Monthly Archives: March 2015

Razing Liberty: Miami's Gambit To Fix A Crime-Plagued Neighborhood

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Aerial view of Liberty City in northwest Miami, Florida, Aug. 8, 1968 as smoke rises from a building ignited by a firebomb, in renewal of violence by rioters. Picture looks west with the section's principal street, 62nd Street, running vertically through center. AP hide caption

Aerial view of Liberty City in northwest Miami, Florida, Aug. 8, 1968 as smoke rises from a building ignited by a firebomb, in renewal of violence by rioters. Picture looks west with the section's principal street, 62nd Street, running vertically through center.

In Miami, officials have announced plans to replace a troubled public housing complex.

Liberty Square, in the heart of one of Miami's most crime-plagued neighborhoods, will be demolished and residents relocated to new public housing. Officials say it will improve living conditions and reduce violent crime.

Residents like the county's plan, but worry it may be the latest in a string of broken promises.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez says that along with improving conditions for residents, demolishing and replacing the public housing complex will also reduce crime. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez says that along with improving conditions for residents, demolishing and replacing the public housing complex will also reduce crime.

A Storied History

Liberty Square is a sprawling low-rise complex: 700 units spread over several blocks. That's where Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez held his news conference.

The mayor said along with improving conditions for residents, demolishing and replacing the public housing complex will also reduce crime.

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Razing Liberty: Miami's Gambit To Fix A Crime-Plagued Neighborhood

Why science denial is about much more than corporate interests

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Its not An Inconvenient Truth yet. But for a movie focused on climate change, Sony Pictures Classics Merchants of Doubt based on the widely read book of the same name by historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, and directed by Robert Kenner (Food, Inc.) is already generating a huge volume of discussion. It seems poised to become a must-watch film in the climate debate.

The film, which opens today in Washington, D.C., explores along history of challenges tothe science behind a variety of environmental and public health risks. Smoking. CFCs. Acid rain. Climate change. In many cases, these challenges were linked to corporate interests thus the tobacco industry, for many years, questionedthe emerging science of smokings risks.

Merchants of Doubtis certainly landing in the right news cycle. It comes out in the wake of reports includingby The Washington Post about energyinterests funding of climate skeptic researcher Willie Soon, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. In a statementposted on the Web site of the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank, Soon responded thathe had been the subject of attacks in the media, but acknowledged that his research had been partly supported by some energy producers something he said had long been a matter of public record. Soon added that in submitting my academic writings I have always complied with what I understood to be disclosure practices in my field generally, consistent with the level of disclosure made by many of my Smithsonian colleagues.

It all plays into a common narrative: That industry doesnt want government regulations, so it tries tocast doubt on the science behind them. Many of those who go to see Merchants of Doubt will, I suspect, go with such a narrative in their minds.

But the film itself presents a more complex picture. True, Merchants of Doubt focuses a great deal on the role of industry in supporting scientific argumentsthat are consistent with less regulation. But it alsoshows that denial of science on issues like climate change is about much more than that. Its aboutcertain deep seated beliefs and ideologies particularly those championing the free market and individual liberty (which we tend to call libertarianism).

None of this is about the science, says Oreskes, a Harvard historian and co-author of the book behind the film, in the movie. All of this is a political debate about the role of government.

In another segment, the film follows libertarian-leaningSkeptic magazine founder Michael Shermer as he tries to convince his ideological compatriots that climate change isnt just something that liberals made up. Shermer concludes that the whole issue has become tribal. Indeed, you can see the emotion on screen at one point as Shermer is challenged from the audience at a libertarian gathering, where hes gone to present the case for climate change being real.

So whatreallydrives attacks on certain bodies of environmental and public health science? Is there a root cause?To address that question in the context of Merchants of Doubt, Icalled the woman behind it all Oreskes. In our conversation, I asked Oreskes whom Ive known for a long time about my concern. And she brought up what I considered a very goodanalogy to help both address it and also explain it.

Thats the chicken and egg thing, she explained. Theres two stories to be told: One is the supply of disinformation, and the other is the demand, why do people accept it, and buy it. Our book is definitely a supply side story, because we stumbled across a supply side story. I think the demand side is also important to understand.

Supply and demand.It fits the situation nicely.Supply in this context would refer to the volume of arguments and claims in the public arena that challenge mainstream science with respect to environmental or public health risks. For many of these issues, these claims take a similar form. Scientists have asserted the existence of a risk say, smoking causes lung cancer and the claims in question then sow doubt about this conclusion. (Hence the film and book title.)

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Why science denial is about much more than corporate interests

Islands | New Music And Songs | MTV

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Alternative

After the breakup of experimental lo-fi indie rock band the Unicorns, members Nicholas Thorburn (aka Nick Diamonds; vocals, guitar, keyboard) and Jaime Thompson (aka J'aime Tambeur; drums) formed Islands, which found the two more focused on brighter production and neo-psychedelic indie pop. Since forming in early 2005, the Canadian band has also featured a fluctuating lineup of contributors on a wide variety of instruments, both in concert and on record. That list includes Alex and Sebastian Chow (the 1993 and 1994 World Super NES Fest champions), Jim Guthrie (grandson of Woody and nephew of Arlo), and rappers Subtitle and Busdriver. Islands released the debut album Return to the Sea in April 2006, supporting its international release with a tour alongside Metric. That May, however, founding member Tambeur announced his departure from the band, a move that required the group to quickly revise its lineup in time for a European tour. Two years later, Islands inked a new contract with ANTI- Records and issued a second album, Arm's Way, which differentiated itself from the previous record by eschewing all guest appearances. The band did end up opening its doors to one particular guest, however, as Tambeur rejoined Islands just in time to appear on their third release, Vapours. His return would be short-lived, however, as the group would announce Tambeur's departure again in 2010, with drummer Aaron Harris, a bandmember between 2006 and 2009, arriving back in the lineup to take his place. The band's next album, A Sleep & a Forgetting, appeared early in 2012. The record was inspired by the dissolution of Thorburn's marriage and featured the most sincere and direct music of the band's career to date. ~ Kenyon Hopkin, Rovi

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Islands | New Music And Songs | MTV

Cyclone Pam and climate change: Are Pacific Islands ready?

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At least eight people have been killed after one of the most powerful cyclones to hit the Pacific Ocean tore through the islands of Vanuatu early Saturday, multiple news outlets reported.

Packing winds up to 270 kilometers (168 miles) per hour, Cyclone Pam blew down or destroyed homes and cut off power, water, and communication lines, especially on the archipelagos outer islands, The Associated Press reported.

As of Saturday, eight have been reported dead, but aid workers have said it could take weeks before the storms impact is fully evaluated.

"It felt like the world was going to end," Alice Clements, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Childrens Fund, told Reuters from Vanuatu. It's like a bomb has gone off in the center of the town.

Scientists have said its nearly impossible to attribute any single weather event to climate change, according to The Associated Press. Still, the Category 5 cyclone the worst to hit the archipelago since Cyclone Uma left 5,000 people homeless and one man dead in 1987 has once more raised concerns about the readiness of Pacific island nations to respond to severe weather events exacerbated by rising temperatures and sea levels.

The Pacific region has been one of the areas most affected by changes in global temperatures in recent years. In 2013, countries in the Pacific Basin recorded the highest increases in sea levels in the world, according to a report by The Christian Science Monitor, based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Last September, the president of the Marshall Islands, a tiny archipelago near the equator, called on world leaders to act on climate change as the countrys atolls become increasingly unlivable due to rising seas, severe floods, sudden storms, and droughts, The Guardian reported.

The Pacific is fighting for its survival, President Christopher Loek said. Climate change has already arrived."

Countries in and around the Pacific, including China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Australia, have also experienced the most tropical cyclone strikes since 1970, the same Monitor report found.

Of the five typhoons to affect the most number of people in the Philippines, four occurred within the last 10 years, according to Philippine news outlet Rappler. The worst was also the most recent: Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the archipelago in late 2013, affected more than 16 million people, including 6,000 dead. The estimated cost of damage was about $2 billion, Rappler reported.

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Cyclone Pam and climate change: Are Pacific Islands ready?

Cyclone Pam hits Pacific Ocean's Vanuatu islands

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Cyclone Pam was dropping rain at rate of 6.2 inches per hour (NASA)

An extremely powerful cyclone lashed islands in the Pacific Oceans Vanuatu archipelago late Friday, packing 168-mile-an-hour winds.

The storm may have caused deaths in Vanuatus northeastern islands, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.

The cyclone made a direct hit on populated areas after a sudden change of direction.

The Category 5 cyclone had average wind speeds of 155 mph to 168 mph, with gusts up to 211 mph, according to the office. It said the periphery of the eye of the storm had passed over islands that are home to several thousand people and was expected to hit or come close to the island of Efate, home to the capital, Port Vila.

NASA said Pam was a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale when its Aqua satellite passed overhead Friday. Aqua saw the eye of the major hurricane just to the east of Vanuatu

Located about a quarter of the way from Australia to Hawaii, Vanuatu has a population of 267,000 spread over 65 islands. About 47,000 people live in the capital.

Vanuatu had earlier issued a red alert to its residents, urging them to take shelter from Pam. Authorities said they feared the cyclone would destroy homes as well as cause landslides and severe coastal flooding.

Authorities in New Zealand are preparing for the storm, which is forecast to pass north of the country on Sunday and Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Cyclone Pam hits Pacific Ocean's Vanuatu islands

Cyclone Pam damages some islands in Vanuatu archipelago, according to reports

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A powerful cyclone descends upon the Pacific island chain of Vanuatu on Friday.

Wellington, New Zealand An extremely powerful cyclone blew over islands in the Pacific's Vanuatu archipelago late Friday after a westward change of course put populated areas directly in the path of its destructive 270 kilometer- (168 mile-) per-hour winds, according to relief workers.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a release there were unconfirmed reports of deaths in Vanuatu's northeastern islands after Cyclone Pam moved off its expected track.

The Category 5 cyclone had average wind speeds of 250 kph to 270 kph, with gusts up to 340 kph, according to the office. It said the periphery of the eye of the storm had passed over islands that are home to several thousand people and was expected to hit or come close to the island of Efate, home to the capital, Port Vila.

Located about a quarter of the way from Australia to Hawaii, Vanuatu has a population of 267,000 spread over 65 islands. About 47,000 people live in the capital.

Vanuatu had earlier issued a red alert to its residents, urging them to take shelter from Pam.

Authorities said they feared the cyclone would destroy homes as well as cause landslides and severe coastal flooding.

The cyclone has already destroyed some homes and caused damage to other Pacific islands including Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.

David Gibson, acting director of the Vanuatu meteorology and geo-hazards department, said the winds could cause severe damage to the nation's buildings.

Alice Clements, a spokeswoman for relief agency UNICEF who is in Port Vila, said earlier Friday the capital was like a ghost town as people took shelter. She said the pelting rain was blown horizontally by the wind.

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Cyclone Pam damages some islands in Vanuatu archipelago, according to reports

Cyclone Pam leaves trail of destruction on South Pacific island nation

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Wellington, New Zealand Residents in cyclone-ravaged Vanuatu hunkered in emergency shelters for a second straight night Saturday after venturing out to find their homes damaged or blown away by the powerful storm, aid workers said.

Packing winds of 270 kilometers (168 miles) per hour, Cyclone Pam tore through the tiny South Pacific archipelago early Saturday, leaving a trail of destruction and unconfirmed reports of dozens of deaths.

Power remained out across Vanuatu later Saturday and people on many of the outer islands had no access to running water or outside communications, said Chloe Morrison, a World Vision emergency communications officer in the capital, Port Vila.

Morrison said communications have been so problematic that her aid group hasn't yet been able to account for many of its own 76 staff on the islands and authorities have been unable to assess the extent of the damage.

"I can say that for anybody who wasn't in a secure shelter last night, it would have been a very, very tough time for them," she said.

Vanuatu has a population of 267,000 spread over 65 islands. About 47,000 people live in the capital.

Morrison said authorities did a good job Friday moving thousands of people in Port Vila into 23 evacuation centers. With the winds and rain easing Saturday, many people stepped out only to find that their homes were missing a roof or had disappeared, and were forced to return to the shelters.

Teetering trees and downed power lines in Port Vila have made many areas hazardous, Morrison said, adding that she had heard reports of entire villages being destroyed in more remote areas.

"It's still really quite dangerous outside. Most people are still hunkering down," she said.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the impact and scope of the disaster caused by the cyclone wasn't yet clear, but he feared the damage and destruction could be widespread.

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Cyclone Pam leaves trail of destruction on South Pacific island nation