The new scramble for Africa: Chinese, French, US

The new scramble for Africa - Al Jazeera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KM06hTeRSY

Discusses how China, France, and the US are engaged in Africa, which could be seen as the third in a series of historic eras of divisive foreign intervention:

1. Original scramble for Africa by European colonizing powers marked by Berlin Conference
2. Post-independence Cold War divisions that created wars and turmoil within many African countries
3. Africa's current turn to China and away from the West, France's ongoing deep relationship with Africa aka Francafrique, and US aid under the idea of fighting terrorism

-"China is creating these very powerful feedback loops for its own [interest]... that really cut Africa out of the equation in terms of the benefits." 17:50

-"So, you cry 'War on terror,' you get aid, and you stay in power."19:20

-On "Francafrique" the connectedness between modern France and Africa:
"[France offers African countries] boots on the ground and intelligence, the one thing the U.S. can't get in French-speaking Africa." 28:10

-Today France, the US, and China are contending to be the major foreign players in Africa, which could be seen as a new version of the previous scrambles for Africa i.e. "dividing up the pie" once again

-France is promoting democratic institutions
US is promoting security structures
China is promoting economic infrastructure...
are Africans benefiting? Africans have been "forced to live Western dreams, now offered Chinese dreams... will they live their own dream? It is critical to pinpoint an African agenda"... 35:25

"I'm constantly puzzled... that there hasn't been an internal debate on this continent about what we want to do with the Chinese.... African economic policy has been externalized..."

Interconnectedness of the world and GMO seeds

India's Vandana Shiva on real vs. false interconnectedness in the world and on GMO seeds
http://billmoyers.com/segment/vandana-shiva-on-the-problem-with-genetically-modified-seeds/

"What we have is an interconnectedness of the world through greed... and an exclusion of people.
This is not ecological interconnectedness."

Chinese companies face culture shock in countries that aren’t like China

Chinese companies face culture shock in countries that aren’t like China
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinese-companies-face-culture-shock-in-countries-that-arent-like-china/2015/08/14/a048eb64-3bbd-11e5-88d3-e62130acc975_story.html

-China's attempts at globalization are very different from the US: whereas the US spreads American culture worldwide through entertainment and media, China is much more insular and experiences cultural roadblocks when it stretches overseas

Fish ladders and fish cannons

Fish ladders give fish an alternative way to get through dams, which often block fish migration routes.

Salmon jumping up fish ladder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqR2g8darqs

How Fish ladders work - Science Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sabk7Khq0kQ

New Thompson Falls Dam fish ladder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bISGOvNLhk

Fish cannons in Washington State
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn6_6N_KDYw

China in Cambodia: controversial, eco-unfriendly dam on the Se San River

The Lower Sesan 2 Dam being built by China in Cambodia
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The Push and Pull of China's Orbit
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/world/2015/09/05/the-push-and-pull-of-chinas-orbit/

Building the Lower Sesan 2 Dam in Cambodia is one example of how China is acting as a new alternative to the West for development funding. China is providing countless quick-fix infrastructure projects, often of substandard quality, to needy, underdeveloped countries which until recently have relied only on the West for aid, hoping to draw these countries into the Chinese sphere for the future.

Geography professor Ian Baird, who is quoted in the article above, on his blog calls the Lower Sesan 2 Dam a "disaster in the making."
http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2014/08/09/cambodias-ls2-dam-is-a-disaster-in-the-making/

As a reservoir dam, the new dam will block fish migrations and also the flow of river nutrients that feed fish. In Cambodia, fish provide upwards of 70% of dietary protein.

Generally, dams built upstream have much less impact on fish stocks than those downstream because many fish live only in downstream areas. The Lower Sesan 2 Dam is

The Sesan Dam has already displaced thousands of people who received inadequate new housing.

So what's the alternative? Watch the following excellent 15 minute video which explains clearly  why dams cause a trade off between cheap electricity and food security in Cambodia:

Hydropower in Cambodia: Impacts and Alternatives - Conservation International
http://cambodiahydropower.weebly.com/

The article above mentions the poor quality of a road and bridge built by China in Cambodia in the past:

"While many Cambodians complain that Chinese roads are poorly built and prone to potholes, they serve a purpose. Two decades ago, the journey from Phnom Penh to the northeastern town of Stung Treng took four days: now, thanks to a Chinese road, it takes about seven hours.
'There is a bridge here, and a road now, and they are two very important things,” said Dy Polen, a restaurant owner. “Yes, the bridge is cracking, and I do care about quality, but it is better than before.'”

Last year I saw China building major highways in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenyan workers complained about the poor tools they were given, poor use of the skilled Kenyans working there, and poor pay. China is also building a "New East African Railway" system to connect the long-disconnected countries of East Africa... and facilitate the transport of resources to the Indian Ocean where they can be shipped to China.
For China in Africa see China's Second Continent by Howard French

For China in Asia see China's "String of Pearls" and "Silk Road" plans

Great Pacific garbage patch explained

Great Pacific garbage patch - good explanation - National Science Foudation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azwKxDVGmns

Key points
-the garbage patch doesn't stay in the middle of the Pacific, huge sections hundreds of km wide break out and reach shores far away ex. Oregon

-the garbage comes from many sources falls off boats, river discharge, land.

-by studying the garbage that comes in alongside the species that live on coasts, they can map a coastline to show which areas may be hazardous for specific species

Globalization at warp speed: financial vs. physical globalization

This article discusses the fact that moving money around the world today i.e. financial globalization is much more rapid than physical globalization (ships, containers, etc.) and therefore is more subject to quick momentary impulsive disasters.

Globalization at warp speed - Washington Post
by Robert Samuelson
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/globalization-at-warp-speed/2015/08/30/152d3f0c-4d9d-11e5-84df-923b3ef1a64b_story.html

"In our mind’s eye, “globalization” evokes images of exports, container ships and supply chains. This physical globalization does not operate at warp speed. It takes time to deliver a cargo or construct a supply chain.

By contrast, financial globalization can operate at warp speed. With a few keyboard strokes, investors can dump stocks in one country and buy in another or do the same for bonds and currencies. Since the 1980s, this type of globalization has spread. Most countries have dismantled the restrictions that limited or prevented individuals and companies from moving money across borders. After World War II, these “capital controls” were widespread...

Large and unexpected events can trigger panic buying and selling around the world, as traders react to what they think other traders will do...

Cross-border money movements have grown and become more complex. These flows are too great to be bottled up; we can’t revert to widespread capital controls.
Still, globalization is quietly rewriting the economic rules in ways that suggest we may be losing control over events. We are not entirely at the whim of international markets — but we’re drifting in that direction. Not a comforting thought."