End of term and some Toltec wisdom to mull over the summer

So I started up a Twitter account recently, @jsbgeography, as I thought it would be a good medium through which to share information, network and encourage students to connect with the subject outside of the classroom. So far things are going well but Twitter does require the account holder to keep up to speed a.k.a tweet frequently and for a teacher near exhaustion at the end of the summer term this can be quite a challenge; nevertheless, I will stick with it as I feel this form of social network does have the potential (when compared to VLEs e.g. Fronter) to connect the learner with what is a very dynamic and topical subject. Next term I am looking forward to setting some prep using Twitter and seeing how I can use it in the classroom with a heavy dose of common sense!

Now enough of the teaching and learning diatribe and onto some cultural geography wisdom which i picked up from a recent Inset - it is called Toltec wisdom and originates from, yep you've guessed it, the Toltec tribe (900-1200AD) which literally means "Master builder" or "Reed people". Essentially Toltec wisdom can be distilled into the following 4 points:

1. Be impeccable with your words
2. Take nothing personally
3. Make no assumptions
4. Always do your best

Food for thought for all of us at this time of year and on that note I wish you a happy summer holidays - it's time for me to switch off and disconnect...

J.

https://sites.google.com/site/tolteccivilization/

Hope and Poverty

Hope and Poverty

Cultural attitudes to the environment & risk

In her latest work, Naomi Klein wonders: What makes our culture so prone to the reckless high-stakes gamble, and why are women so frequently called upon to clean up the mess.

What makes our cultutal attitude to the envionment lead to conflict and risk?

http://www.naomiklein.org/main

Rio 2012: 20years on from sustainable development

How has our attitude to the environment moved on from Rio 1992 when the paradigm of sustainable development was first publicy showcased.

Have we become a more globally and environmentally aware society?
Are we looking after the environment better and has our attitude to it changed from consumption to protection?

We will move towards a green economy in the next 50years? and more possibly are we on track to achieve the MDGs?

CHECK OUT THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW:

http://www.earthsummit2012.org/

Another interesting video -looking at whether development is compatible with the environment...
or not in the case of the tar sands

An Ocean of troubles - our attitude to the ocean environment

To what extent does the state of our oceans depict the global attitude to the environment?

Last night Simon Reeve's Indian Ocean programme  highlighted the state of the oceans in the tourist hot spot of the Maldives and how some islands are being used for waste dumping!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18073917

http://www.economist.com/node/21554490

Slums in the UK! Sheds with beds....

Admittedly the title sounds like the frontpage of the Daily Mirror but undercover BBC reporters have found that hundreds of illegal immigrants are living in sub-standard and cramped accomodation in the streets of West and NW London.

For information and to look into this strange use of space click here for the video

Brazil's new forest law: short term economic gains over long term environmental security?

Despite the countless geographical case studies, the radical environmental groups and lobbyists and a global increased environmental awareness, it saddens me to read that yet another emerging superpower, one of the BRICs nonetheless, has chosen to put economics over environmental protection.  After over a year of political wrangling Brazil's government have passed a law ( 247-184) which eases rules on how much land farmers must preserve as forest. Now, i know it is easy for me with my Western perspective to sit here an chastise the Brazilian government for following the lead of the hegemonic USA and post industrial attitude of China, but having been and for a short timed lived in the Amazonian rain forest i feel it will be the TNC loggers rather than the indigenous tribes who will reap the rewards.

Once again this issue touches upon the wider themes of how societies (and cultures) view and subsequently protect the environment. With the law now passed it will be interesting, yet very sad to watch how deforestataion rates possibly increase even more over the coming decade and taking a particular morbid line i wonder how many more incidents of this will occur: Loggers 'burned Amazon tribe girl alive'

A new commodity: second hand clothes

Prices paid for second-hand clothes in the UK have tripled in the past five years, sparking a battle between charities, criminals, companies and local councils for the nation’s cast-offs.

It is an intersting development to new and 'emerging markets', especially when considering many developed nations export much of our recyling to LEDCs as they are more efficient at recycling.


As the FT states:

'The price rag dealers pay for used clothes has climbed from about £220 a tonne in 2007 to about £650 a tonne today, according to trade publication letsrecycle.com. Demand has mushroomed since the European Union expanded eastward in the mid-2000s, creating accessible markets for winter clothing that rag dealers cannot sell in Africa. Sterling’s tumble has accelerated the trend. Charities say donations are falling in the face of new high street competition. “Clothing has always been seen as something charitable,” said Maria Chenoweth-Casey, chief executive of charity TRAID, which runs second-hand clothes shops. “Vintage clothing is dying . . . It’s sad to see it shipped out of the country without even being looked at.” Criminals are also drawn to the high prices. In 2008, when Ms Chenoweth-Casey noticed the “yield” of her charity’s textile banks dropping, she hid a tracker inside a bank and followed the signal to an industrial estate in Havering in North London. The stolen clothes were in a trailer bound for east Europe.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/44784f66-8ae8-11e1-912d-00144feab49a.html#axzz1t41bUClx

Millenium Development Goals for 2015: Going no where fast or on track?

The MDGs formed at the start of the Millennium when aspirations were high that the world could unite against the global problems of poverty (the bottom billion), climate change and move towards a much more pro active post-industrial sustainable attitude towards the use of our shared environment.

Yet in 2012, with the mantra of sustainability to some extent part of political rhetoric but a global recession stifling the good deeds of many a different player, are the MDGs now just too idealistic or were they always going to be given the attitudes of the emerging superpowers like China and the other BRICs?

This video provides a useful overview and the questions are for you answer and discuss.

Q: Which in your opinion is the most important and why?
Q: What do you think are some of the barriers to achieving the MDGs? Think of current examples to back up your opinion.

Q: Do you think the MDGs will be achieved by 2015 - why?

Another Lake Nyos disaster....?

More than 1,000 people died in 1986 when a lake in Cameroon released a cloud of CO2 that suffocated entire villages. A much larger lake in Rwanda - with two million people living nearby - is also at risk of eruption, but plans are afoot to make it safer. Click here



http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geos577/projects/kayzar/html/lake_nyos_disaster.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/lake-nyos.htm

The Arab Powder Keg: An animated map of protests in the Middle East as they spread from country to country, updated with the most recent events.

An animated map of protests in the Middle East as they spread from country to country, updated with the most recent events.

The protests that drove Hosni Mubarak out of power in Egypt were only the beginning of a wave of civil unrest that has boiled over into nearly all of the Middle East. Tunisia had already driven longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from office, and by the beginning of February, unrest had spread to Jordan, Lebanon, and Sudan. Many more countries were to follow. This map depicts the tides of protests and government retaliations day by day, beginning in Tunisia and ending with the unresolved conflict in Libya. You can click through the days one by one with the green arrows or choose "Autoplay." To get the big picture, just turn off the info boxes and crank up the speed.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/maps/2011/03/the_arab_powder_keg.html

Malaria deaths country by country: how many are there?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/feb/03/malaria-deaths-mortality#_

A great feed on Global Development....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/rss

Internet Black spots

In an age when most students and adults are globally connected to the web 24/7 either through high speed fibre optics or wi-fi it seems strange to us*(written from a Western perspective) that other people could have their Internet right (?) controlled and even denied!

Where are these Internet black spots and to what extent is it all down to physical geography and levels of development - what role does geopolitics play? Which factor is the biggest barrier to technological development in terms of Internet access...is the Internet a fundamental human right? and is there any evidence that economies who are connected are the most prosperous?

Your thoughts would be appreciated as ever...

http://bigthink.com/ideas/21222

Iran to halt oil sales to ‘some countries’

A great pick form one of my students here (Yager) - this article is a cracker concerning future energy security and what will happen to the 'business as usual' approach if one of the world's emerging unstable superpowers (?) has it's way.

Click here to find out more - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/71394c8a-4a92-11e1-a11e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1kw0D8Bxg



Here is some of the up to date feedback from a student (Bennet) on the issue:

As if Greece, Spain and Italy don't have enough on their plate.... now they have to find alternative supplies from other oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq.The interesting part of this article is firstly the outstanding power these oil producing countries have, almost being able to control a countries decisions but also the future of energy is very exciting with growing geopolitical concerns. I was reading in the New Scientist today an article 'How Clean is Our energy?' where it described energy consumption around the world and if all countries developed (energy consumption wise) to similar levels to the USA, energy demand would rise 10 fold. However with growing use of space travel and other high energy consumption activities, demand will rise over 15 times today's figure.The way forward is sustainable development however for this to occur both top-down and bottom-up approaches are needed soon.

Energy is so unpredictable.......

Davos 2012: Who's afraid of China?

A good one for superpowers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education/

China is already the second-largest economy in the world - and yet most of its population is poor

A BRIC in freefall - India - the economic juggernaut heading for a crash?

"India is not simply emerging: India has already emerged" ( B.Obama,Nov 2010)
"India is a rising economic influence of power in the international system" (C.Rice, May, 2005)

Looking at the quotes above I am sure like me you would tend to think and hear of India as a BRIC - a leading light with the potential to challenge the astronomical growth of other emerging 21st century superpowers like China (i mean often the term 'Chindia' is used to describe the axial tilt towards SE Asia in term so economic power).

However the doomsday prophets in a time of slower economic growth and stagnation are out and in the media recently there has been speculation, along with the demise of Kingfisher airline, that India could be an economic juggernaut about to crash!

India is entering a critical phase and doe indeed need the government to be more pro active and implement the reforms it has promised for so long e.e.g opening and freeing up of FDI, otherwise it will be India's underclass who (once again and always with the dark side of globalisation) will suffer the most - tens of millions could be out of work - in addition to the tens of millions already out of work! So what evidence is there - well in 2011 India was named the world's worst performing stock market, with its bourse down by a third in dollar terms, wiping $500billion from it's value.

But India is still growing at 6.9% - yes indeed, very true but India faces a very different set of challenges compared to the Eurozone countries - with a rapidly growing & youthful population of 1.2 billion people, most economists agree that anything below 7% growth will feel "distinctly uncomfortably" - adding to the issue of rising fuel and food prices and dizzying inequality of wealth - the stratification of society embedded in the caste system of old - all o the latter is arguably a recipe for social tension (and uprising?).

So we will wait and see - keep abreast of India's development - it looks like it could be in a or a rocky time if action is not taken in the New Year!

Bottom Billion country profile: South Sudan

South Sudan' a country which achieved independence fro Sudan in July 2011, splitting the mostly black south from the mainly Arab north after a bloody 20-year conflict in which two million people were nearly killed. The prospects for a child today are very poor: an estimated 92% are illiterate, and it is ranked 154 out o 169 in the UN's HDI, lagging behind most of Africa.It has almost no infrastructure (in a country larger than France, there were less than 40km of roads at the start of this year) and is approaching a nationwide famine.

But why oh why is it like this - do we refer back, as always to Collier's Bottom Billion and his list of factors which contribute to the African poverty trap....?

On the face of things there should be huge opportunities - South Sudan is rich in oil, which provides 98% of government revenues. But the oil must be exported through the pipeline of its northern neighbour, Sudan and tense relationships mean conflict and sabotage is rife. In addition to this there is a shortage of leadership and key skilled workers - there are 3 surgeons in a country with the highest maternal mortality rate in the world!

A difficult development pathway is ahead but Sudan has the resources it just needs to ensure that its people reap the benefits as opposed to the hungry foreign giants like TNCs and China as well as neighbouring entrepreneurs looking, as ever to exploit, a very vulnerable country.

Watch this space....

African demography is unique...

AFRICAN demography is unique. It is the only continent that will double in size, reaching 2 billion people by 2045 at current rates. Some countries, such as Liberia and Niger, are growing faster still. They are due to double in size in less than 20 years—an increase that is causing forecasts of Malthusian disaster for countries that cannot feed themselves. Yet Africa is also showing signs of embarking on the same transition towards smaller families that has occurred everywhere else, thus avoiding the Malthusian trap. 



Further links: http://www.economist.com/node/21541834

Earthwatch Institute

http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/expeditions/new_expeditions_2012/