 |
 |
 |
 |
World News Once a Week |
|
 |
 |
| Published Thursday, November 29, 2007 |
|
 |
|
| Reuters/Nir Elias: Tourists snapping photos in Sanya, China |
Issue 76
How do you get to world peace? Practice, practice, practice. That's the strategy for Middle East leaders who are picking up the pieces from 2000 to work on a master plan for regional harmony. If old tricks don't work,
though, then it's time for a new game plan, according to Australian voters. Incoming PM Kevin Rudd is already changing up the Howard rulebook, dusting off ties with China and breaking with the US to embrace a greener future.
But while Canberra scored climate points, Japan got environmental demerits for exporting its pollution problems.
But is pollution the real problem? As humans, we like to think the world is made — and destroyed — by us alone. But as one
story of a jellyfish-on-fish massacre illustrates, we don't have a lock on eco-devastation. We plug deeper into the issue in this week's Q&A, to ask author Alan Weisman: "If the world ends and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?" Read on to find out.
- Catherine New |
|
|
 A Note on
Our Sources |
|
|
|
| The Activate Q&A |
 |
Looking at life after mankind
|
 |
| Photo courtesy of Thomas Dunne Books |
|
Environmental journalist Alan Weisman picked the perfect time to write The World Without Us (Thomas Dunne Books). In this era of going green and inconvenient truths, Weisman's book has struck a chord, landing on the
New York Times bestseller list and receiving widespread media attention.
The book's simple but effective premise: what would happen if human beings suddenly vanished off the face of the earth? Weisman
exhaustively documents the remnants of humanity that would linger long after we're gone (radio waves, plastics) and what would
vanish in short order (our houses). In doing so, he emphasizes just how significant our impact on this planet has been. Activate
spoke with Weisman to discuss the glut of books about the environment, why Chernobyl can be hopeful, and an odd invitation
from the government.
AT: What were your intentions going into this book? How much of it was an intellectual exercise?
AW: It was not an intellectual exercise by any means. I have been covering the environment for more than 20 years, and I did not
want to write yet one more environmental book. There are already so many good ones. And so many are not read widely or not
read by environmentally aware people, because people are in denial or in fear. They're overwhelmed, terrified. They don't
want to feel guilty about the fact that they're alive. This was a way of portraying world environmental issues that are all
connected, and writing about it so that a much wider audience would be interested; it wouldn't scare people to death right
off the bat. To get around this concern of, "We're all gonna die, " I killed everyone off in the beginning.
What would remain without us? How would the world perform and proceed without daily pressures? It's a really disarming way
to talk about the environment. People get a chance to glimpse the future. That's the reason I chose this approach to the material.
And ultimately, I did not write a book about a world without humans because I think the world should be without humans. I
think that humans have as much right to be on the planet as anything else. But it's clear that we've gotten out of balance.
By removing us and seeing how nature is capable of recuperating and healing and even dealing with some of our most intense
environmental challenges, I'm examining the problem in a different way. I think there's still hope. I wouldn't have written
the book if I didn't.
Keep reading the Q&A »
|
 BACK TO TOP |
|
|
| Top Stories |
|
Mideast talks begin with reserved optimism
|
|
Looking to score a diplomatic victory to cap off his presidency, President Bush hosted a consortium of Middle Eastern delegates in Annapolis, Maryland — including
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — who agreed to a framework, but not much else,
for Arab-Israeli peace talks next month. The topics of the talks will echo the last peace summit of 2000, including sharing Jerusalem, the structure of a new Palestinian state, and Palestinian refugees in Israel.
Bush said the goal was to reach a two-state solution in 2008. However, unrest by hardliners on both sides of the border, as well as participation in the talks by Saudi Arabia
(which does not recognize Israel), may monkey wrench any significant progress. (CN)
|
| BACK TO TOP |
Kevin Rudd new PM of Oz
|
|
Australians hung a hard left at the polls Saturday, ousting conservative leader John Howard. His replacement is Labour party chief Kevin Rudd, a devout Christian and China scholar who rose from obscurity to reinvigorate the opposition. Labour stands to gain at least
24 seats — one of the biggest political swings in Australian history.
The Labour party promises to change direction on issues ranging from Iraq (out) to the Kyoto Protocol (in), while maintaining some of Howard's conservative economic and immigration policies. Not everyone's thrilled with the
new prime minister, though — many credit Rudd's victory to his opponent's refusal to stand down, rather than his own merits. (ED)
|
| BACK TO TOP |
|
|
| Newswire |
|
|
|
| Politics |
|
Japan to buy carbon credits
Scrambling to meet its Kyoto Protocol commitments — a reduction of greenhouse emissions to 6% below 1990s levels — Japan is negotiating with Hungary to purchase
carbon credits. Critics say it's a cop out because Tokyo is not actually reducing emissions. (CN)
| MSNBC | International Herald Tribune |
Senator casts Lott elsewhere
Trent Lott, the Mississippi senator and Republican Minority Whip, announced that he'll retire at year's end, even though his term doesn't
expire until 2012. Insiders speculate that Lott is leaving to avoid lobbying restrictions that take effect in January. (BH)
| New York Times | US News & World Report |
Pakistan PM returns to challenge old foe
More wrinkles emerged in Pakistan's political saga as former PM Nawaz Sharif — ousted in 1999's military coup — returned from exile to challenge Pervez Musharraf in January elections. Meanwhile, Musharraf appeased critics and stepped
down as army chief on Wednesday. (CN)
| Globe & Mail | New York Times |
|
| Business |
|
Subprime lending has helped pot biz
Loose lending practices have had an unexpected result: a boom in marijuana growing houses in the Pacific Northwest. Unfettered by rigorous application processes, cash-rich growers have been able to purchase dozens of houses with risky loans. (CN)
| NPR | Wall Street Journal |
Abu Dhabi saves Citigroup
Hoping to survive recent mega-losses, the biggest bank in the US, Citigroup, got a bail out of $7.5 billion from the Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority. In the early '90s Citigroup was bailed out by a Saudi investor. (CN)
| International Herald Tribune | Al Jazeera |
|
| Science & Technology |
|
Reach out and touch someone
Amputees may one day regain a sense of touch through state-of-the-art bionic arms. Scientists have redirected nerves from the lost limbs of amputees to their chests, where they registered sensations.
Researchers hope to eventually link these sensations directly to prosthetic limbs. (BH)
| BBC | Deseret Morning News |
Game over for Nintendo in environment rankings
In its latest rankings of the electronic industry's environmental efforts, Greenpeace included video-game manufacturers for the first time — bad
news for Nintendo. The company received an unprecedented 0 out of 10 in all categories, including chemical management and
recycling. (BH)
| CNET | Kotaku |
|
|
| The Week in Pictures |
|
Click to see the full-size image and caption.
 Sukree Sukplang
 Paulo Whitaker
 Jo Yong hak
 Tony Gentile
 Fabrizio Bensch
|
*Unless otherwise noted, all photos are courtesy of Reuters.
|
|
|
| |
BACK TO TOP |
|
|
| Local Stories |
|
|
Irish salmon wiped out by rogue jellyfish
|
 |
| Hrvoje Tomic |
|
In a massive inter-species attack that marine biologists blame on warming oceans, billions of mauve stinger jellyfish have
destroyed the entire salmon stock of a farm in Northern Ireland. The swarm was unprecedented, since the jellyfish are normally
found only in the Mediterranean. (CN)
| Der Spiegel | Belfast Telegraph |
Cruise ship suffers near-Titanic collision
The Explorer, a cruise ship running an adventure tour, hit an iceberg and sank near Antarctica. The ship's 154 passengers had to endure hours in lifeboats surrounded by frigid water, but all ended well when a Norwegian
boat came to the rescue. (BH)
| Sydney Morning Herald | ABC News |
Sri Lankan elephant in jumbo court fight
Sri Lankan animal-rights activists are battling in the Supreme Court over the government's plan to send an elephant to an
Armenian zoo as a gift. Critics say that politicians seeking diplomatic leverage are flouting Sri Lanka's strict rules governing
its endangered species. (ED)
| Sunday Times, Sri Lanka | Blogian.com |
|
| BACK TO TOP |
|
|
|
|
|
| Masthead |
|
Editors
Anna Balkrishna
Benjamin Hart
Doug Levy
Gerry Mak
Catherine New
Contributors
Eli Dvorkin
Mark Mangan
Production
Anjuli Ayer
Morgan Croney
Andrew Steinmetz
Design
Nicholas Feldman
Jessica Bauer-Greene
|
A Note on Our Sources
A login may be required to view some of the news stories we link to. We try to keep
this to a minimum, but it's impossible to avoid entirely as we strive to link to the most authoritative sources.
It
should also be noted that we don't expressly endorse the views of any of the publications or websites that we link to. We
try to
provide as many varied and quality sources as we can in order to present you with the full story.
Contact Us
If you'd like to respond to our editors about a story published here, or comment on the magazine's
content more generally, please email feedback.
If you see a smart news story that you think should be included in Activate, email a link to articles,
and our editors will consider it.
Every week, Activate presents one exclusive media partner. Click for more information
about advertising opportunities on Activate and across all Flavorpill publications.
About Us
Activate is an independent-thinking weekly news round-up produced by Flavorpill, a digital publishing company that filters cultural stimuli of all
kinds.
[more » ]
In addition to this weekly roundup of
world news, Flavorpill also publishes ten other email magazines, covering ART, BOOKS, MUSIC, FASHION, and cultural events in six cities — NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO, CHICAGO, MIAMI, and LONDON.
|
|
|
| BACK TO TOP |
|
| © 2007 Flavorpill Productions LLC. All rights reserved. |
 |
|
 |
