U.S. Debt Clock runs out of digits

The U.S. National Debt Clock has run out of digits as the debt has more than doubled under George W. Bush. It’s now over ten trillion U.S. dollars. For now, the dollar sign is being replaced with a 1.

In the new year,the sign will be replaced by one with more digits for the total debt and for each person’s share, now over $80,000.

Perhaps Douglas Durst, son of the late Seymour Durst - the clock’s inventor - will take advantage of the change to choose some other colour scheme than white on light blue.

Will Allen, urban farmer

Will Allen, urban farmer

Will Allen inspires us as he develops ways of farming in urban communities and teaches them ot others. He has recently been awarded a MacArthur Foundation grant. Go, Will!

In 1995, while assisting neighborhood children with a gardening project, Allen began developing the farming methods and educational programs that are now the hallmark of the non-profit organization Growing Power, which he directs and co-founded. Guiding all is his efforts is the recognition that the unhealthy diets of low-income, urban populations, and such related health problems as obesity and diabetes, largely are attributable to limited access to safe and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Rather than embracing the “back to the land” approach promoted by many within the sustainable agriculture movement, Allen’s holistic farming model incorporates both cultivating foodstuffs and designing food distribution networks in an urban setting. Through a novel synthesis of a variety of low-cost farming technologies – including use of raised beds, aquaculture, vermiculture, and heating greenhouses through composting – Growing Power produces vast amounts of food year-round at its main farming site, two acres of land located within Milwaukee’s city limits.

Recently, cultivation of produce and livestock has begun at other urban and rural sites in and around Milwaukee and Chicago. Over the last decade, Allen has expanded Growing Power’s initiatives through partnerships with local organizations and activities such as the Farm-City Market Basket Program...

Read more.

Free detainees held with no charges, bail

Raja Petra Kamaruddin, blogger

It could happen to you. If you lived in Malaysia. There’s a petition. from citizens and friends of Malaysia in the international community:

We, citizens and friends of Malaysia from the international community, call upon Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia, to act immediately to set free Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Teresa Kok who are presently being held in detention without the right of due process under the Internal Security Act (ISA). We also call for the release of the HINDRAF Five and others presently imprisoned under the ISA.

The two latest detainees - together with Tan Hoon Cheng, a newspaper reporter who was subsequently released following widespread local outrage and protests - were arrested on September 12th under the draconian ISA which permits the police to detain a person for a maximum of 60 days for investigations. Based on the outcome of the investigations, a person can be detained for two years without trial. The two-year term can be renewed indefinitely. The use of such legislation – a legacy of British colonial rule - violates the basic rights of detainees to due process and fair rule of law. [Sounds familiar, doesn't it?]

We are of the opinion that there is no basis whatsoever to justify the detention of these individuals, despite the manner in which some in the government-controlled mainstream media may have painted them as threats instead of objectively reporting the facts. Raja Petra Kamaruddin is alleged to be a threat to security, peace and public order as a result of posting in his widely followed blogsite – www.Malaysia-Today – various articles deemed as seditious and belittling Islam. In his defence, it should be noted that various Islamic political parties and organizations (including the Board of Directors, Muslim Professionals Forum in their Press Release on 13 September) as well as numerous Muslim leaders have publicly refuted the Government’s view that the writings of Raja Petra are in any way a threat to the nation or to Islam; and they have called for his release. Further proof that this allegation is unfounded can also be found in the decision of the Malaysian Cabinet on 12 September ordering the authorities responsible for Internet policing in the country to unblock public access to Raja Petra’s website. The website currently is still unblocked and the so-called seditious and anti-national contents are publicly accessible, although Raja Petra is in detention. Targeting an internet blogger who holds views that differ from the Government is unacceptable in any system of democracy.

Teresa Kok’s arrest under the ISA has been justified by the authorities as stemming from her involvement in activities which can cause tension and conflict among races and religions. This allegation appears to be based on a claim by the former Selangor Menteri Besar, Dr. Khir Toyo, that she organized a petition presented to mosque officials to lower the volume of the azan (call to prayer). Teresa Kok has categorically denied organizing any such petition. Abdul Rahman Nasir, head of the Masjid Kinrara committee (the mosque in question) and Dr Siti Mariah, Member of Parliament for Kota Raja where the mosque is situated, have also denied that Teresa Kok was involved in any such happening. The unjustified arrest of a respected member of parliament and state assemblywoman is unacceptable.

We are encouraged that various leaders of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition parties have recently spoken out against the use of the ISA. We wish to express our deep respect for the de facto Law Minister, Zaid Ibrahim, who has resigned in protest against the Government’s use of the ISA on the three individuals. We agree with his view that “there [are] ample punitive laws to act against lawbreakers without having to invoke the ISA. [The law] should only be used on armed terrorists or those out to topple the government by force,”

We urge the Prime Minister to take note that the continued detention of Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Teresa Kok will only strengthen the view of Malaysians and many friends of Malaysia around the world that the Government is rapidly losing control over the political situation and, as a result, is embarking on desperate authoritarian measures. These measures can only further undermine political stability and confidence in the legitimacy of BN rule. They will also undoubtedly contribute to the increasing capital flight and worsen the growing socio-economic turmoil.

The arrests of Teresa Kok and Raja Petra Kamaruddin and their detention under the ISA are not serving Malaysia’s national interests. Both detainees – as well as the HINDRAF Five and other political detainees - should be released immediately and unconditionally.

Vietnamese mossy frog

NGSM-frogs-Vietnamese-mossy-frog-10, originally uploaded by monado.

There are six or seven frogs in this picture but they have “some of the best camouflage in the animal kingdom,” according to the exhibit’s sign.

As usual with frogs, camouflage serves a dual purpose: to let the frogs hide from their enemies and from their prey.

There’s an extra picture at Biological Ramblings: Herp Education Program as well as a lovely landscaped “Gaia the turtle.”

The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has a Virtual Field Trip to Vietnam to search for these frogs.

Albatross perils

In a clash between the modern world and instinct, albatrosses bring pieces of plastic to their young. We hypothesize that if the only hard, crunchy things around were seashells, the nestlings would be getting their calcium. Instead, many of them die, guts stuffed with plastic trash. Tragic.

A study in 2001 found that there is six times as much plastic as zooplankton:

No place is free of it.

Beige plastics are eaten by krill-eaters. Plastic pellets a (”nurdles”) re eaten by animals that look for fish eggs. The nurdles concentrate PCBs and pesticides.

The North Pacific Gyre concentrates floating garbage:

Read “Altered Oceans: A Plague of Plastic Chokes the Oceans.”

Watching the Olympics

Semifinals, men's 200m freestyle, Brent Hayden & Colin Russell of Canada

Lots of swimming.

Rowing and sculling, all-around free calisthenics, pommel horse, balance beam, uneven bars. Men’s all-around calisthenics with parallel bars and rings. Sychronized diving… Sychronized diving???

Bike races for men and women: hot, damp, filthy air, then rain.

Conservative Canada speaks up against preventing HIV

Way to go, Conservatives. You’ve shown once again that stellar lack of compassion that characterizes the “Christian right wing” party in power. Canada’s Health Minister, Tony Clemente, denied his surname “merciful” and came down on the side of punishing HIV victims‘ families and associates. He doesn’t like safe injection sites because they condone drug use. No matter that the World Health Organization has shown that they save lives. They don’t sound the proper moral note: that trumps actually saving lives in the twisted logic of a Conservative mind.

Hiroshima

It’s that time of year again. The anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with their horrific toll of civilian deaths, devastating burns, and lingering radiation sickness, are upon us again.

A burned victim of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima

Quarkscrew: “Struck by lightning”

I had a scary near miss a couple of months ago. Clouds were gathering and thunder was grumbling a couple of miles away. Suddenly, sizzle-spit-CRACK! a bolt of lightning sounded right overhead. I don’t know how far away it was but it was too close, when I could hear it ionizing the air above me.

B. T. Murtagh at Quarkscrew has been struck four times by lightning and luckily, does not seem to have taken any permanent harm. He does say it hurts. He links to a video of a storm.

Piping plovers return to Wasaga Beach

For four years now, piping plovers have nested at one end of a popular beach resort in Ontario. Wasaga Beach, better known for its parties than its birds, is leaving half a kilometer ungroomed so that it reverts to its natural state and provides a home for these endangered birds. Read “Piping plovers at Wasaga Beach.”

The new Weather Underground

If you’re a fan of local weather, the Weather Underground might interest you. The Toronto page gives the weather conditions at various intersections and neighbourhoods around town.

U.S. affirms habeas corpus (barely)

The U.S. supreme court has narrowly confirmed that political prisoners in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay shall have the right of habeus corpus. It means that there must actually be a case against them for them to be held. Read “A Mockery of Justice.”

Burma after the cyclone

Two months have passed since a devastating cyclone hit Burma and the government turned away 90% of the people who wanted to help, forbid Buddhist monks from helping and even told its secular citizens not to volunteer. All help must come from the government and the army. Meanwhile, people have lost their supplies of clean water and of food. So what’s going on now? The BBC reports.

Happy Dominion Day!

Or Canada Day, as it’s now called. But I like Dominion Day. Canada was the first Dominion in the British Commonwealth. It’s a free country separated from Britain by negotiation, not revolution.

The flag image is from Wade Penner’s site, Canflag.com. Wade is looking for work as a computer programmer.

North Korea destroys nuclear power plant

North Korea is repudiating at least one road to nuclear power by destroying its nuclear power plant at Yongbyon.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (CNN) — North Korea on Friday destroyed a water cooling tower at a facility where officials acknowledge they extracted plutonium to build nuclear weapons, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reported from the scene.

The massive implosion, which came at about 5pm local time Friday at the Yongbyon facility, was intended to be a powerful public symbol of a move to end nuclear activities by the Communist nation….

The destruction of the highly visible symbol of North Korea’s long-secret nuclear program came just a day after the country released details of its program.

A signal flare gave a three-minute warning as U.S. State Department officials and observers from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) watched from a reviewing stand.

“This is a very significant disablement step,” the U.S. envoy to North Korea, Sung Kim, said.

Nuclear experts say that the plant’s destroyed central water-cooling tower would take a year or longer to rebuild if North Korea were to try using the plant again.

“This is a critical piece of equipment for the nuclear reactor,” said analyst John Wolfsthal, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who has been following North Korea since the 1980s. “Without this facility, the reactor can’t operate and can’t produce more plutonium for weapons.”

North Korea has been dismantling other parts of the facility under the watchful eyes of representatives of the five other nations, including the U.S., that have been involved in six-party talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

On Thursday, North Korean officials turned over to China a 60-page declaration, written in English, that details several rounds of plutonium production at the Yongbyon plant dating back to 1986.

In it, North Korea acknowledges producing roughly 40 kilograms of enriched plutonium — enough for about seven nuclear bombs, according to the U.S. State Department.

In response, Bush said he would lift some U.S. sanctions against North Korea and remove the country from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.