The Growing Importance of the Arctic Council

 

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According to the United States' National Snow and Ice Data Center, the amount of Arctic ice (usually at a minimum during September) was 3.61 million square kilometers (1.39 million square miles) in September 2012 -- close to 49 percent lower than the average amount of ice seen between 1979 and 2000. The melting of the ice facilitates natural resource exploration in the high north. U.S. Geological Survey estimates from 2008 suggest that 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of undiscovered natural gas reserves are located in the Arctic Circle.

Moreover, the retreating and thinning of the ice opens up new trade routes. In 2012, 46 ships transporting a total of 1.3 million tons reportedly used the Northern Sea Route, which runs along the northern coast of Russia; this represents a considerable increase from 2011, when 34 ships transported approximately 820,000 tons.

Read more: The Growing Importance of the Arctic Council | Stratfor

http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/growing-importance-arctic-council

French Oil Company Warns Against Drilling in the Arctic...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/09/26/total-arctic-drilling.html

Canadian Government tries to Censor the CBC

Harper's attempt to control CBC troubling

Stephen Harper's recent Budget Implementation Bill, in its provision towards commandeering Canada's public broadcaster, is yet another serious step in the prime minister's office dictating and controlling public information. 
READ MORE HERE...
http://www.canada.com/Harper+attempt+control+troubling/8353338/story.html

The petition has over 70,000 signatures so far but they need a lot more...sign here...
https://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=33&ea.campaign.id=20400&ea.tracking.id=8f9f9832

2013 National Geographic Traveller's Photos

 The view from our hotel room in the San Blas district of Cusco. This area of town overlooked the rest of the city and gave us a breathtaking view as the sun and rain mixed one evening. Blake Burton.

 On the way to Ergaki, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. Twilight away the lights of one of the bases. Alexander Nerozya

Eruption of the Cordon Caulle, Chile. This was taken from Antillanca mountain. However despite the distance, the sound was awesome and was the most incredible experiences of my life with my uncle, who accompanied me that night. Rival Gustavo

SEE MORE INCREDIBLE PHOTOS HERE...

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/05/2013-national-geographic-traveler-photo-contest/100516/

ALSO WORTH CHECKING OUT...

Smithonian Magazine's 2012 Photos of the Year
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/03/smithsonian-magazines-2012-photo-contest/100466/

2012 National Geographic Traveler's Photos...
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/08/winners-of-the-national-geographic-traveler-photo-contest-2012/100353/

10 Tribes That Avoided Modern Civilization

There are said to be as many as one hundred “uncontacted tribes” still living in some of the most isolated regions of the world. 

The members of these tribes, who have maintained traditions long left behind by the rest of the world, provide a wealth of information for anthropologists seeking to understand the way cultures have developed over the centuries.

http://listverse.com/2013/01/24/10-tribes-that-avoided-modern-civilization/

Stone Age Tribe Kills Fisherman Who Strayed on to Desert Island

One of the world's last Stone Age tribes has murdered two fishermen whose boat drifted on to a desert island in the Indian Ocean.
READ MORE HERE...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/1509987/Stone-Age-tribe-kills-fishermen-who-strayed-on-to-island.html

Happiness from Giving to Others May be Universal Trait, Says UBC and Harvard

 "It’s a truth universally acknowledged that giving makes you happy.  Now, researchers from the University of B.C. and Harvard University say they may have evidence to back up that claim. Whether you buy your better half a concert ticket every now and again or take a friend on a trip, the research shows spending our money on others — even if we haven’t got much to spend — makes us feel good."

READ MORE HERE...
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Happiness+from+giving+others+universal+trait+authors+from/8360310/story.html

Sebastião Salgado in Siberia

Beautiful photos of the Siberian Indigeneous people the Nenets....Enjoy!
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/dec/07/photography-sebastiao-salgado-genesis

Additional information on the Nenets...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/tribes/nenets/index.shtml

The Drones Come Home

 Drones are going to become a reality for sure.  There are too many practical applications for society, police and governments to ignore.  But despite the probably useful practical applications, certainly this is a technology that's going to get abused.  Say good bye to privacy!

Excerpt:

So far only a dozen police departments, including ones in Miami and Seattle, have applied to the FAA for permits to fly drones. But drone advocates—who generally prefer the term UAV, for unmanned aerial vehicle—say all 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. are potential customers. They hope UAVs will soon become essential too for agriculture (checking and spraying crops, finding lost cattle), journalism (scoping out public events or celebrity backyards), weather forecasting, traffic control. “The sky’s the limit, pun intended,” says Bill Borgia, an engineer at Lockheed Martin. “Once we get UAVs in the hands of potential users, they’ll think of lots of cool applications.”

READ MORE HERE...
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/unmanned-flight/horgan-text

CNN DOCUMENTARY ON DRONES...
http://ajarnmike.blogspot.ca/2012/10/44-of-americans-support-domestic-drone.html

Legalize Marijuana and Other Ways U.S.-Mexico Can Win Drug War

 Excerpt: "That doesn’t mean I favor abandoning the fight against los narcos. I’m just saying that if the past seven years have shown us anything, it’s that it doesn’t matter whether Peña Nieto ratchets up that fight (as his predecessor did) or dials it down, or whether Washington pumps more or less aid into it—not as long as police and judicial institutions remain dysfunctional in Mexico and demand for illegal drugs remains insatiable in the U.S. Which is why, if Obama and Peña Nieto are the smart politicos they’ve proven to be, they’ll realize that the two most important developments in the drug war over the past six months took place not during any interdiction operation but on election day last November in the U.S., and on Tuesday, April 30, in Mexico."

Read more here...
http://world.time.com/2013/05/03/how-obama-and-pena-nieto-can-win-the-drug-war/?iid=gs-main-lead