Montreal - Today, the CSA fought a battle, willingly. But beyond any personal gratification, how much did they gain? Very little I fear; this event was another example of good played out badly.
CSA stands for Centre Social Autogéré. Their goal is to re-appropriate, for social housing development, buildings on land otherwise destined for private condo projects. Needless to say, it’s hard for any city to say no to plans put forth by wealthy developers that want to convert ‘dead space’ into sure-selling and highly-taxed luxury units for well-paid professionals. However, this current building trend that’s invading lower-income neighbourhoods implies major impacts on their overall areas and infrastructures, as well as negative consequences for low-income families…
And the site fought for by the CSA is prime real-estate in every possible sense, which also makes it an important strategic target for the CSA. Those familiar with the bike bath that winds its way along the Lachine Canal—the portion in Pointe-St-Charles between the quaint, tree-covered boat rental office and the pedestrian, crescent-moon bridge that crosses over to the Atwater market—will certainly recall the now defunct candle factory that imposes itself on park space where Atwater branches into St. Patrick Street. An ideal setting for what nearly everyone already expects to find at that bustling park entrance: a combination of picturesque café, bistro, sports shop, roller-blade rental, and artsy tourist store… a perfect start or goal to any stroll and a great way to promote that greener/healthier city Montreal is quickly becoming renown for. Instead, the cit is presently reviewing a plan to convert the space into a 6 story, 53 units condo complex, which also calls for a change in zoning regulations.
This would-be-blight, in my opinion, is definitely worth fighting against.
The CSA thinks so too, so, after opting for a militant approach to their cause, they organized a 2 day manifestation that began yesterday at 18:00, June 29, when approximately 500 people gathered near Charlevoix metro station; banners, screeching megaphones, dreads, long beards, and piercings, anarchist and peace symbols, and varying street performers aplenty… But most striking was the similarity between participants, nearly all white French Canadians, who each seemed to embody activist stereotypes in his/her own way, and hence amplified my overall first-impression of ‘bitter, juvenile, and wildly idealistic’ I had had through the group’s Website (their site can’t be viewed through what they call ‘Microshit’ Explorer …). As I look back, that such a community-worthy cause should attract only a certain type of people reveals important limitations linked with CSA’s approach as well as an apparent weakness in the team’s ability to exploit communications, despite clever (but empty) ideas like using made-up names (in French) playing on Grandmaison i.e. ‘big house.’ Nonetheless, my impression was confirmed once their main (and only) strategy was played out. The manif was nothing more than a political parade to gain momentum and courage and a justifiable context for the CSA’s next course of actions, who made good on their ‘About Us’ words and literally took control of the building. Although the CSA spokespeople didn’t want to admit to it directly, the grimaces and gestures they offered me in lieu of answer confirmed that they had broken into the building illegally.
As evening progressed, about 1/3 of the protesters barricaded themselves inside the empty factory; essentially, their plan was this: break the law and hold an edifice hostage to get their voice heard and force negotiations with city officials. Having witnessed the group’s preparedness in dealing with the swat’s tactics and the intimidation of the riot-geared police—nearly all wore bandanas, scarves, etc. with which they could cover they noses and mouths and many had goggles or eye-protectors— it’s clear that they also had a secondary goal in mind; they were doing their best to exploit police action to gain public sympathy and add validity to their anti-totalitarian and anti-capitalism chants. It’s a pretty standard form of the passive-aggressive militant-martyr approach often adopted by those who loudly and stubbornly proclaim to possess zero faith in bureaucracy and politics but who aren’t willing to admit that much of their anger is based on ignorance or feelings of intimidations or helplessness a propos this sphere. Otherwise, surely they would attempt other means to gain this building… so many things come to mind, especially with the change-in-zoning-law public hearing which the city must hold, and next weekend’s Montreal Citizen Summit! (more on the summit in my next post)
On the other hand, the city of Montreal once again showed us that it doesn’t negotiate or deal with any ‘event’ representatives who didn’t submit their plan to city-hall and acquire the proper permits… even if they promise it to them.
Negotiations with police produced a specific time when, CSA representatives were promised, they would be given an opportunity to publicly voice their issues in a conference with concerned city officials.
In spite of this, whether as part of a newly adopted post-Seattle and Quebec City approach to activists or another instance of Gerald Tremblay at his two-faced best, the protesters were quick to realize that they had been duped when they opened the door at the agreed time for their agreed-on conference. A line of menacingly grim, heavily shielded, baton-wielding, pepper-spray toting, and visibly annoyed officers—one of them flaunting a gas-powered metal and concrete saw—greeted them instead of officials. At that exact same moment, the impressively swift SWAT was doing their thing on the building’s roof and dropped several cans of tear-gas.
Many of the protesters were (a bit too) quick to emphasize that the police used gas when kids were present and clearly played up the family-affair versus mean-ol’-machine aspect. One organiser told me she had her three month old daughter with her inside the building when the police ‘attacked;’ hearing her version of events and of having to run out to get her baby to safety, handing it over to a family member before running back into the building—with only one entry point, blocked by a wall of police—her ability to put a spin on a spin somehow convinved me that she has the potential to be a good politician… Unfortunately, her 'youth' barred her from seeing that this, if true, would actually harm the CSA's credibility; how can you be a responsible citizen when you can't be a responsible parent? Remember: protesters were equipped and prepared for, and were thus expecting, harsh police actions.
And the ultimate proof that their objectives were doomed from the start? None of the group's spokespeople could answer my question when asked what the next phaze would be should the city agree to hand over the building to the CSA for conversion to a self-managed social housing project. It's as if no one had bothered to think that far ahead; all I got were different soundbite-perfect versions of the group's goals, even after asking whether or not the CSA had devised a cooperative management model to be implemented in the buildings they hoped to gain. Their lack of planning is disconcerning; it implies a lack of belief in their ultimate goal and an unwillingness to attempt other, more official approaches.
In the end: police took control of the building when they felt like it. Despite a handful of protesters who, for forty minutes, faced-off with the menacing line of officers trying to drive them towards the front of the building, no one was arrested. The gang eventually regrouped into a nearby park for a celebratory picnic...
For many of the young—late teens to early twenties—CSA organizers, it was clear they believed they were on the brink of living a ‘Hollywood’ moment, even though the lack of mobilisation and official attention, and the group’s clear failure to open a dialogue denote otherwise…
For those of you wondering what’s happening with the stir stick statistics I promised some time back, I’m still working on them. The information is far from readily available; it would appear that no one has yet bothered to calculate how many coffee stir sticks get used throughout the world on a single day.
I’m nonetheless trying to amass the info by combining, deducing, and inferring from all the free data that is available out there; this includes sales reports of stir stick producing companies, import and export reports, stats on everything from per capita coffee consumptions and drinking preferences, etc. **
Several ways to look at it, for example:
There are about 8,600 major-chain convenience stores (a.k.a. 'dep' in Quebec) with coffee bars in Canada alone. Without going into lengthy details, we can assume that they each go through an average of 35 sticks / day; this means that approximately 301,000 stir sticks get used and tossed daily just in major-chain deps across Canada.
This doesn’t even include all of the small ‘mom and pop’ or other kinds of deps which don’t fall under this category and for which concise info is hard to come by.
And what about all the garages or hair-salons or offices that offer coffee?
It’s the same deal for coffee houses. It’s easy to know how many Starbucks and Second Cups there are, but how many independent coffee houses are out there???
Anyhow, it's clear that a really crude guesstimate, and only for Canada and the U.S. (stats for other countries are vague or non-existant), is about all I can hope for by taking this arduous route, so I'm now looking into stir stick manufacturing data. Since stir sticks come in both plastic and wood, and since there is a whole 'specialty' side to this business (e.g. see picture), this route is also pretty bumpy and full of holes…
World wide coffee habits are useful, but only up to a certain point, so…
I’ll keep on plugging away at the question until I get a more accurate fix on the number, but any which way, I feel confident enough to say that over 3 million stir sticks get used and tossed in the trash (although some may make it to the recycling bin; how do we get that info?) throughout the world on any given day.
Now, what does that represent in terms of natural resources? One tree equals how many wooden stir sticks and how much oil goes into making plastic ones? How many acres of landfill and tons of greenhouse producing gases are involved? And why do retailers of plastic stirrers claim to offer a more environmentally friendly product and why do the wood people claim the exact same thing? More importantly, who’s right?
I’m still working on all of that…
Keep on clicking!
PDL
**Note: I’m doing my best to exclude from these stats all of the other reasons or areas which use up stir sticks e.g. school-crafts; hobbies; all sorts of industries which rely on them to mix all sorts of different things, etc. This alone provides its fair share of hair-pulling…
The Congress for New Urbanism wanted to dispel public misconceptions surrounding new urbanism and to promote the need and viability of green urban planning; they recently held a competition inviting people to explain the connection between urban planning and the environment. Here is the winning video, created by John Paget:
Here’s the narration: “You’re driving down the freeway doing about 60 when you notice the guy next to you steering with his knees and eating a cheeseburger and talking on the phone; and that is exactly why the all new 09 f-150 is the safest truck in America…” After the few specs the ad ends with: “…because it’s not just crazy out there; it’s certifiably insane.”
My reaction: Oh! and why is Ford trying to convince us that we need a tank in order to survive today's road conditions? Also, the advert reminded me of my road-raging commuting days and my traffic-jam inspired daydreams of owning a bad-assed Hummer equipped with anti-tank rockets, several machine guns, and a v-shaped plough so then maybe I could be in my office 10 minutes ago without having to deal with all those morons!!! Admit it; you’ve also had this fantasy once or twice. And is it me or do the colours, images, and floating texts also remind you of the post-apocalyptic backdrop in “The Road Warrior 2”?
My big question is: how does Ford guarantee that these ‘insane’ knee-steering, cheeseburger-eating, phone-talking people don’t wind up behind the wheel of one of these babies??? It's fine if we happen to plough through idiot drivers like a tank through a haystack if they should f*ck up; but what happens when drunk, F-150-driving rednecks lose control and ram non-idiot drivers? Or is that what they mean by ‘certifiably insane?’ If you got one of those certificates that says you're insane, you don’t get to drive an F-150? No wonder the ‘multi-tasking jerk’ is driving a car (wonder if it’s a Ford? Can’t tell from the camera angle); Does Hummer have the same policy?!
But if everyone was driving smaller cars, wouldn't that be safer? Of course, eighteen-wheelers are still up for consideration but not much stands a chance against those anyway...
I really wonder which came first? this ad concept or all the politicized, lobby-greased puff pieces that have appeared these past months throughout the U.S., claiming bigger cars are safer and electric cars have big hidden costs; or was it Barack Obama’s decision to boost fuel economy standards for cars by using a size-based system that removes incentives for automakers to manufacture only smaller models.… Is the government simply looking out for its newly acquired stocks? Or is all of that part of the same ad campaign, dreamed up and paid for by…??? Hmmm… I'm sure I smell oil and my gut tells me Dick Cheney is in on this somehow... Well, Cheney-like thinking anyhow.
And when you look at this or other commercials produced by the ‘Big 3’ and consider their production costs, we certainly don’t get an image of companies whose very survival relies on huge government handouts and pity from potential customers. Yes; pity, from stupid pride! Because—and I hate to say it—it sure as hell isn’t leadership and a truly competitive product that has kept these 3 in business; it’s some strange sense of ol’ world and post war partisanship, the kind that borders on racism and impassioned patriotism. National pride is ok but in this case Americans have to realize that, according to the great rules of capitalism which they've pretty much established, they lost the auto-industry war!
So, since I’m on the subject: how can these companies still invest millions upon millions in R&D and concept cars that’ll never pass through a production line when tremendous pensions are on the line? Is developing future technology really going to help companies that have a very limited future? And how can they still be tinkering with so many models and styles and obsessing over setting fashion-industry-like trends every year? It's as if they haven't yet figured out what their public wants!!! Car makers from other continents seem to have a better understanding of the North American market. How can that be?
Are people really buying functional pick-ups to feel safe or is this just a spin-attempt to sell an overproduced line to a different demographic? Or, are the company heads outdated and stubborn to the point that they still believe in their self-proclaimed divinity and that if they decide to produce more trucks, Americans will buy trucks for the reasons they’ll tell us? The 'ol' boys club' mentality that’s directing the ‘Big 3’ automakers still seems to be dominating. But their time has come and their 'empires' are crumbling. Not surprising! This advert clearly demonstrates that even today, they are barely willing to change their course and adopt the attitude they should have adopted some thirty-odd years ago...
I just overheard this, a brief bit on CKUT (radio) about a guy whose need to get high put him down and out and living on the streets. It’s a typical story really, about a good man living some bad times and losing track of where he was heading until he didn’t care anymore and getting there was no longer an option anyway… And for that reason it’s a story about begging and loitering and sleeping in parks and alleyways, and so it’s also about someone doing anything he can to survive within the system he no longer had the strength to function in.
It’s also a wonderful, Hallmark-worthy story about redemption, about waking up one morning with your face pressed to concrete and vomit and saying ‘I’ve had enough of this,’ and doing something about it. It’s about a slow process of rehabilitation and regaining self-esteem and learning to be responsible, again. It’s about long sleepless nights and hours and hours of uncontrollable tears, about facing all the suddenly raw feelings that had been numbed for years and about wanting to tear the flesh from your bones and dying to be anywhere where your self isn’t…
It's about survival and choices and acceptance; about rebuilding a life and finding a job and a place to live; about opening a bank account, getting a medi-care card, giving your social insurance number and having a mailing address. And finally, it’s about being a part of the system, again…
The city of Montreal was able to locate him and send him his ‘Welcome Back!’ gift: a bill requesting immediate payment on the approximately $7000 he owes in unpaid begging, loitering, and vagrancy tickets he had received.
Did I mention that this story is also about abusive stupidity?
A few Montreal groups have offered to help the young man.
I don’t have all the details but I’ll add them here as soon as I can find them.
Bums sure are smelly and dirty. I'm talking about vagrants of course (what else did you think this post was about?), but I suppose that:
If you have to beg to hundreds of strangers just to be able to afford that morning cup of joe that’ll supply the energy allowing you to beg to hundreds more so you can get drunk on Lysol, getting a haircut may not be on your ‘to do’ list;
If the thought of my mundane, morning shower has the same arousing effect on you as the thought of owning a 911 Turbo has on me, then being clean certainly isn’t in the ‘doable’ file;
If taking advantage of great specials on groceries is synonymous with hitting the jackpot in a restaurant’s garbage container, chances are you don’t even own a toothbrush and you’ve probably eaten all of the toothpaste anyway…
And if you’ve ever been mildly depressed and as a consequence spent an entire week in the same sweat pants because getting dressed just seemed like a routinely futile task in a piece-of-shit, overly-demanding and unforgiving world, then you may have an inkling as to why bums scoff at fashion trends.
Yet how can they help their cause when their funky smells and mismatched appearances act as insurmountable barriers to your generous efforts to treat these city-dwellers like humans?! Obviously, bums need our help. Simple actions YOU can do to help out in your city:
As you wait for the government or some non-profit group to start up a ‘Febreeze for the Homeless’ initiative or to develop a program that redistributes those magazine perfume samples and your ‘slightly-used’ coordinated ensembles to the streets, here are a few things that you can do to help them help you address your air quality and aesthetic concerns:
Keeping bums out of our garbage keeps our garbage areas tidy and our bums clean. You can help bums stay out of our garbage bags and retain their just-out-of-the-shelter sparkle longer by:
a. Offering them that perfectly good food you’re about to toss in the trash.
b. Placing refundable cans and bottles (others should be recycled) on ground next to trash cans or leaving them in clearly visible yet out-of-the-way public spots; they’ll quickly get picked up and sold so you’re not polluting. The more entrepreneurial bums see the value in every nickel, the reward in every dime, and exaltation in every 20 cents that each of these bottles represent, so think of it as your show of support to the bottom-feeding, un-unionized and highly abused employees of the increasingly competitive empty-cans-and-bottles industry. Instead of scrunching up your pop can (rendering it valueless) and tossing it in the trash (or in water, fields, alleys…), why not offer it to some bum? And yes, I have heard that practicing the art of beer bottle smashing produces orgasm-like affects on the brains of drunk morons; however, bums and bleeding-heart tree-huggers wish to remind you that masturbation still represents the more economically and socially responsible, earth-friendly option.
c. Don’t destroy cardboard boxes before discarding them; fold them flat so they don’t get damaged and try to keep them separate from the rest of your garbage. Studies have shown that bums who have access to cardboard boxes have an easier time building shelters, making blankets, and keeping their squatting hole organized.
d.If you’re a smoker, offer bums (that smoke) a couple of cigarettes… Trust me; giving 3 to 5 cigarettes gets you the same reaction as handing over a hand-full of quarters so you’ll still be able to feel good about yourself. And this way, they won't be smoking whatever discarded, potential hepatitis-carrying butt that's lying around anyway, right? so at least you’re helping them stay clean by keeping them out of gutters, and public ashtrays, and garbage cans; also, you or others like you won’t have to suffer through that nauseating, sidewalk-licking image that invades your thoughts each time you watch a bum light a twisted, gnarled butt he just picked up in front of a busy subway station. .
Instead of giving a ‘Loonie to a loony,’ why not: ‘waterless soap to a homeless dope’? The dollar store sells a convenient travel-sized format that doesn’t demand too much effort for you to carry and offer to some bum. And, since you can’t trust a bum to manage that dollar efficiently, this is the kind of wise, conservative and responsible strategy that will guarantee a higher ROI out of that tightly-budgeted humanitarian-aid buck. So don’t pay attention to any of the swears your kind action may reap; if bums weren’t bums surely they would be able to see that in the grand scheme of things, keeping flu germs off of the hands of rail-and-door-touching bums is a great service to society. Plus, what bums probably don’t know is that most brands of waterless soap now include a skin moisturiser. (note: avoid buying the alcohol-based brands) .
Instead of recycling all your small plastic bottles, why not fill them up with some Windex and give them to Squeegee Punks (SPs). Using that disgusting gutter water to clean windshields can’t be good. Providing Windex to these types of bums is yet another example of how a small, inexpensive act can have a major impact on the overall quality of city life; actually having this required tool when practising their chosen trade helps SPs regain a certain sense of pride by allowing them to feel and act more professionally. And professional looking SPs have been known to have a less negative impact on property values… Further, paying for cleaner windows and actually getting cleaner windows will be a welcomed change in many people’s lives. .
Hold your breath, refrain from passing judgement, try to understand, and treat a bum like any other decent human being. This free method guarantees the best long-term results; however, since this kind of activism rarely offers more than a stained smile as an immediate payback and because feelings of self-gratification are not evident, this selfless act seems to be avoided by all but the highly dedicated hardcore humanists with boot-camp training in compassion-tactics. Another hindrance to this approach is its reliance on a profound understanding of very complex metaphysical and philosophical theories which state that: ‘bums aren’t society’s rejects; they’re an inescapable and unfortunate product of our societies.’ Another key view is the idea that being a bum is not an after affect of laziness or a deliberate choice; it is the eventual outcome of many variables; one wakes up one morning and realizes that that’s what they’ve become… And this realization, that one is now reduced to a life of anonymity heavily dictated by harsh taboos and stigmas, crushes down so hard on these already defeated souls that regaining any ‘real’ (i.e. acceptable) lifestyle now takes on the same allure that climbing Mt. Everest barefoot has for us ‘regular’ folks. At that point, society at large facilitates cowering into addictions and other forms of alienations by refusing to serve up the copious and reassuring, ‘humanity-is-worth-it’ pats on the shoulder that these people actually need. In the AA jargon, we’re all enablers. This action is all about not being an enabler.
So, yes; bums smell bad, they look ugly, they sure are dirty, and the earth is round and birds fly… And all people are people.
Keep on clicking!
This pic was sent to me by a reader (thanks Peter M.); I believe it's called "Corporate World." However funny it is, this is unfortunately the kind of 'corporation-bashing' that, as it turns out, says more about people than about corporations. Our North-American take-everything-for-granted/everything-is-owed-to-us egos certainly have just as much to do with the reality behind this type of inefficient corporate structure as does corporate excess.
So here's my take on this: the city-worker cliché can also be extended to any other societal group. For example: to describe the typical 'bourgeois' attitude, simply replace the captions with things like: I don't give a sh*t; I got my own problems; Those fat cats don't pay me enough; I don't want to be here; I studied to be here; I'm really an actor...; I would, but..., etc., and then replace 'Herbert' with words like 'Third world labour,' or 'World Hunger, or how about simply, 'Needs Help'...
Other fun themes to play with are: Republicans, the Catholic Church, IMF, Neighbours, etc.
This time it was Pierre Foglia’s May 9thLa Presse editorial entitled, ‘Phoqueetrephoque,’ that forced me to re-evaluate (yet again) my stance on the seal hunt… and then, three days later, it was another editorial signed by Mr. Foglia that helped to strengthen it further.
As I had mentioned in my April 10 posting, ‘Easter Seals and that Bloody Hunt,’ Foglia points out that here in Canada, we are being sold an entirely different image… and so there is an awful lot of hypocrisy that surrounds this subject. He also agrees with me on the idea of Canadian ‘unity;’ however, we differ in opinions on one key point: I see all animals as living creatures, not just the ones I don't eat…
He also, like everyone he criticises, is selling us only an image; his own comparison of the seal hunt to a ‘deer hunting’ equivalent paints a very biased picture indeed, filled with the habitual, overly subjective, anti-seal hunt stereotypes… How is this any different from the rest of the propaganda? Firstly, a great majority of hunters use Hakapiks, and not baseball bats. Secondly, our laws forbids—it’s a weak argument, I know—the killing of ‘whitecoats’ or, from Foglia’s p.o.v., Bambi.
Don’t worry, Mr. Foglia, like you, PETA also likes to re-use dated pictures without validating its modern day accuracy.
Of course, using the heavy hammer-like metal end of an Hakapik to crush a seal’s skull is not an image that should please (or arouse) anyone! However, all those who have studied the issue, including ‘slanted’ organisations like the World Wildlife Fund andInternational Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), have arrived at the same conclusion: this is a very humane method of killing the seals (yes, I know, that phrase has a disturbing oxymoronic quality to it).
I say: read the real reports and then please explain to me how the seal hunt brutality surpasses that of millions of chickens’ headless dance or lambs exsanguinations or hey! a bull’s skull after a hammer blow? We use fancier un-hammer-like ‘hammers’ here which may explain its acceptance…but then why aren’t Europeans protesting the rusty hammers used in Taiwan to kill cows???
Precisely because seal meat is not sold in our supermarkets… And that red blood on that white ice, couldn’t ask for a better canvas to paint that anti-seal hunt image that has had a tremendous success in Europe.
So speaking of ‘the brutality’ of the seal hunt, you may scoff, Mr. Foglia, at a comparison of the seal hunt ‘industry’ to those others that actually do deliver meat to our supermarkets, but do you realize that this attitude simply sheds a light on your own hypocrisy vis-à-vis this subject?
And was it a lack of research or some form of manipulation, Mr. Foglia, that acted upon you, thus forcing you to omit quite a fair bit of facts when you reduced the entire industry to skins and dried penises; did you know that only the organs aren’t used, and this, only since 1998. And was it pretension that prompted you to write that seal meat is inedible, taste wise? Many coastal communities actually feed on seal meat and the hunt does represent an important source of food for them. Should we kill more chickens instead and ship more boxes of Kraft Dinner? What about Lac Brome ducks? Aren’t you being a bit like Bush Sr. with his broccoli ‘initiative’ i.e. I don't like it therefore no one should eat it?
And it's a good thing that seal meat hasn't caught on; they'd be treated far worse but since it would happen behind closed doors on breeding farms armed with well-greased lobbyists... So isn't it this aspect, Mr. Foglia, that perhaps makes you accept pig farming and then tell us: hey! at least all of a pig gets used up...
So I maintain my position; it's clear that seals represent an ideal marketing tool, but when all is said and done, this is the only thing that distinguishes this industry from other industries that slaughter animals. The real problem is how we see animals. Already, too many species have become mere object-like commodities rather than living creatures. Seals are just luckier than others; they get more media attention and hence, more support. If you're willing to protect seals, then why not spread your consideration?
Would you actually donate or march to the chant of ‘don’t kill the chickens’? Now ask yourself: why is that?
Montreal - Last week McGill hosted a conference aimed at establishing an international code of conduct to tackle problems posed by the increasing volume of debris orbiting earth; the conference ended yesterday.
The one article that broached the subject (written by Max Harrold of The Montreal Gazette and reprinted in nearly every paper and news site across the country) gave an estimate of roughly 13,000 to 20,000 pieces of garbage floating in space. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, this merely represents the number of orbital debris larger than 10 cm; they estimate the total number of orbital debris to be around 330,000,000.
Orbital debris is any human-made object in orbit that no longer serves a useful purpose, and despite a lack of serious media attention, orbital debris has now been a problem for years; the oldest piece of space junk dates back from 1958. Orbital debris includes a tremendous amount of defunct satellites—there have been over 4000 satellite launches and only about 800 of them are currently active—and fragments from destroyed satellites (nearly all intentionally). Floating in space are also spent rocket stages, slag, coolant, bolts, and other discarded particles. And not only have Astronauts lost various items during extravehicular activities (EVA), they have been continually instructed to jettison their garbage in space; Mir cosmonauts have been tossing out their garbage bags for the 15 years it was operational; Expedition 15 astronauts tossed out containers of ammonia and other junk from the International Space Station (then afterwards had to change the space station’s trajectory to avoid collision with these items). Wherever we go, wherever we are, we create so much garbage that this eventually becomes a threat…
Below is an image depicting the estimated number of debris currently orbiting the earth.
There’s so much junk in space that potential collisions have become a real nuisance. In fact, hazard analysis conducted for planned shuttle missions conclude that the shuttles’ greatest risk are from space debris, with a 1-in-185 to a 1-in-300 risk of catastrophic impact depending on the mission’s targeted altitude.
And worse, much of that debris eventually falls back down to earth, posing a risk for humans.
Last year, Americans had to destroy a toxic satellite which they feared may hit land. But fear not, despite a near collision with a Lan Airline Airbus A320 in 2007, we are told chances are that the large objects that don’t burn up during re-entry into our atmosphere will probably fall into our oceans. In regards to those Ammonia tanks mentioned above, Bob Dempsey, NASA's lead flight director for Expedition 15, had this to say, "We don't know where [the debris] is going to land yet. It will likely be over the ocean and shouldn't damage satellites or other spacecraft in orbit.”
So now we’re polluting our oceans from space…
It’s great that efforts are finally being made to attack this growing concern; however it’s disappointing to see that we’ve waited until this has become a major hazard to finally address it.
Further, there are no talks about cleaning up this junk, only to limit further increases.
What’s even more disappointing is learning the real reason why attention is now being given to this subject; that article I refer to in the beginning of this post focuses on economic aspects as reasons why this is an important issue; environmental issues are not mentioned, period. In fact, the author, Max Harrold, introduces the problem with, “There certainly is cause for concern. In February, an inactive Russian satellite collided with a communications satellite, knocking out cellphone service for some.”
And according to Gerard Brachet, a French space policy consultant who attended the conference, every time more debris is created it raises the safety and liability risks of satellites. “There is now a much higher likelihood that satellites will get hit. Insurance companies don’t like this.”
I know, this commercial is old stuff, but they recently brought it back out so...
Granted, freecreditreport.com ads may be catchy, but they're also downright stupid, albeit good indicators of the 'empty' values being promoted in the name of consumerism. Checking out your credit report is not a bad thing (although our obsession with it is...), but the reasons being promoted as to why we should use their services certainly are.
Is having a house and a yard really more important than living the rest of your life with your dream girl??? Isn't she worth a few years of sacrifice? Can't he use this same service to help her rebuild her credit instead? Where's the love? Had he known she had bad credit he'd be a happy bachelor??? Has marriage really become some sort of business partnership?
All their commercials clearly promote the idea that owning cool things is a must in life; if not, you’re a loser. Or rather, should I say that they are merely exposing our behaviour… This other commercial blatantly addresses the reality we seem to have allowed corporations to create for us; modern society is built on credit and we need good credit to be ‘good’ and accepted… You’d have to live in medieval times to think otherwise.
What do chocolate, carrots, potatoes, and cashew-nut shells have in common? Formula 3 racing, of course! WorldFirst project, a competitive racing car made using environmentally sustainable components and optimised to run on bio-diesel derived from waste chocolate and vegetable oil—with zero tailpipe emissions—is definitely gravy for environmentalists.
This project was conceived by James Meredith, Dr Steve Maggs, and Dr Kerry Kirwan, three researchers working at Warwick Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre (WIMRC) based at the university Warwick, England.
This competitive racing car, which offers a top speed of 140 mph (225 km/h) and awe-inspiring acceleration, proves that green autos don’t have to imply a compromise in terms of performance. Even pundits are calling this an “unmatched feat of green technology;” every component of the vehicle features a ‘green and sustainable’ element thus demonstrating that going ‘green' can apply to the entire vehicle and not just its propulsion system.
Here are some of the featured components: Steering wheel: derived from carrots and other root vegetables Seat: Flax fiber shell, soy bean oil foam and recycled polyester fabric Wing mirrors and Front Wing End Plate: Flax fiber shell over a potato starch core Engine cover and Damper hatch: Recycled carbon fiber Lubricants: Made with a plant oil base Radiators: Coated with a catalyst that converts ozone to oxygen Brakes: non-carbon discs; the team is working on developing pads made from cashew nut shell
The car will undergo its first track test on May 5th on an undisclosed race track in the UK. This is great news since new developments in motorsport vehicles usually entail applied technology in the general automotive and passenger transport industry down the line.
My only question is: who is going to kill the chocolate & veggie car?
There’s so much junk in space that potential collisions have become a real nuisance. In fact, hazard analysis conducted for planned shuttle missions conclude that the shuttles’ greatest risk are from space debris, with a 1-in-185 to a 1-in-300 risk of catastrophic impact depending on the mission’s targeted altitude.
