13 August 2016
The Atlantic: When an Island’s Lone Caretaker Leaves
On a sweltering day in July, the sole inhabitant of Budelli, a small Mediterranean island in Italy’s Maddalena archipelago, glances up from his iPad just in time to observe a single wave crashing on the shore. He is Mauro Morandi, the frail, 77-year-old caretaker of this rugged paradise’s wild ecosystem. Aside from weekends and the peak tourist season, when day-trippers peer into Morandi’s ramshackle home, Budelli is silent, but for the lapping of the water, the calling of gulls, and the howling of the strong northwest wind. The winters here are long and brutal; once, Morandi endured a 20-day storm on the island, alone. He almost went mad.
Now, Morandi fears his possible eviction from Budelli, his home of 27 years. Granted the right to reside on and work as a caretaker of the island by its previous, private owners, Morandi’s future became uncertain this past May when the Italian government reclaimed jurisdiction of Budelli. It is now part of La Maddalena National Park, which is contesting Morandi’s right to remain on this one-mile stretch of sand. [...]
“Morandi symbolizes a man, enchanted by the elements, who decides to devote his life to contemplation and custody,” Giuseppe Bonanno, the national park’s president, says. “No one ignores [his] role in representing the historical memory of the place … But it's hard to find a contractual arrangement for a person in his position.” Bonanno says there are “several legal problems” preventing Morandi from staying on Budelli, such as his diminishing capacity to remain alone on the island and his home’s failure to meet standard safety requirements.
The Guardian: Terminally ill artist who chose assisted dying gathered friends to say goodbye
In early July, Betsy Davis emailed her closest friends and relatives to invite them to a two-day gathering, telling them: “These circumstances are unlike any party you have attended before, requiring emotional stamina, centeredness and openness.”
And just one rule: no crying in front of her.
The 41-year-old terminally ill artist with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, held the gathering to say goodbye before becoming one of the first Californians to take a lethal dose of drugs under the state’s new doctor-assisted dying law for the terminally ill.
“For me and everyone who was invited, it was very challenging to consider, but there was no question that we would be there for her,” said Niels Alpert, a cinematographer from New York City. [...]
“Dear rebirth participants you’re all very brave for sending me off on my journey,” she wrote in her invitation. “There are no rules. Wear what you want, speak your mind, dance, hop, chant, sing, pray, but do not cry in front of me. OK, one rule.”
CityLab: Why Scotland's Wind Power Achievement Matters
Last Sunday, Scotland reached a milestone. For the first time ever, the autonomous region (and possible future independent state) generated all the electricity it needed for an entire day solely from wind turbines. This huge level of production could mark a turning point for Scotland, proving a harbinger of things to come.
By 2020 the Scottish regional government expects all of the area under its jurisdiction to get 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources, meaning that one of the most developed, oil-producing regions in Europe will soon be able to provide itself with power almost entirely without carbon emissions. [...]
This might sound like smoke ring fantasy—even if, for once, no smoke is actually involved. Another current U.K. energy story nonetheless suggests that, across Britain, the wind is indeed blowing (forgive me) in the direction of renewables. Last month, Prime Minister Theresa May decided to postpone construction of a new nuclear power plant at Hinckley Point in Southwest England. One reason suggested for the delay is Chinese partners in the project stand accused of nuclear espionage against the U.S. Another, more immediate practical reason emerged Thursday, however. A new government report suggests that if constructed, the nuclear plant’s electricity could be a third more expensive to produce than that generated by renewables by the time the plant would be actually finished. The cost of generating power with wind in the U.K. has already dropped slightly below that of generating it from fossil fuels. A modal shift may thus already be underway in which renewables become a power source sought out less for their relative cleanness and more for their simple affordability.
CityLab: A Persian Gulf Shopping Mall for the 1 Percent
In Doha, Qatar, the soon-to-open Alhazm mall takes this model and kicks it up at least a hundred notches. A shopping center for Qatari millionaires (whose number, at 28,000, is reportedly the region’s fastest growing), it is a vision in Tuscany-imported marble. Alhazm in part replicates Milan’s historic shopping mall, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, constructed in the mid-19th century and still going strong.
But Alhazm will be much fancier than the Milan mall, which even had a McDonald’s until 2012. Sculptures and paintings—some of them authentic—will flank Alhazm’s hallways. Temperature-controlled gardens (with 200-year-old olive trees brought in from Sicily), gazebos, and fountains will provide green space. Customers will be able sample foods from the world round (think French cheeses and Belgian chocolates) or peruse rare manuscripts and tomes on art, architecture, and the Islamic world in a library. These perks are in addition to upscale boutiques selling designer clothing, jewelry, and other luxury merchandise. [...]
Yet much of Qatar belongs to this demographic. The country’s population is estimated at 2.5 million people, with more than 1.5 million serving as migrant laborers in fields such as construction and child care. In March, the U.N. warned Qatar that it will face an investigation if within a year it does not end its mistreatment of these workers, who often live in miserable conditions and face such abuses from their employers as passport confiscation.
The Washington Post: If Donald Trump wins in 2016, remember this one poll number
Bloomberg in its new survey attempted to approximate Trump's view of the state of affairs in the United States, and it did the same for Clinton.
Here's the Trump description (which didn't name him but is apparent):
"The U.S. is in a dark and dangerous place, with threats from overseas and within our borders."
And here's the Clinton description:"The U.S. is in a strong position for progress on the economy and national security."
Given those two options, 56 percent of likely 2016 voters picked the Trump version, and 40 percent picked the Clinton version. [...]
Part of the reason Trump might very well keep it close is simply because of rank partisanship and the fact that a majority of Americans don't like his opponent, either. But another reason he's not totally out of the game is that Americans are generally more animated by pessimism than progress. Clinton, by virtue of being in the party of the current occupant of the White House, can't help but focus more on the positive. But Trump can — and does — tell us that the world is crumbling around us.
The Washington Post: These three states are making a Trump win basically impossible
Four new NBC News/Marist College polls released Friday show Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton leading her Republican rival by five points in Florida, nine points in North Carolina and double digits in Colorado (14) and Virginia (13). All four states have been battlegrounds in recent presidential elections.
And really, it's those last two numbers that show just how massively difficult Trump's path to the presidency is right now. Because without Colorado and Virginia — and a third state where he trails by double digits, Pennsylvania — he's all but sunk. [...]
That's because Democrats have a built-in advantage in the Electoral College. As our own Chris Cillizza wrote, Clinton basically starts with 242 of the 270 electoral votes she needs if she can just hold the 19 states that Democrats have won in each of the last six presidential elections, which includes Pennsylvania. If she wins all those and adds Florida, with its 29 electoral votes, it's game over.
Al Jazeera: France: How to win the war against ISIL
This change of strategy is in line with ISIL's objective of fomenting fear and a desire for vengeance in France, hoping to encourage acts of retaliation against the Muslim community, the vast majority of whom strongly support French republican laws and condemn terrorist attacks.
An increase in hatred and mistrust between communities, a victory for the xenophobic National Front party in upcoming elections, or an aggressive reaction against mosques or Muslims would only facilitate the recruitment of new terrorists to join the ranks of ISIL. [...]
The peaceful religious co-existence in France - a country that is home to the largest Muslim and Jewish communities in Europe - is the main target of ISIL, as the terrorist group regularly calls for eliminating what it refers to as a "grey zone" incompatible with its religious dualistic vision of a world divided in two camps: the Muslim and the unfaithful. [...]
Local imams refused to prepare the body of the terrorist for burial, stating this would "taint Islam", while the French Islamic authorities encouraged devout Muslims to go and pray in churches the following Sunday.
The Pope himself refused to address the topic of religious violence, stressing that neither Islam nor any other religion advocates such acts.
Vox: Donald Trump's supporters are LESS likely to be affected by trade and immigration, not more
Now, Gallup’s Jonathan Rothwell (via the Washington Post) has offered a particularly detailed argument that there’s a lot more than pure economic anxiety at work here. Gallup's regular surveys offered Rothwell a large dataset of 87,428 Americans who told pollsters whether they held a favorable or unfavorable view of Donald Trump. That sample size let him drill down geographically, analyzing support for Trump at the regional and local level — even, on some questions, down to individual zip codes. [...]
Trump supporters are richer, not poorer, than average: For one thing, Rothwell found that both across the overall population and among whites, support for Trump is correlated with higher income, not lower. That’s not surprising; low-income people have always preferred Democrats. But it definitely contradicts the image of Trump as spokesman for the economically struggling. [...]
Trump does well in racially segregated areas: Turning to the geographic data, Rothwell finds that segregated, homogenous white areas are Trump's base of support. "People living in zip codes with disproportionately high shares of white residents are significantly and robustly more likely to view Trump favorably," he writes. "Those living in zip codes with overall diversity that is low relative to their commuting zone are also far more likely to view Trump favorably." Put another way: If you're in the whitest suburb in your area, you're likelier to back Trump.
Trump doesn’t do well in areas affected by trade or immigration: This is perhaps the most surprising finding. Contact with immigrants seems to reduce one's likelihood of supporting Trump, as areas that are farther from Mexico and with smaller Hispanic populations saw more Trump support.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)