Of Solar Storms, Fresh Water, And Free Speech
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"Of Solar Storms, Fresh Water, And Free Speech"
by Jerry WaxmanWhat we can do nothing about; What we can do something about; What we shouldn't have to do anything about We probably don't know how our lives are affected by solar storms. In fact, most people on the planet are probably unaware of the sun's eleven year cycle. And we are mostly unaware when there is an eruption on the sun, though we may experience the effects. The recently reported solar storm, which was to reach it's peak today, undoubtedly caused some spectacular auroras. But do we know what effect it has on life on this planet? The answer is,"It is not in our control."
Earth's supply of fresh water is also something that we cannot control. But we can moderate how much of the water we keep potable. We can modify its distribution so that people the world over have water to drink. We can regulate the human factors that contaminate the waters, and thereby reduce the consumable supply. Some countries have tried to do just that, lawfully regulate the rate of water pollution. Moreover, there are agencies at work right now that want to distribute water evenly around the planet.
Speech -- language -- is a uniquely human property. Humans didn't care much about how they used language until they formed governments - centralized bodies that made and enforced the rules by which people would live. Leaders and kings emerged who made rules solely for purposes of protecting themselves. Such governments often become oppressive in many ways. Suppression of speech is a prime indicator of an oppressive government.
Free speech is less an issue in countries where power is distributed democratically - where people have a say in who leads and how they lead. It is more of an issue in regimes that lean toward autocracy or pluocracy - regimes that have a religious agenda, for example -- and regimes headed by charismatic leaders with delusions of grandeur. The government of Turkey has ironically accused France of violating its own free speech laws, while at the same time defending its own suppression of speech. Severe limitations on speech are expected in Islamic regimes, but who would have thought that Ecuador would be a problem? President Correa's issue with the press is a fight we shouldn't even be seeing today.
history in progress
Today on the World History Timeline
January 24, Day 24 of the year 2012
. . .Snapshot 24 January 2012 . . .
. . .Headlines . . .
" Massive Solar Storm Accounts For Auroras We've Seen Lately - Maybe." . . . . .
" What We Can Do To Have Water For Everyone" . . . . .
" In Ecuador, Freedom Of Press Is Challenged" . . . . .
. . .Today's Story . . .
Massive Solar Storm Accounts For Auroras We've Seen Lately - Maybe.
(*VOA NEWS*) The biggest solar storm in seven years currently is hitting the Earth, but does not pose a threat to life on the planet.
The U.S. National Weather Service says the blast of solar radiation, known as a Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME, may disrupt some satellite and electric ground communications as it peaks on Tuesday. The inclement space weather is expected to last until Wednesday.
When the storm’s plasma and particles strike the Earth’s protective magnetic field, the interaction produces colorful auroras - the beautiful, harmless light displays that are seen shimmering across the night skies near North and South poles.
. . . . Click here to read more| |
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What We Can Do To Have Water For Everyone (*VOA NEWS*) The United Nations says there is enough fresh water for everyone on earth. Yet nearly 1.6 billion people still face water shortages, due to inadequate infrastructure, uneven distribution and wasteful practices. There’s an organization in California, called Well Done, that is working to lessen this global water crisis, by implementing new approaches to an old problem.
Much of the work goes on in Well Done’s headquarters building south of San Francisco. Designers work to create compelling logos and user-friendly web layouts to spread the word on global water shortages. The goal: to help thousands of families gain access to clean water. Josh To is co-founder and head of development at Well Done, ”A lot of times people say you need education, you need sanitation infrastructure, roads schools, but without access to clean water like how can you do any of the other things?” To questioned.
Experts say having clean water can lead to greater economic and educational opportunities particularly for women who take on most of the burden of fetching water from distant sources. Well Done promotes well-building in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The non-profit organization serves as a conduit -- raising awareness and money, then channeling the proceeds to water development organizations that do the actual work.
. . . . Click here to read more| |
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In Ecuador, Freedom Of Press Is Challenged (*WASHINGTON POST*) Reporters are frequently assassinated in Mexico, and a populist government in Venezuela has driven some journalists into exile. But press freedom advocates say that no other country in Latin America is moving so fast and on so many fronts to restrain the media as tiny, banana-producing Ecuador.
President Rafael Correa, an American-educated leftist economist who has forged close alliances with Cuba and Iran, has filed a defamation lawsuit that might put the three directors of the country’s largest newspaper in jail and shutter their 90-year-old paper. The government has cobbled together a framework of laws and constitutional reforms to limit press independence, free expression groups say, while building a media conglomerate to disparage critics and counter independent media reports.
The increasingly bitter quarrel between journalists and Correa would have gotten little notice beyond the country of just 14 million people on South America’s northern cone. But Correa has also become an increasingly outspoken and active foe of the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous branch of the Organization of American States that he accuses of being in lockstep with U.S. policy.
The 48-year-old president has been particularly infuriated by the work of the commission’s free expression advocate, Colombian constitutional lawyer Catalina Botero. Her office has documented Correa administration aggressions against the press and participated in a public hearing in Washington in which Ecuadorean journalists aired their grievances.
. . . . Click here to read more| |
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Turkey Ballistically Threatens Sanctions Against France Over Armenian Genocide Law (*NY TIMES*) The Turkish government and press castigated France on Tuesday, accusing the parliament of racism and a breach of France’s own free speech principles after the French Senate passed a bill late Monday effectively criminalizing the denial that the slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians in the early 20th century under the Ottoman Turks was a genocide.
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will sign the bill into law within two weeks, an aide confirmed on Tuesday.
The bill has infuriated Turkey, which vigorously rejects that the killings were a planned campaign. Indeed, recognizing them as genocide is criminal under Turkish law, as an insult to Turkish identity.
In a speech in Ankara, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said French bill represented “evident discrimination, racism and massacre of free speech.” Mr. Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s intention to add penalties against France, though he did not specify what those sanctions might bear upon and also signaled that the government would wait to see the result of possible legal challenges to the bill in France.
“We are going to impose our sanctions step by step with certainty, without hesitations,” he said. “However, for now, we are still in the phase of patience as we watch how this process would shape up.”
. . . . Click here to read more| |
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Higher Education Comes To Cambodia Thanks To Tourism (*NY TIMES*) SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA — Millions of tourists come here every year to visit the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, an influx that has helped transform what once resembled a small, laid-back village into a thriving and cosmopolitan town with thumping nightlife and more than 10,000 hotel rooms.
But the explosion of the tourism industry here has also done something less predictable. Siem Reap, which had no universities a decade ago, is now Cambodia’s second-largest hub for higher education, after the capital, Phnom Penh.
The sons and daughters of impoverished rice farmers flock here to work as tour guides, receptionists, bartenders and waitresses. When their shifts are over, they study finance, English and accounting.
“I never imagined that I could go to university,” said Hem Sophoan, a 31-year-old tour guide who is now studying for his second master’s degree. “There’s been so much change and opportunities for young people.”
The establishment of five private universities here is helping to transform the work force in this part of Cambodia, one of Asia’s poorest countries and a society still living in the shadow of the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge. Employers say that English proficiency is rising and that workers who attend universities stand out for their ability to express themselves and make decisions. A generation of students who would otherwise have had little hope to study beyond high school are enduring grueling schedules to get a degree and pursue their dreams.
. . . . Click here to read more| |
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