“You’ve Been Trumped” Kicks Off The Environmental Film Festival

Last night, I attended the D.C. Environmental Film Festival Premiere kick-off film, You’ve Been Trumped.

As someone who has experienced Scotland’s breathtaking beauty and decadent history, the Scottish government’s decision to overturn its own environmental policy to allow Donald Trump to build a golf course on Europe’s most environmentally sensitive stretches of coast, described by one leading scientist as Scotland’s Amazon rain forest, is certainly intriguing. After all, this is a fiercely nationalistic country with a Freedom to Roam policy and a strong record for preserving its environmental landscape and natural heritage.

But tough economic times call for tough economic decisions.

Trump’s development proposal “to build the world’s greatest golf course” was initially rejected in 2007 by a local subcommittee of elected members; however, in 2008, John Swinney, the Scottish cabinet secretary for finance and sustainable growth, overturned the council’s decision by announcing permission for the development, as Trump promised to create over 6,000 jobs:

With latest official statistics showing unemployment in Scotland has risen to 7.6 percent, the move has been welcomed by the country’s government who are anxious to bring investment to the area.

A spokesman for the ruling Scottish Nationalist Party told CNN: “Ministers agreed with the public inquiry conclusion that there was significant economic and social benefit to be gained from the application by Trump International Golf Links Scotland to develop a golf resort at Balmedie.” (via CNN)

Many economists, nonetheless, have been challenging Trump on his economic estimates:

Paul Cheshire, professor emeritus of economic geography at London School of Economics and Political Science, carried out his own assessment of the economic case for the development of the Menie Estate. He was surprised to find that the Scottish government had not commissioned its own independent analysis of the likely benefits – instead, the government relied on an economic impact assessment carried out for TIGL by Strathclyde University.

Professor Cheshire describes that assessment as “wildly optimistic” because of its assumptions about the creation of new jobs for local people. He points out that constructing a golf course is not like building houses because very few specialist companies are capable of doing it. As it turns out, an Irish company is managing the construction of the resort, using mainly its own labour. (via The Guardian)

Trump also promised to leave the dunes in better shape and condition than they were before. Evidence, thus far, however, has proven otherwise as documented by local residents and You’ve Been Trumped filmmaker, Anthony Baxter:

In an interesting twist, Trump is now embroiled in a fight to prevent the building of an offshore windfarm near his luxury golf resort which he deems will be “an eyesore.”

Whatever the outcome, You’ve Been Trumped (funded via @IndieGoGo) was a tremendous start to the festival. I’m looking forward to checking out more films in the coming two weeks (March 13-25): http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/

Wikimania 2012 is in Washington, D.C.

The Wikimania 2012 conference will be held July 12-15, 2012, at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

  • Meet the wiki community in Washington.
  • Join a gathering of experts, enthusiasts, and those who are just curious, in a center of academia, culture, and technology.
  • Engage at the official annual conference of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.

Wikimania is the annual international conference of the Wikimedia community (which includes Wikipedia). It allows the community and the general public to learn about and share their experiences with free knowledge initiatives all over the world.

  • Submit a talk/panel/workshop for Wikimania! – Deadline is March 18.
  • Registration is now open! – Early registration discount until April 23.

This conference provides a unique opportunity for the Wikimedia community and its projects – Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikinews, Wiktionary, Wikispecies, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikimedia – to come together, share their common goals, and develop better ways to work together on an international level.

 

Schedule

  • July 6–9: Wikimania Takes Manhattan (special pre-conference event in NYC)
  • July 10–11: Hackathon
  • July 12–14: Main Conference
  • July 15: Unconference

Pre-Conference hacking days and Unconference are open to all attendees. The program for these days will be primarily informal.

 

Program Structure

The Wikimania 2012 program structure is designed to create multiple opportunities for conference participants to actively engage with the subject matter, the environment, and, most importantly, each other. Washington, D.C, can play an important role in Wikimania 2012 as a locale that gathers interest in government, culture, media, and academia around the general goals of the Wikimania conference series.

Tracks:

  • Wikis and the Public Sector
  • GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) & cultural outreach
  • WikiCulture and Community
  • Research, Analysis, and Education
  • Technology and Infrastructure

 

Wikimania 2012 in Washington, D.C.

At the market – in season – March the beginning of Spring

I found a fantastic column from writer Carol Golden in San Diego Magazine. “At the Market – what to watch for this month:”

March is a transitional month, like pubescence for produce. We’re tired of root veg, but strawberries haven’t come of age. Thanks be to peas—the hint of light, sweet green we crave as days grow warmer. Eat whole sugar snaps raw, chop into salad, or lightly steam. For English peas, channel your inner grandma and sit with a bowl to shell them. Add the peas and a little water to a skillet, cook until the water evaporates. Or live dangerously with a knob of butter and sea salt. Sauté briefly, eat, and smile. Spring is almost here.

Keep reading for a CSA from Poppa’s Fresh Fish company – $25 for a box (25% off retail)  of local fish, mixed fish, shelled fish, or simply wild salmon.

And, Claravale Farm is bringing their raw milk to the dairy desert of Southern California. Did you know that it is near impossible to find milk, cheese, ice cream, or butter at farmers markets in Orange County and San Diego?

Well the milk man is back, at least at one farmers market in San Diego!

Before, after, and a year later – satellite images of the devastation from the Japanese tsunami

On the 1-year anniversary of the earthquake/tsunami that hit Japan, Google Maps updated its imagery all along the coast. This included side-by-side shots of two specific regions, the Shiogama Port and the Sanriku Bridge.

The photos are: years before, days after, one month after, and a year after.

The devastation is incredible, but so is the recovery.

 

Shiogama Port, Miyagi

 

Bridge of Minami Sanriku Town, Miyagi

Bees are in peril – and so are most of our major foods

Bees are nearing a “crises,” prompting the government to spend millions on a massive data base and asking beekeepers on March 27 for advice on how to save them and prevent the nation’s agriculture from collapsing.

Honeybees are critical in agriculture. The value of crops in U.S. agriculture that depend on their pollination is $19 billion, according to USDA estimates. Worldwide that crop value is $217 billion.

Facing this, Congress and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) took action last year, granting $5.6 million to establish a national, massive data base under the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) program.

The goal is simple: “Get information collected from beekeepers back to beekeepers quickly so they can make more informed decisions.”

via The Washington Times

 

Wikipedia lists over 125 mainstream foods that depend on bee pollination, among them:

Coffee, chocolate (cocoa), apple, pear, watermelon, avocado, grape, tomato, onion, broccoli, pepper, lemon, lime, strawberry, soybean, and blueberry.

Other major foods:

Okra, celery, kiwi, cashew, almond, beet, mustard, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprout, papaya, chestnut, tangerine, coconut, coriander, hazelnut, cantaloupe, melon, cucumber, squash, carrot, persimmon, fig, strawberry, cotton, sunflower, walnut, lychee, macadamia, mango, passion fruit, bean (lima, kidney, string), apricot, cherry, plum, guava, pomegranate, boysenberry, raspberry, blackberry, cranberry, eggplant, vanilla, jujube.

Are you biking more because of the high gas prices?

I love this story because it backs up my own behavior. With gas prices skyrocketing I find myself biking for local errands, and I’ve begun to love it!

Nearly 70 percent of Americans’ car trips are less than two miles long. It’s a no-brainer that biking instead of driving to take care of these trips is a great way to get exercise while cutting air pollution.

Last week, the journal Environmental Health Perspectives published findings from a study by scientists at the University of Wisconsin on the economic and health benefits of switching from a car to a bike for trips shorter than five miles long in 11 metropolitan areas around the upper Midwest…they’d create a net societal health benefit of $3.5 billion per year from the increase in air quality and $3.8 billion in savings from smaller health care costs.

via Good – (thx to Amy Senger)

 

The full story via NPR’s Health Blog.

 

 

Gasoline use drops to 2001 levels – recent data shows

The following chart shows U.S. petroleum and gasoline usage for the same three-month period (Dec-Feb) going back to 1992.

Note that petroleum usage is back to 1995 levels, and gasoline usage is back to 2001.

Chart via Global Economic Analysis – (thx to Steven Witt for the tip)

 

This graph highlights a continuing U.S. trend where oil imports have also dropped to 13 year lows, and we are importing less than half of our oil.

Hey, nice sparkly pants – reddit has a new CEO – Yishan Wong

Hi everyone. My name is Yishan Wong, and this week I’m starting a new job. It turns out that this job is the CEO position at reddit.

At first, I didn’t really quite believe I was a serious candidate. It didn’t seem real, and I knew that I didn’t match the profile of what you might consider (or so I thought) a CEO candidate. I don’t have the polish and the poise and the schmoozing, and I don’t play golf.

Instead, I’m an engineer and a leader of engineers and I play Starcraft (poorly). But as I continued the conversations, I came to understand that reddit wasn’t looking for a conventional CEO candidate, because reddit is not a conventional company.

via blog.reddit

Some notes from the guaranteed to make-you-laugh comments:

CEO of reddit – Job Description:

  • Must like cats
    • must not dislike cats
      • Yishan: Cats are good. But, as it happens, I am a rabbit person. I used to have three pet rabbits (though one by one, they each passed on, but not before having lived a happy and carrot-and-raisin-filled life). I’ll try to find some pictures somewhere.
        • I think you ought to dress the rabbits up as cats. Just to be safe.

I really loved Gowalla – the site finally shuts down

Three months after the acquisition of Gowalla by Facebook, the company has officially closed it doors. The screenshot below can be found on the location startup turned travel guide‘s homepage.

Gowalla launched in 2009 and raised approximately $10 million. Facebook’s acquisition price hasn’t been disclosed but is rumored to be primarily Facebook stock.

via TNW

 

Early investor Jason Calacanis talks about the end of Gowalla.

 

 

Star Wars Identities – trailer – a character-driven adventure into Darth Vader

What forces shape you?

 

Get to know the characters of Star Wars™ on a whole new level.

Stunning costumes, models, and artwork from the films. A complete interactive immersion into the world of Star Wars.

Pick up your Lightsaber, your adventure awaits.
 

Also, view the poster art for the exhibit.