The map shows “dashes” around the edge of the South China Sea supposedly signifying China’s claim to only the islands within the perimeter. Those islands are subject to competing claims by other shoreline nations, specifically, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
When China ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in June 1996, analysts believed that China had abandoned its expansion into international waters based on the 1947 claim, which included the areas on the map with the ominous “dashes.” The new development of a landfill island composed of sand and concrete complete with an air strip long enough to accommodate military aircraft renewed concern by neighboring countries sharing access to the South China Sea. The United States is directly involved because of treaties with countries like the Philippines; however, this has not stopped the slow intrusion by China into international waters. Beijing has come forth with a new map supplanting the 1947 one in which they have converted “dashes” into outlines which include Chinese boundaries. They claim all the islands and waters inside the line belong to them. It’s being described as the biggest land grab of territory since World War II, according to a report in Forbes. President Barack Obama’s pivot to the Asian Pacific region in 2014 signaled a new reinvestment diplomatically, militarily, commercially and in terms of policymaking. Rebalancing began with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Asia, which was the first time since 1961 that a secretary of state visited the region. In December of 2014, Joseph Stiglitz, American economist and professor at Columbia University, wrote that the 21st century is going to be China’s century. China, he says, “enters 2015 in the top position, where it will likely remain for a very long time, if not forever. In doing so, it returns to the position it held through most of human history.” Furthermore, Stiglitz contends that the US and China are “intertwined” and have an interest in stability and efficient global political and economic order. He emphasizes cooperation between the super powers to accomplish goals. The US should maintain its ability to use “soft power” in economic and political practices, in both domestic and foreign policy. If relations with Iran and the Middle East are an example, then the Obama administration is following a “soft power” path utilizing sanctions and ultimately diplomacy to implement change. But will this work in Asia when the primary power China governs and creates policy with a heavy hand. They used invasive, assimilation practices to take over Tibet, which has resulted in the slow demise of the Tibetan people, culture and language. By actually building land masses in disputed international waters, China is once again encroaching and creating instability in a region which according to Stiglitz is the opposite of what should be evolving in Asia. Can the United States continue to look the other way when China acts in its own interests, rather than considering the global consequences of empire building—which is essentially what is happening? Resources Breaking defense Forbes Economist
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Two scientists at MSU doubted the ZD theory that eliminated cooperation resulting in a world of selfish people. They set out to prove that cooperation is the key to survival by running hundreds of thousands of games on a computer. It was discovered that ZD strategies cannot be the product of evolution. . While ZD strategies offer advantages when they're used against non-ZD opponents, they don't work well against other ZD opponents, they said. "In an evolutionary setting, with populations of strategies, you need extra information to distinguish each other," Adami said. The main key to making the distinction came when it was shown that ZD players reacted differently when confronted with a player who chose to cooperate. So ZD strategies only worked if players knew who their opponents were and adapted their strategies accordingly. A ZD player would play one way against another ZD player and a different way against a cooperative player. "The only way ZD strategists could survive would be if they could recognize their opponents," Hintze said. "And even if ZD strategists kept winning so that only ZD strategists were left, in the long run they would have to evolve away from being ZD and become more cooperative. So they wouldn't be ZD strategists anymore." These studies show what many already suspected, and that is cooperation and reconciliation move a civilization and its people forward. Factions engaging continuously in conflict and war will eventually cancel each out and exhaust emotional and physical resources resulting in eventual extinction. The successful formulation and implementation of domestic and foreign policies by governments are enhanced by following the rules of cooperative engagement, not bellicose chest beating that is anachronistic to modern peaceful reconciliation. For example, President Barack Obama’s recent policy change with Cuba invests in the future and moves both countries forward adapting strategies, rather than remaining stagnant in a 50 year old failed policy. Resources Nature Science Daily “If you’re being offered the ambassadorship to Cuba, turn it down because you have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting confirmed,” he said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Some of the original restrictions that make up the Cuban embargo were authorized by U.S. presidents almost 100 years ago, relying on the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. Congress later codified the Cuban embargo in the Helms-Burton law of 1996, also called the “Libertad” act. The president, however, has the ability to alter federal regulations based on the 1996 law. “The president can go very far,” said Serena Moe, of the law firm Wiley, Fein & Fielding in Washington and former sanctions official at the Treasury Department. “He’s gone very far in his recommendations and he can go further,” they said. The next step for normalizing relations is removing Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. Obama’s plan to remove the island nation would contribute to lifting some restrictions allowing the US State Treasury and Commerce departments to re-establish relations as well as open a US Embassy and relax trade limits. Expanded travel tourism would also benefit. While the President’s proposal to remove Cuba from the list after decades of hostilities was met with approval from Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Republican dominated Congress could pass a resolution seeking to derail the president’s decision with a veto-proof majority. Hard line Republicans like Marco Rubio who represent the old guard of Cuban aristocrats who fled Cuba to the US in the 1960s still ascribe to the cold war mentality that is unproductive. Obama’s policies appear to winning over Cuban Americans. Just over half, 51 percent, of Cuban-Americans polled by Bendixen & Amandi International last March said they were in favor of normalized relations between the U.S. and Cuba, while 40 percent disagreed in a report by the National Journal. Then a shift occurred toward normalization over the past few months. The same polling group found that 48 percent of Cuban-Americans disagreed with Obama's new Cuba policy in December, compared with 44 percent who approved. But many Republicans, who generally oppose the president’s priorities, view restoring ties with Cuba as beneficial, especially because of the business opportunities it would open for U.S. business. Latin American expert Carl Meacham said in Politico, “What’s happening now is basically a turning of the page away from an approach to dealing with the region on Cold War terms. The signal event is the United States has chosen to not continue having the same policy toward Cuba that it’s had for like 50 years that was rooted in the Cold War and Cold War thinking.” Resources NPR Washington Post Politico http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-faces-battle-with-congress-over-cuba-1419211849 http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/poll-cuban-americans-shift-in-favor-of-normalizing-u-s-cuba-relations-20150402
California residents are being told to cut 25 percent or be fined, but the agricultural industry is being asked to self regulate and report to the state. This is disturbing to some and questions are being posed about what farmers and ranchers are doing to conserve—and rightly so. Dry farming is an ancient practice and has been implemented by some grape growers in the wine industry in Europe and the United States. According to the California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative, “Dry farming is not to be confused with rain-fed agriculture. Rain-fed agriculture refers to crop production that occurs during a rainy season. Dry farming, on the other hand, refers to crop production during a dry season, utilizing the residual moisture in the soil from the rainy season, usually in a region that receives 20” or more of annual rainfall. Dry farming works to conserve soil moisture during long dry periods primarily through a system of tillage, surface protection, and the use of drought-resistant varieties.” Dry farming is unique and truly a sustainable method for agricultural production. It is not a yield maximization strategy; rather it allows nature to dictate the true sustainability of agricultural production in a region. Vegetable grower David Little in Sonoma, California reports his yield is at times a quarter of what his competitors harvest. Dry farming he says is “a soil tillage technique, the art of working the soil; starting as early as possible where there is a lot of moisture in the soil, working the ground, creating a sponge-like environment.” Water is wicked from below the surface by sponge-like soil up to the roots of plants. Little notes to press the soil with a roller or other compacting mechanism to seal the top, so the water cannot evaporate or escape. Dry farming is more than the absence of irrigation. The soil needs to be adaptable for holding water like those containing clay, which is typical in many Mediterranean climates. California has been dry-farming vineyards from Mendocino in the north, Sonoma, Napa (estimated 1,000 acres), to San Benito, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara on the central and south coast. In addition, there are a few older dry-farmed vineyards remaining in Lodi and the Sierra foothills, particularly Amador County. Wine grapes and olives are not the only crops being dry farmed, for a wide range of crops including tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelons, cantaloupes, winter squash, garbanzos, apricots, apples, grains, and potatoes are at times dry farmed in California. Beans, squash, and tree fruit could become the 21st century “three sisters” in an evolving western United States agricultural landscape. Successful dry farming requires a new paradigm for developing drought resistant agricultural varieties. Also growers and the public need to accept change similar to how predecessors in organic farming changed practices, perceptions and influenced market share in the produce world over the last twenty plus years. In the beginning there were challenges for the organic market involving acceptance of the visual quality of the produce in the absence of pesticides, the cost of the product, smaller yields, and economic consequences challenging industrial farming concerns. Local growers and small farmers, however, have been one of main benefactors of a growing demand for certified organic produce ushering in a burgeoning demand for locally grown produce and farmers’ markets. Dry farming can follow a comparable trajectory, but it’s not going to happen overnight. With an emphasis on sustainable farming and ranching methods based on water supplies a region can support naturally, dry farming is a responsible practice going forward as an important component in developing an evolving water conservation agenda for the western states now and in the future. Also by this writer: Smart gardening to beat water shortages Resources http://www.nature.com/news/native-ecosystems-blitzed-by-drought-1.15707 http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-resources/nutrition/Drinking-water-for-dairy-cattle-Part-1-122457414.html https://www.uaex.edu/environment-nature/energy/conservation.aspx http://www.history.com/topics/los-angeles-aqueduct http://agwaterstewards.org/index.php/practices/dry_farming/ “It’s chilly and a bit windy, but not terrible,” said Aliyah Field, a 27-year-old U.S. activist who spoke Monday to The Seattle Times from the rig. “It is rather beautiful.” The drill rig is being transported to Seattle atop a heavy-lift vessel, the Blue Marlin. If Shell is allowed to drill, it could be devastating with a 75 percent chance of an oil spill according to the US government’s own estimates. You can watch the action live and show your support at: http://grnpc.org/IgDyX The Sierra Club has also been outspoken against oil drilling in Alaska. Citing President Barack Obama when he said, "we can't just drill our way out of the energy and climate challenge we face." The environmental group believes curbing oil drilling is especially clear in America’s Arctic where warming is at twice the pace of the rest of the planet. The loss of sea ice puts polar bears, whales and migratory birds at extreme risk. Even worse, oil corporations want to drill in the Arctic's Polar Bear Seas, which would double the threat to wildlife and particularly polar bears. Sign the petition here on the Sierra Club website to stand up for the Arctic and our climate, and say “NO” to drilling in America's Arctic. Unconventional means and people are many times portrayed as extremists or radicals who are misguided. And some might say civil disobedience fits into that category, but history has shown that non-violent means have longevity and the ability to focus attention on an issue for days, weeks, and even years. This writer is reminded of a woman in California who garnered national acclaim in 1997 when she occupied a tree for two years to focus attention on the loss of the California Redwoods. Characterized as a tree-hugging radical, Julia “Butterfly” Hill is a well-known environmental activist and writer, best-known for her two-year long “tree-sit” occupation of a 200-foot tall old growth redwood tree in Humboldt County, California to save it from being cut down by loggers. Hill wrote about her life and 2 year tree occupation in “The Legacy of Luna.” The following is short excerpt: “On December 10, 1997, when I was 23, I climbed into the canopy of a thousand-year-old redwood tree named Luna to try to save her life and to help make the world aware of the plight of ancient forests. From my perch 180 feet above the ground, I was able to see the Pacific Lumber mill where redwoods are turned into lumber. I could see the Eel River swollen with mud from deforested slopes. I could see the town of Stafford that was destroyed by a mud slide caused by PL’s/Maxxam clear-cutting practices. When I lived in the branches of Luna, I withstood El Nino storms, helicopter logging that ravaged the forest canopy, and the tremendous sorrow of witnessing the family of trees surrounding Luna cut to the ground. Each time a chain saw cut through those trees, I felt it cut through me as well. It was like watching my family being killed. And just as we lose a part of ourselves with the passing of a family member or friend, so I lost a part of myself with each fallen tree.” A resolution was reached in 1999 when the Pacific Lumber Company agreed to preserve Luna and all trees within a 200-foot buffer zone. In exchange, Hill agreed to stop occupying the tree. In addition, the $50,000 that Hill and other activists raised during the cause was given to the logging company, as stipulated by the resolution. The $50,000 Earth First! paid to Pacific Lumber was then donated to Humboldt State University as part of the agreement for research into sustainable forestry. The Greenpeace activists will most likely not be occupying the oil rig for as long as Hill perched atop the Redwood tree, but their cause is no less immediate or strident. One of the most important accomplishments of Hill in addition to saving some California Redwood giants is showing non-violent civil disobedience is effective. The outcome proved disparate sides can mediate, reconcile and reach amicable solutions without loss of life or property. Resources http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/greenpeace-activists-board-shell-oil-rig-headed-to-seattle/ Green Peace email from Claire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Butterfly_Hill
We will have to wait and see if President Obama will speak about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the summit. The only two North American countries involved, besides the U.S., in the agreement at the summit are Mexico and Chili. The TPP has proven to be a contentious issue with Americans and the agreement has not moved forward. Questions concerning protection of intellectual property rights, agriculture, human rights and civil liberties in some countries, environmental standards, and services and investments have caused negotiations to stall. The agreement has been met with skepticism by many Americans because of the devastating effects a similar treaty The North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had on American industry and employment since its implementation in 1994. Still, the TPP continues to be a top goal for the Obama Administration. Grab your hat it could be a rough ride in Panama! While hemispheric reforms between the US and Cuba move forward, relations with the Venezuelan government continue to deteriorate furthering an ideological divide that could rupture in Panama next weekend. “On March 9, President Obama signed executive orders relating to Venezuela; one formally declaring a ‘national emergency’ and the other relating to ‘the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States’ posed by the Venezuelan government. The measures, both legal precursors required under US law to introduce sanctions, were, according to US officials, not intended to be seen as being aimed at the country but as the necessary steps for it to take action against high-ranking Venezuelan individuals the US deemed responsible for human rights and other violations,” reported in the Dominican Today. The Venezuelan government considered this a threat by the US to invade the country casting the Obama Administration as a destabilizing influence in an effort to overthrow their government, which is hyperbole by Venezuelan officials. One of the repercussions was that on March 17 member nations - including Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent, Suriname, and Guyana, with Haiti participating as an observer - attended an emergency summit in Caracas to express solidarity with Venezuela. Some nations are grouping to support Venezuela and have called on the US to “immediately cease its harassment and aggression.” Cuban President Raul Castro issued a statement of support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. President Castro described President Obama’s executive order as “arbitrary, aggressive” and “unjustified,” and suggested that the United States was willing “to sacrifice the peace and the direction of hemispheric and regional relations, for reasons of domination and domestic politics.” The US perspective is decidedly different. A senior U.S. administration official told reporters last week that the use of "national security" language is standard when issuing an executive order to impose sanctions. “Most of the sanctions programs that we have, from Iran to Syria, Burma, across the board, rely on these same types of national emergency declarations,” the official said according to a report by Huffington. Adam Isacson, senior associate for regional security policy at the human rights nonprofit Washington Office on Latin America, explained that under U.S. law, the executive has to declare a national emergency that threatens national security in order to freeze a foreigner’s assets by executive order, they said. “It has to look like a big, special thing, if you’re going to do it,” Isacson told The Huffington Post. “That’s why it has that stupid language at the beginning. I think the sanctions themselves are pretty legitimate. The United States has the right to decide who gets to do business and own property here in our country, and we should be limiting the number of human rights abusers who get to do that." Let’s hope one of the only “big, special things” in Panama this weekend will be delegates donning Panama hats. Having the US and Cuba appear together at the summit—or anywhere for that matter—is going to be monumental. Whatever other events unfold in Panama on Friday and Saturday, the meeting of these two countries will definitely provide plenty of anticipation as the 34 nations gather to discuss the themes of “prosperity and equity” amid the conflicts that are already being touted as divisive rather than unifying. Resources http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-cuba-summit-of-the-americas/2557400.html https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/cuba http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/unasur-venezuela-sanctions_n_6881886.html Cities cannot water grass in median strips, and some cities have already stopped the practice or replaced the grass with rock or drought tolerant landscaping. The state will offer assistance to local governments to remove 50 million square feet of grass and replant with drought tolerance in mind.
“State agencies will create a temporary rebate program to encourage homeowners to replace water-guzzling appliances with high-efficiency ones. Golf courses, campuses and cemeteries must cut their water use. New developments will have to install drip or microspray systems if they irrigate with drinking water. Water agencies will discourage water waste with higher rates and fees,” they said. Critics of the governor’s proposed new regulations point to agriculture usage, which is estimated at 80 percent, as the most threatening to the state’s water reserves. Adam Scow, director of Food & Water Watch California, called Brown’s order disappointing. The governor’s order requires water agencies that service agricultural areas to develop drought management plans, with increased reporting on water supply and use. But unlike cities, farms will face no conservation targets, mandatory or otherwise. “The governor must save our groundwater from depletion by directing the state water board to protect groundwater as a public resource,” Scow said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board, said the measure isn't about “finger-pointing”…“It's about everybody having to step up in these tough times.” Draft regulations will be released for review in about two weeks and approval of the new regulations should be in early May. The water board will release draft regulations in mid-April to implement the order. It plans to approve the regulations in early May. Main points of Brown’s water restrictions: ▪ Requires all newly constructed homes and buildings to use drip irrigation or microspray systems to water landscape. ▪ Creates a statewide initiative to get California residents collectively to replace 50 million square feet of lawns with drought tolerant landscape. ▪ Creates a statewide rebate program to encourage residents to buy new water-efficient appliances. ▪ Requires the State Water Resources Control Board to impose restrictions that will cut statewide urban water use 25 percent compared with 2013. ▪ Calls for urban water agencies to create rate structures, fees and penalties that encourage residents to use less water. ▪ Requires agricultural water suppliers to submit detailed drought management plans Agriculture and economic impacts Water scarcity is forcing some California farmers to spend large sums of money to keep their crops irrigated and growing. For example, almond trees need water all year. And the lack of water is also affecting the value of some farm land. "You're already seeing banks wanting to know where the water comes from before they make loans," Modesto-area walnut and almond grower Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, told the Modesto Bee last month. Why should non-Californians care about the drought? The answer is the majority of fruits, vegetables and nuts supplied to the United States and beyond come from California. And this is nothing new except when the supply drops in California, the price goes up in every state in the nation. California produces 99 percent of artichokes, 99 percent of walnuts, 97 percent of kiwis, 97 percent of plums, 95 percent of celery, 95 percent of garlic, 89 percent of cauliflower, 71 percent of spinach, and 69 percent of carrots—see complete list here. The climate and soil conducive to growing produce is unequaled in the US. No other state, or even a combination of states, can match California’s output per acre. Lemon yields in California, for example, are more than 50 percent higher than in Arizona. California spinach yield per acre is 60 percent higher than the national average. Without California, supply of all these products in the United States and abroad would dip, and in the first few years, a few might be nearly impossible to find. Orchard-based products in particular, such as nuts and some fruits, would take many years to spring back. The drought in California will have global repercussions when acres of farm land must go fallow and production is reduced. Providing fresh produce and nuts is more important than watering a massive lawn, but Californians will not be receiving any subsidies to replace lawns with rock or drought-tolerant landscapes. I already let my lawn die last year, and the yard looks horrible. To rock all of the lawn area could cost $1,000, so for now I will follow the restrictions and not water. It’s the new normal, but it’s going to take a while to develop new gardening strategies in the Golden State. California’s nickname as the Golden State—referring to sunshine-- is going to take on a whole new meaning. The hills, lawns, and landscapes will be “golden,” instead of the luscious green to which we have become accustomed. Resources LATimes Sacramento Bee |
Dava Castillo
is retired and lives in Clearlake, California. She has three grown
children and one grandson and a Bachelor’s degree in Health Services
Administration from St. Mary’s College in Moraga California. On the
home front Dava enjoys time with her family, reading, gardening, cooking
and sewing. Archives
November 2015
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