Benjamin Fearnow, - CBS News (DC)
Stephan: No developed Christian country has a sustainable birthrate, and just as many White people are freaked out at America becoming a majority minority nation, so the freak out becomes all the greater when they learn that Christians will soon be a smaller group than Muslims, as this report describes. And here is the kicker: As the U.S. has repeatedly injected itself into the Muslim world, often with violence and death as a result, how do you think the people who live in Islamic countries, and who are still offended by the 13th century Crusades will feel about the U.S. in the future?
Muslim pilgrims perform the final walk (Tawaf al-Wadaa) around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Mecca on November 30, 2009. The annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca wound up without the feared mass outbreak of swine flu, Saudi authorities said, reporting a total of five deaths and 73 proven cases. Credit : MAHMUD HAMS/AFP
WASHINGTON – Shifts in the world’s major religions will see Islam growing faster than any other faith, with the number of Muslims nearly equaling that of Christians by 2050.
A new Pew Research Center study finds that with the exception of Buddhists, the world’s major religions will all see an increase in numbers […]
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Laura Zuckerman, Reporter - Reuters
Stephan: Here is some excellent news. Portland is one of the most interesting cities in the U.S.. While many cities are decaying alarmingly, Portland is going "green," and the positive results that will develop because of these life-affirming policies will become more and more obvious as time goes on.
Credit: Sustainablepulse.com
Oregon’s biggest city on Wednesday banned the use of an insecticide on city lands blamed by conservationists as a factor in the decline of honey bees in recent years.
Despite protests from farmers who argued the insecticide was crucial for crop production, the Portland City Commission voted unanimously to immediately suspend use of products that contain neonicotinoids.
Such pesticides are widely used on crops and on plants as well as trees in gardens, parks and commercial nurseries.
Portland brings to at least eight the number of U.S. municipalities, including Seattle and Spokane in neighboring Washington state, that have banned the chemicals amid what conservationists say is mounting evidence the insecticide is a culprit in the decline of bees and other pollinating insects.
Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz successfully sought approval of the measure on Wednesday as a public health issue requiring emergency action that would immediately outlaw use of neonicotinoids in such areas as municipal parks, streets and gardens.
“I think we’re doing another good thing for the city of Portland, Oregon … and maybe the entire world,” Fritz said.
Opponents like Oregonians for Food and […]
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Harvey Wasserman, - Reader Supported News
Stephan: Ohio is another of the Republican controlled states going backwards. The difference between the Blue and Red value states is becoming evermore pronounced. Why is this happening? Because the people in the Red value states are voting into office men and women notable for their inability to think rationally, or to make decisions on the basis of facts.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich tilts at Solartopia. Credit: photo: John Bailey / freepress.org
Back in early 2010 Ohio stood at the cusp of a modern 21st century technological revolution.
It had won a new federal-funded rail line to finally re-join Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.
Tesla electric sales networks were moving into the state, bringing full player status in the spread of the world’s most advanced automobiles.
And we had adopted a forward-looking green energy package poised to bring billions of new investments along with thousands of new jobs.
Then the 19th century re-took control.
Today Ohio’s fossil-fueled, landlocked capital city is the western world’s largest with neither internal commuter light rail nor access by passenger train service from anywhere else.
After trying to ban them altogether, Ohio has strictly limited sales of advanced electric Tesla cars.
And after being at the cusp of major solar and wind power advances, the state has all but killed the prospects for any large new green energy projects. The state may now miss one of history’s biggest […]
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2015
Nafeez Ahmed , - Mint Press News
Stephan: The oldest human treaty for which we have a record is a water treaty involving Sumeria. Water has always been an issue and now, with the onset of climate change, which means increased drought in many areas, the conflict is growing. This report gives a good assessment of the geopolitics involved, which receives almost no media coverage. But that will change. Water is Destiny.
Cracks in the dry bed of the Stevens Creek Reservoir in Cupertino, Calif.
Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
Behind the escalating violence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, as well as the epidemic of civil unrest across the wider region, is a growing shortage of water.
New peer-reviewed research published by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) shows that water scarcity linked to climate change is now a global problem playing a direct role in aggravating major conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.
Numerous cities in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia are facing “short and declining water supplies per capita,” which is impacting “worldwide” on food production, urban shortages, and even power generation.
In this month’s issue of the Journal of the AWWA, US water management expert Roger Patrick assesses the state of the scientific literature on water scarcity in all the world’s main regions, finding that local water shortages […]
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2015
Victor Morales, Senior Analyst - Voice of America
Stephan: This story is remarkable. Not because it describes the coming majority minority society in the U.S., which will be familiar to SR readers, but because it is posted on the government's website. This is Voice of America. Government agencies have begun to think about this inevitable trend, and plan for it, and this is a good example of the establishment line of thinking. I feel it is quite positive, and that is good news.
Kindergarten students work in a bilingual English-Spanish class at school in Texas. Credit: AP
America’s demographics are changing like never before. In less than 30 years, whites will no longer be the racial majority in the United States. As VOA Senior Analyst Victor Morales explains in this first part of a two-part series, this population shift will have important implications for American culture and society.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2045, the United States will have a population of some 389 million people. And for the first time in the nation’s history, the majority of people living in the U.S. will be non-white. (emphasis added)
“This new diversity boom that we’re seeing right now will be every bit as important for our country in the decades ahead as the baby boom [people born between 1946 and 1964] was in the last half […]
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