We'll Always Have Paris?

Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister, was already trying to recruit tech companies out of Silicon Valley (in the wake of DJT's Muslim, er travel, ban).

 French President Emmanuel Macron is now openly recruiting scientists and engineers who are disappointed with the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.

 Do you have any idea what happens to the US economy if a critical mass of those sci-tech folks leave for, ahem, greener pastures? Hint: It's not good.

 Business itself doesn't "make America great again," which is a BS tag line anyway. It's the people who innovate, disrupt, and build upon bold ideas ... well, they LITERALLY make great things! And people who work on great projects are able to recruit more great people.

 So, look at what Canada, France, and Germany are doing. Look at who they are recruiting, and the technologies they are investing in. They will begin to leave America in the dust.

The US is no longer a world leader. World leaders move forward. Not backwards. Hell, you cannot even describe what DJT and the US Congress are doing as "leading from behind." It's choosing to be left behind.


Links:

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/02/trudeaus-plan-to-lure-silicon-valley-investors-to-canada.html

http://betakit.com/pm-justin-trudeau-using-quora-linkedin-to-sell-canadas-innovation-agenda/

https://qz.com/846857/tech-jobs-in-canada-foreign-workers-could-flock-to-vancouver-victoria-and-toronto-for-careers-in-technology-to-avoid-brexit-in-the-uk-and-trump-in-the-us/

https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/870404892657156101

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/6/1/15727140/emmanuel-macron-trump-paris-agreement-make-our-planet-great-again

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/1/15726656/pittsburgh-mayor-trump-paris

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/01/why-trump-actually-pulled-out-of-paris-215218 (Troll is gonna troll)

Friday 80s Flashback for April 22, 2011

[A Very Good Earth (Fri)day] -- This week our Flashback Friday falls upon a date of intersection. Today is Earth Day, a time to reflect on our use and abuse of our home planet, as well as Good Friday, the day Christians the world over solemnly observe the murder of their religion's central figure. Also of note this week, we observed the one year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill. So, today, we have something of a combo theme: 80s songs that reflect a concern for our planet and environment, as well as 80s songs that somehow -- even if only in my mind -- reflect some aspect of Easter. That's quite a tall task, so I'll bet you're wondering what songs made the cut this week. As usual, you can read and hear more after the jump.

Modern Day Hobbits in Wales Fought the Law ... and Won

OK. My apologies to Mr. Tolkien and his fans. The villagers in this story are not really Hobbits. But they have been living in straw and mud huts that appear to be perfectly suited to the tiny denizens of Tolkien's fantasy classic. Unfortunately, these folks had to go up against their own version of a dark lord bent on their destruction. In 1993, Julian and Emma Orbach set up an eco-community on their 180-acre farm in the Preseli mountains of west Wales was set up. They thought they had waved their final goodbye to the rat race, let alone judicial issues. But that changed when a survey plane spotted a a bit of sun glinting off a solar panel. Officials were baffled -- they could find no records for this village. No planning permissions had been granted for this green haven. So it was ordered to be torn down.

But, after enduring a decade of inquiries, court cases and planning hearings, the 22 villagers are celebrating a victory. Take a look at the full story, which includes a few photos of the village's buildings. This might be what some Heathens mean when they wistfully speak of getting back to the land.

Read more: Lost middle-class tribe's 'secret' eco-village in Wales spotted in aerial photograph taken by plane | Mail Online

Architectural historian Julian Orbach in front of a village roundhouse

Urban Sprawl Across the Pond (and to the North)

Throughout much of the United States, folks are familiar with the term urban sprawl. It has even been adapted for regions such as Bucks County, PA, to describe the rampant construction in and around suburban developments: hence the eyesore known as suburban sprawl and the rise of the battle for open space. But I'll bet most of my neighbors and fellow citizens rarely think about sprawl in other nations. Well, the Icelandic Review's feature of the week, Loose Screws and Rusty Nails, shatters any notions of sprawl being just an American phenomenon.

Stop Junk Mail

According to Melissa Breyer, Senior Producer of Care2 Green Living:

In a single year Americans receive 19 billion catalogs in the mail. That boils down to 3.6 million tons of paper at the cost of 53 million trees. Ouch. And that's not to mention all the rest of the junky junk mail that seems to flood our mailboxes like a swarm of locusts. We've collected the information here that you need to tame the catalog beast and stop junk mail in its tracks. Production of the paper used for American catalogs uses the same amount of energy required to power 1.2 million homes in a year, and contributes annual emissions equal to that created by 2 million cars. That's incredibly significant! All to get us to buy buy buy more junk. It's just madness.

For a some tips on reducing the junk mail delivered to your home, from stopping catalogs to removing your name from mailing lists, check the tips compiled at Stop Junk Mail, Save a Tree.

Today's Question: People on Glass Beaches...

Would you walk on a beach of crushed glass? According to an AP story on Forbes.com, Broward County officials plan to use sprinkles of crushed, recycled glass to fill in the gaps on Florida's erosion-prone beaches.

Snip: ...The glass-sand idea grew from the unintentional consequences of an ocean dump site off Northern California near Fort Bragg. Beginning in 1949, garbage - including lots of glass - was dumped over a cliff into the ocean, said Charles Finkl, a marine geologist with Boca Raton-based Coastal Planning and Engineering. Finkl said that while organic material degraded over the years, the glass broke up and became smooth as it tumbled in the surf. The area is now known locally as Glass Beach. Another dump site in Hawaii produced similar results, Finkl said. "You talk about glass beach and people have images of sharp glass shards but it's not that way at all," he said... [ Full Story ]

• Glass Beach (Fort Bragg) -- has some close-up photos of sand/glass mixture.
• Fort Bragg Wikipedia Entry -- Points of Interest mentions Glass Beach

LOVE TARA March

From TaraWatch.org

LOVE TARA March - Dublin - July 21 2007 at 1.00pm

Please help us promote our LOVE TARA march which will take place on Saturday July 21 in Dublin at 1.00pm. We will march from the Garden of Remembrance to the Department of the Environment, Custom House Quay, where we will hand in 50,000 petition signatures. Please email your contacts, post a natice on your favorite message boards, write a letter to the newspapers, call your local radio station, contact celebrities, political parties, etc... This may be last chance for the public to have their say.

SIGN THE SAVE TARA PETITION

Irish Times - TaraWatch steps up M3 protests Irish Examiner - Ireland facing EU fines over environmental failures Irish Independent - Tara protester threatens new court action to halt motorway Sunday Business Post - Commission issues fourth warning over landfill pollution

Tara activists picket Irish embassies

Irish Times - Last Updated: 13/07/2007 14:32

Campaigners opposed to the M3 motorway running through the historic Tara Valley have started to hold a series of demonstrations in three different countiries today.

TaraWatch held protests outside Leinster House in Dublin and the Irish Embassy in London earlier.

There will be protests later in New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.

A protest march will also be held in Dublin on Saturday, July 21st at 1pm, which will go from the Garden of Remembrance to Custom House, the headquarters of the Department of the Environment.

Campaigners have said they are "inflamed" by what they describe as the Green Party's election pact with Fianna Fáil to agree to the M3 motorway project and today's announcement by Environment Minister John Gormley that the Government will not re-route the road despite Euopean criticism.

The demonstrations come as Minister for the Environment John Gormley holds talks today with European Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas in Brussels.

Campaigners claim international support has grown rapidly since the World Monuments Fund designated Tara one of the World's 100 Most Endangered sites.

Darren Delahunty, one of the organisers of the London protest, said: "Irish people in the UK are outraged at the refusal of the Irish authorities to try and proceed with the road, even when the public are so against it."

A "Love Tara" march will be held on Saturday, July 21st, in Dublin.

Why Drive a Prius?

When the Toyota Prius first hit the road, the majority of people who bought it did so because they wanted to be ahead of the technological curve; that is, they wanted to check out the latest in hybrid tech. These days, according to some marketing research, hybrid vehicle owners are certainly concerned with fuel prices and our country's dependence on foreign oil. But the Prius is the vehicle of choice for hybrid drivers because they want you (as in "other drivers") to know they are driving a hybrid.

The Prius has become, in a sense, the four-wheel equivalent of those rubber "issue bracelets" in yellow and other colors - it shows the world that its owner cares. [International Herald Tribune 07/04/2007] [Centre Daily Times 07/05/2007]

Full Disclosure: I drive a Subaru Forester. I chose it for it's safety ratings, four-wheel drive ability, and because I can sit up straight in it. Yes, I'm concerned about the environment and the "Arab crack pipe", but I'm waiting for hybrid tech to improve and become more sustainable before I try it out.