GlobeNews 1999 Summer Special Vol.1, No.1 Welcome! Kahl Consultants is proud to present GlobeNews, a newsletter for the global citizen. We keep you abreast of events around the globe, covering global trends, politics, travel, society, technology and the environment. Definitely NOT your average nine o'clock news. KC News is a free service of Kahl Consultants. Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. Visit us at http://www.kahl.net To continue receiving; do nothing, you are on our list. To add someone or to stop receiving; send email. ================== And The Good News Is... ================== GLOBAL WIND ENERGY AT 10,000 MEGAWATTS! --------------------------------------------------------------- In May 1999 the total of worldwide wind electric generating capacity surged past 10,000 megawatts (MW). That's TEN GIGAWATTS! This equates to more than $10 billion worth of equipment. And it is only a prelude to the dramatic growth expected during the early decades of the 21st Century. Climate change, dwindling fossil fuel supplies, and an ever-increasing population are inextricably linked to the future of energy production. Wind energy can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, preserve valuable fossil fuel reserves for specialized uses and help poorer rural countries develop without resorting to polluting technology. In 1999 alone wind capacity in the U.S. is expected to jump by nearly 50 percent. Today, the cost of electricity from wind generation is about one-sixth what it was in the early 1980s, and further reductions are expected over the next decade. Industry analysts see the cost dropping by an additional 20 percent to 40 percent by 2005. Wind energy is recognized as THE renewable technology of choice because of its cost competitiveness and strong public appeal. BRITS LAUNCH SPACE-BASED CLIMATE STUDIES ---------------------------------------------------------------- British scientists will head the first phase of a $640 million project that is "the biggest investigation into the Earth's climate yet undertaken." The European Space Agency's Living Planet program will use orbiting satellites to study the global climate system, collecting data that could help predict natural disasters and "show the effects of global warming." The first mission, announced yesterday, will be a three-year effort to examine the polar ice caps, led by Duncan Wingham of University College London. The next mission will investigate the amount of moisture and salt in the soil. ========= GlobalSites ========= HEY, THAT'S MY HOUSE! -------------------------------- Anyone who has checked out the TerraServer has had the opportunity to utter these words. Assuming of course that they live in the inhabited areas of this planet that are covered by this grandest of global mapping projects. The detailed satellite photography in this humongous database covers much of the United States and Germany, as well as scattered bit of Europe and the rest of the planet. Who could come up with such a massive project? None other than the so-called Evil Empire, better known as Microsoft. Is this a kinder, gentler side of this multinational megacorporation? Or is it yet another plot to take over the planet? Whatever the case, the shots from space of our planet are spectacular. but dont' take my word for it - see for yourself: http://terraserver.microsoft.com LIFE IS ROUGH ------------------- Have the terraserver photos given you the travel bug? Then you need a Rough Guide. I just picked up the San Francisco Rough Guide and in less than an hour of bedtime reading I learned so much more about this wonderful city that I call home. Start your own journey at their website. You can spend hours alone just surfing from one place to another. Or you can pick the guide you need for your next real trip abroad. Their Featured Countries and Cities lists just keeps on growing! Check for the latest guides: http://travel.roughguides.com AMAZON.COM ------------------ In association with Amazon.com we offer you dirt cheap books and music. Grab some Travel Guides for 20% off or more! But please use this link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/kahlconsultants === Y2K === Only 2 seasons to go until Y2K. Big deal, right? Check out the UTNE READER ONLINE Y2K Citizen's Action Guide. It's right here: http://www.utne.com/y2k/ Oh, and get this: The Y2K Community Task Force in Bakersfield, CA, wants the City Council to suspend a city ordinance that prohibits chickens in most residential neighborhoods. This way residents can keep the fowl in their back yards for food "if the year 2000 computer glitch renders grocery store poultry and meat freezers useless". :) ========= GlobeNews ========= SPACE GOES GLOBAL ---------------------------- Space shuttle astronauts recently delivered supplies for the International Space Station (ISS). Stuff like tools, spare parts, computers, water, clothes and even exit signs ready to be fitted. The will make the ISS habitable for its first residents who arrive in March 2000. The $60 Billion ISS construction programme is the first truly international space mission. It brings the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and Brazil together with the 11 members of the European Space Agency. It is due to be completed by 2005 after an estimated 158 more spacewalks. In the meantime, the Mir Space Station will probably be abandoned in August according to the Russian Space Agency. The reason? Lack of funding. Mir's most likely fate? It will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in February or March 2000. BLATANT AD ------------------ If you are interested in space and astronomy be sure to subscribe to AstroNews, another free newsletter from Kahl Consultants. Just beam your request to: kahl-@-kahl.net DOLLAR GOES NATIVE ------------------------------ By now some of you may have already seen some of the new quarters in circulation in the US. Commemorating each of the states of the union, a total of 50 coins will be issues in the next 10 years (5 per annum). But did you know that a new DOLLAR COIN is coming out soon? Sometime next summer the new gold-colored dollar coin will go into circulation. You'll be surprised to know that a native American woman will grace the coin! Anyone remember Sacagawea? She was the 15 year-old Shoshone interpreter who from 1804 to 1806 accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition from St. Louis through the Northern Great Plains to the Pacific Ocean and back. Sacagawea was largely responsible for the success of the expedition. She provided navigational, diplomatic, and translating skills and taught the explorers how to find edible roots and plants previously unknown to European-Americans. With her infant son bound to her back, she single-handedly rescued Captain Clark's journals from the Missouri whitewater when their boat capsized. If she had not, much of the record of the first year of the expedition would have been lost to history. Sacagawea and her infant served as a 'white flag' of peace for the expedition. Oh, and she is also the American woman with the most statues in her honor. Read what the United States Mint has to say: http://www.usmint.gov/dollarcoin ========== !!GlobeAlert!! ========== WATCHING WONT CUT IT FOR SOME ------------------------------------------------ At their annual meeting The International Whaling Commission reaffirmed its jurisdiction over regulation and protection of whales by asking the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) "not to change the status of any whales until the commission gives permission". This also "underlined" the isolation of pro-whaling countries Japan and Norway Japan and seven other countries had walked out of the meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Grenada after a resolution was tabled urging Japan to reduce its hunting quota of dall porpoise. Japan declared it would not change its policy on hunting dall porpoises but rejoined the meeting later. "A fish diet is part of the Japanese way of life, just as beef is for other cultures," he said. "We are going to continue to kill Dall's porpoises just like you kill cows." Conservationists say the Dall's hunt is the largest slaughter of whales, dolphins or porpoises in the world. OH GIVE ME A HOME --------------------------- Preserving and restoring prairies "has become an urgent theme" across the Midwest United States, as many developments and park proposals focusing on prairie land are cropping up across the region. Though environmentalists welcome the increased attention prairies are getting, they worry the boom in "reconstructed" prairies will divert attention away from the loss of untouched prairies. Up to 99% of the tall-grass prairie "that once cloaked the Midwest" has been plowed or paved over, and about 80% of short-grass prairies is also gone. Save on Calls with Calling Cards ------------------------------------- Do you travel much? Then get the VoiceNet calling card! For example, any domestic call from any phone in the USA for only 17.5 cents/min! No more expensive calls! We've chosen to market these calling cards because it's the best deal we could find! Check out this offer AND MANY MORE! Visit your agent Alex Kahl at GlobalCom: http://www.kahl.net/global ====== NetTips ====== I'VE GOT SUNSHINE ------------------------- By now you probably know about the NetTools available from Kahl Consultants. Did you know that they also include the Kahl.net Weather Report? It's your first stop on the web when you are curious about the weather. Local, national, global, it's all there. So get your weather report from Kahl.net: http://www.kahl.net/weather Thanks to all who wrote in their comments. Send us your questions for the 7/99 edition of GlobeNews. Email: kahl-@-kahl.net Cheers, Alex Kahl Consultants http://www.kahl.net THE PLUG ======== How has your small business or organization been performing lately? Are you happy with your work? Let Kahl Consultants help you. Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. If you got this far you obviously enjoyed GlobeNews. Pass it on! Please forward it to a handful of your friends. Remember, the best things in life are free. THE PUNCH LINE ============== AT THE COPACABANA ----------------------------- Recent pollution problems at Rio De Janeiro's beaches have delivered a "body blow" to the city's image as "the marvelous city." In January, a sewer line collapsed, forcing the government to dump tons of raw sewage close to shore while the line was repaired. Then in April, sewage poured from burst pipes, forcing the closure of many of Rio's famous southern beaches.