Recent Readings: Farm Whale Continent Waste Car
January 14th, 2008 | Posted in Agriculture, Animal Cruelty, Government, Recent Readings, Recycling, Transportation
How goes your 2008 thus far? Hopefully it’s shaping up as planned. I know it’s only January 14 but I’ve worked out more in 2008 than I did in the last two months of 2007. Where are all the gift baskets when you’ve earned some chocolate and cheese spread?!
Agriculture | Family farming in Ladue | “According to decades of farm lobby propaganda, farm subsidies preserve the struggling family farm. So it’s remarkable to find so many subsidized farmers toiling away in the Central West End, Clayton, Ladue, Frontenac, and other tony urban neighborhoods where the major harvest is lawn grass and the livestock are named Pookie and Rover. It’s even more surprising to find more than 500 supposed farmers on the isle of Manhattan. Roof gardeners, we suppose . . . The biggest checks go not to families about to lose the ol’ homestead, but to wealthy people who know how to work the system. You don’t have to get up at 5 a.m. and milk the cows to get a check. You can hire other people to do the work while you milk the taxpayers.” | St. Louis Post-Dispatch
I really wish you could see the maps associated with this editorial in the print version of the newspaper. But since you can’t, I’ll do you one better and point you here, to the Environmental Working Group’s Farm Bill 2007 website. Search away and see all the people receiving subsidies from the U.S. government for farming. Sadly, some of the people receiving the biggest checks have never worked a day on a farm in their lives. Where do I sign up?
Animal Cruelty | Greenpeace see of Japan whalers | “The environmental group Greenpeace says its activists have chased
Japan’s whaling fleet away from hunting grounds near Antarctica. Greenpeace said its ship, the Esperanza, had successfully stopped whaling in the Southern ocean after intercepting the fleet’s main ship, the Nisshin Maru, over the weekend and chasing it away.” | Al Jazeera
While I don’t also agree with Greenpeace’s tactics I usually agree with their position. I’m glad they were able to chase off the whalers here but I’m not sure on the legality of what they’re doing. Japan had banned whaling for some time (yeah!) but then legalized it again (boo!). Of course, if the whales are far enough off the coast, in international waters, do these rules apply? Anywho, keep up the good work.
Government | The Comeback Continent | “Why should Americans care about Europe’s economy? Well, for one thing, it’s big. The G.D.P. of the European Union is roughly comparable to that of the United States; the euro is almost as important a global currency as the dollar; and the governance of the world financial system is, for practical purposes, equally shared by the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve.” | Paul Krugman, The New York Times
Krugman makes some very good points in this piece. He takes the position of a realist and both compliments and criticizes European governments and economy. The takeaway is that American politicians on both sides publicly deride a system that has benefits, and of late, has been performing better than its American counterpart.
Recycling | The afterlife of cell phones | “This so-called e-waste is the fastest-growing part of the municipal waste stream and, depending on your outlook, either an enormous problem or a bonanza. E-waste generally contains substances that, though safely sequestered during each product’s use, can become hazardous if not handled properly when disposed. Those products also hold bits of precious metals like silver, copper, platinum and gold.” | Jon Mooallem, The New York Times
Sorry, two articles from The New York Times. You’ll live. For one of them I provided the link to a different site so as to throw you off the scent. Of course admitting that I did that defeats the purpose. So . . . the above article is actually very fascinating, and definitely the most comprehensive of all the readings provided today. It’s worth a complete read though. It’s filled with history, science, money, heaven and hell. Seriously.
Transportation | University, Enterprise Rent-A-Car offer car-sharing program | “Washington University Parking & Transportation Services and Enterprise Rent-A-Car have partnered to bring WeCar, a car-sharing program, to the Danforth Campus. The program, the first of its kind in the St. Louis area, allows WUSTL students, faculty, staff and employees of qualified service providers over age 18 to rent vehicles at an hourly rate. The vehicles will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Members can sign up online beginning Monday, Jan. 14. Registration is free.” | Jessica Daues, Washington University in St. Louis Record
This is spectacular news. I don’t know if other universities are doing this but every freakin’ one of them should. Parking is expensive and an utter nightmare on and around most college campuses. Plus, students usually only need their automobiles to run errands and the like. Car sharing is growing in popularity in major urban areas for sure, but the density of college campuses makes them perfect for a similar program.
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