GlobeNews Summer 2001 Special Vol.2, No.7 Global citizen! Keep on top of events around the world: trends, politics, travel, society, environment, technology. Not your nine o'clock news. GlobeNews by Kahl Consultants. To add someone to the mailing list or to stop receiving, send email: globenews-@-kahl.net CONTENTS: WTC NY 9-11 BALONEY DETECTION KIT - PART THREE DRINK WATER! WORLD'S LARGEST WIND PLANT CHARITY FOR THE PLANET THE HIDDEN LIFE OF CUT FLOWERS DIVERSITY DECLINE MUSIC DATA NEWS WE'LL NEVER READ ========== GLOBESITES ========== WTC NY 9-11 ~~~~~~~~~~ The events of September 11, 2001 have changed the world. We have a site that is dedicated to this matter: WTC NY Tribute http://www.worldtradecenter-newyork.com ============ !!GLOBALERT!! ============ BALONEY DETECTION KIT - PART THREE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ways for testing arguments and detecting false or fraudulent arguments. Third in a series. COMMON FALLACIES OF LOGIC AND RHETORIC: * Statistics of small numbers (such as drawing conclusions from inadequate sample sizes). * Misunderstanding the nature of statistics (President Eisenhower expressing astonishment and alarm on discovering that fully half of all Americans have below average intelligence!) * Inconsistency (e.g. military expenditures based on worst case scenarios but scientific projections on environmental dangers thriftily ignored because they are not "proved"). * Non sequitur - "it does not follow" - the logic falls down. * Post hoc, ergo propter hoc - "it happened after so it was caused by" - confusion of cause and effect. * Meaningless question ("what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?). * Excluded middle - considering only the two extremes in a range of possibilities (making the "other side" look worse than it really is). * Short-term v. long-term - a subset of excluded middle ("why pursue fundamental science when we have so huge a budget deficit?"). * Slippery slope - a subset of excluded middle - unwarranted extrapolation of the effects (give an inch and they will take a mile). * Confusion of correlation and causation. * Caricaturing (or stereotyping) a position to make it easier to attack. * Suppressed evidence or half-truths. * Weasel words - for example, use of euphemisms for war such as "police action" to get around limitations on Presidential powers. "An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public" [Source: http://www.carlsagan.com] NEW GLOBALCOM WEB-ENABLED CALLING CARD -------------------------------------------------------------- GLOBALCOM only recommends products that we personally use, like this incredible new CALLING CARD. It's called Click4Prepaid and it is the best prepaid long distance service! The neat thing is that it works via the web. Check out all the neat features. And the best thing about it is the prices! SAMPLE RATES from any US phone: * 5.5¢ per minute USA and Canada * 6¢ per minute to Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, UK * 16.5¢ per minute to Philippines * 7¢ Connect fee per call * Works worldwide (via web enabled CALLBACK)! * No Monthly Fees! No Hidden Fees! Get Click4Prepaid from GLOBALCOM: http://www.kahl.net/global/ DRINK WATER! ~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Thanks Scot!] 1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. ?(Likely applies to half of the world population) 2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger. 3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%. 4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a U-Washington study. 5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. 6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers. 7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page. 8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day? KC TECHSHOP ----------------- Shop at the TechShop! * MONEY-SAVING RANKINGS Best sites for comparison shopping and reviews. * "SWEET SPOT" SHOPPING LISTS DESKTOPs and LAPTOPs. Best price-to-quality! * GREEN PC Section Helps you save energy. SUMMER DEAL$: Cambridge SoundWorks Speakers - compact 3 piece incl. subwoofer ONLY: $40 Brother Fax & Answering Machine - 25 pg memory, plain paper 8 ppm, 54 # Autodial ONLY: $100 Hardware or software, deals on technology: http://www.kahl.net/shopping ============== THE GOOD NEWS ============== WORLD'S LARGEST WIND PLANT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The world's largest single wind energy development is rising along the Washington-Oregon border southwest of Walla Walla, Wash. At 300 megawatts, the Stateline Wind Generating Project will provide a boost of renewable electricity to the energy-starved West. More than 450 wind turbines will produce electricity to serve 70,000 homes. Wind powered energy is both cost-competitive with gas, and friendlier to the environment. FPL Energy is the largest developer and operator of wind energy facilities in the USA with more than 1,000 megawatts of wind turbines in operation or construction in seven states. The Walla Walla Planning Commission on November 15, 2000, approved permitting for the Washington portion following a rigorous review process and full Environmental Impact Study, which included thorough avian, botanical and cultural resource studies. It is estimated the project will add millions in revenue to the local economy and create an average of 150 construction jobs with a peak need of 350 workers. FPL Group is on the net at: http://www.fpl.com. ========= GlobeNews ========= CHARITY FOR THE PLANET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did you know that a $4.8 BILLION foundation in Philadelphia called the PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS is the largest grant maker to environmental causes. They control much more than purse strings. Pew has been serving behind-the-scenes on highly visible campaigns to preserve national forests and combat global warming. Some money goes to long-established groups, some to it's own organizations, like the National Environmental Trust and the Heritage Forest Campaign. Financing by wealthy foundations supports environmental groups that depend heavily on donations for things like land acquisition and scientific research. But with its deep pockets and focus on aggressive political advocacy, Pew is not only the most important new player but also the most controversial, among fellow environmentalists and its opponents in industry. "I don't think you make social change happen on the basis of paid staff in Washington and paid ads anywhere," Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope said, referring to the Pew groups' top-down management. The Sierra Club, the largest environmental organization, has applied for Pew grants but has never been successful. The groups are more or less united on the issues but differ in style. With 700,000 members, the Sierra Club has many grass-roots constituents to please, while Pew's approach is focused on the issues that the managers in Philadelphia deem ripe for intervention. For example, forest protection is one of many areas of concern for the Sierra Club. The issue is one of three areas identified by Pew for intensive attention. The others are global warming and marine conservation. Pew's execs and supporters say traditional organizations fear being eclipsed by Pew. Other foundations feel threatened by its willingness to jump into the political fray. "If you ride the ridges, you get shot at more often than if you stay in the valleys," Joshua W. Reichert, Pew's powerful director of environmental programs, said. With $52 million to spend on environmental causes this year, Pew tries to articulate a single voice — that of the trust and, in particular, Mr. Reichert. The Pew Trusts were established by descendants of Joseph N. Pew, founder of Sun Oil Company. Main areas of attention include culture, education, journalism programs, health, public policy and religion. But under Mr. Reichert, 51, a social anthropologist with a background in environmental protection, the organization has shifted its attention to trying to advance a particular policy and has quintupled environmental program spending since 1990. It helped generate a million public comments last year in favor of the Clinton administration's forest-protection plan. Mr. Reichert, who keeps a low profile, has been so dominant in overseeing Pew-backed campaigns that the officials of the groups it finances typically refer to the foundation as "he." As a nonprofit Pew stops short of lobbying and supporting candidates for office, something that groups like the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, which do not have nonprofit status, are permitted to do. Pew advocates specific causes in many ways including full-page newspaper ads. Pew saw its endowment soar in the 1990's. To remain tax-exempt it increased grants proportionately to $236 million last year (from $147 million in 1990). Environmental programs grew fastest, to $52 million last year from $11 million in 1990. Its beneficiaries include long-established groups, like American Rivers Inc., Ducks Unlimited and the Wilderness Society. The largest recipients are new groups like: - National Environmental Trust: created 1995, received $6 million last year to be Pew's voice in Washington. - Pew Center on Global Climate Change: founded 1998, includes industry reps, received more than $5 million last year. - Heritage Forests Campaign: established by Pew in 1998, received $10 million. Private foundations spend more than $700 million a year on grants related to the environment and animals, a 350 percent increase since 1990. Here's a ranking of donations related to environment and animals: - David and Lucile Packard Foundation: $82.5 million - Ford Foundation: $31 million - Robert W. Woodruff Foundation: $27.9 million - W. Alton Jones Foundation: $23.9 million [Source: NYT Article by DOUGLAS JEHL] http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/28/national/28PEW.html?ex=994749279&ei=1&en=8cab6bf70dd8dc2b LOFTY ADVERTISEMENT Interested in space, astronomy and extraterrestrial news? GET ASTRONEWS FOR FREE! Another informative Kahl Consultants e-zine. Beam your request to: astronews-@-kahl.net ============= FUTURE IS NOW ============= DIVERSITY DECLINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ever hear someone speak Udihe, Eyak, or Arikapu? Chances are you never will. The world has 6,800 languages. But 50 - 90 percent could be extinct by 2100. One reason: half of all languages are spoken by fewer than 2,500 people each. Languages need 100,000 speakers to pass from generation to generation, says UNESCO. Other reasons: war, genocide, natural disasters, adoption of dominant languages (such as Chinese and Russian), and government bans on language. The outlook for Udihe, Eyak, and Arikapu - spoken in Siberia, Alaska and the Amazon jungle, respectively - is particularly bleak. 100 people speak Udihe, six speak Arikapu, and Eyak is down to one. Marie Smith, from Prince William Sound in Alaska, is thought to be the last speaker of Eyak, in which 'awa'ahdah means "thank you." It's becoming a struggle, too, to find many who can say "thank you" in the Navajo language of the American Indian tribe (ahehee), "hello" in the Maori language of New Zealand (kia ora), or rattle off the proud Cornish saying: "Me na vyn cows Sawsnak!" (I will not speak English!). The losses ripple far beyond the affected communities. When a language dies, linguists, anthropologists and others lose rich sources of material for their work documenting a people's history, finding out what they knew and tracking their movements from region to region. That languages die isn't new; thousands are believed to have disappeared already. What's new? The accelerated rate at which they are disappearing. Countries facing the highest rates of extinction are Australia (138 languages going extinct) and the USA (67 languages). But some languagesa are making a comeback. Hawaiians created the 'Aha Punana Leo organization to reintroduce their native language. The language nearly became extinct when the USA banned teaching students in Hawaiian in 1898. This effort has paid off. 10,000 Hawaiians currently speak their native tongue, up from fewer than 1,000 in 1983. Cultural Diversity = Ecological Diversity Indigenous, tribal and traditional peoples conserve the Earth's biological diversity. They do so through their traditional knowledge about local environments, flora, fauna, and ecosystem dynamics. Their very survival as distinct peoples depends on the health of environments from which they draw sustenance. So these peoples are stakeholders in the elaboration and implementation of conservation plans affecting their lands, territories, and resources. Language loss means culture loss. Language is the primary carrier of knowledge. Therefore, with languages, associated traditional knowledge disappears as well. We are especially worried about the loss of traditional ecological knowledge, that is knowledge that indigenous and traditional peoples possess about plants, animals, weather, waters, soil, and ecological relationships and dynamics. ====== NetTips ====== MUSIC DATA ~~~~~~~~~~~ Need to know more about a certain song, a certain band, a type of music? These sites have an incredible amount of MUSIC DATA! All Music Guide: http://www.allmusic.com/ Artist Direct: http://artistdirect.com/ Thanks to all who wrote in their comments. Send us your questions for the next edition of GlobeNews. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GlobeNews by Kahl Consultants Visit us: http://www.kahl.net Email GlobeNews: globenews-@-kahl.net SUBSCRIBE: subglobenews-@-kahl.net Unsubscribe: unsubglobenews-@-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 ============== NEWS WE'LL NEVER READ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to the April Index of Important Indicators, America's pressure for greater material consumption has continued to lessen. Government, union, and business leaders reacted with relief. "Thank heavens slack has finally been reintroduced to the system," said the President. "We're still overconsuming by enormous amounts, but we've begun to slow it down." Union and business leaders moved forward with their plans to reduce the workweek in additional industries. Parents have been encouraged to use the additional time to help their children with homework and athletics. "The situation back at the turn of the century was insane," commented one union leader. "We allowed the existence of pools of unemployed people, terrifying workers that they'd lose their jobs if they demanded reasonable wages. Meanwhile, those unlucky enough to be totally unemployed had no resources with which to make good use of their time. Now we've finally figured out that unemployment, when spread evenly, is really extra leisure time. Sure, our take-home's are a bit lower, but we have our lives back." The "If It's Working, Let it Be" publicity campaign has had a wonderful impact, according to the Department of Commerce. People are holding onto their old cars for an average of 1.3 additional years, and the demand for new automobiles has reached a 12 year low. Auto worker shifts have now been reduced to 20 hours, and more than 40% of auto industry workers have taken advantage of government subsidies to use some of their newly-free time helping in previously-understaffed organizations from nurseries to nursing homes. The Department of Education reports that the percent of the population taking part in amateur dramatics has doubled again, to 32%. Participation in musical performance is holding steady at 23%. The greed tax on incomes greater than 20 times the minimum wage is bringing in fewer dollars to the Treasury now that Congress, under pressure from corporate CEOs, has doubled the minimum wage. Still, the tax is turning out to be popular even amongst some of those who pay it. "It's kind of saving us from ourselves, you know," said one entrepreneur, who requested anonymity. "I mean, I didn't need a fourth Ferrari, but I felt compelled to get it back when everyone else was showing off. Now that we all know the government collects 90% of income over a million dollars a year, people feel less need for ostentatious displays." The one dark cloud in the otherwise sunny results is a 1% increase in sales of farm equipment. Officials are hopeful that the increase will turn out to be due to increased donations of older equipment to developing countries, but further analysis will be required. Computer sales continue near zero. Pig flights continue to increase.