Occupy
Hong Kong
September 29, 2014
Hong Kong is a city of 7
million (94% ethnic Chinese), whose control changed from British to
Chinese in 1997. The first
Occupy
Central protest occurred from October 2011 to September 2012,
protesting social and economic inequality. The current
Occupy
Central With Love And Peace protest
began September 28, 2014. It is a nonviolent occupational protest for
universal sufferage, reacting to an August 2014 Chinese directive that
the Chief Executive of Hong Kong must be supportive of the People's
Republic of China government in the 2017 elections. Demonstrators say
the rules will prevent a truly free and fair election. Police have used
tear gas, batons, and pepper spray against the demonstrators.
- Hong
Kong police surround stragglers at Occupy Central protest - LA
Times
- Hong
Kong protests: What you need to know - CNN
- Pro-Democracy
Protesters Swarm Hong Kong - Time
Music
Association: Beatles- RevolutionBy The NumbersMinnesota Vikings v. Atlanta Falcons, 41-28
September 28, 2014
What
a game!
The third warmest home game in Minnesota Vikings history, the TCF Bank
Stadium at the University of Minnesota was a sunny 82° at
kick-off.
The Vikings 29th ranked offense had 558
offensive yards. The offense just got more offensive.
The
game was the first time in Vikings history that rookies had a 317-yard
passing performance and a 241-yard rushing performance in the same game.
Teddy
Bridgewater’s 98.9 rating was the highest for a Vikings
rookie
starting quarterback. Zero sacks and zero interceptions. Team
effort!
The Vikings had four rushing touchdowns in a
game for the 11th time.
Music Association: 38 Special -
Hold On Loosely
Internet Slow Day
September 10, 2014
Music
Association: Jackson Browne - Load Out
Saving
the Amazon Rainforest
September
4, 2014
The Amazon rainforest is the living, breathing
lungs of the Earth. It
is the largest rainforest covering parts of nine South American
countries: Brazil, Peru, Columbia, as well as smaller amounts of
Venezuela,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The Amazon
rainforest absorbs
1.5
gigatons of carbon dioxide in a normal year. If that
“normal year
â€
thing sounds like an asterisk, you are reading this right. Basically
there's good news and bad news out of the Amazon rainforest. Sometimes
the news is both good and bad. It's good-bad news, a perspective issue.
The
Good News
The
good news for the Amazon rainforest is that Brazil
caught the criminals responsible for the burning
and logging of protected Amazon rainforest.
"The
gang is accused of invading, logging and burning
large areas of public land and selling these illegally for farming and
grazing. Brazilian Federal Police said the group committed crimes worth
more than $220m (£134m).
A federal judge has issued 14
arrest warrants for alleged gang members.
Twenty-two search
warrants were also issued and four suspects are being called in for
questioning."
This
year Brazil and the World Wildlife Fund have
teamed up to protect
150 million acres of Amazon rainforest (11% of the Amazon
rainforest), as we mentioned on 7-21-2014. The Nature Conservancy is
saving 140
million acres
of Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
And year by year the deforestation of the Amazon
has been decreasing.
Indigenous
Amazon Groups are the future.
•
Inhibition
of Amazon Deforestation and Fire by Parks and Indigenous Lands
by Nepstad et al
•
Rights
of Indigenous Groups over Natural Resources in Tropical Forests
by Julio C. Tresierra
•
Brazil
- Amazon Protected Areas Project - GEF : Indigenous Peoples Plan
by World
Bank [txt]
The
Bad News
Drought.
Brazil had devastating drought in 2005, 2010, and 2014. The 2014
drought in São
Paulo is the worst in 84 years. Like California, they're
running out of water. São
Paulo, with a population of 9 million, is expected to run out of water
by December 1st. Economic losses from the Brazil drought in the first
half of 2014 are
$4.3
billion, making it the world's third largest natural disaster
of the year. That
can't be helping the rainforest or the world. Again, each year, the
Amazon
rainforest absorbs
1.5
gigatons of carbon dioxide. Due to the drought, 5 gigatons
were released in 2005 and in 2010 8 gigatons were released.
Deforestation. The damage has
been done.
Deforestation increases climate change which increases deforestation in
a vicious circle.
Music
Association: Lights - Savior
USA Association: USGS
Protected Areas map viewer
