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World Heritage
If you think about Sites, you probably think of places associated with ancient art and culture,
historical buildings and monuments. And of course, many of these are on the World
Heritage List. Remains of ancient cultures, like Cuzco in Peru, Angkor in Cambodia, or the
famous rock city of Petra in Jordan. Or old city centres, such as Rome in Italy, or Sana'a in
Yemen. Or places of artistic or cultural significance, like the Stonehenge stone circle in
England, or the Tsodilo rock paintings in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana. But The World
Heritage List contains a lot of sites that are not so obvious. Some of them are well known.
For example, the Galápagos Islands, which inspired Darwin's theories of evolution, or the
Victoria Falls waterfalls in Africa, and the Grand Canyon in the United States. Citadel of
Haiti These monuments were built at the end of the nineteenth century when Haiti became
independent and the many thousands of black slaves in Haiti were free for the first time.
These ex-slaves built the monuments, which The World Heritage List (WHL) describes as 'a
universal symbol of liberty'. Robben Island in South Africa This island was used through the
centuries as a prison, a hospital and a military base. But it's probably most famous as a
maximum-security prison for political prisoners in the twentieth century. Nelson Mandela
was one of its most famous residents. The WHL says it represents 'the triumph of
democracy and freedom over oppression and racism'. Borders of France and Spain This is
an area of great natural beauty and the mountains have many interesting geological
formations. But it is also an area of small farms. People there still use a type of agriculture
that used to be common in mountainous areas of Europe but has almost completely
disappeared in modern times. The WHL has listed the site because it shows us about 'past
European society through its landscape of villages, farms, fields, upland pastures and
mountain roads.' Alto Douro, Portugal This is an area in the North of Portugal where wine
has been produced for thousands of years. Nowadays it is world famous for the 'port wine'
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that is produced there. The WHL says that this long tradition of winemaking 'has produced a
cultural landscape of outstanding beauty that reflects its technological, social and economic
evolution.' So, the World Heritage List isn't only about ancient monuments and buildings.
It's also concerned with technology, natural beauty, wildlife and traditional ways of life.

发展中国家的定义和概况

The "Third World" is an expression that is now considered not to be politically correct, as it
has connotations of "third class", i.e. of being somehow inferior to the "First World" or
"Second World". Nowadays, we prefer to speak about "developed" and "developing"
nations.
Third World, the technologically less advanced, or developing, nations of Asia, Africa, and
Latin America, generally characterized as poor, having economies distorted by their
dependence on the export of primary products to the developed countries in return for
finished products. These nations also tend to have high rates of illiteracy, disease, and
population growth and unstable governments. The term Third World was originally intended
to distinguish the nonaligned nations that gained independence from colonial rule
beginning after World War II from the Western nations and from those that formed the
former Eastern bloc, and sometimes more specifically from the United States and from the
former Soviet Union (the first and second worlds, respectively). For the most part the term
has not included China. Politically, the Third World emerged at the Bandung Conference
(1955), which resulted in the establishment of the Nonaligned Movement. Numerically, the
Third World dominates the United Nations, but the group is diverse culturally and
increasingly economically, and its unity is only hypothetical. The oil-rich nations, such as
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Libya, and the newly emerged industrial states, such as Taiwan,
South Korea, and Singapore, have little in common with desperately poor nations, such as
Haiti, Chad, and Afghanistan."
Statistics on Poverty and Inequality
By Jeff Gates May 1999
"This page looks at increasing worldwide inequality. While booming stock markets, giant

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mergers and frantic financial speculation provide huge rewards to a tiny minority, the
majority of the world's people are not enjoying much benefit from the neoliberal system of
growth and development. For many, in fact, living standards have stagnated or declined,
while the burden of work and insecurity have grown. These materials consider the
consequences of income inequality as well as the increasing concentration of wealth both
within and between nations."
 The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reported in 1998 that the world's 225
richest people now have a combined wealth of $1 trillion. That's equal to the combined
annual income of the world's 2.5 billion poorest people. While global GNP grew 40 percent
between 1970 and 1985 (suggesting widening prosperity), the number of poor grew by 17
percent. Although 200 million people saw their incomes fall between 1965 and 1980, more
than 1 billion people experienced a drop from 1980 to 1993. Three decades ago, the people
in well-to-do countries were 30 times better off than those in countries where the poorest 20
percent of the world's people live. By 1998, this gap had widened to 82 times (up from 61
times since 1996). In 1998, that 20 percent of the world's people living in the
highest-income countries accounted for 86 percent of total private consumption
expenditures while the poorest 20 percent accounted for only 1.3 percent. That's down from
2.3 percent three decades ago. At present, 3 billion people live on less than $2 per day
while 1.3 billion get by on less than $1 per day. Seventy percent of those living on less than
$1 per day are women. With global population expanding 80 million per year, World Bank
President James D. Wolfensohn cautions that, unless we address "the challenge of
inclusion," 30 years hence we will have 5 billion people living on less than $2 per day.
援助的作用：UNDP calculates that an annual 4 percent levy on the world's 225 most

well-to-do people (average 1998 wealth: $4.5 billion) would suffice to provide the following
essentials for all those in developing countries: adequate food, safe water and sanitation,
basic education, basic health care and reproductive health care. At present, 160 of those
individuals live in OECD countries; 60 reside in the United States.
 in 1982, inclusion on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans required personal wealth of
$91million. The list then included 13 billionaires. By 1998, $500 million was required and

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the list included 189 billionaires. Note, however, that Forbes 1998 figures were based on a
September 1, 1998 Dow-Jones Industrial Average of 7827. The Dow topped 10,000 in early
1999. Spending on luxury goods grew by 21 percent from 1995 to 1996 while overall
merchandise sales grew only 5 percent.

自由贸易、援助发展中国家

The collapse of trade negotiations in Canc in mid-September triggered much anguished

commentary. In the run-up to this crucial World Trade Organization meeting, expectations
had risen sharply. Many expected a deal to reduce Western agriculture subsidies and to
lower barriers to greater food trade. Free traders, World Bank officials, and even NGOs
seemed all to agree that this combination of measures would help combat the rural poverty
plaguing much of the developing world. Cutting subsidies would help level the playing field
for farmers from the global South. Greater agricultural exports would then boost farmers?
Incomes.
Is liberalized trade a tonic that eliminates the need for more foreign aid? No doubt, some
hope that it is. Foreign aid has declined in the 1990s, from about $73 billion in 1992 to $57
billion in 2002. This is far from the lofty 1970s goal of providing the equivalent of 0.7 percent
of GDP in aid money. Most of the rich nations never even came close to that target. Today,
only about 0.2 percent of GNP is made available; the United States finds itself at the bottom
of the league with a mere 0.1 percent.
The decline actually came on the heels of fresh promises made at the 1992 Rio Earth
summit. Donor governments made new commitments to increasing their official
development assistance at the International Conference on Financing for Development in
Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2002. But even if these promises are fulfilled big if they would
still leave aid flows below the 1992 level of 0.33 percent.
Free trade and lowered subsidies to the rescue? The lobby for unencumbered trade has
traditionally proven far stronger than the forces in favor of slashing subsidies. In the
post-World War II era, successive rounds of trade talks lowered tariffs and tore down more
and more impediments to trade. The establishment of the World Trade Organization in

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1995 signaled that trade promotion took precedence over other global concerns such as
labor rights and environmental stability.
What is the likely consequence of liberalized trade under such conditions? Agribusiness is
able to dump products at prices far below the cost of production, as is evident from the
consequences of the NAFTA agreement. Mexico faces a flood of artificially cheap U.S. corn,
which may be good news for urban consumers, but has devastating effects in rural areas.
A handful of big farmers in developing nations may well manage to compete on the world
market. But millions of small farmers will be displaced. Rural upheaval will trigger greater
migration to cities (and more illegal migrants to the United States and other industrial
countries). But many cities are already unable to provide adequate social services to their
burgeoning populations. The lack of jobs, in particular, may well contribute to growing
instability and may nourish violent conflict.
But an intelligent aid policy that addresses urgent needs, particularly in education and
health, can make a huge difference. Think what adequate funding of efforts to combat AIDS,
malaria, and tuberculosis mong the biggest killers in the world could do. Eliminating
illiteracy and boosting women 　 rights will be far more liberalism liberating? Than tearing

down trade barriers can ever be. Imagine the benefits of providing clean drinking water,
halting soil erosion, and sharing renewable energy technologies. Such programs could
easily be financed by a reduction in subsidies and military expenditures that together claim
close to $2 trillion each year.

核武器

These are strong words, to be sure, but justifiably so when seen in the context of the new
doctrine of preemptive war propagated by the United States, which should more accurately
be called preventive war. Let me examine with you the connection between this new
doctrine and nuclear weapons.
The advent of nuclear and other sophisticated weapons has dramatically increased the
degree of potential harm, and the importance of the temporal factor has diminished.
Weapons of mass destruction threaten devastating and indiscriminate long-term damage to

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large segments of the civilian population and environment.? Professor Ruth Wedgwood of
John Hopkins University uses President Kennedy handling of the Cuban missile crisis as a
precedent for President Bush 　 action last spring. he introduction of nuclear weapons into

Cuba? She writes, educing Soviet launch time to seven minutes, would have destroyed any
adequate interval for the assessment of nuclear warnings,? Thus justifying the United
States in imposing a defensive quarantine.
I submit to you that they are the characteristics of by far the most destructive weapon in the
history of warfare, i.e. the nuclear bomb.
The mere invocation of the threat of nuclear weapons, whether delivered by plane, by
missile or by suitcase, tends to freeze the mind and cut off discussion. But because the
preemptive war doctrine is couched in broad and vague terms it will, I am afraid, spread like
nuclear fallout to the four corners of the earth and be used in the future to justify so called
defensive wars, whether based on an alleged nuclear threat or some other threat.
When the Non-Proliferation Treaty was done in London, Moscow and Washington in 1968,
its Article VI required each party to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures
relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament?
In other words, NPT a deal between the then existed five nuclear weapons powers - the US,
the UK, France, China and the Soviet Union - and the rest of the world. If you, said the five,
agree not to develop or acquire nukes, we agree in good faith to give them up.
When the nuclear weapons case on the illegality of the threat and use of nuclear weapons
went to the International Court of Justice in 1994, the Court two years later rendered a split
advisory opinion that the threat and use of nuclear weapons is illegal under international
law, but concluded unanimously that here exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and
bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under
strict and effective international control.?
Professor Saul Mendlovitz maintains that nuclear weapons will never be abolished until we
abolish war first. And I reply that it is the other way around; war will never be abolished so
long as nuclear weapons have not been effectively banned and eliminated. If he were here
today, I would offer him my latest piece of evidence. In the May 2003 issue of the American

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magazine Vanity Fair, Paul Wolfowitz, the US Undersecretary of Defense who is credited
with being the intellectual instigator of the war against Iraq, is quoted as saying that "For
bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it
was the one reason everyone could agree on."
Here then is the ultimate paradox of nuclear deterrence: The weapon that is supposed only
to dissuade countries from going to war is turning into a, if not the, major reason for
countries to go to war.

贫困问题

Billions of people across the globe live in squalid conditions of hunger, disease, and
desperation. This pandemic poverty represents the world 　 most pernicious and deadly

scourge. Yet for the privileged minority, the horrors of poverty seem to be a natural,
inevitable part of the geopolitical landscape. Leaders in the developed world profess their
commitment to poverty eradication,? but none are willing to address the systemic causes of
poverty. Furthermore, the political and corporate elites at the helm of the world economy
have a powerful interest in maintaining the economic status quo.
Multilateral institutions devoted to development? overwhelmingly adhere to neoliberal
growth oriented strategies of capital accumulation, privatization, and investment. These
institutions, including the World Bank, consistently ignore evidence that growth does not
necessarily alleviate poverty and may, in fact, exacerbate it. Many concerned NGOs
promote small-scale social development programs in poor countries, but as long as
systemic economic and social policies continue to favor the rich, global poverty will remain
a stark reality for the majority of people in the world.
The number of people infected with HIV in 2002 soared to 40 million. An astonishing
three-fourths of those live in sub-Saharan Africa, but the epidemic is growing in Eastern
Europe and Asia at an alarming rate. The AIDS epidemic is not only a health issue but also
a socio-economic and security issue. AIDS has killed millions of adults, reducing the
workforce, exacerbating famine, impoverishing families and orphaning millions of children
in the regions hardest hit.

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International aid provides a key element of development financing. For many of the poorest
countries, official development assistance (ODA) represents the largest source of external
financing. ODA can support a country 　 education, health, public infrastructure,

agricultural and rural development. But only a handful of rich countries meet the UN target
of giving 0.7% of their gross national product in international assistance. Further, donors
often 　 ie?aid by requiring that it be spent on exports from the donor. Aid also often has

political strings attached and it may be used to promote local business interests of the
donor, not the real development needs of the recipient. This page posts articles on these
and other aspects of international aid and development.
Most of the world 　 nations lack investment funds that could promote economic

development ?funds needed to build roads, schools, clinics and factories. As a result, their
economies languish and their populations remain poor. In March 2002, the United Nations
held an International Conference on Financing for Development to address this problem.
The conference focused on six different sources for development funds - domestic
resources (such as savings and taxation), foreign direct investment, international trade,
international aid, debt relief, and finally systemic reforms. NGOs and others independent
voices proposed alternative sources of financing, including especially global taxes and fees.
They also asked fundamental questions: who should receive the financing, and for what
kind of development? Furthermore, they asked, can poverty be erased if power and wealth
are increasingly concentrated in the global economic system? This page contains
information on the different ways to mobilize finances for development, and provides
information on the international conference on financing for development, its preparation,
and follow-up.

妇女地位

This page looks at the difficulties women face in a changing global economy. Globilization
has recast gender relations and altered the status and life condition of women. More
women work outside the home in the wage labor force. While this has undermined
traditional patriarchy, it has burdened women with a double load of work, exposed them to

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harshly exploitative conditions in the paid work place, and scarcely improved their material
well-being. Women have suffered disproportionately from globilization, while seeing few of
its benefits. These materials look not only at women's inequality and oppression, but also at
how women worldwide are mobilizing to improve their condition and fight for a more just
world order for themselves and their children.

Investing in girls?education has been a major factor behind the Asian economic 　

iracle.?During the past two decades, other poor countries have also succeeded in
improving girls?education by building new schools in the countryside, eliminating primary
school fees for girls and improving conditions in schools. To help states still lagging behind,
NGOs such as Save the Children call for increases in development assistance and debt
relief for poor countries. (Christian Science Monitor)
Ten years have passed since delegates at the Fourth World Summit in Beijing made
specific pledges to revoke all laws that discriminate against women and adopt policies
advancing gender equality in public life. While women 　 educational opportunities have

increased and legal rights have improved somewhat, women still lack economic
opportunities and equal representation in decision-making. In addition, over 40 countries
refuse to change laws that institutionalize discrimination against women. (Inter Press
Service)
In spite of the Security Council 　 adoption of a resolution on women, peace and security in

2004, a disproportionate share of women still fall victim to conflict and post-conflict
situations. The United Nations admits its 　 ollective failure?to curb spiraling violence

against women and partly attributes this failure to the lack of women participating in UN
peacekeeping missions and the absence of women in post-conflict peace talks.
A report by Secretary General Kofi Annan on gender equality in United Nations staffing
reveals uneven progress in women's representation on all levels. In June 2004, women
formed 83.3 percent of staff at the lowest professional level but only 16.7 percent of the
highest staff level. The report cites bias among hiring managers as a cause for unequal
gender division. (UN News)

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Female politicians, ministers and community leaders from Arab nations met to discuss
women's roles and rights in their countries, to begin preparations for a UN report on such
issues. Though many critical advances were noted and celebrated, they exist only
"because there was so much room to improve." (WeNews)
"High hopes are pinned on the power of women" in development initiatives around the
world. Female borrowers tend to repay loans and spend profits on family needs more
consistently than men. For these reasons, the World Bank, the African Development Bank,
UNESCO, and many NGOs are focusing on women's education and empowerment as
central to development work. (World Bank Press)
A report by the International Labor Organization provides a 　 tark picture of the status of

women?in the workplace, characterized by low wages, inadequate work and a lack of true
economic empowerment. (UN News Centre)
While prisons in general signify 　 enial of freedom, but also of humanity,?women prisoners

lead a particularly hard life. They often have to support children or other family members on
the outside, and experience social and psychological fragility. The BBC reports that most
Middle Eastern countries hugely expanded their investments in women education, raising
the average of female literacy from 17 percent in 1970 to 53 percent in 2000. Yet, this
investment has not translated into economic growth as less than a third of women in the
region participate in the workforce.
A blueprint for shaping a response to the AIDS crisis must involve women, as rapid
transmission occurs when women lack power in relationships, equal access to education,
and economic independence. (Washington Post)
A majority of men and women see unequal gender status as a woman personal problem
rather than a social problem. But changes to unjust social structures and policies will only
come from collective political pressure. (Guardian)
Sexual harassment by teachers and male peers obstructs learning and personal
development for girls in African schools. Empowerment programs that teach girls to speak
out has made them aware of their rights and diminished abuse.
This fact sheet provides information on how the US policy of prohibiting funding to NGOs

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that advocate family planning contradicts US aims of fighting the practice of abortion
worldwide. Improving access to family planning and contraception in fact reduces women
　 reliance on abortion and thus the risk of deaths due to unsafe abortions. (Population

Action International)
Entrenched patriarchy, changing cultural norms, and a surge in violent rape put young
South African women particularly at risk for contracting the AIDS virus. According to a
nationwide study of HIV prevalence, 17.7 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49
are HIV-positive, compared with 12.8 percent of men. (Observer)
Bama Athreya of the International Labor Rights Fund argues that women are central to
global trade liberalization, but women 　 rights take a back seat in trade negotiations.

70%-90% of workers in export processing zones are women, who frequently suffer from
abuse, harassment, and poor working conditions. (ATTAC)

全球化

Throughout history, adventurers, generals, merchants, and financiers have constructed an

ever-more-global economy. Today, unprecedented changes in communications,
transportation, and computer technology have given the process new impetus. As globally
mobile capital reorganizes business firms, it sweeps away regulation and undermines local
and national politics. Globalization creates new markets and wealth, even as it causes
widespread suffering, disorder, and unrest. It is both a source of repression and a catalyst
for global movements of social justice and emancipation.
全球化的定义

Human societies across the globe have established progressively closer contacts over
many centuries, but recently the pace has dramatically increased. Jet airplanes, cheap
telephone service, email, computers, huge oceangoing vessels, instant capital flows, all
these have made the world more interdependent than ever. Multinational corporations
manufacture products in many countries and sell to consumers around the world. Money,
technology and raw materials move ever more swiftly across national borders. Along with
products and finances, ideas and cultures circulate more freely. As a result, laws,

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economies, and social movements are forming at the international level. Many politicians,
academics, and journalists treat these trends as both inevitable and (on the whole)
welcome. But for billions of the world 　 people, business-driven globalization means

uprooting old ways of life and threatening livelihoods and cultures. The global social justice
movement, itself a product of globalization, proposes an alternative path, more responsive
to public needs. Intense political disputes will continue over globalization 　 meaning and

its future direction.

经济全球化

Advances in communication and transportation technology, combined with free-market

ideology, have given goods, services, and capital unprecedented mobility. Northern
countries want to open world markets to their goods and take advantage of abundant,
cheap labor in the South, policies often supported by Southern elites. They use
international financial institutions and regional trade agreements to compel poor countries
to "integrate" by reducing tariffs, privatizing state enterprises, and relaxing environmental
and labor standards. The results have enlarged profits for investors but offered pittances to
laborers, provoking a strong backlash from civil society. This page analyzes economic
globalization, and examines how it might be resisted or regulated in order to promote
sustainable development.
文化全球化

Technology has now created the possibility and even the likelihood of a global culture. The
Internet, fax machines, satellites, and cable TV are sweeping away cultural boundaries.
Global entertainment companies shape the perceptions and dreams of ordinary citizens,
wherever they live. This spread of values, norms, and culture tends to promote Western
ideals of capitalism. Will local cultures inevitably fall victim to this global "consumer" culture?
Will English eradicate all other languages? Will consumer values overwhelm peoples'
sense of community and social solidarity? Or, on the contrary, will a common culture lead
the way to greater shared values and political unity?
Even here on the edge of the nation's capital, in this settlement of dirt tracks, plank shanties
and the circular felt yurts of herdsmen, the sounds of English can be heard from the

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youngest of students - part of a nationwide drive to make it the primary foreign language
learned in Mongolia, a landlocked expanse of open steppe sandwiched between Russia
and China. "We are looking at Singapore as a model," Tsakhia Elbegdorj, Mongolia's prime
minister, said in an interview, his own American English honed in graduate school at
Harvard. "We see English not only as a way of communicating, but as a way of opening
windows on the wider world."
In South Korea, six private "English villages" are being established where paying students
can have their passports stamped for intensive weeks of English-language immersion,
taught by native speakers from all over the English-speaking world. The most ambitious
village, an $85 million English town near Seoul, will have Western architecture and signs,
and a resident population of English-speaking foreigners.

Increased international tourism and a growing number of resident foreigners explain some
developments, like the two English-language newspapers here and the growing numbers of
bilingual store signs and restaurant menus. During the first eight months of 2004,
international tourist arrivals here were up 54 percent; visits by Americans doubled to nearly
9,000, helped by popular Mongolian movies like "The Story of the Weeping Camel." Foreign
arrivals increased across the board, with the exception of Russians, whose visits declined
by 9.5 percent. That reflects a wider decline here of Russia's influence and the Russian
language. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian was universally taught in
Mongolia and was required for admission to universities.

Although the word globalization suggests a comprehensive and self-evident process, it is

an incomplete term. It does not indicate precisely what is being globalized: the assumption
is that it means the emergence of a single worldwide economy, into which all economies
must integrate themselves, or more accurately, be integrated in the passive voice. But
globalization does not obligingly halt at some ill-defined frontier between economics,
society and culture. Indeed, it has its own set of cultural attendants, which exercise a
profound influence on the life of peoples everywhere. By definition, globalization makes all

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other cultures local. But to billions of people all over the world, their culture is not local. It is
central to their lives and who they are. Globalization eclipses, or at least subordinates all
previous ways of answering need and of dealing with the vicissitudes of human life. All
other ways of life are diminished and marginalized at a stroke.
Globalization is a declaration of war upon all other cultures. And in cultural wars, there is no
exemption for civilians; there are no innocent bystanders. Why should it be expected that
ancient and rooted civilizations are going to accept this peripheralisation without a struggle?
The answer to that is that globalization carries an implicit promise that it will relieve poverty
and offer security - perhaps the most ancient of human dreams. Because of the power of
global capitalism to create wealth, it is assumed that this priority must sweep aside all other
human preoccupations, including all existing institutions, interpretations and searches for
meaning in the world.
It is disingenuous to assume that economy, society and culture operate in separate spheres.
This suggests that, once exposed to the globalizing imperative, no aspect of social life,
customary practice, traditional behavior will remain the same.

There have been, broadly, two principal responses in the world, which we may call the
fatalistic and the resistant. It is significant that among the most fatalistic have been the
leaders of the G-7. Ex-President Clinton said globalization is a fact not a policy choice. Tony
Blair said it is inevitable and irreversible. It may be considered paradoxical that the leaders
of the most dynamic and expanding economies in the world offer such a passive,
unchallenging view of what are, after all, human-made arrangements. These are among the
richest and most proactive regimes, which can wage endless war on the great abstraction
that is terror, topple regimes and lay down one WTO law for the poor and another for
themselves. Is their helplessness in the presence of these mighty economic and cultural
powers merely pretence?
There are two aspects to resistance. One is the re-assertion of local identities - even if local
actually means spread over very large parts of the world. The reclaiming of the local is often
focused in the field of culture - music, song, dance, drama, artifacts and folk culture. This

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suggests an attempt to quarantine it from the effects of economic integration; a kind of

cordon sanitaire set up around a dwindling culture. Some people believe it is possible to get
the best of both worlds - they accept the economic advantages of globalization and seek to
maintain something of great value, language, tradition and custom. This is the relatively
benign response. The other has become only too familiar: the violent reaction, the hatred of
both economic and cultural globalization which many not merely perceive, but feel in the
very core of their being, as an inseparable violation of identity. The resentment of many
Muslims (not only extremists) toward the U.S. and Israel, the defensive posturing of Hindu
fundamentalism, opposed both to Islam and Christianity, are the most vivid dramatizations
of this.

环境问题

Unsustainable environmental practices pose increasing threats to the Earth's water, forests,
climate, biodiversity, food and energy supply. Often, developing countries suffer the
ecological consequences of rich-countries' interests. Northern governments and powerful
corporations exploit limited natural resources despite warnings from environmental groups.
The United Nations has been at the heart of the struggle over the future of the earth's
environment. Its global conferences and intergovernmental policy bodies -- especially the
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) -- have been a major battleground
between forces for greater environmental protection and those who oppose rules and
regulations in the name of free markets and economic growth.

New Zealand has become the first country in the world to introduce a tax on carbon
emissions. By making polluting energy sources such as coal and oil more expensive than
cleaner ones, New Zealand intends to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions that contribute
to global warming.
As a result of rising temperatures and deforestation, the ice cap on Mount Kilimanjaro is
melting, decreasing the water supply to the lowland areas around the mountain. Scientists
warn that the greenhouse effect will have a devastating impact on communities around

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Kilimanjaro and across Africa unless rich countries take decisive and concerted action to
reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Already suffering from poverty, food insecurity and
conflicts, Africa is particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming. (Integrated
Regional Information Networks)
Long viewed as separate issues, African poverty and global warming have become
increasingly interconnected. Warming climate and failures of rainfall contribute not only to
chronic hunger but also to the onset of violence when hungry people clash over scarce food
and water, says Jeffrey Sachs in this Project Syndicate article.
This Op-Ed piece condemns the standard use of Gross Domestic Product for measuring
economic growth and calls for an alternative measurement of development. The current
economic system operates under the false premise that the world has no limits, and no
constraints on growth, pollution or exploitation. The author argues in favor of a reevaluation
of development based on environmental sustainability. (Environmental News Network)
This article argues for stronger environmental standards in US trade agreements, claiming
that the environmental costs of e.g. the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
exceed the economic gains. Environmental degradation in Mexico not only dwarfs Mexico
　 economic growth but also pressures the US market to produce 　 nvironmentally

destructive agricultural practices.?(San Francisco Chronicle)

With rising income in urban areas the growing Chinese middleclass demands cleaner air
and water and pressures the worst polluters to leave the cities. In effect, the Chinese
countryside is rapidly turning into a dumping ground where corporations operate without
any concern for the environment. (New York Times)

动物保护

Many animal and plant species have become extinct and many more are in critical danger.
Finding ways to protect the earth's wildlife and conserve the natural world they inhabit is
now more important than ever.
ExtinctionExtinction is a natural process. Many species had ceased to exist before humans

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evolved. However, in the last 400 years, the number of animals and plants becoming extinct
has reached crisis point. Human population levels have risen dramatically in the same time
period and man's predatory instincts combined with his ruthless consumption of natural
resources are directly responsible for the situation.
DodoThe Dodo is a classic example of how human behavior can cause irreparable damage
to the earth's biological diversity. The flightless Dodo was native to the Island of Mauritius in
the Indian Ocean. It lived off fruit fallen from the island's trees and lived unthreatened until
humans arrived in 1505. The docile bird became a source of food for sailors and lacked the
ability to protect itself from animals introduced to the island by humans such as pigs,
monkeys and rats. The population of Dodos rapidly decreased and last one was killed in
1681.

Endangered AnimalsIn 2002 many animals remain threatened with extinction as a result of
human activity. The World Wildlife Fund works tirelessly to raise awareness of the
predicament facing these animals and find ways to protect them. By focusing on a number
of high profile, 'charismatic icons' such as the rhino, panda, whale and tiger, the WWF aims
to communicate, 'critically important environmental issues'. The organization's ultimate goal
is to, 'stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which
humans live in harmony with nature'.
The Giant PandaThe future of the WWF's symbol is far from certain. As few as 1000 remain
in the wild, living in small isolated groups. These groups have been cut off from each other
as a result of deforestation and human expansion in to their natural habitat. The Chinese
government has set up 33 panda reserves to protect these beautiful animals and made
poaching them punishable with 20 years in prison. However, The panda's distinct black and
white patched coat fetches a high price on the black market and determined poachers still
pose one of the most serious threats to the animals continued existence.

TigersThe last 100 years has seen a 95% reduction in the numbers of remaining tigers to
between 5000 and 7000 and The Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers are already extinct. The

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South China tiger is precariously close to disappearing, with only 20 to 30 still alive. Like the
Rhino horn, tigers bones and organs are sought after for traditional Chinese medicines.
These items are traded illegally along with tiger skins.
Take ActionThe WWF is actively involved in many areas of the world fighting to protect the
natural habitats of endangered animals from further damage and curb the activities of
poachers. They also work to influence governments and policy makers to introduce laws
aimed at reducing the threat of pollution and deforestation. Our own individual efforts at
home and in the workplace can also make a difference. By reducing waste and pollution,
saving water, wood and energy, and reusing and recycling whenever possible, we can
reduce the possibility of even more animals being lost, never to return.

中国传统文化

Horoscope Are you a rat, a snake or a rabbit? These are just three of the 12 animals that
Chinese people believe, 'hide in your heart.' Out of all the animals only 12 came to pay final
respect to Buddha before he left the earth. As a reward they each had a year named after
them. The animal associated with the year you're born in is said to influence your
personality! February 12th begins the year of the Black Horse. People born in this year are
said to be cheerful, popular and hard working with great enthusiasm and ambition. However,
they also tend to be short-tempered, impatient and a little selfish! Clint Eastwood, Barbara
Streisand and Rolf Harris are among the famous people born in the year of The Horse.

犯罪问题

[Family Role] Any person, who exercises his parental power over a juvenile or any other
person, who cares for him on behalf of his parents (hereinafter referred to as the "person
having parental power"), shall make necessary efforts to keep juveniles from contacting or
frequenting the media materials, drugs and establishments which are all harmful to
juveniles, and protect them from the juvenile violence and abuse (hereinafter referred to as
the "environment harmful to juveniles"), and when juveniles intend to use the media
materials and drugs harmful to them and visit establishments harmful to them, the person

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having parental power shall immediately restrain them from doing so. [Responsibility of
Society] 1) Anybody shall make efforts to keep juveniles away from the environments
harmful to them and when they find any juveniles using the media materials and drugs
harmful to them or engaging in violence and abuse, they shall restrain them from doing so
and lead them not to do so. They, when they find the media materials and drugs harmful to
juveniles distributed among them, any juveniles employed by establishments harmful to
them and any juveniles suffering violence and abuse, shall make efforts necessary(to
protect them by reporting or filing complaints with relevant government agencies under
Article 21 (3). (2) Any person who carries on the business of distributing the media
materials and drugs harmful to juveniles and any other person who carries on the business
of running establishments harmful to juveniles as well as organizations and associations
created by them shall make efforts of their own to keep the media materials and drugs
harmful to juveniles from distributed among them and establishments harmful to juveniles
from employing them and allowing them to frequent such establishments. [Duties of State
and Local Governments] (1) The State shall formulate and implement policies necessary
to clean up the environment harmful to juveniles for the purpose of protecting them and
local governments shall make efforts necessary to protect the juveniles from the
environments harmful to them under their jurisdictional areas. (2) The State and local
governments, keeping the fact in mind that the advent of new kinds of the media materials
an drugs following the development of electronics and communications technologies and
medicine is feared to damage juveniles physically and mentally, shall make efforts
necessary to support the development of new technologies and research projects, and
build a cooperative system with other countries to protect juveniles from such media
materials and drugs.(3) The State and local governments may encourage independent
activities by juvenile-related organizations and the private sector to monitor the
environment harmful to juveniles and file complaints against it and provide necessary
support for such activities. The State and local governments also may reflect
recommendations from such organizations and the private sector in shaping relevant
policies. (4) In regulating the environment harmful to juveniles to protect them, the State

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and local governments shall faithfully perform their duties.

技术改变生活

The mobile industry and its 3G (third generation) technology draw the most attention at the
expo. As the mainstream communications technology in the future, 3G will change people’s
life largely. In 10 years, three standards of 3G technology have been developed and
adopted by the International Federation of Telecommunications. A Beijing-based Chinese
firm is among the developers. The 3G products differentiate with 2G ones in a way that it
can create a real mobile multi-media service by providing wireless high-speed data input.
No matter how fierce the competition will be, with China’s development in economy and its
attraction to home and overseas investment, China’s mobile industry will help Chinese
people enjoy the 3G service even earlier than those in Europe and the U.S.

Will Technology Change Spirituality?

Farbrengen: Where do technology and spirituality meet in Cyberspace?
Benioff: Technology is neither good nor bad, it's what we do with it that matters.
Nevertheless, it must have arrived at this point in time for a reason and a purpose.
Personally, I've been trying to integrate technology and spirituality for years.
Weisberg: Its impact will stem from the decrease
in barriers to communication and information. The Internet is the greatest tool for learning
that has ever been developed.
Greenhaus: I agree that the Internet will widen
our minds and provide opportunities to learn that would never have existed without such
technology.
This conversation is one very indisputable manifestation.
Weisberg: But does the medium depersonalize the process? Don't we need real-life people
in a same place / same time paradigm for real personal and spiritual growth?
Greenhaus: The Internet tends to be far
"colder" than discourse in which people look into each other's eyes. Maybe it's lacking

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some of the mystical properties that surround a person's physical presence. Maybe it's
merely the subtle nuances of body language and facial expressions that are lacking.
Farbrengen: At the same time, are there
advantages to this form of communication beyond convenience and the ability to reach so
far? Are there some aspects of the human being that we
can actually reach better?
Greenhaus: My immediate reaction is no . . . However, upon reflection there is a certain
anonymity that, for some, is freeing. We all filter our thoughts, and the filter surely can't be
the same when we're standing before someone as when we are at the great distance
provided by Cyberspace. I'll have to contemplate this some more.
Freeman: I wonder if it doesn't also change the
way we live, or even think about our lives. In his book No Sense of Place, Joshua
Meyrowitz examines how the electronic media may change the way
people use their minds 　 uch as literacy has had

a powerful effect on the way we think today.

Benioff: Sherry Turkle discusses similar ideas in
Life on the Screen.
Freeman: Perhaps life in Cyberspace gives us an opportunity to explore realms of our
subconscious and spiritual selves that we previously didn't
even realize existed. Perhaps it allows us to see ourselves much as our Creator sees us. If
you've ever created a RPG [role playing game], it certainly gives you that sense of being
divine. You try to build in free choice for your users, but you always retain control over the
Big Story.
Benioff: A "god game" is a good metaphor for
all that we are creating with technology.
Man reflects himself in his creation. Our reality is a reflection of our desire. We express our
subconscious mind through our creation.
Farbrengen: Is this "The Big Computer" in reverse? Instead of a single all-powerful being
overseeing all of humanity, the joint consciousness of humanity is reflected in this network

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of machines.
Benioff: Yes. But it's always been this way with
technology. We are manifesting our image. The Internet is only a reflection of society. It is a
mirror. As we reflect G-d, so does the Internet reflect us. Technology has always been
man's mirror.
Freeman: Sometimes I get the feeling we have no control over where we're taking it. We
think we're the archer, but we're really the arrow.
Farbrengen: How does all of this affect our destiny?
Freeman: It fits very neatly into the Kabalistic idea of humanity gathering and reconstructing
the fragments of G-dliness. We come into the world and it seems to be a very finite place.
But when we distill the pieces down to their bare essence, all the way down to just "on and
off," "0 and 1," and then put them back together again, lo and behold 　 t's infinite.

Greenhaus: Perhaps something of the person can express itself in Cyberspace that isn't
allowed expression in real life.
Benioff: I understand where you're going. While I completely agree, I also believe it
[technology] is ultimately just a reflection of us, not an extension.
Freeman: That's true in many ways. The Old Media does not reflect us very well; it forces
us to think and create in very linear, fragmented ways. Now we are finally being freed from
that. We're being empowered to develop and express ideas in unrestricted ways. And it's
only going to expand much further.
Weisberg: It goes back to the massive decrease in barriers to communication and
information.
Freeman: That's part of what I meant by being
infinite. Human beings are essentially infinite because we can blend all our forms of
expression together without borders, and we can think in all directions
at once. Even time and space are artificial borders for the human soul. When we restrict a
person to creating within these very linear, fragmented confines, we put the human soul on
a tight leash. The New Media empowers us by reflecting the border-trashing quality of the
human soul.

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Farbrengen: It has been said nobody ever dies in Cyberspace. They just transcend real
time.
Freeman: That's another reflection of our inner potential. Humans have this unique ability to
break out of themselves and be inside another person. We call it communication, and it's
another expression of how boundless we are.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe once told my father-in-law, Professor Avraham Polichenco, that a
computer is simply a device that makes many into one. When many are one, that one
becomes infinite. I think that's a good description of where the Internet is heading.
Benioff: Our work will become a way of knowing G-d. After all, work is the purest expression
of who we are.
Will technology change humanity, or has it already?
by Robin Pierro
February 28, 2005
In my opinion, technology has become too advanced. I am 17-years-old, and I can still
remember a time when I did not have a computer in my home, and if you did, it was
uncommon. Not until the mid-1990s was it common for middle class families to have
computers. In our society today, almost every single family has at least one computer if not
more, and these computers are incredibly advanced compared to what you'd have had in
your home a short ten years ago. Over the years, I have seen technology bloom; all I have
known my entire lifetime, is that there is going to be something bigger, I should really say
smaller, and better out on the market in no time. I can't believe how fast manufacturers are
coming out with new technology. What will happen in the future, will technology become so
advanced is changes the course of our humanity?
You can do everything you want from a computer, work, play, talk to friends, research, and
even order food! A person could live their entire life jammed up in a room with a computer,
and they would have access to everything they need! It is insane!
The advances in communication technology are blowing up all over the place as well. I,
myself just bought a new camera phone, and this phone is amazing. The picture quality is
superb, and not only that but I have access to the internet on my PHONE! I can't believe

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how the cell phone market has so drastically increased. The first phone I ever had was five
years ago, when I was 12 years old. That phone today would be considered huge, clunky,
heavy, and "old". I personally couldn't even imagine myself walking around with that phone
without being embarrassed. It just goes to show how much things have changed in five
years, and people just keep on taking it all in. Every time I have bought a new phone since
that point, six months later, I have wanted a new one because my phone was not up to date.
Can you believe it, after not even a year a phone can completely go off the market because
it is not advanced enough? The manufacturers are putting these things out faster than
people can buy them. My mother bought a camera phone in 2003, it cost her $400, the
camera phone I bought last week cost me $100.
Another huge price jump has been DVD players. At one point DVD players were costing
people close to a thousand dollars, now you can get one for $79.99 at Wal-Mart, or they are
giving them away free with a large purchase at some retailers.
I just stand back and think, how in this world can things be moving so quickly. If you are not
up to date with what's going on in technology, and you lose track of all the new advances
coming out you will find yourself completely lost within society.
For a short while, I disassociated myself with many forms of technology. I never got into the
whole CD walkman thing, and now I turn around and people have mp3 players the size of
my thumb. I can't believe it. I don't even know what they are. It is not that I don't take
interest in technology or its advances, it is the fact that things are getting so complicated it's
not even worth the hassle to use them for me. Give me what I need and I'll make do, I don't
need cameras the size of a finger, or a phone where I can't even press the numbers
because it is so small. What am I going to possibly use a phone/ palm pilot for?
Some people now are thinking, well you need a palm pilot phone for this or that, and a small
camera comes in handy sometimes, but really what did our parents do, or what did you do
before all this technology came out? People lived life, and enjoyed it. Technology does not
make you enjoy your life more, it may make things a bit easier at times, but in the long run
will change the course of humanity, and I think it will change it for the worst.
People already rely on machines to do things for them to much. Our species is becoming

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incompetent, because we have machines to do everything for us. In the future I just see it,
people will become so lazy and incompetent, and machines will take over. The creation of
artificial intelligence is not that far away, and since we have lost control of all other
technology advances, how do we know we won't lose control of that as well.
Don't get me wrong I do not hate technology, I just think things should slow down a bit so
that every time something comes out people can use and enjoy and learn about it before
the next product is out on the market. We need to keep things a little more controlled,
before they control us. I just don't see the use in having so many advances, enjoy life with
what you have. The world has become a different place in the last 50 years, and will
continue to throw new products out at you. I always wonder if manufacturers will ever run
out of ideas. I kind of doubt it though. Humans will always need some sort of machine to
make their life even easier than it already is!
It is just my opinion that technology is a little too advanced, half the things out on the market
I wouldn't want to buy just because they are so complicated. The world's technology craze
needs to settle down a little bit, before we regret creating something that takes us over.
Population growth and urbanization demand for more and better food. The diet also
becomes more diverse with higher demand for vegetables and fruits. At the same time, with
higher income, the quality consciousness of the urban population increases as well. Quality
is considered by consumers as the most important determinant of acceptability and rated
higher than price, brand name, reputation or freshness.

食品生产

Quality refers to the value, which is subjectively or objectively attached to food with respect
to nutritional properties, organoleptic properties, hygienic properties and functional
properties. As an additional criterion in quality judgement comes into picture whether
environmentally sound procedures were observed and applied in production of the food
items.
Numerous on-farm trials within IPI projects proved that balanced fertilization helps the
farmer to produce food, which fulfills the different quality criteria. Balanced fertilization also

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safeguards natural resources and contributes to protect the environment.

Adopting quality management in concert with an 'environment management', the farmer
benefits from balanced fertilization with a better market chance, higher procurement prices
and thus better income. This improves the purchasing power of the rural area; it attracts
other business and creates jobs. The nation will ultimately benefit from balanced
fertilization with a better social security, less migration, and last but not least, with better
export opportunities of competitive quality products.

惩罚孩子

Child advocates are shocked that foster parents might soon be allowed to spank or shake
children, and so is one member of the state board that approved the change.
State Board of Social Services Vice Chair Brian Campbell of Charlottesville said he was
"furious" when the proposed change in corporal punishment regulations went before the
board at a meeting last month.
"I've talked to everyone that I know, and no one supports it," he said. "I don't want to get the
report a couple years from now that says a foster parent went too far with their discipline
and a child is dead. That potential exists."
Department of Social Services Commissioner Sonia Rivero said the change merely offers a
choice for people who believe spanking is an appropriate way to discipline children.
"People do know the difference between beating someone and spanking them," she said.
The board voted in June to change the policy that prohibits any type of corporal punishment.
Foster parents or people going through the adoption process are not allowed to spank, pull,
or shake a child.
The new regulation would prohibit jerking, "harsh" shaking and "abusive" spanking.
A 60-day public comment period - which could sway the board's decision - begins Monday.
Rivero said the regulation pertains only to private child placement agencies, and they have
the right to reject the new policy. If an agency accepts the change, it must help parents
develop the best method of discipline for their child, she said.
"When you have a child coming from a physically abusive home, it would be inappropriate

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to grab them harshly at all," she said. "An agreement must be reached between the foster
parent and the agency. I, as the state, am not in a position to decide what is the appropriate
discipline for every child."
Sometimes, agencies don't know what a child has been through, said Anne Carpenter,
executive director for ABC Adoption Services Inc. Carpenter often helps parents adopt
children from other countries, where it is harder to find out how a child has been treated.
Like other agencies, ABC trains parents to use forms of discipline that emphasize
communication and non-physical punishments, such as having children sit in "time out" for
several minutes.
When she trains foster or adoptive parents, Carpenter asks them: "What does it say to a
child when you hit? That that's the way you ultimately solve your problems. One minute
you're saying, 'I can spank you,' and the next, you're saying, 'Don't hit your brother.'"
Rivero said she first considered changing the policy when several "regular upstanding
members of the community" told her they were not accepted as foster or adoptive parents
because they wanted to be able to spank their children when necessary.
Marge Savage, adoption program manager for Commonwealth Catholic Charities in
Roanoke, said most parents are fine with the ban on corporal punishment. In 10 years,
Savage has only seen one couple change their mind because of the rule.
Statewide groups - including the American Civil Liberties Union and Prevent Child Abuse,
Virginia - and child advocates such as pediatricians and social workers have formed a
coalition to protest the change.
Steve Jurentkuff , executive director for Prevent Child Abuse, Virginia, said he didn't know
about the new policy until last month.
"It wasn't publicly known until that meeting in June," he said. "We'd like to see some good
discussions to really understand what is it they're trying to accomplish."
Vice Chair Campbell said the Department of Social Services "sprung" the proposal on the
board one week before it met. But Rivero said Campbell and the rest of the board had the
proposed changes two or three weeks before meeting.
Campbell is trying to persuade the board to hold public meetings in addition to reading

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comments sent to the Department of Social Services. He hopes the board can vote again
after hearing those comments.

死记硬背：

One such means for a meme to achieve the critical threshold of fidelity would be repetition.
It is interesting to note that oral histories and stories from cultures without a written
language are often characterized by frequent repetition. Practice makes perfect. Repetition
is important for habit formation and memorization of information/code for steps to produce
some product. Most importantly, over time repetition would serve to reduce the variation in
the product produced by the memetic algorithm. In this sense, memetic algorithms may not
have a true digital like system of replication the way genetic ones do, but repetition would
allow memes to have some semblance of this - one effective enough to reach a reasonable
level of fidelity. In fact, repetition may allow memes a certain advantage over genes in this
respect. Most of the time an error in genetic algorithms is deleterious. Genetic algorithms
can't afford to make fatal errors, and repair mechanisms do exist in genetic systems to
reduce this possibility. In terms of memes, however, not correctly playing Fur Elise on the
piano the first time won't kill you (excluding some twisted circumstance). More importantly,
it won't necessarily kill off the Fur Elise meme either. Products produced by memetic
algorithms get to have a learning curve or mechanism of self-correction perhaps analogous
to, and maybe more forgiving than, the repair mechanisms extant in genetic systems.

THROW-AWAY SOCIETY

I live in the Sierrita Mountains about fifty miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona. The view from
here is different from that found in other climates, cities, and towns. The air is cleaner, there
are no sirens or traffic sounds, and the land abounds with wildlife of all kinds. Coyotes,
dozens of bird species, ground squirrels, mountain lions, lizards, snakes, rabbits, deer, and
others too numerous to list.

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Living so far from town has given me a perspective almost impossible to see from
crowded areas. The television is seldom on, we do not have regular newspaper or mail
delivery, and that means my view is, perhaps, more objective than that of most Americans.
One thing I have learned is that we now live in a world gone mad. It isn’t just the war in Iraq,
terrorism on a global scale, the hungry and homeless in our own country, that tell me we
live in a time of desperation. Most of it we’ve done to ourselves out of laziness, apathy, and
greed.

Bombarded with advertising, we have bought into the belief that we ‘deserve’ what we
want the moment the desire hits, from the biggest gas-guzzler, to the newest house, to buy
now and pay later. We have mortgaged our souls and strayed from the good road. Once,
we understood that we must earn the things we desire and we lived with our world in
balance, not taking more than necessary, no hoarding, but sharing with those in need. Then
we let greed become our new religion.

Politicians, scientists, professionals, and experts have convinced us we are not

intelligent enough to make important decisions, so we have given the power over our lives
to others that they might tell us how to live and what to buy. We made it easy for them
because we were too lazy to think and act for ourselves. As long as we could have the
newest toy, easy credit, and did not have to work too hard, we didn’t care what those same
folks did to our earth, the water, air and our other relations. Their job was easy because we
were too busy making money, piling up debt, buying stuff we didn’t need and tossing it in
the trash when we got tired of it.

However, the debts we created will eventually come due. Some we are paying for right
now as the national debt continues to climb toward the stratosphere. What we do not pay
will be a burden inherited by our children and grandchildren. They will inherit an earth with
water too foul to drink, soil so contaminated it cannot sustain life, and air that is no longer
breathable without the aid of a gas mask. Food will be scarcer, only the rich will be able to

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sustain themselves, and the rest of us will gradually die off. The only non-rich who will be
able to live will be those the rich need to keep alive so they can have gardeners,
housekeepers, cooks, and others necessary for them to maintain a life free from work and
worry.

There are things we can do to reverse the trend of destruction so prevalent today and I
would like to talk about one of them. Our earth, once so clean and pure, suffers from an
excess of garbage dumps. Most states have no recycle program, or the one in place is
ignored by the majority. The result is a growing need to create centers for garbage to be
dumped for future generations to worry about. Disposable diapers, for example, do not
even begin to disintegrate until they have been in the ground 500 years or more. Cloth
diapers are not only cheaper to use, they make excellent cleaning rags when too frayed to
use on an infant. Babies are easier to potty train and train earlier with cloth diapers than
disposables and, for those not wanting to wash their own, diaper services are less
expensive than disposables, though cost more than doing it yourself.

We purchase items in throwaway containers with no regard for our planet. Pop bottles and
cans are routinely tossed into a garbage can because it is too much trouble to recycle them.
We use paper napkins rather than cloth, which can be washed and used again, and the list
goes on.

Our ancestors knew these things. They walked in balance with all life and created
homes, clothing, utensils, and things of beauty with natural materials. Today we call those
materials organic because when they are lost or dropped somewhere, they return to the
earth to nourish the soil, plants, and small creatures. Even babies were diapered with
organic materials from moss to dried grass depending on what was available in the area.

If each of us listened to our ancestors and found one way to change our behavior, we
can make a difference in the world we leave for future generations. Even the art we hang on

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our walls can be organic, or recyclable. That was standard for thousands of years and we
are trying to bring back that earth-friendly method of creating beautiful and meaningful
items for others and ourselves. Masks are one example of art made with organic
materials.

Rubbish
The average person in Los Angeles throws away 7 kilos of rubbishevery day.
The average person in the Third World throws away only I kilo of rubbish every day.
Britain throws away 7 million tonnes of paper every year. That's the same as 80 million
trees.
In one year, a European family with two children throws away...
50 kilos of paper (that's six trees)
60 kilos of metal
45 kilos of plastic (that doesn't sound like a lot of plastic, but it is.
You need 300,000 supermarket carrier bags to make one tonne).
In one year, the average person throws away... 71 food cans, 34 cans of pet food and 68
drinks cans.
Britain produces 8.5 billion cans per year. Half are for food and half are for drinks. That's
enough to go to the moon and back and half-way to the moon again.
England and Wales produce 500 tonnes of rubbish every year. This costs 600 million
pounds to collect and bury.
Packaging
Almost all supermarket food today comes in paper or plastic containers. Some of this
'packaging' is necessary. It keeps the food clean and fresh. It also makes it last longer. But
some packaging isn't necessary at all. It's just there to make the food look better.
In Britain, over 75,000 people work in packaging factories.
The UK packaging industry sells 4 billion pounds of paper and plastic containers every year.
28% of domestic rubbish is packaging.
5% of all Britain's energy goes into making packaging.

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The solution
Here are three ways to beat the throw-away society. All of them are cleaner and cheaper
than burying rubbish.
1 Throw Away Less Rubbish
In Denmark, for example it's illegal to sell drinks in cans. And it's not just governments
which can produce less rubbish. It's ordinary people, too. For example, anyone can decide
to
…buy products with as little packaging as possible
…use and throw away fewer carrier bags
...waste less paper.
2 Turn Rubbish into Energy
How? By burning it. This is a good idea because it...
…saves fossil fuels
…means burying less rubbish
…cuts pollution. (Energy from rubbish is cleaner and cheaper than energy from fossil fuels.)
At the moment, most countries only turn between 5% and 10% of their rubbish into energy.
3 Use Rubbish Again
A lot of what we throw away is still useful. It's possible, in fact, to recycle 80% of domestic
rubbish. This includes most kinds of paper, glass, metal and plastic. But there's a problem.
Recycling is expensive. That's why (at the moment) we only recycle about 15% of glass.
20% of plastic and 30% of paper. But it's getting cheaper and easier to recycle all the time.
One reason for this is the growing number of recycling centres. (For example, there are
more 'bottle banks' today than ever before.)
Also, some countries now have recycling laws. These mean that super markets pay
customers to return tins and bottles.

科学研究由谁主导？

Basic Recommendations

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As JSPS's basic posture, it should continue to place the highest priority on supporting the
best researchers and best ideas, and carry out its programs with a high degree of flexibility
to function as a prime mover for the organization of science operating independently of the
government.
To facilitate this independence, JSPS should put in place a new governance based on a
Director operating in conjunction with a Board composed of active scientists and
technologists. The composition of the Board should reflect the shared interests of JSPS
with a majority of representatives nominated from the academic community together with
nominations from government and industry.

Recommendation 1
JSPS has a pivotal responsibility in supporting scientific research in Japan. Scientific
research should be carried out in a competitive environment as defined through project
evaluation by researchers themselves. In supporting such research, JSPS should, to the
highest degree possible, allow researchers freedom, with which will come increased
responsibility.

Recommendation 2
JSPS should further enhance its existing programs by elevating the autonomy and
independence of its operations through the strengthening of its planning and policy decision
functions. This it should do by seeking the opinions of the academic community in carrying
out these functions.

Recommendation 3
Given the magnitude of its role, JSPS is understaffed. Along with significantly increasing it
staffing level, JSPS should hire people with research experience so as to strengthen its
program selection and evaluation functions and its planning capacity.

Recommendation 4

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In carrying out its research-grant programs, JSPS should employ a peer review process to
focus on research based on the best ideas. At the same time, it should have a system in
place that facilitates the selection of research proposals based on bold, innovative ideas.
It will, furthermore, be necessary for JSPS to consider a number of operational
enhancements. These include developing a system for attracting talented young people to
research careers, requiring applications to be written in English, introducing an electronic
application system, publicly disclosing information on grant selection results, allowing
rebuttal and resubmission by grant applicants, providing more flexible use of research
funds, and broadening support for work in the humanities and social sciences, including
crosscutting work involving collaboration with researchers in the natural sciences and
engineering.
The reversion of part of the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Program back to MEXT
(Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) is not deemed
appropriate.
JSPS should give consideration to improve various aspects of the Grants-in-Aid for
Scientific Research Program. These include the participation of staff with research
experience in the grant selection and project evaluation processes, a revising of the
screening catego- ries, and the establishment of multiple grant application periods during
the year.

Recommendation 5
JSPS should work to enhance its programs for fostering researchers. It should expand its
Research Fellowships for Young Scientists program, work to further increase the mobility of
young researchers, strengthen its activities to foster young elites, provide for gender
equality, and establish clearly defined career paths. It should provide "reintegration" support
to young researchers returning from overseas under the Postdoctoral Fellowships for
Research Abroad and other programs so as to assist them in securing an independent
footing as researchers in Japan. Under its Postdoctoral Fellowships for Foreign
Researchers, JSPS should provide living-related support for fellows and their family

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members while in Japan.

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically...
Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." Martin Luther King, Jr.
quotes

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