Hurricane Irene

The tropical storm Irene, swept over the Eastern seaboard this weekend hitting North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, New York, and even Washington D.C.

By the time Irene reached New York it had died down a bit with winds up to 65 mph, which still managed to flood suburbs, as well as take out electricity for miles, leaving three milion houses without power. It also forced thousands of flights to be canceled, stranding people at airports. Also, almost all subway systems were shut down.

65 million people were on high alert, 'the largest number of Americans ever affected by a single storm.' Of these 65 million, 16 people died.

A nuclear reactor in Maryland was closed because of damage from objects blowing in the wind. Also a foot of water covered streets in lower Manhattan. Heavy winds and rain forced three bridges to close. The over all damage is going to cost into the billions.

is it working?

What options does Gadhafi have?

Gadhafi may have been able to strike a deal allowing him passage out of the country a month ago, but he is a hunted man now that the rebels have taken Tripoli.

the National Transitional Council is insisting that if caught in Libya he will be given a fair trial, although they don't know how he would defend himself against the crimes he has committed against the people

Both Gadhafi and his son are being charged with crimes against humanity, Gadahfi would have to stay in hiding and organize a guerrilla resistance to continue fighting the rebels as he plans to do

Steven Colbert's Polititcal Action Commitee

Steven Colbert, host of the Colbert Report has established 3 political action committees, devoted to satirically commenting on the system of campaign finance which funds the electoral campaigns of politicians at every level of government in the US. The three combined PAC's have an estimated 165,000 members, and has managed to generate substantial sums of money, spending $60 million on adds which poke fun of loose campaign finance regulation.

“He is taking on a serious subject that many Americans find deadly dull and is educating the broader public on why it matters and what is at stake,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. Still, she adds, “it’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt, like a specific campaign or the electoral system.”

NY Times

Class: how might we view these "institutions" (Colbert's PACs) through our functional analysis model?

End of Qaddafi?

Source:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/201182261941319259.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/world/africa/23libya.html?_r=1&hp


The big news of today: Libyan Rebels invade Tripoli

It seemed that the Qaddafi era has finally come to an end, as rebels surrounded his estate this afternoon.

Rebels are still sweeping the city clearing out the last loyalist holdouts, but 85% of the city is now rebel owned.

However, Qaddafi is still at large as of 4:20 -7GMT this evening, and rebels are searching for him throughout the city. They have captured 3 of his sons, but the other 4 have not been found.

President Obama said that he supported the rebel takeover, but urged the rebels not to retaliate against the loyalist forces.

Read more at any news source imaginable.

Forests Of Borneo

August 21, 2011
Many indigenous cultures such as the Dayaks in Borneo, Indonesia are threatened by deforestation. Most Dayak people spend everyday farming their land. The community grows bamboo on land they see as theirs and always have, but even this indigenous communities land is not virgin to deforestation, though it was reforested with more useful plants and trees. The community only has a small patch of virgin land they see as theirs that is only used for prayer. Little does this community know even though Indonesian laws and policies give them rights to this land, the constitution says all their land and resources belong to the state.

Some farmers choose to sell their land, such as Lambia Sudian. He sold his land to a company that offered him a job working in the field. The company also said he would receive 20% of the palm oil profits. Four years have gone by and Lambia says he regrets selling his land because none of the companies statements were true. "In the future, the children and grandchildren of the indigenous people will not own these lands, they will become beggars or criminals, because the bounty before their eyes is no longer theirs." he said.

Conservationist believe it would be a difficult task to restore Borneo's rainforest, but reforesting would help developing communities and create a smaller carbon output. Currently 60% of Borneo's rainforest has been deforested, while only 8% remain virgin.

"Forests are a means for the power holder to maintain his power, by giving concessions to the military commander in the regions, governors or those who can support the regime, you cut trees, you got money, OK? And it's been practiced like that for 40 years." - Andy White - A coordinator at the Washington, D.C.-based Rights and Resources Initiative, a coalition of groups focusing on land rights.

What are other counties doing about deforestation problems?

US Ratchets the Pressure on Assad

Good Post : )

Friday,Aug. 19th, 2011.

In light of increasing violence in Syria, Mr.Obama has asked his Syrian counterpart, Bashir Assad, to step down. Although Assad has declared to the UN that military operations in his country have ended, on Wednesday Syrian activists reported that 18 civilians had been killed. They are among the some 2000 protesters which have, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, been slaughtered over the last 6 months by the Assad regime.

President Obama's request for Assad to leave office will be accompanied with a third round of sanctions. The European response is expected to be similar. Although Turkish officials have leveled harsh words at the Syrian regime this week, even likening Assad to Moammar Gadhafi, Turkey remains reluctant to join the U.S. and European nations in imposing sanctions.

(Source: Fox News)

Bad Post : (

18 people died in Syria when the president killed them for protesting. Now Obama and Clinton want the Syrian president to stop hurting people and quit his job. How come Obama waited to song to do something is the question?