Sourcing Food, Buying Nations

News has broke that a large South Korean conglomerate, Daewoo, has leased about half the arable land in Madagascar for 99 years. The intent is to produce cheap produce, like corn, and plant products to convert into ethanol, at a lower cost than could be produced in the cooler climate of South Korea. The ethical questions that arise from this are numerous. The thought of going into a destitute economy and literally taking their land, the only thing of value, from a group of people that cannot afford to eat is outrageous. But at the same time this will produce a lot of jobs, building needed infrastructure for the exportation - new highways and a modern port to start; then all the jobs at the port and the newly exploited land. Add in the amount that Daewoo will pay the government and there is now a clear case on both sides.

But, this is not the only plan currently in place at a national level to find new sources of food. Saudia Arabia, as I have mentioned before, is planning to scrap its irrigated wheat fields, which is one of the most expensive wheat production areas in the world, for a cheaper alternative elsewhere. This would be done using their sovereign wealth fund as a financing vehicle to purchase or lease land in a more hospitable environment (IE: better growing location with cheaper running costs). This plan has the added benefit of being, at least in some respects, more environmentally sound. It would be trading more fuel expenditure to save on scarce water supplies. In a nation that uses large amounts of energy to desalinate the water to run the facility, perhaps even the energy requirements may prove to be neutral or better.

The Maldives have an even more grandiose plan. Since most of the nation sits very close to, or below, current sea levels, the government has realized climate change poses a very real and timely threat to its existence. As global sea levels rise it is possible the entire group of islands may be submerged. Their Head of State has declared that to keep their culture and community together it will consider saving up to buy a plot of land somewhere so, if disaster does strike, it is able to relocate its entire population.

As energy needs rise while production remains flat, capital becomes scarce, a need for food security rises and coastal land becomes more threatened, by both rising waters and increases in both frequency and strength of maritime storms, nations will find themselves considering more and more large scale plans to protect their interests cost viable. What is next I wonder?

CO2 Emission 1990-2006

This selected "Daily Chart" from The Economist is telling.
The chart, which details the rate of change of CO2 emissions, shows some surprising details. Not surprising are Canada and Australia's emissions rising faster than America's. Though America has done little to mitigate its emissions, with the rise of production in the Canadian oil sands, and Australia's increased mining exports it is not inconceivable that America would be increasing at a lessor, though still alarming rate. Ireland's emissions are rising quickly even though the majority of growth in the country is found in the high tech sector. This is, presumably, caused by both the increased demand for energy as well as an increased level prosperity. Ireland does have one of the highest per capita GDP in the EU after years of, by western standards, high growth.
The former eastern bloc nations have seen the most dramatic drop in emissions, but this is more likely because of a breakdown in their heavy industry sector versus any commitment to environmental concerns.
Germany, however, is down almost 20%, with Britain and Sweden in the 10% area. Indeed the EU has quite a few nations making serious strides to reducing their emissions. Their successes show proof that a nation can still prosper while helping to reduce climate damage. (Current financial crisis withholding).

"Man Sex Thursday"

A reporter for the Toronto Star has learned of something very interesting going on in Afghanistan. As he reported from Afghanistan, some of the local military men, that were trained by Canadians, have engaged in pedophilia with some of the local villages boys. The reporter's translator referred to this as "Man Sex Thursday" which is an apparent weekly ritual of abuse. See? Catholics with the alter boy love Sundays do not have a monopoly on religious people abusing boys. An inquiry is looking into the allegations.
I'd make a joke about the 'surge' at work but it just seems to be in bad taste.

Kick a Ginger Day

This past Thursday was designated Kick a Ginger Day in Canada. It appears as though there have been some acts of violence against the gingers because of the Facebook group that started the craze.

According to the Edmonoton Sun a few incidences occurred in Calgary. Where some children were beaten to the point of bruising.

What bothers me about the post is how it blames South Park for warping the minds of impressionable youth. South Park never declared kick a ginger day. It merely argued that gingers do not have souls and try to kidnap kids in the night. How something so benign could lead to this massive amount of hate is beyond me.

One mother quoted in the article says that "It's assault - it's racist, too." Although I agree that it is assault, I would hate to see kids lose their chance at a decent future over criminal charges being laid now. As for the second, by saying it is racist is the mother not admitting that her child is different? I mean is the sun racist for being the enemy of these fair skinned folk as well?

Wolly Mammoth Genome Sequenced

Scientists have completed the sequencing of DNA taken from the frozen hairy corpse of a Woolly Mammoth. Once the modern elephant's DNA is sequenced for comparison so the extinct mammal's DNA can be culled of all external fragments (fungi/bacteria interwoven with the hair) it could be possible to resurrect the old beasts.

Firstly, why did scientist work on sequencing an extinct species DNA when they had not yet dealt with a threatened species like the elephant? It seems like these people are more like showmen than scientists. Clearly they picked the woolly mammoth because it would get more attention.
Secondly, How long after they start to bring back these species for research purposes will it lead to some sort of zoo. And, more to the point, how long after these zoos open will you be able to buy a woolly steak or a saber tooth stir-fry?

Called it!

Just one day after Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi tanker filled with 2 million barrels of oil and just one hour after I suggested a Chinese cargo ship would make a better target, Somali pirates hijacked a Hong Kong cargo ship carrying 3600 tonnes of wheat destined for Iran. This is probably the ideal target for a large pirate organization whose is undoubtedly associated with the Islamic groups that are starting to take control of Southern Somalia. The food can not only generate funds, feed some of its militiamen but also be distributed to their fellow countrymen in a bid to solidify their authority and add some general support.

$100 Million News

Two interesting pieces of news today have a hefty figure attached to them. The first is regarding arson in California. A recent court verdict has sentenced a homeless man to four years in prison for setting two fires in California. The fires were set in 2002 and 2006; the latter of which was the fifth largest forest fire in California state history. Along with four years in prison the man was fined $101 Million.

Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi Arabian oil tanker with $100 million worth of crude oil in its hold. With Somali being essentially stateless and completely lawless the violence and hording has long been spilling off of the horn of Africa and polluting the nearby waters. This has resulted in already tumultuous seas becoming increasingly difficult to navigate for the huge queue of ships from the middle east carrying oil destined for Europe as well as the endless flow of container ships coming from China.

The first story seems ludicrous. Why levy such a huge fine? A homeless person would be lucky to afford $101 without adding another six zeros to the figure. But, at the same time, it is tied to the direct costs of fighting the two blazes. It doesn't even factor in the value of the timber or biodiversity lost.
As for the pirates, I wonder what their endgame is? They cannot process the fuel. It is not as though Somalis have the technical expertise or infrastructure to bring it to even the blackest market. I mean a similarly large container ship from china would make a far better target. With time the ship could be unloaded with more rudimentary equipment and whatever trinkets are on board could likely be brought to market much easier than crude oil. Further to that, The thousands of containers would probably make squatter houses of a higher quality than the ones found in slums near Mogadishu.

Fucking EPA

Environmentalist recently won a battle against the Environmental Protection Agency which will mean that CO2 will be included on the list of air pollutants. This is a victory in the fight against climate change and so I do not want to speak too ill of it but I think this victory underlines a problem.
Wouldn't a well functioning environmental watch dog be fighting in the courts on the side of the environmental groups against the corporations? It seems like the EPA is misnamed.
I think that President-Elect Obama could really help the environment by making the EPA as independent of the government as possible creating an organization whose goal is to work through the judiciary to try and force through as many new protocols as possible to increase the amount of power it has and to reduce the amount of pollutants that industry may emit.

Pregnant Man fighting Stereotypes

Months after giving birth to a child, the pregnant man is still fighting the stereotypes. But, what are the stereotypes of a pregnant man? I mean we can all think of some stereotypes for nearly every divide in society (from the fun - ex. pot smoking hippie to the cruel - ex. baby eating republican) but how do you stereotype a group as small as men who have given birth?
Since I can only think of one other man who has given birth I assume that the general stereotypes of a pregnant man are similar to him personally - Austrian accent, former body building champ, possibly a robot from the future come back to the past to kill and/or save John Connor and most likely harbours Gubernatorial aspirations.

Worst Mother Ever

Yesterday I was on lunch and decided to buy some bento from the local supermarket. After making the purchase (some sort of stuffed potatoes and pizza) I went to the microwave to heat it up. Unfortunately a mother and child arrived first. That's fine, lunch is an hour, you can wait a minute for someone else. But no, not one minute, the women throws her frozen lasagna in for 10 minutes (the box says 5 minutes) then tells the daughter, who is sitting in a hybrid Anpanman car/shopping cart (the back has room for groceries and the front looks like a plastic toy car that kids sit in with an Anpanman theme) that she will be back soon and to not move. She leaves her 3 year old daughter to watch the microwave while she goes and buys cookies! Finally after waiting ten minutes, in disgust over the bad parenting, I heat my food and go to ride the escalator up to the lunch room (my school is inside of a shopping centre). Except I can't walk up the escalators because two old people are standing side by each blocking the walking lane. In the Kanto region it is accepted practice to stand on the left, walk on the right. In the Kansai region it is the opposite. Slow people walking abreast is bad enough but stationary people standing abreast is that much worse!
I hereby declare that the mother is in violation of the social contract. The honour code that exists between individuals that allow us to live in a society without having to yell at each other constantly.

Ken's Belt

I borrowed a belt off of Ken when I was either in my first year of university or my final year of high school. I can't remember exactly but having no belt or twine around I asked Ken to borrow a belt. Thanks to his grandmother he had 3 identical belts which I took advantage of by permanently borrowing one. Every time he asked for his belt back I just told him no. Truth is I really liked that belt. Last night the knob snapped off and it is now ruined putting to bed possibly the most selfish clothing related thing I have ever done.

Sarah Palin's Clothes

Sarah Palin is in the news again after accidentally bringing some of the $150000 wardrobe the GOP bought her home to Alaska. According to her father she is frantically rummaging through everything she owns to sort her JC Penny pant suits from the clothing bought at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. This is no easy task as from the exterior the clothing is very similar. This problem is made more difficult, according to Poppa Palin, because children tend to lose their underwear so it is nearly impossible to account for everything. i understand completely as I recently lost a pair of underwear that cost me 1500.

Extras

I was just thinking about extras in TV shows and something occurred to me. You often see some extra in the background of two or three shots but they never have a line throughout a whole episode. How often do you think the actor was given a line, felt like it was going to be his or her big break then for time constraints "pass me the sugar" or whatever it is gets cut? Because I am sure to get episodes to be nearly exactly the same time each week small cuts are always necessary and directors are probably more likely to cut some extra's lines than the stars who are liable to throw a tantrum over their 'art' being tampered with. Sad really.

The State of their Nation

America is reveling in the aftermath of one of the most important elections in American history. Barack Obama is now a mere two months away from removing George Dubya Bush from the white house. America chose the candidate who was nearly unanimously preferred outside of their borders (according The Economist's Global Electoral College Obama was chosen by every country except Iraq, Cuba, Algeria, and The Democratic Republic of the Congo). Irregardless (taking every opportunity to use Bushisms while it is still fashionable) of whether Obama is everything people have made him to be, simply being popular the world over will help repair America's image. If he promotes world unity, environmental protection and completes his plan of near universal health care it would be enough to make him a very successful President. Unfortunately with two wars, a financial crisis, and a budget so stretched that higher taxes or cuts will be a necessity in the short term will make even those three initiatives difficult.
Barack has begun the difficult task of picking his new cabinet to be fully prepared for the inauguration. His first announcement was regarding Chief of Staff where he chose an Illinois local and veteran of the Clinton administration, Rep. Rahm Emanuel. I hope Warren Buffet makes his way into the cabinet as the appointment of a respected figure like Buffet can increase investor confidence immediately. Also having a very wealthy person in charge of the treasury will make the tax hike on the rich easier to enact. Buffet is now, after all, the richest man in America and one of the strongest supporters of heavy taxes on the wealthy.
Around the country we have seen some interesting local election results. It appears as though popular comedian Al Franken lost his chance to be a senator by the slim margin of 700 votes. This has been contested and may result in Minnesota having its first recount in 40 years.
Elizabeth Dole lost her incumbency in North Carolina. Not surprising when it was revealed she spent all of 13 days in North Carolina during the year of 2006. Bob Dole's daughter was distraught on television.
Even with this win and a few other pickups, the Democrats managed to fall short of the filibuster proof 60 seat majority in the senate. With only 55 seats, perhaps 56 if Mr. Franken wins on the recount, the Democrats will have a hard time pushing through any legislation without enduring time wasting bipartisan debates.
Surprisingly California voted to end gay marriage. With absentee ballots not yet counted it is possible this will change but as it stands California has reversed a right bestowed on its gay community. With the liberal hotbed of California saying no to gay marriage it looks as though nationwide bans may be seen in the future.
Already the speculation of Palin 2012 has begun. I really hope this pans out as it would be a huge boost to Obama, giving him an even larger landslide for a second term and likely pushing the senate majority over the 60 seat threshold.
Palin 2012?

Early Results (Update 2)

Ohio and Pennsylvania have been called for Obama! Florida and North Carolina are leaning Obama. West Virgina and Louisiana have been called for McCain but it doesn't seem to matter. Even if somehow McCain wins North Carolina and Florida, Obama should still capture the 270 necessary electoral college votes. I am comfortable going to work now believing that Obama has won!

Early Results (Update 1)

Update: Looks like Florida is heavily leading to Obama while Indiana is starting to move into the red. Indiana has over 20% of precincts showing results, Florida only 10%. These results could still change dramatically depending on which precincts these are as both States have areas that tend to go Democrat/Republican.

Democrats have already picked up one new seat in the Senate. It is unlikely they will end with the Filibuster-proof 60 seats but with some centrists, like Lieberman, it is likely that most of their main stream legislature should be able to pass through unimpeded if they can manage even 55 seats. This is possible with all the money Obama has thrown around and the state of the economy.

Early Results

Currently Maryland is leaning Obama by a ratio of 2:1. That is to say there are three votes totaled and 2 are for Obama.
Vermont is called for the Democrats (with 0 votes counted?).
Kentucky has gone to McCain and Indiana is looking very close. If Obama carries Indiana I think that would be a good sign of a landslide in the works.

Two more teens dropped off in Nebraska

Yes, two more teens (both aged 16) have been dropped off at hospitals in Nebraska under the safe haven laws mandate. Apparently the girl didn't know she was being dropped off. The family, originally from Nebraska, live in Arizona. Let this be a lesson to all teenagers everywhere; if your parents say 'lets take a road trip to Nebraska', avoid all hospitals for any reasons.

Humans test DNA of Homo-Gay prehistoric man

Scientists have recently tested the DNA of a 5000 year old mummified corpse found near the Austro-Italian border in 1991. Quite shockingly the DNA is believed to have no modern descendants. Though there are other possible reasons, I think that this is proof there have been homosexuals populating Italy for at least 5000 years.