Siemens' Study Acknowledges San Francisco as US City Leader in Sustainability

International corporation, Siemens, conducted a survey of 27 cities to quantify and stratify green/sustainable cities.  Among the 31 objective factors that the study reviewed, San Francisco has risen among the group as the official municipal green leader.

Metrics reviewed for the study included: CO2/capita, water consumption, recycling/capita, LEED-certified buildings, and other key objective measures.

The full study can be found here.

diplomatic adventures navigating renewable energy in japan

meeting with iwate-ken governor and senior advisors to discuss renewable energy initiatives in northern japan.

getting further detail from industry development director for iwate-ken.  a number of strong take-aways thus far:

• city of morioka –green initiatives
• iwate prefecture –dedication to advancing green technologies
• kowai closed-loop biomass facility–creating energy from organic matter discards
• city of ninohe –green initiatives and solar installations
• iwate hospital –energy efficiency, green roof, and solar initiative
• kashiwadai hydro-electric power station –in-line small hydro facility generating 13,100kw in the three stations, interesting to note: facility on national park land and strong efforts to keep visual impairment of facilities from public eye
• green power kuzumaki –wind farm in kuzumaki, energy self-sufficient town of 8,000 people by renewables
• kashiwadai kougen –biomass energy production for kougen facilities

clinton in copenhagen

sec of state clinton speaking at copenhagen yesterday. the effort may have swayed the drifting interests of several countries back toward a place of common ground.

ahh, yes...peaty goodness

my quest for understanding the complexities of single malt scotch has brought me back to revisit an old friend, laphroaig. after deliberation and analysis, i have decided that this is one of the finer single malts for my palate.

in particular, i relish the leathery, earthy, pungent richness of this cask strength whisky. the smokey peat deliciousness fills my senses with warmth and satisfies many a sensory cell.

in addition, i have now become an international land owner once again.

preview to the new economy

employment & unemployment statistics, reported by the bureau of labor statistics, november 2008



* unemployment rate: 6.7%

* number unemployed: 10.3 million

* total employment: 144.3 million

* teenage unemployment rate: 20.4%

* black or african american unemployment rate: 11.2%

* hispanic or latino unemployment rate: 8.8

* number unemployed in 2008 increased by 1.8 million

just a bunch of whiny bitches

astronomers have discovered that the earth emits awful, ear-piercing chirps and whistles that could be heard by any aliens who might be listening. the sounds are created by charged particles from the solar wind colliding with earth's magnetic field.

fore!

in such a humane gesture, our friend gee-dub
decided to
quit playing golf because of the iraq occupation.

in such a saintly vow, i am not sure why we don't exonerate him for such a chaste act of nobility.

international path of the olympic torch

lotsa matzah!

enough to stop your bowels for a whole year!

fermented grains

a local tasting judge of the 2008 world beer cup donated a hair over 3 cases of domestics and fantastic brews from around the globe earlier this week. thus far, i have sampled a german-style japanese craft and a danish ale. many more entertaining evenings sipping frothy foam from faraway lands in the forthcoming future.

flea market

this past weekend, we took in a cultural phenomena,
the mile high flea market.

a fantastical assortment of sights, sounds, multicultural exchange, and over production of petrochemical products. overall, this bizzare was a good time. if we are ever compelled to rake in some well past-prime produce, damaged goods recovered from along the supply chain, or a neon pink ten-gallon hat for 3bucks--we'll head back. until then, it will anchor our memories as an interesting deluge on a saturday in march 2008.

summer olympics 2008, 100% chance of thick dark clouds

with the echoed concerns from athletes and other stakeholders in the upcoming summer olympic games in bejing, there poses a great opportunity to change the global perspective on the effects of mass production without suitable sanctions.

up until this point, i have only heard of the world's athletes being concerned about the air quality in china and how it will effect them and their performance. while they are addressing the air pollution of the region, it seems to me that we are merely looking at a symptom of the thick smog and not at the root cause as to why it is there.

namely, it is the world's dependence on inexpensive chinese labor and production costs, paired with the country's lack of environmental-protective legislation, that is the actual cause of their looming, noxious airborne particulate blanket. are we, the greedy middlemen countries not to blame in a large degree? it is by our hunger for cheap plastic widgets made via outsourced contracts to a developing nation from which we are to blame. do we so daftly not recall that the byproduct of industrialization is similar to the problems that we found when we took pride in producing goods? choked airways, acid rain, and rivers filled with so much toxic debris that they spontaneously combust?

we, the demand for these consumer goods, need to take responsibility for the glaring problem at hand. we have all read about it in the news, yet situations always change when you've got a front row seat. this can be no longer a nimby (not in my back yard) situation. we realize that our behaviors collectively create an environmental reaction--positive or negative.

i strongly believe that the '08 summer olympics pose a ripe opportunity for our world leaders who import from china to take a step up and assume responsibility for the destruction that we have second-handedly caused. this is an opportunity to take stand toward unilateral environmental awareness and action--not to simply turn our backs to an epidemic that we have influenced through marketplace demand by thinking that we have the right to up turn our noses. we have the opportunity to organize the world around this issue and create solutions for lasting change. who will lead the way?

headlines

how many times have we seen headlines like this?
"dozens killed in worst baghdad attack in months"

ethically perplexed

it was only a matter of time before we reached the point of cloning human embryos in a relatively convenient manner.

it troubles me to a great extent to consider a future where clones are a fact of life. frankly, what troubles me even more than the concept of drones walking amongst us, but rather who determines who gets cloned.

my mind, struggling to grasp this vision, turns to thoughts of star wars and the masses of storm troopers who were to be spawn from replicated clones for military forces. without strict oversight, who is to say that the offspring of cloning could not go this direction? or would we elect to create clones for our world labor force? perhaps we can genetically mutate a cadre of clones to be dependent upon breathing carbon and exhaling oxygen, drinking toxic fluids and expelling pure water, and their skin with neutralizing oils and the innate desire to bathe in a quagmire of chemicals, only to eradicate the toxicity level?

i-ran

so the u.s. sent 3 naval warships into the persian gulf last weekend. geez, and for some reason, the iranians counteracted by sending out 5 speedboats (yes, speedboats) to head off the naval cruisers and tell them to get out of their neighborhood.





what i don't quite understand is how we have the audacity to say that this counteraction was a "provocative act" and aggressive on behalf of the iranians.





are you to tell me that if 3 armed naval vessels from a major army that comes barreling in off the coast of los angeles or the gulf of mexico or new york bay--we wouldn't send out exploratory boats to head them off and tell them to go away? and to pair apples with apples, this major army has also invaded and occupied a neighboring country for the past 5 years. logically, would we not act in the same way?





i believe that this "us and them" philosophy is archaic. to achieve our goals of world stability and peaceful living, we need to create more international dialog and step out of the ideology that in order to attain peace we must wage war.





nyt article and reuters.

inane counteraction

what is the opposite of progressive environmental legislation?


this bush-led epa bill that prevents states from accomplishing emissions standards that should be championed by the epa in the first place.

it is a sad, sad day.

u.s. representatives at bali enviro talks

"wyoming, the most sparsely populated state in the u.s. with only 510,000 people, emits more carbon dioxide than 69 developing countries that are home to 357 million."


our habits of excess asphyxiate our very nature. some of our elected officials are speaking out to the global community about state sanctions and public interest, despite the current administration's asinine view.