12.28.06
Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans
Source: Greenpeace
From report introduction: “It is probably a common conception that marine debris consists of just a few pieces of rubbish scattered along the strand line of beaches and is of no harm to anyone. Unfortunately this is not the case. Marine debris has become a pervasive pollution problem affecting all of the world’s oceans. It is known to be the cause of injuries and deaths of numerous marine animals and birds, either because they become entangled in it or they mistake it for prey and eat it.”
+ Help reduce ocean trash.
Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans (PDF; 950 KB)
Navigating the Arctic Meltdown: Polar Bears (PDF; 484 KB)
Source: Defenders of Wildlife
Signs of trouble in the polar bear’s normally frigid home are numerous, varied and compelling. Survival rates for first-year polar bear cubs fell from 0.61 cubs between 1967 and 1989 to only 0.25 cubs per adult female between 1990 and 2006. First-year cubs and adult male polar bears are getting smaller, apparently from food shortages. Smaller, weaker cubs have a tough time surviving harsh arctic conditions.
Recent populations have fallen by hundreds of bears, especially in the Beaufort Sea and western Hudson Bay regions. In autumn 2004, observers encountered four polar bears that drowned trying to swim between shore and the increasingly distant pack ice. Later that same year, three polar bears were seen hunting, killing and then eating other bears. In spring 2006, adult female bears and one cub were found dead, their fat stores depleted from starvation. At Carnivores 2006, an international conference hosted by Defenders of Wildlife, Canadian Wildlife Service polar bear specialist N. J. Lunn linked this reduced polar bear survival to summer ice-breakups that now occur up to three weeks earlier in the season.
Navigating the Arctic Meltdown: Polar Bears (PDF; 484 KB)
12.26.06
The Impact of Police and Media Relations on a Crisis
Source: Naval Postgraduate School (thesis; Castro)
“Effective crisis management and communication is crucial during any catastrophic event, otherwise fear, panic, and mass hysteria can prevail. The public relies heavily on the government (police) and the media for information during a crisis. This thesis focuses on a joint police and media response plan and outlines a preparation plan to assist the public during a terrorist attack or similar crisis. Historically, the police and the media have had opposing views regarding sharing and disseminating information to the public. This report studies the inherent mistrust between both organizations and proposes strategies to overcome the suspicion and build a partnership. Proven community policing models within the Philadelphia Police Department are examined as a potential template for a police and media partnership. Survey results and focus group responses from the police, media, and the community are presented. This document examines national and international lessons learned and offers best practices on providing timely and accurate information, educating and informing the public, and improving communication and trust between the police and the media. The proposed police and media training curriculum breaks down the cultural barriers and develops mutual respect for each individual profession.”
The Impact of Police and Media Relations on a Crisis (PDF; 380 KB)
2006: A review of major health issues
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
From avian influenza to humanitarian crises, health issues were in the news throughout 2006. Avian influenza cases appeared in Africa and Europe, polio cases were found in four countries and a new extensively resistant strain of tuberculosis caused high mortality in South Africa’s HIV-positive population.
But there were new opportunities too: The first report on health in the African region showed that the region is able to tackle health challenges with its own innovative solutions; two new vaccines against cervical cancer were developed; and more people living with HIV and AIDS had access to treatment than ever before.
12.24.06
The Myth of Network Neutrality and What We Should Do About It
Source: AEI-Brookings Joint Center
A quarter century ago, there was a very influential paper that shaped thinking on how best to design what we now call the Internet. The article offered a design principle called “end-to-end.” The idea was to keep the inner part of a computer network as simple as possible and allow the “intelligence” to reside at the edges of the network closer to the end user.
Proponents of this grand design have pushed for net neutrality legislation, which would discourage access providers from placing any intelligence in the inner part of the network. Their ideal of a “dumb network” would be achieved by preventing access providers from charging content providers for prioritized delivery and other quality enhancements made possible by placing intelligence at the center of the network.
This essay examines the merits of the end-to-end argument as it relates to the net neutrality debate. First, we review the evidence on the current status of the Internet, concluding that all bits of information are not treated equally from an economic standpoint. Second, we demonstrate that because consumers and business place a premium on speed and reliability for certain kinds of Internet services, network owners and specialized service providers have responded with customized offerings. Third, we consider our findings in the context of the current legislative proposals involving net neutrality. Fourth, we consider some of the problems with regulating prices and quality of service, which is essentially what the net neutrality proponents propose. Our principle conclusions are that the end-to-end principle does not make sense from an economic perspective and that further regulation of the Internet is not warranted at this point in time.
+ Full Paper (PDF; 124 KB)
12.23.06
Source: PLoS Medicine
“These projections represent a set of three visions of the future for population health, under an explicit set of assumptions and for specific projections of income, human capital, and of future trends in tobacco smoking, HIV/AIDS transmission and survival, and overweight and obesity. If the future is not like the past—for example, through sustained and additional efforts to address the Millennium Development Goals, or through major scientific breakthroughs—then the world may well achieve faster progress than projected here, even under the optimistic scenario. On the other hand, if economic growth in low-income countries is lower than the forecasts used here, then the world may achieve slower progress and widening of health inequalities.”
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0030442
Effective Counterterrorism and the Limited Role of Predictive Data Mining
Source: Cato Institute
“Though data mining has many valuable uses, it is not well suited to the terrorist discovery problem. It would be unfortunate if data mining for terrorism discovery had currency within national security, law enforcement, and technology circles because pursuing this use of data mining would waste taxpayer dollars, needlessly infringe on privacy and civil liberties, and misdirect the valuable time and energy of the men and women in the national security community.”
+ Full Document (PDF; 355 KB)
