and have it ready at night with minimal effort. To me, this lady simply didn't have any idea how to cook or buy food or know anything about nurtition. If it takes you at least 2 hours to cook, you don't belong in a kitchen.

-Asked if there is any country whose food system is not broken and can serve as a model. At first he said he didn't know of any but then mentioned some things below going on in other countries.

-In Zimbabwe he mentioned Allan Savory from TED Talks said they have an innovative tax system for farmers: farm taxes start out very high but you can lower them in three ways which include reducing erosion, creating more biodiversity, lowering toxicity. Each one lowers tax, if you do all three, you pay no tax. Pretty cool. Said they have a monitoring box that goes in the ground to check soil runoff and pesticide.

-Mentioned he was in mountainous New Zealand and said that while it is famous for being one of the "greenest" countries in the world, he said it was not a good example of a good food system. Said he saw heavy superphosphate use as fertilizer for sheep and dairy farms and major hillside erosion dumping phosphates into rivers.

-Mentioned that he was in the Netherlands and saw a vending machine that dispenses raw milk. I found this article:
http://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/americans-envy-europes-raw-milk-vending-machines/

-Got into politics somewhat. Emphasized that federal government needs to be shrunk while local needs to be strengthened. Mentioned Jeffersonian ideals, the Gentleman Farmer. Said that strengthening local government encourages a culture of innovation. (see Tocqueville and also the principle of subsidiarity).

-Mentioned he is half Spanish. I knew he lived in Venezuela as a kid but did not know he had Spanish heritage.

-Emphasized that there is tons of extra money around for the "extra" cost of good food.

-Emphasized all the wasted time among young people on video games, TV, and partying on Friday nights. Said if they could harness that energy could do great things.

-For young aspiring farmers, suggested finding a farmer and going to work for him, not necessarily as apprentice just doing stuff for him like digging fence posts. For some sort of relationship.

-Asked if going to college for agriculture degree was worth it, like Virginia Tech? No.

-Mentioned that many synthetics are not the same as the real thing. Example: CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) one of the key good fats in red meat. You can buy a synthetic version in the Vitamin Shoppe but it has one neutron difference from the real thing - "nobody knows the importance of that one neutron."

-Emphasized that current laws against raw milk are leftovers of the early industrial era when toxins abounded in cities, horse poop was all over the streets in major cities. Said the laws are long outdated and no reason why raw milk should not be sold among consenting adults.

-Gave example of innovative food sovereignty law in Sedgewick, Maine. 1/2 page law would allow citizens to buy and sell whatever they want, including raw milk. I found this article
http://www.naturalnews.com/039633_sedgwick_food_freedom_federal_laws.html

-Polyface does not deliver over 4 hours. Believes it is good to be local.

-Emphasized that "organic" does not mean healthy and that many unhealthy things can pass as organic.

-176 synthetics allowed in "organic" food.

-"Free range" actually just means chickens can leave cage in a small three foot space, does not mean they roam freely

-Emphasized the problem with organic labels is they are not comprehensive. Since different standards apply to each food, should not be graded on a "pass/fail" basis. Should be scored on multiple categories and sliding scales.

-New Virginia law proposed: buy food of choice from farmer of choice. 2 year process, will be on ballot in future. Citizens could sue state for denying food sovereignty.

-Emphasized that the reason food choice is not in the Bill of Rights is because it is so fundamental the Founding Fathers could not imagine not having the right to buy and sell food.

-Genetic Trespass could outlaw GMOs - meaning non GMO farmers could sue GMO farmers for having their seeds trespass into their field by wind, water, etc.

-Encourage multi-speciated, stacking, regenerative, productive, enterprising, mosaic

-Wheat normally ferments in the harvesting process as it is stored in bails bunched up. With modern harvesting, however, wheat is not stored, instantly gathered so no time to ferment. This changes its properities especially digestibility.

-Chicken manure 11 to 1 fertilizer strength vs. cow manure

-Mentioned Sweden is opening up land in north expecting warmer climate with climate change, hopes to add population and agriculture

-Values matter

-Europe has fewere GMOs

-Different GMOs are allowed for animal feed vs. feeding people


Other speakers:Biotechnology speaker gave example of a good use of GMOs, saving American chestnut trees from extinction.

Roundup phosphate has created resistance and superweeds

Glyphosate in wheat sprayed to keep from bunching up, could be link to disease. Other panelist said glyphosate breaks down quickly.

Audience member said in India cotton growers used at BT genetically modified cotton and had diseases, likely from the pesticides and fertilizers. Had a lot of cotton but not worth it.

-Hawaii - GMO papayas - getting infections

Great streets of the world and why they work

Great streets of the world and why they work
http://www.pps.org/blog/9-great-streets-around-the-world/

Virtual tour of medieval Paris

A new film gives a tour of what Paris would have looked like in medieval times
http://www.secretsofparis.com/heathers-secret-blog/virtual-tour-of-medieval-paris.html 

Alaska maps need work - Mars better mapped than Alaska

Mars better mapped than Alaska

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/alaskas-outdated-maps-make-flying-a-peril-but-a-high-tech-fix-is-slowly-gaining-ground/2014/10/14/bc2e601e-4fd4-11e4-8c24-487e92bc997b_story.html?hpid=z1

Zooregions videos

Zooregions

Zooregions are classified by how distinct they are not how large they are. The islands of Australia, New Zealand, and Madagascar have speices that are so different they are classified as unique zooregions. The islands all broke off from the rest of the continents very early and have been isolated for millions of years.

Weird and Wild Animals - Wild South America - BBC-part of the Neotropical Zooregion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ouWOGJk5E 

Australia revealed - animals
http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/other-shows/videos/discovery-atlas-australia-revealed-unique-creatures.htm

New Zealand zooregion - kiwis
-Kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand, someone from NZ is called a "kiwi"
http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/mutant-planet/videos/new-zealand.htm

Madagascar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPdpStD0808 

Wildlife of the deep Congo rainforest
-African/Ethiopian zooregion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N15lj3D6etg

Great maps on ivory trade

Great maps on ivory trade
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/03/15/an-alarming-map-of-the-global-ivory-trade-that-killed-17000-elephants-in-one-year/

Air quality sites you can use

15 houseplants for improving air quality
http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/photos/15-houseplants-for-improving-indoor-air-quality/a-breath-of-fresh-air

State of the Air - check air quality in your area
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2014/states/

Videos on modern Islam

These videos can shed light on aspects of the Islamic world that most Americans have limited exposure to and often do not understand well.

Varieties of modern Islamic movements - Rami Khouri
-This is the least flashy video but watch this one to understand what drives Islamic political movements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSDVIPwyWVc

Islamic fashion show in Indonesia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0lDwD_4Oyw

Turkey on the edge - what is the role of Islam in modern Turkish society?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-akFau_nlNY

The Arab Spring explained
-The Arab Spring was the vast domino-style toppling of governments and leaders across the Islamic world starting in spring 2011 in Tunisia, still going on today.
-Notice how functional regions play a role
http://www.schooltube.com/video/fb7692a06f454fbd94cc/The%20Arab%20Spring,%20Simplified.

Islamic art festival in UAE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-dJWRVkkvw

Ramadan in Paris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Cu3fMxWXM

Good site for understanding Astronomy

Good site for understanding Astronomy

Classical Astronomy
http://www.classicalastronomy.com/news/anmviewer.asp?a=17&z=29

Antelope Island State Park in Great Salt Lake, Utah

Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake, Utah has free-roaming bison on an island.

US circling China with anti-missile bases

US circling China with anti-missile bases
http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/20/surrounded_how_the_us_is_encircling_china_with_military_bases

A lot going on in Palau

A lot going on in Palau. Where's Palau again? It's a country of Pacific islands between the Philippines and Indonesia.



-huge coral reefs
-US has rights to build military bases
-sea level rise
-huge EEZ

Paradise Lost? PBS - Need to know
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/video-paradise-lost/14421/

Deep sea mining controversy in Pacific islands

Deep sea mining controversy in Pacific islands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgnmT-Y_rGQ

Mekong Diaries - Mekong Ký sự

Mekong Ký sự is a documentary about the diverse cultures that have lived on the Mekong River for centuries. It was made by Pham Kac a Vietnamese director during 10 trips along the river in 2001.

It is really long with many parts, each one over an hour. They are on YouTube.

Mekong Ky Su by Pham Khac - Vietnamese

Part 1: Tibet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UazJ39Orb00

Part 8: Laos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ks6IJGdKGw

Part 10: Thailand/Laos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwp2W5ri1nc

Part 12: Cambodia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4mkXyeBamk

Part 17: Vietnam - Mekong Delta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aQT3bQaARE

Part 19: Vietnam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaruqq4pvas

This site explains about the film.
http://vietnamnews.vn/print/187942/a-photographic-journey-along-the-mekong-river.htm 

South Africa's Kruger National Park "Ground Zero" for poachers

"South Africa's Kruger National Park is ground zero for poachers," says Crawford Allan, spokesman for the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) crime technology project. "There are 12 gangs in there at any time. It's almost like a war zone."

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28132521

Greece's port of Piraeus could be China's gateway to Europe

Piraeus has been Athens' main port for thousands of years. During the Peloponnesian Wars, Athens built the "long walls" to guard the route between Athens and Piraeus and secure sea trade.

Today, Piraeus has become one of China's worldwide array of port investments. China wants to transform Piraues into the best port in the Mediterranean and its gateway to Europe, some say part of a new "silk road" into Europe.

Greece is essentially bankrupt, making it receptive to Chinese investment.

China wants port of Piraeus to become its gateway to Europe - DW
http://www.dw.de/china-wants-greek-port-of-piraeus-to-become-its-gateway-to-europe/a-17723942

Not enough trade to fill up the world's ships

In this video, Transport Geography expert Jean Paul Rodrigue explains how there is not enough world trade to fill up the enormous capacity of the world's shipping industry, leading to "overcapacity."

Jean Paul Rodrigue on the global shipping industry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiOGKaj5uAM

Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel is holy to three great religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, dating back to 3000 BC, over 2000 years before Roman times.

-In Islam, Jerusalem is where Mohammed ascended into heaven in the 600s AD
-In Judaism, Jerusalem was the capital of the Jewish kingdom since 1000 BC.
-In Christianity, Jerusalem is a place where Jesus lived and also where he died, was resurrected and ascended into heaven.

Jerusalem is "contested space" in Geography, meaning that multiple groups claim it as theirs to govern. Both Jews and Muslims claim to have rights to govern Jerusalem and the city actually was split into two halves, Jewish and Muslim, until boundaries were redrawn after the 1967 war between Israel and its neighbors.

Four quarters of the Old City The Old City of Jerusalem has four quarters: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Armenian. Each quarter contains many holy sites including those of other religions ex. Christian holy sites in the Muslim quarter and vice-versa. Take a look at the map below of the four quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem.

This video shows a tour of the Islamic quarter. See if you can spot some of the mix of Christian and Islamic elements found in the Islamic quarter.

Islamic market in Jerusalem's Old City - ITravel Jerusalem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Kj5xl8A_8



Jerusalem was often placed at the center of the world on medieval maps. Jerusalem also changed hands between Muslims and Christians many times during the Crusades, and thousands of Christians traveled to Jerusalem to fight Muslims there. Many Crusaders never made it to Jerusalem, having other adventures and wars along the way.
Clover leaf map, 1581, Heinrich Bunting

Jacksonville,FL - largest city by area in the lower 48

Jacksonville, FL is the largest city by area in the lower 48 states. Like San Antonio and other cities, Jacksonville became huge by "consolidation," annexing many smaller surrounding towns and suburbs into the official city limits.

The Jacksonville Historical Society describes how in 1967 Jacksonville instantaneously became the "biggest city in the world" by annexation.

http://www.jaxhistory.com/journal11.html

Jacksonville is also ranked #1 in cities to start a business due to low tax rates and real estate costs.

Living bacteria a half-mile deep in the Arctic ice

"Teeming" living bacteria were found a half-mile deep in the Arctic ice. The WISSARD team drilled down to 5-foot-deep, 23-square mile Lake Whillans and pulled up samples which had bacteria living in them.

Project site
http://www.wissard.org

Good video and article
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/2014/09/06/2014-09-06-2/

Scientists Find Life in the Cold and Dark Under Antarctic Ice

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/science/living-bacteria-found-deep-under-antarctic-ice-scientists-say.html?_r=0

Water on Europa

Evidence shows the possibility of pockets of water the size of the Great Lakes inside the icy shell of Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons. With water comes a potential habitat for life, but no life has been found yet.

Great animation
http://www.utexas.edu/know/2011/11/16/europa_great_lake/

Great lakes algae blooms causing havoc with water supply

Great lakes algae blooms are causing havoc with water supply in surrounding states. Most algae blooms are not toxic, but some algae secrete toxins are are therefore classified as "HABs" i.e. harmful algae blooms. The U of Michigan article below explains

"The most dominant blue-green algae in the Great Lakes is Microcystis which can produce Microcystin, a liver toxin and skin irritant."

This site gives a good explanation. It explains that toxic algae blooms occur both naturally and also due to a variety of factors including excessive fertilizer runoff and invasive species.

Harmful algae blooms in the Great Lakes
http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/explore/coastal-communities/harmful-algal-blooms-in-the-great-lakes/

A branch of NOAA called the Great Lakes environmental research Laboratory is working on the problem and surrounding states have passed legislation.
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/waterQuality/

Nicaraguan canal moving forward, built by Korean firm and much longer than Panama canal

Nicaraguan canal moving forward

The new Nicaraguan canal would be built by Korean firm and much longer than Panama canal. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the Americas and the canal would bring a huge increase in jobs.

Nicaragua canal plans - Al Jazeera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEMxvQnTgjY
|
Interviews with Nicaraguans scroll about halfway down
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2523188/Chinese-waterway-Nicaragua-thatll-longer-Panama-Canal.html

How Mexico's change in party leadership increased drug cartel violence

How Mexico's 2000 "revolution" indirectly led to drug cartel violence

Mexico was governed by one party the PRI for 71 years until they lost an election in 2000 to Vicente Fox. During those 71 years individual drug cartels had established strong territories protected by close relationships to regional police departments all over Mexico so that there was relative peace. Everyone knew which cartel had which territory and the police backed them up. Then when the PRI lost, a whole new set of police leaders came into power and the old ties between police and drug cartels were cut, leading to a free-for-all among cartels to establish territories, which continues today.


Midnight in Mexico
by Alfredo Corchado
http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Mexico-Reporters-Countrys-Darkness/dp/159420439X

US-Mexico border

Here's a video showing how US Border Patrol agents patrol the Rio Grande, the river which makes up 1,255 miles of the 1,969-mile US - Mexico border, the most frequently-crossed border in the world. When I show it to my face-to-face classes and ask "who would want to do that job?" hands usually shoot up.

US-Mexico border security has vastly increased recently with doubled manpower manpower, ATV patrols, drones (probably the least effective new tool), and helicopters. Just a decade ago crossing illegally over the US-Mexico border via the Rio Grande was pretty easy; now it is much harder.

CBP Video: Patrols of the Rio Grande River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylqyCmn_DR0

In the news recently has been a huge surge in the numbers young children from Central America reaching the US-Mexico border alone, sent by their parents who believe they will receive asylum. However, most are detained and often end up staying in temporary housing centers for months, waiting to be transported back to their home countries.

This page has two videos: one shows how easy it is to find a human smuggler known as a "coyote" while the other shows a Mexican town with an economy that revolves around illegal immgration.
http://www.kpho.com/story/25793017/children-face-particular-dangers-crossing-border

Border Trends
It is amazing to think that the US Border Patrol apprehended over 400,000 undocumented people in 2013, even though it is down from over 1.5 million in 2000. 

The percentage of non-Mexicans apprehended shot up 50% from 2012-13, mostly Central Americans specifically from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras the "Northern Triangle" of Central America which is being torn up by drug trafficking originating in South America. Also, the number of Border Patrol agents has leveled off after a big buildup which doubled the number of agents between 2005-2011.

What new border patrol statistics reveal about changing migration to the United States
by Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
http://www.wola.org/commentary/what_new_border_patrol_statistics_tell_us_about_changing_migration_from_latin_america

Videos on Islam

Ramadan in the UK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8qlCEASwL4

Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUkyOjl4YJ4

Jersualem's Muslim Quarter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Kj5xl8A_8

The fate of the US Midwest?

The fate of the US Midwest?

The fate of the US Midwest is a major topic of debate today. In the last 50 years, millions of people have moved out of the Midwest as farming became more mechanized and fewer people were needed. This "brain drain" of emigrants has often left behind elderly people. Today there are many Midwestern towns where populations are so low the town has nearly disappeared.

There is actually a school of thought that believes the US should create a "Buffalo Commons" (Frank Popper 1987) by allowing the Continental Interior to return to its natural state, like a giant park or reserve. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Commons

But the Buffalo Commons idea is highly unlikely. In fact, one famous Geographer Joel Kotkin believes the Midwest will make a strong comeback because it offers a lot of space and lower housing prices that are attracting immigrants, and has the core of former farm towns that can be re-purposed into towns of businesses including high tech companies because Internet companies can really be anywhere. He says these revitalized towns will form a network across the midwest. He is talking about towns like Sioux Falls, Idaho, Fargo, North Dakota, and Oklahoma City. He sees these revitalizing cities as like an archipelago, a constellation of "islands" in the vast sea of the Great Plains which in the future will be connected by highways and telecommunications.

Kotkin also looks at the Midwest as a "zone of sanity" -- in a world of unaffordable housing and urban poverty, he sees immigrants and lower-income folks moving to the Midwest where they can find affordable housing, good schools, good business climate.

Midwest: Coming back?
http://www.joelkotkin.com/content/00365-midwest-coming-back

Midwest: A zone of sanity
http://www.csgmidwest.org/policyresearch/Kotkin-AM-Meeting.aspx

I live in Northern Virginia and am looking for any opportunity to get out... and actually was looking at Boise, Idaho which seems to be a good midsize city with lots of outdoor activities nearby.

Notes on the Americas

Notes on the Americas

President Ronald Reagan said after a trip to Latin America "Well, I learned a lot....I went down to find out and learn their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries."

While probably not the ideal choice of words, his basic point was true - Latin America is much more diverse than many people realize. Some countries are mostly Amerindians, others mostly Black African, others more European and white than many European countries, some with thousands of Hindus and above all millions of mestizos i.e. mixed race people of all types. You may be surprised at the ethnic and cultural diversity of Latin America.

The 21st century is already seeing a dynamic rise of Latin America. The World Cup was played in Brazil this summer. As a whole, Latin American is emerging from long eras of historical chaos, civil wars and strife to become new countries and economies.

Socialism in Latin America
In Latin America the "Socialism" movement has a special meaning: it is a movement in based in the goal of reversing Latin America's historical inequality and elitism and empowering the common people, including millions of Amerindians who have been disenfranchised for centuries.

This elitism is now starting to crumble (slowly) in favor of more democratic and socialist governments who claim they want to give power to the people. There are at least six openly Socialist leaders today in Latin America; many regard Che Guevara, Cuban Revolutionary, and Simon Bolivar, hero of the independence movement, as their heroes and model. These leaders are by no means all the same: Evo Morales is Boliva's first Amerindian president and has an 8th grade education. Meanwhile, Rafael Correa of Ecuador is also Socialist but has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Ilinois. Hugo Chavez, now deceased, turned Venezuela into a Socialist country and left it in turmoil.

Dynamic US and Canada
The US and Canada are trying to find their way and their role as global leaders in a fast-changing world. In just a few decades, the US has become the world's only superpower and the world's top economies transitioned from industrial base (making cars, steel) to a high-tech base (making software and computer chips). Many North American cities were devastated by the loss of industrial jobs, like Detroit and Cleveland. Other regions, like Silicon Valley (near Stanford U and San Francisco), Austin, TX, Northern Virginia and other "Technopoles" or "Nerdistans" have hit the jackpot.

North America is also in the midst of the world's largest fracking boom--new techniques of extracting oil and natural gas. Believe it or not, the US is now the world's leader in producing oil and natural gas due to fracking, higher than Saudi Arabia and Russia. In the longer term, the US would like to move to cleaner forms of renewable energy, but this is taking time.

Many older North American industrial regions are re-inventing themselves in a post-industrial age. Abandoned Midwestern farms towns like Fargo and Sioux Falls are now attracting software companies and some of the young people who historically have moved away are coming back home for jobs. The southern Sun Belt like Phoenix and Houston is exploding with cheap suburban housing. Meanwhile downtown urban areas like New York City, Boston, and DC are gentrifying (turning slums into high-end neighborhoods) to attract younger adults. Some say the "millenials" today are looking for more urban places to live than the suburbs they grew up in.

The US has the most mobile population in the world, with many new "megaregions" growing around places like Las Vegas, Denver, the Gulf Coast, and Houston-Dallas-Austin. In the US, regions decline, change, and grow quickly as industries and jobs come and go.

The Americas as a whole will play a key role for the US due to its proximity and location in the Western Hemisphere. Strong trade agreements like the US treaties NAFTA and CAFTA and the South American economic alliance MERCOSUR are evidence of the massive trade that goes on within the Americas.

Socialism in Latin America
In Latin America the "Socialism" movement has a special meaning: it is a movement in based in the goal of reversing Latin America's historical inequality and elitism and empowering the common people, including millions of Amerindians who have been disenfranchised for centuries.

This elitism is now starting to crumble (slowly) in favor of more democratic and socialist governments who claim they want to give power to the people. There are at least six openly Socialist leaders today in Latin America; many regard Che Guevara, Cuban Revolutionary, and Simon Bolivar, hero of the independence movement, as their heroes and model. These leaders are by no means all the same: Evo Morales is Boliva's first Amerindian president and has an 8th grade education. Meanwhile, Rafael Correa of Ecuador is also Socialist but has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Ilinois. Hugo Chavez, now deceased, turned Venezuela into a Socialist country and left it in turmoil.

Dynamic US and Canada
The US and Canada are trying to find their way and their role as global leaders in a fast-changing world. In just a few decades, the US has become the world's only superpower and the world's top economies transitioned from industrial base (making cars, steel) to a high-tech base (making software and computer chips). Many North American cities were devastated by the loss of industrial jobs, like Detroit and Cleveland. Other regions, like Silicon Valley (near Stanford U and San Francisco), Austin, TX, Northern Virginia and other "Technopoles" or "Nerdistans" have hit the jackpot.

North America is also in the midst of the world's largest fracking boom--new techniques of extracting oil and natural gas. Believe it or not, the US is now the world's leader in producing oil and natural gas due to fracking, higher than Saudi Arabia and Russia. In the longer term, the US would like to move to cleaner forms of renewable energy, but this is taking time.

Many older North American industrial regions are re-inventing themselves in a post-industrial age. Abandoned Midwestern farms towns like Fargo and Sioux Falls are now attracting software companies and some of the young people who historically have moved away are coming back home for jobs. The southern Sun Belt like Phoenix and Houston is exploding with cheap suburban housing. Meanwhile downtown urban areas like New York City, Boston, and DC are gentrifying (turning slums into high-end neighborhoods) to attract younger adults. Some say the "millenials" today are looking for more urban places to live than the suburbs they grew up in.

The US has the most mobile population in the world, with many new "megaregions" growing around places like Las Vegas, Denver, the Gulf Coast, and Houston-Dallas-Austin. In the US, regions decline, change, and grow quickly as industries and jobs come and go.

The Americas as a whole will play a key role for the US due to its proximity and location in the Western Hemisphere. Strong trade agreements like the US treaties NAFTA and CAFTA and the South American economic alliance MERCOSUR are evidence of the massive trade that goes on within the Americas.

Good analysis of one-child policy issues and changes in China

China recently relaxed its One-Child Policy so that if a parent is an only child they can have two children.

The article explains how establishing that a parent is an only child has proved easier said than done.

Also the video in the same page gives a good analysis of why China, after decades of shrinking, needs more young people to support the older generation in the future.

China Struggles to Implement Relaxed Policy on Family Size
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304732804579422500427133302

Foreign fighters in Ukraine war

The war in Ukraine is attracting foreign fighters from a wide gamut of nationalities fighting for both sides.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28951324

Great map of US military in the Sahara region

Great map of US military in the Sahara region. The US made a deal with Niger to establish drone bases only recently, in 2013. The first base in Niger was finished in 2013 and the second is opening as we speak in Agadez.

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world so a deal with the US brings great benefits both in terms of income and also security and stability. Like its Saharan neighbors, Niger has the difficult spatial problem of protecting immense stretches of land, largely desert and semi-desert, from Islamic militants including AQIM (Al-Quaeda in the Mahgreb) who are largely composed of native tribes of the Sahara like the Tuareg. Niger has very few people relative to its vast size and a minimal government. In short, it needs all the assistance it can get.

Military footprints in the Sahara - Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/military-footprints-in-the-sahara/2014/09/01/2ffa5d2c-321b-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_graphic.html?hpid=z2

"War teaches Geography"... but so do sports, genealogy, and lots of other things

I first heard the phrase "War teaches Geography" from a video of the great geographic educator Harm de Blij, who passed away this year.

We learn about the Ukraine, the Middle East, etc. through maps of the regions in the news as conflicts there go on.

But sports teaches Geography as well: the World Cup taught many people about Brazil and also about dozens of countries which played in the games.

Genealogy certainly teaches Geography as you investigate where ancestors came from.

In fact, Geography is tied to just about everything. Food and cooking, movies, dance, architecture all teach Geography.

Amazon's largest fish going extinct

The pirarucu or arapaima, the largest Amazon River fish at up to 10 feet long, is going extinct.

The Amazon’s largest fish is going extinct
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/22/the-amazons-largest-fish-is-going-extinct/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3

The Right to the City: Among the most neglected human rights

The idea that people in a community have a "Right to the City" was coined by Henri Lefebvre. He meant that humans have a right to shape and mold the world they live in, not to simply be sold property and have access to places and resources that others have constructed.

This Right to the City is almost undetectable in the modern suburbs: everything is pre-planned like a machine that humans inhabit, not of their own creation but created by a "developer" off in an office somewhere who does not live in the community and has no personal contact with anyone there.

Interestingly, in some of the poorest neighborhoods humans have more exercise of their ability to create their own city: building costs and barriers to opening businesses are lower, and often graffiti and public art becomes a central part of the neighborhood whereas it would have been illegal in more affluent areas.

David Harvey gave a summary:
"The right to the city is far more than the individual liberty to access urban resources: it is a right to change ourselves by changing the city. It is, moreover, a common rather than an individual right since this transformation inevitably depends upon the exercise of a collective power to reshape the processes of urbanization. The freedom to make and remake our cities and ourselves is, I want to argue, one of the most precious yet most neglected of our human rights."

It is something to think about: when you pay to live in an upscale community, how much ability to shape and create the public places you live in are you getting for your dollar? Any at all?

West Virginia: a gorgeous state

Just got back from driving through I-64 in southern West Virgina. Amazingly, I had never been to that part of WV despite living in the DC area on and off for several decades. Although there were tourists, I can't believe more people don't head out there or least talk about it: lush forest on the slopes of the Appalachian mountains with winding rivers through the valleys like the New River Gorge. On the Virginia side, Staunton is one of my favorite towns in Virginia and is a straight shot across I-64 from Lewisburg, WV to the west and also to Lexington, VA to the east. I-64 west pulls off 81 the main Shenandoah highway not far south from Staunton, one of my favorite Virginia towns, and Charlottesville.

From high up on the New River Gorge overlook at Grandview State Park (city exit off I-64) you can see thousands of feet down to the winding river, a raft slowly floating down, and at 1 pm the coal train came through, I counted roughly 100 cars, amazing. Need to look into what else you can do at Grandview and where to get rafts, the water was very easy and smooth. I later read that the New River is one of the oldest rivers on the continent.

Few moderates in the Middle East

Great article by Fareed Zakaria about how there are few moderates to be found in the Middle East. He argues that the US position favoring supporting moderates is based on fantasy and that even those groups who at times have appeared moderate, like the Iraqi Sunnis who for years received US payments, later turn extremist because they have to to survive.

"The Middle East has been trapped for decades between repressive dictatorships and illiberal opposition groups — between Hosni Mubarak and al-Qaeda — leaving little space in between."

In truth, while the idea of allowing a nation to develop on its own terms sound good it only works when there is a critical mass of peace, stability, and moderate consensus, none of which exist in Iraq.


The Fantasy of Middle East Moderatesby Fareed Zakaria
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fareed-zakaria-the-fantasy-of-middle-eastern-moderates/2014/08/14/1e8807a8-23e6-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html?hpid=z2

Reindeer milk--on the rise in the future?

The tundra and boreal forest/taiga regions around the Arctic are full of reindeer. Arctic peoples have long herded and milked reindeer in Russia, Scandinavian countries, Canada, and the US. Could peoples like the Eskimo, the Sami, and indigenous Russian tribes create an industry around reindeer milk? I sure hope so.

Reindeer milk, the next tourism industry for Arctic?http://www.adn.com/article/reindeer-milk-next-tourism-industry-arctic

I am a milk aficionado. Don't do wine or cigars. I am interested in tasting milk from animals beyond the usual source, cows. Modern cow's milk comes from mutated Holstein cows and has been linked to autism; the problem likes in the protein A1 casein.

For about 8 years now I have been drinking goat milk, which is great except it costs 4 times what even organic cow's milk costs. Goat's milk is $16 a gallon.

I have heard that donkey milk has special properties like cleansing your system, but in Bolivia and Chile I was not able to track down donkey milk despite running around a market asking for it. "There used to be a guy who came with a donkey once a day... but he stopped coming last year" they said.

People drink many types of milk in various parts of the world--water buffalo in India where cows are sacred, camel in Africa and Asia, yak, and many more.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Up in Minnesota the "Land of lakes" the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with over 1000 miles of canoe trails. The whole area is riveted by lakes much like Finland.

Water issues in Europe

Europe faces many water issues especially in Mediterranean countries which have very low rainfall in summers. The link below has several good graphs and charts, including the one below. It shows how Greece and Spain which rely heavily on farming use the lion's share of their water for farming, while high-tech Germany and Belgium use their water mostly for industry.

Source: Table 5.1 Europe's Environment - The Dobris Assessment

The demand for water is generally increasing, particularly in Southern countries, and especially from agriculture, though industry remains the major user of water in Europe. (For Europe as a whole, 53 per cent of abstracted water is for industry, 26 per cent is for agriculture and 19 per cent for household use but with wide variations between countries - Figure 1).
	Figure 1: Total water abstraction (surface and groundwater) by economic sectors in European countries Source: Figure 5.7 Europe's Environment - The Dobris Assessment

from

Water Stress in Europe
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/92-9167-025-1/page003.html

China case illustrates that dams can cause earthquakes

As many developing countries are rushing to build dams to provide much-needed energy to large populations, many are warning that dams are a major cause of earthquakes.

Essentially, it is believed that the increased reservoir of water behind dams "lubricates" faults that already exist yet have remained in place due to high friction. The high-pressure reservoir water that gets into the fault reduces this friction, allowing the rocks to slip, which causes the earthquake.

Dr. V.P. Jauhari:
"The most widely accepted explanation of how dams cause earthquakes is related to the extra water pressure created in the micro-cracks and fissures in the ground under and near a reservoir. When the pressure of the water in the rocks increases, it acts to lubricate faults which are already under tectonic strain, but are prevented from slipping by the friction of the rock surfaces."


The 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China as well as the recent Yunnan Province quake are good examples.

Fact sheet by International Rivers
http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/attached-files/ris_final_lorez2.pdf

and cover page
http://www.internationalrivers.org/earthquakes-triggered-by-dams

China quake reignites debate on country's rush to build large dams
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-quake-reignites-debate-on-countrys-rush-to-build-large-dams/2014/08/06/9f72a087-27d3-48d5-b26f-435de700e04c_story.html

Mexico's car boom

“'The Mexican worker is a natural craftsman, and global investors are showing their confidence in Mexican labor,' said Alberto Rabago, a union official who started working for Chrysler in 1959 as a floor sweeper when the company made Mexican versions of its DeSoto and Plymouth sedans for the local market."

Mexico's car boom
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/with-mexican-auto-manufacturing-boom-new-worries/2013/07/01/10dd57e8-d7d9-11e2-b418-9dfa095e125d_story.html

Midnight or Dawn in Mexico?

Midnight or Dawn in Mexico?
In 2013 author Alfredo Corchado published the book "Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey Through a Country's Descent into Darkness." The darkness relates to drug trade, cartels, political corruption,and violence.

But Mexico also has had many positive developments in recent decades, including economic growth. It is the 3rd largest economy in the Americas after the US and Brazil and will soon be the #1 exporter of cars to the US.

The Geography of Mexico is central to its role as a drug route.  During the "Miami Vice" era of the 1980s the US shut down most air transport of cocaine to the US, so that drugs were forced to enter overland or on makeshift boats (now narcosubs). Mexico's location is key: it lies between the US and the major cocaine growing countries Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru. Futher, regions most affected by drug trade like in Mexico's north, marked by extremely vast stretches of desolate scrubland and desert like the Chihuahua and Sonora Deserts, which makes law enforcement difficult and provides many hiding and transit spots for cartels and gangs.

Mexico's Drug War - Council on Foreign Relationshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfRAVONRyZ4

Boomtowns Spur Economic Growth in Mexico
PBS Newshour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhXb_BipP18

Hindi making a comeback in India?

This article points out several things that I didn't know about Hindi in India:

-Despite Hindi and English as the two National Languages of India, only around 50% speak Hindi and around 25% speak English!

-In India those who speak English are not only a minority but a sort of elite who run government and business.

-It is difficult for those who do not speak one or both of these languages, especially English, to move up in India. India is famous for its wide variety of local languages, but this poses an obstacle for participation in a globalized world in which English is the lingua franca.

-Many Indians would like to see Hindi used more in schools and business. India's new PM Modi is a fan of using Hindi.

Is Hindi making a comeback in India after years of pursuit of English?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/is-hindi-making-a-comeback-in-india-after-years-of-pursuit-of-english/2014/08/02/d1067718-5cbb-429f-9a79-216e6b6b797a_story.html

Is the UK losing its identity?

I am a big fan of historian Norman Davies. I just like the way he writes. He is arguably Britain foremost historian, you can find his books on the shelves of Barnes and Noble here in the US such as Europe: a History and a very quirky one Vanished Kingdoms which is about small European kingdoms which came and went in history that very few people have even heard of.

Below he claims the UK has lost its identity due to multiculturalism and immigration. In the bigger picture, the same question is at the forefront of debate in France.

From another perspective, in Germany where the number of immigrants is 3rd highest in the world, the idea that multiculturalism is unsuccessful ("Multikulti ist gescheitert" -Angela Merkel) pertains more to Germany's inability to assimilate immigrants, especially muslim Turks, into its mainstream. But in having a split society, one result has been that German culture and identity has stayed more intact that in the UK or France--with the price that a large immigrant section of the population has been been left out of the mainstream.
Norman Davies: Britain has lost its identity
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/8936218/Hay-Festival-Norman-Davies-Britain-has-lost-its-identity.html

Australia "returning to Asia"

The continent of Australia broke off from Asia over 150 million years ago, but in a cultural sense Australia is "returning to Asia" today. Waves of immigrants from South, SE, and East Asia as well as the surrounding islands are arriving in Australia today, both legally and illegally, changing the complexion and demographics of the country. Australia has always been "immigration nation," but for most of modern history it was immigrants from Europe, specifically the British Isles. Today however, Australia faces a culture clash as increasing numbers of Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu immigrants call Australia home.

One thing is certain: Australia has plenty of space. It is a country with vast tracts of unused land. But sheer space is different from public services, which are more scarce.

Big picture: Whether it is the current crisis of Central American children arriving on the US-Mexico border, African refugee "boat people" washing up on Spanish or Italian islands, or the Tamils arriving in Australia, the enormous-and-still-exploding populations of the tropical developing world are seeking to find a way by any means necessary to a better life in the "developed world", the world of health care, free water, accessible food, and paved roads.