Every so often, I’ll step it up a notch and treat myself to lunch. This shrimp and avocado toast from Le Pain is one of my favorites – light and summery with a squeeze of lime. As fall approaches, it’ll become harder to justify spicy aioli anything but a warm burrito. You can’t go wrong pairing this with a smoothie blend, tonic water, or afternoon iced coffee. And with record breaking heat this past July and the dawn of a new age (literally), you might want ask for extra ice…
Archives for August 2016
Anthropo-say-wah
Good morning, and goodbye Holocene! Humans are making such an immense impact on our Earth that scientists declared Anthropocene the new geological epoch. Experts are claiming that the new period should begin around 1950, when man-made radioactive materials were first introduced to our atmosphere via – you guessed it – nuclear bomb tests. Other factors that pushed us to the precipice include plastic pollution and the burning of fossil fuels. The rapid rise in sea levels and carbon dioxide emissions sealed by deforestation and other human activities closed the chapter on the Holocene.
Gavin Schmidt, director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies says that Earth is warming at a pace “unprecedented in 1,000 years.” If you still have your doubts (don’t be that person), remember that climate change includes extremes in weather, including increased natural disasters and record-breaking cold winters. Sophisticated technology shows that global temperatures peaked at 1.38ºC above those during the 19th century, marking July the warmest month since scientists began tracking temperatures in 1880. Some solutions revolve around “geo-engineering” technologies, of which most are theoretical and involve shielding the Earth from the sun’s rays. Ultimately, however, we must significantly decrease global carbon dioxide emissions by furthering steps in the right direction like that achieved by the Paris Agreement.
Surveillance to Combat Terror
This weekend, a child suicide bomber killed 54 and injured about 70 people at a wedding in Turkey near the Syrian border. This marks the deadliest of a string of terror attacks, many of which have been connected to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). President Erdogen blamed this most recent attack on ISIL, although the group has yet to claim responsibility.
In the wake of ISIL attacks in Wuerzburg and Ansbach, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced that he is in favor of using video camera technology at train stations and airports to identify possible suspects of terrorism. This announcement takes aim at face veils worn in public spaces. “I would like to use this kind of facial recognition technology in video cameras at airports and train stations. Then, if a suspect appears and is recognized, it will show up in the system.” This statement is not made lightly, since surveillance techniques were abused by both the Stasi secret police in East Germany and the Gestapo under the Nazis. Other countries are investigating such technologies to minimize threats against citizens and increase the chances of identifying terrorists. These technologies may indeed end terror-related crises but are accompanied by significant civil liberty concerns.
2016 Zambia Election
The official results of the 2016 Zambia election report that President Edgar Lunga of the Patriotic Front party was re-elected in a closely contested vote. President Lungu received 100,530 more ballots than his main challenger, Hakainde Hichilema of the opposition United Party for National Development, and skirted a runoff election by receiving just over 50% of the votes. Security forces have increased in order to prevent contentions from taking to the streets, and Zambians are being encouraged to take their complaints to the courts.
90% of polling stations during the elections, which were held last Thursday, opened around 6:30am. Voting continued into the night, with certain stations remaining open by flashlight until 2am due to the high volume of voters. The Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) closely observed and reported outcomes using the Apollo DemTool from NDItech. Great minds from the TimbaObjects Technologies team in combination with CCMG and top leaders from NDI collaborated to both literally and figuratively fuel power towards election efforts. From assisting voters to analyzing incoming data and constructing impressive and informative visualizations, members worked nonstop to ensure that the decision announced was one made by Zambia.
