Free Republic

China's Cities Fuel Global Warming By Michael Lelyveld 2008-11-25 China's urbanization is a major cause of climate change, the International Energy Agency says. BOSTON--China's cities will be major contributors to global warming in coming decades as the country's energy use doubles, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in an annual report. Energy use and urbanization are both growing at rapid rates in China, the Paris-based IEA said in its latest World Energy Outlook released on Nov. 12. China already consumes as much energy as the United States and will use twice as much by 2030, according to the agency's estimates....

Where I come from in West Africa, we have a saying: "A fool at 40 is a fool forever", and most African countries have now been independent for over 40 years.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2008 – Five districts in the southern portion of Afghanistan’s Konar province all differ in quality of governance and development, and they suffer from a lack of security, power and infrastructure. The 451st Civil Affairs Battalion is working to improve the situation in Narang, Nurgul, Sarkani, Khas Konar and Chowkay districts. Army Capt. Roman Skaskiw, 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, talks to Mohd Wali, police chief for the Chowkay district of Afghanistan’s Konar province. Skaskiw and Wali met to discuss development and security in the area. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "The overall security...

KONAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, July 7, 2008 – As the security situation becomes more stable in five of this Afghan province’s southern districts, coalition civil affairs teams are helping improve governance and infrastructure. Army Capt. Roman Skaskiw (left), 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, dines with Mohd Wali, Chowkay police chief, at the Chowkay district center in Afghanistan’s Konar province, June 21, 2008. Courtesy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Capt. Roman Skaskiw, 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, is responsible for the five southern Konar districts. Although these districts differ in the quality of governance and development, they all suffer...

Think there's no such thing as too much parking? Take a look at Tysons Corner, where there's more parking than jobs, more parking than office space, more parking than in downtown Washington. That must change, said advocates and politicians seeking to transform Virginia's largest business hub from suburb to city. Reducing parking, charging for parking and finding new uses for the acres of parking that separate Tysons' buildings and the people inside is at the heart of plans to remake the area.... "Who wants parking spaces to be the hallmark of a development?" said Clark Tyler, chairman of a Fairfax...

Edith Macefield died at home, just the way she wanted. The Ballard woman who captured hearts and admirers around the world when she stubbornly turned down $1 million to sell her home to make way for a commercial development died Sunday of pancreatic cancer. She was 86. "I don't want to move. I don't need the money. Money doesn't mean anything," she told the Seattle P-I in October. She continued living in the little old house in the 1400 block of Northwest 46th Street even after concrete walls rose around her, coming within a few feet of her kitchen window....

The U.S. Supreme Court created a huge political backlash when it ruled that local governments could use eminent domain to seize private property and transfer it to other private owners for "economic development." Since the Kelo ruling in 2005, 42 states have enacted limitations on eminent domain — not always effective ones. But like lawmakers in many other states, some California officials are trying to block real eminent domain reform. On June 3, Californians will vote on Proposition 99, a ballot initiative sponsored by groups representing cities, counties, redevelopment agencies and other pro-condemnation interests. It purports to protect property rights...

Minutes south of Interstate 10 and Sealy, the pastures along FM 1458 are their own silent world in the morning. Mists lift to reveal black cattle, brown and spotted horses, snow-white egrets underfoot in lush green grass. Then a concrete mixer comes churning down the blacktop. Just up the road is a small subdivision. More are sure to come as city dwellers, including weekenders and retirees, move out in search of a quieter, simpler life — and relief from city traffic. Although the gradual influx may bring greater changes in the long run, what disturbs residents most is the planned...

Omega-3 Intake During Last Months Of Pregnancy Boosts An Infant's Cognitive And Motor Development ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2008) — A study supervised by Université Laval researchers Gina Muckle and Éric Dewailly reveals that omega-3 intake during the last months of pregnancy boosts an infant's sensory, cognitive, and motor development. The details of this finding are published in a recent edition of the Journal of Pediatrics. To come to this conclusion, researchers first measured docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentration--a type of omega-3 fatty acid involved in the development of neurons and retinas--in the umbilical cord blood of 109 infants. "DHA concentration in...

State wildlife officials have told city planners that an approved development slated to be built on Bakersfield's northeast bluffs threatens an endangered cactus. The California Department of Fish and Game says a planned housing subdivision known as The Canyons would wipe out about 100 Bakersfield cactus plants, a species found only around the city. The agency said the cactus could not recover from the loss. If the project goes forward, the agency has threatened to void a 1994 agreement with the city allowing developers to destroy some endangered species in exchange for fees to conserve habitat elsewhere.

On a drizzly Tuesday night in late January, 200 people came out to hear a psychiatrist talk rhapsodically about play — not just the intense, joyous play of children, but play for all people, at all ages, at all times. (All species too; the lecture featured touching photos of a polar bear and a husky engaging playfully at a snowy outpost in northern Canada.) Stuart Brown, president of the National Institute for Play, was speaking at the New York Public Library’s main branch on 42nd Street. He created the institute in 1996, after more than 20 years of psychiatric practice...

Several years ago I began working to create a visual depiction of the grand threat facing liberty in America. The sketch was a shape that looked like a weed and its root. With study I came to learn that the shape reflected a dialectic process. Dialectic is the process of synthesis or resolution that arises out of the conflict between a thesis and an anti-thesis. First, understand the difference between a natural dialectic and a man made or artificial dialectic. A naturally occurring dialectic arises from historical events. For instance; In 1776 King George represented the thesis in a natural...

Foreign Aid Follies Part 2 by: Emmanuel Opati, January 24, 2008 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on January 22nd that the current administration will fight efforts to curb billions of dollars in U.S aid to Pakistan. Condoleezza, who is in Europe for the U.N. Security Council meeting that is considering new sanctions on Iran said that Musharraf is a “good ally in the war on terrorism.” ... Husain Haqqani, Director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University, said, “Pakistani’s military looks upon the U.S. as the check writer.” “Pakistan has received $21 billion U.S. since 1954, and...

Foreign Aid Follies Part 1 by: Emmanuel Opati, January 24, 2008 To a lot of people foreign aid is a benevolent act and it should be upheld, while to others it is a waste of their tax dollars. But has foreign aid done more harm than good?... “The unfortunate fact is that most African countries are poorer today than they were at the time of their independence from colonial powers,” says Fredrik Erixon, Chief Economist of Timbro, a Swedish think-tank. C.K. Prahalad, author of Competing for the Future, says “there is an inherent paradox in the debate about poverty alleviation...

Not content with finishing construction of the "The World", a constellation of man-made islands forming the shape of the continents, Dubai's developer, Nakheel, is to build "The Universe": an archipelago of reclaimed islands depicting the sun and the planets and moons of the solar system. Only half of The World's islands have been sold, but Sultan bin Sulayem, Nakheel's chairman, says Dubai is pressing ahead with another offshore project. Residents have already moved into apartments and villas on Palm Jumeirah, the city's first reclaimed development, which will boast several deluxe hotels, including a refurbished Queen Elizabeth II, the liner's final...

For the first time, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation has adopted a policy in favor of high-density housing developments in rural areas to preserve farmland.But the state's largest organization of farmers, with 43,000 member families, also recommended that the current power of cities and villages to impose their zoning regulations three miles outside their borders be severely cut back. The policies, which set the farm bureau's legislative priorities for next year, were approved by 250 delegates representing members of the 61 county chapters around the state. Paul Zimmerman, executive director of public affairs for the farm bureau, said preservation of...

I dreamed of a white Christmas and woke up disillusioned with New Urbanism. We've had 23 inches of white so far this month in Milwaukee. By itself, this is nice. My days have not been merry and bright, however, and it's because of my alley. When we bought our house in an old neighborhood, we bought into the idea of alleys, or I did and I persuaded Mrs. McIlheran to go along. An alley meant a safer sidewalk, since cars wouldn't back out of driveways and run over our kids as they rode Big Wheels. A garage opening right onto...

Highways The Texas Department of Transportation plans to let contracts for $4.1 billion in construction in 2008 are in jeopardy after having to return around $950 million to Washington over the past 18 months. The mood in Austin is uncertain, although voters approved Proposition 12 in November, authorizing the next Texas Legislature in 2009 to issue up to $5 billion in bonds (paid from general revenue) to build highway projects. A required independent audit of the Texas Department of Transportation during 2007 recommended that the department “should continue to pursue Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDA) and toll pricing at levels that...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — The road to economic prosperity south of Baghdad is being paved by Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. With assistance from the 2nd BCT embedded provincial reconstruction team, local government councils and Iraqi contractors, the task of restoring roads and improving roads damaged by war is in full swing. “It’s all about … helping the agricultural market in our area,” said Capt. Brian Love, ePRT military liason. The area, comprised of Arab Jabour, Hawr Rajab, Al Buaytha and Adwaniyah, is mainly agriculturally-based. The improvements, which began in October,...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Dec. 10, 2007 – Commanders of two coalition task forces met with Afghan government officials yesterday to discuss rebuilding infrastructure and developing health care in the country’s Parwan province. Army Col. Jonathon Ives, Task Force Cincinnatus commander, and Army Col. Bart Iddins Task Force Med commander, first met with the sub-governor of Jabal Saraj about the local bazaar. Earlier this year, a flood wiped out a bridge and several shops at the Jabal Saraj Bazaar. The river basin is now nearly twice as wide as it was in the spring. Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team engineers have...